American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Canadian Blood Services says it is making plans to submit an application to Health Canada by the end of 2021 to replace the blood ban with a sexual behaviour-based screening model for all donors.
“We plan to make a submission to Health Canada by the end of the year and work is underway to build the submission,” said spokesperson Catherine Lewis in an email to CTVNews.ca.
The blood donation organization says it will be recommending that the current three-month deferral period for gay and bisexual men and well as some other folks in the LGBTQ2S+ community be removed. Instead of denying these donors if they have not been abstinent for three months, donors would be asked a series of screening questions based on their behaviour rather than their orientation.
According to the organization, their CEO Graham Sher stated the goal publicly for the first time on Friday at a board meeting, and their online information page on the donor restrictions has been updated to include the target.
The federal government has been under fire for failing to not follow through earlier on their long-stated promise to remove the blood ban, which has widely been described as discriminatory and not based in science.
Key cabinet ministers responsible for the file have dismissed calls for them to intervene and change the rules unilaterally, stating that they were waiting on submissions from Canada’s two blood agencies, Canadian Blood Services (CBS) and Hema-Quebec.
While the blood agencies’ independence is “a cornerstone” in the eyes of the government, since taking office, the Liberals have funded research projects that were aimed at helping bolster the evidence-based decision-making process, including studying donors’ eligibility criteria and alternative screening processes.
There had been an expectation that research would wrap in early 2020 but last month Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) told CTVNews.ca that research was “ongoing,” with some results expected sometime “in 2021.”
Between 2013 and 2019, Canada’s blood donation policy has changed three times, gradually evolving from a five-year ban on giving blood to the current three-month deferral period. The policy started in 1992 as an outright lifetime ban following the tainted blood scandal that played out in the 1980s and 1990s and saw thousands of Canadians infected with HIV after receiving donor blood.
There is currently a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal inquiry probing the ban and Health Canada’s role in upholding it as the regulator that approves any blood donation screening criteria changes.
In May, CBS made a submission to Health Canada for a “pilot project” to begin using a behaviour-based screening system for plasma donations this fall. Health Canada said it would aim to review the submission within 90 days.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Technology from the 19th century has been brought out of retirement at a Newfoundland gardening store, as staff look for all the help they can get to fill orders during a busy season.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.