Feds lose attempt to block human rights inquiry into blood ban
The federal government has lost its attempt to block a Canadian Human Rights Commission inquiry into Health Canada’s role in a policy that prohibits sexually active gay men as well as some other folks in the LGBTQ2S+ community from donating blood.
On Friday, the Federal Court dismissed the federal government’s application for a judicial review, stating that despite the government’s arguments to the contrary, Health Canada is a proper party to the case, and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s inquiry should continue.
In 2016, Christopher Karas brought a human rights complaint against Health Canada, alleging the agency discriminated against him on the basis of sexual orientation by denying him the ability to donate blood.
In 2019, the Canadian Human Rights Commission issued a preliminary decision that the case merited further investigation and referred the matter to a tribunal. This is what Attorney General David Lametti, on behalf of Health Canada, was fighting to stop the probe from going any further.
“The evidence collected warranted an inquiry by the Tribunal into Health Canada’s role in relation to CBS’s MSM [men who have sex with men] policy,” reads the decision from Judge Richard F. Southcott in part. “It appears there is a ‘live contest’ as to the exact nature of the relationship between Health Canada and CBS, which warrants further inquiry.”
Now, according to Karas’ legal team, barring an appeal, Health Canada will remain a responding party to the tribunal’s inquiry and will have to defend its involvement with the blood donation policy alongside Canadian Blood Services (CBS).
Throughout the proceedings so far Health Canada has argued that it has not discriminated against Karas as the agency has “no authority to rescind the policy” and a “limited role” to intervene in Canadian Blood Services’ work, unless it’s a matter of safety.
However, the submissions to the court presented to date indicate that Health Canada has been far more involved than it’s let on, playing an active role as the regulator that funds research into, and approves any blood donation screening criteria changes.
Further, in recent documents reviewed by CTVNews.ca, according to CBS, Health Canada required years of data collection and monitoring between each gradual loosening of the policy before it would consider further updates, something the agency denies in part.
In a recent email to CTVNews.ca regarding the documents, Gregory Ko, a partner with Toronto firm Kastner Lam, who is representing Karas, said that he anticipated that if the tribunal was allowed to continue its inquiry, “more evidence will emerge showing how Health Canada is a critical and necessary actor in the development of the gay blood ban.”
In a May interview with CTVNews.ca, Karas said that when he first learned that the federal government was looking to quash the case and potentially seek costs from him if their judicial review is successful, he was “shocked.”
“It was as if they were, you know, declaring war on queers,” he said.
Opposition MPs applauded the court’s decision to dismiss the government’s attempt to terminate the human rights inquiry.
“The Trudeau Liberals promised Canadians they’d stop the discriminatory blood donation ban on MSM. Once in office, they claimed they don’t have the power. This is false, and the courts are proving it,” tweeted NDP MP and health critic Don Davies.
Ending the blood ban is now a long-broken promise from the federal Liberals, with both Health Minister Patty Hajdu and Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Minister Bardish Chagger continuing to dismiss calls for them to intervene and change the rules as they once said they would.
“It is long past due for the federal government to put an end to the stigma and discrimination that men who have sex with men face in this country,” said Conservative MP Eric Duncan during a press conference earlier in June, vowing to keep pushing the issue throughout Pride month.
Instead, they cite ongoing research and say they are waiting for Canadian Blood Services and its Quebec counterpart Hema-Quebec to make submissions to move to a behaviour-based screening model.
CTVNews.ca has reached out to Hajdu and Lametti’s office for comment.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Foreign meddling 'did not affect' overall federal election results: inquiry report
Foreign interference by China did not affect the overall results of the 2019 and 2021 general elections won by Justin Trudeau's Liberals, a federal commission of inquiry has found.
BREAKING Police arrest 3 in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Why your airfare may be getting more expensive
Skyrocketing airfare prices are linked to heightened competition and rising food and fuel, according to the CAA.
WATCH LIVE Funeral today for broadcasting legend and voice of 'Hockey Night in Canada' Bob Cole
A funeral is being held today for hockey broadcasting legend Bob Cole in his hometown of St. John's, N.L.
Magnitude 4.8 earthquake recorded west of Vancouver Island
A 4.8-magnitude earthquake was reported west of Vancouver Island Thursday evening.
Who is Hope Hicks, longtime Trump aide who is testifying in N.Y. hush money case?
Hope Hicks, once a longtime trusted aide in Donald Trump’s inner circle, is testifying Friday in the New York hush money trial after being subpoenaed.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
How falling for a stranger she met on a beach led this woman to ditch the U.S. for the French Riviera
Niki Benjamin, from the U.S., had travelled to a paradise island to do some soul searching, and her life ended up going in a very different direction when her dog ran up to a stranger.
Biscuits with possible plastic pieces, metal found in ground pork: Here are the recalls for this week
Here are the latest recalls Canadians should watch out for, according to Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Local Spotlight
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
B.C. breweries take home awards at World Beer Cup
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Haida Elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.