Canada’s nurses are proud to support Bill S-252, sponsored by Senator Pamela Wallin, a federal Voluntary Blood Donations Act. This legislation is vital to preserving and strengthening Canada’s public and life-saving blood collection system into the future.
Canada’s robust blood system is built from the ashes of the Tainted Blood Scandal of the 1980s and the recommendations of the ensuing Royal Commission of Inquiry. We must not repeat the errors of the past. It is therefore critical that Canada’s life-saving blood system operate exclusively in the public interest. Profit has no place in our fragile blood system.
With Canada’s four largest provinces taking a leading role in implementing voluntary blood donation legislation, it is time for a national law to create a single standard across the country.