Just for background: Health Canada is not responsible for providing our famous socialized health care; that is done on a provincial level. (Incidentally, that's one reason studies of "Canadian" health care quality are misleading, because it differs from province to province. In places with longstanding conservative governments, like Alberta, or my Ontario until recently, the quality of care is way lower than it should be because they keep slashing the funding.) Health Canada is a comparatively obscure agency, whose responsibilities I think don't go much beyond managing organ donations, laboratories & public health research, drug licensing, and promoting exercise & healthy eating habits in obnoxious TV commercials.

Of course that doesn't mean this policy isn't completely fucking insane, which it is. I'm guessing it's one of Tony Clement's lunatic Thatcherite friends that he installed in the bureaucracy. Hopefully there'll be public pressure from the left (we're good at that in Canada) and they'll reverse it pretty quickly.

The blood policy has always annoyed me. I would refuse to give on principle if it weren't for the fact that people still need blood regardless of how idiotic the government is acting..

Wouldn't it be interesting if people were to show up at the phlebotomists with negative HIV tests from, say, the same morning and ask to give blood? That would throw everything into pretty sharp relief.

When it comes to the red cross I promote a "Do ask, don't tell" policy. They'll ask, but you needn't tell! And in the end, when someone cheats death thanks to a pint of queer+ in their veins, it's worth it.