While many of the Liberals’ seven time-allocated bills have been divisive, the government’s proposed law to ban payment for blood plasma so far has been widely backed by the opposition and most groups who appeared at a legislature committee this week.
Bill 21, the Safeguarding Health Care Integrity Act,  was unanimously passed 91-0 by the house last week and was endorsed by most presenters at committee hearings Monday and Tuesday.
This comes in contrast to the messy arguments and uproar around the government trying to push through bills to reform the child-care system, cut insurance rates and cap executive pay in the public sector.
Health Minister Eric Hoskins told QP Briefing that he’s been hearing a lot of support for his legislation, both from Ontarians who support the province’s voluntary blood donation system as well as those who were affected by tainted blood in the 1980s.
Andrew Cumming, who was born with hemophilia, is one of those Ontarians who contracted HIV and hepatitis C from tainted blood. He spoke at Tuesday’s hearing, underlining that a paid donor system could jeopardize Ontario’s volunteer-based program.
“I’m not an expert … but I believe in my heart … a parallel paid donor system … would undermine the culture of free donations,” he said.
He referred to the three locations where Canadian Plasma Resources set up clinics in Toronto and Hamilton, allegedly in neighbourhoods alongside homeless shelters and methadone clinics.  “This model leads to seeking those most desperate for the cash payment as donors,” Cumming said, pointing to concerns about donors not speaking the truth about their health history when money is involved.
During Tuesday’s hearing, PC MPP Bill Walker said he heard the previous day that Canadian Blood Services is facing a shortage, something the not-for-profit that manages the country’s blood supply announced earlier this fall while appealing for more donors. At the time, CBS said its inventory level had reached a six-year low and warned that elective and routine procedures at hospitals across the country could be delayed if more blood wasn’t donated soon.
After question period on Tuesday, Hoskins said the government has called on Canadian Blood Services to intensify its efforts to become self-sufficient in plasma.  Increased funding, public education and collection sites are all ways to help, he said.  “We think it’s an important direction to take.”
In addition to banning paid plasma donations, the passing of Bill 21 would require the Ontario College of Pharmacists to regulate hospital pharmacies, which is something the Ontario Hospital Association spoke in favour of during the first day of the committee hearing. The pharmacies are currently regulated by hospital corporations.
Canadian Plasma Resources and Canadian Blood Services also presented on Monday.
On Tuesday, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario supported the bill but called for amendments around information sharing between the college and public health, mandatory reporting of incidents and the investigation of complaints.
Bill 21 combines two pieces of legislation from the previous legislature that died when the election was called in June partly in response to the opening of Canadian Plasma Resources’ paid-donation clinics, which the Liberals feared would undermine the volunteer basis of Canada’s blood supply.  Last week, the company announced it had cancelled plans to expand to seven other locations across the province because of the government’s proposed ban.
This fall, the Liberals have limited debate on seven bills – nearly half the 17 pieces of government legislation they have put before the house.
So far the government has time-allocated bills to curb red tape for business, ban paid blood donor clinics, cut insurance rates, reform daycare, change labour laws, limit public sector executive salaries and improve public safety at courts and power plants.
Bill 21 is slated to pass third reading before the house adjourns for Christmas next Thursday.

Banning of paid plasma donations gains broad support

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