Back in 2015, then third-party leader, Justin Trudeau, made a campaign promise to end the discrimination in Canada's blood donation system.  As a self-avowed supporter of the LGBTI+ community, as well as a firm believer in the rigour of science, Trudeau found fault in the system's unnecessary, prejudicial policies, which restricted blood donations from gay and bisexual men.

At the time, both of Canada's blood donation agencies, the Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Quebec, effectively banned gay and bisexual men from donating blood, with only the slimmest of exemptions allowed for such men if they abstained from sexual activity with one another for a five-year period.

Quite justifiably, Trudeau took issue with the discriminatory restrictions, as any fair-minded, citizen would.  In no uncertain terms, he condemned the unjust policy, and promised that under a Liberal government, gay and bisexual men would no longer face barriers to their blood donations, as they had for decades past.

As far as campaign promises go, it was a commendable pledge for Trudeau to make.  Not to mention, a long overdue one.

It might surprise many Canadians to learn, but gay, and bisexual Canadian men have been banned from donating blood for almost 40 years now.

The restrictions first came into being during the 1980s, after the Canadian Red Cross, the agency responsible for blood donation distribution at the time, made a number of tragic errors in its screening and testing operations, leading to thousands of Canadians becoming infected with HIV and Hepatitis C.  To help prevent a similar disaster from ever again occurring, Canada's blood donation agencies made the decision to ban members of the public with a higher risk of contracting HIV from donating, specifically, gay, and bisexual men.  While the policy to restrict gay and bisexual men from donating blood has been revised several times over the years, it is one that remains in place to this day.

The problem with this, of course, is that whatever justifications which may or may not existed for such a restrictive policy back in the 1980s, no longer exists today.

In the almost 40 years since restrictions were first placed on gay and bisexual men, technologies used in Canada's blood donation system have made some remarkable advancements.  HIV in the blood can now be detected a mere nine days after exposure, with the residual risk "estimated at less than 1 in 8 million units at Canadian Blood Services."

With such sophisticated screening technology in place, it is little wonder that there has not been a single reported case of "transfusion-transmitted HIV" since 1985.  As such, there is simply no need for Canada's blood donation agencies to continue to place unnecessary, and frankly, discriminatory restrictions on gay and bisexual men.

Instead, Canada should follow the lead of countries, like Chile, Italy, Poland, and Spain, many of whom have long since employed lifestyle-screening in lieu of an outright sexuality ban, while witnessing no significant increases in HIV donation rates.

Health professionals certainly understand the need for the shift.  It is why the Canadian Medical Association, irrefutably one of the most important stakeholders in the debate, supports the implementation of a lifestyle screening system, believing that the acceptability of one's blood should rest not with their sexuality, but with the risk level of their sexual activity.

Unfortunately, that is a belief that some politicians, including even the current Prime Minister, appears to not fully accept.

Surprising, I know, especially given all of Trudeau's earlier promises to the contrary.

But after being in office more than five years now, and with restrictions against gay and bisexual men still in place (and trans women who have sex with men, but have not undergone gender-affirming surgery) what other conclusions can one make about Trudeau?

True, the federal government has made some progress in lessening restrictions.  In 2016, the period of abstinence for queer men was reduced from five years to 12 months.  And again, in 2019, the abstinence period was cut even further, down to three months.

But while preferable to the apathy and inaction of his Conservative predecessor, Trudeau has nonetheless failed to live up to the lofty rhetoric of his younger, more idealistic self.  Meanwhile, gay, and bisexual men still face prejudicial, unjustified restrictions on their ability to donate blood in this country.

As it now stands, the Liberals are alone amongst all the federal mainstream parties, including the NDP, the Greens, the Bloc, and the Conservatives, for not being committed to the immediate removal of gay and bisexual blood donation restrictions.  When even the Conservatives are pressuring you to be bolder on equality measures, you know you are in the wrong.

For a man that has been lauded for his commitment to both the LGBTI community and scientific objectivity, what a despondent position Trudeau must now find himself in.

Evidently, it is long since time that the Prime Minister made good on his earlier promises and lifted those blood donation restrictions.