Thank you.
Mr. Matern, one of your recommendations, which are very helpful by the way, is to eliminate the blood donation ban on men who have sex with men. We know in the last election there was a promise by the current government to eliminate the ban. It was for five years, but they've reduced it to one year.
I'm aware that Egale Canada Human Rights Trust has launched an online campaign calling for an end to what's referred to as the “discriminatory” ban on blood donations from men who have had sex with men in the past year, noting on its website that “Gay is not a blood type”. It goes on to comment that there's a real discriminatory element to it. The current plan is very outdated.
To your knowledge, Mr. Matern, is there any scientific basis to retaining this one-year ban on blood donation from men who have sex with men?