(Political comment removed by Moderator)
Thane_Bitter Despite stores putting flags up I find that one should read the labels, if its not made or a product in Canada it is just something that came from some unknown land and was repackaged.
Absolutely! I always look at the packaging to confirm, but even there, sometimes getting the whole story is worse than pulling teeth with nothing more than pliers. During my most recent trip, I saw the usual maple leaf emblem on the label below cans of Planters brand cashews. I don’t know to what extent they’re processed or packaged in Canada, but clearly, it’s not something that we grow in production quantities in this country. As always, pay attention and double-check the labels. Management types desperate enough for sales wouldn’t think twice about stretching the truth, as with the ketchup.
Thane_Bitter On the flip side of things Canada does require US plasma and even whole blood, and other blood products at times, not enough people up here roll up the sleeve and donated blood, if you are in good health, meet the criteria and able to do so, please make an appointment to donate.
This is a very important point. Said imports were also the source of major problems in decades past, since the U.S. mentality is that everything is for profit, and one can be paid for donations. Inmates and others were going repeatedly for the cash. Combine that with historically lax testing and tracking, and we had an outright disaster on our hands; people died because of it.
I don’t know what it’s like in other provinces, but here it can be a bit of a pain. I have had the Héma-Québec call centre people trying to talk/guilt me into one of their lengthier procedures. The drawback is that one must go to a permanent donation centre; the mobile clinics don’t do it. The nearest one is one hour away, each way, by bus/metro, in addition to the two-hour procedure once they validate your appointment and re-check eligibility. From what I’ve read, some European countries almost treat donors like royalty, providing bus/train vouchers, or even direct pick-up and drop-off. Here, I get the privilege of also having to pay nearly $10 in bus fare for the privilege. Still, it’s a really important thing, so I will clear up an afternoon and make the appointment in a few weeks. Thanks for bringing that up.
