The Canadian Red Cross is one of Canada’s big charitable organisations. Although the original Red Cross is a Swiss organisation founded by Henry Dunant following his experiences of soldiers suffering in Italy in 1859, the Canadian Red Cross is an offshoot of the British Red Cross. As with several Canadian organisations, this is hardly surprising considering Canada’s colonial and Commonwealth history.
The British version was originally called the British National Society for Aid to the Sick
George Sterling Ryerson
and Wounded in War. The Canadian organisation was founded in 1896 by Colonel Dr. George Sterling Ryerson and became the Canadian Red Cross in 1909, when the Parliament of The Canadian Red Cross Society Act was passed, granting the organisation ‘independence’ from the British movement.
In each country in which it operates, the Red Cross (more specifically now called the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement) is the organisation responsible for providing voluntary services under the governance and guidelines of the Geneva Convention (largely governing treatment of victims of war). Canada’s organisation comprises two bodies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
We tend to think of Red Cross organisations as operating mainly in war-torn countries but in first world countries such as Canada it undertakes other duties mainly based around training programs in local areas. These programs include education in disaster management, youth training, humanitarian issues, prevention of violence, first aid provision and swimming and boating safety.
One of the services it it was historically responsible for in Canada was the provision of blood services. This entailed collecting and supplying blood for use in medical services in Canada. This responsibility ended in 1998 after the Krever Commission found that the Red Cross had been supplying tainted blood, despite being aware of a test which could have identified infected blood. Since 1998, the Canadian Blood Services have taken over this task.