Ontario’s push to shutter a pay-for-plasma clinic that opened Tuesday — ignoring warnings from Health Minister Deb Matthews — is headed to a showdown, with the government threatening a court order.

But the chief executive of Canadian Plasma Resources said he has a legal opinion that Matthews is wrong to insist the company needs a provincial licence under a lab specimen and collection law.

“We feel very confident if they make a move, we won’t have any problems,” Barzin Bahardoust told the Star after Matthews sent observers to the downtown clinic on Adelaide St., where about 15 workers have begun training.

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The health minister acknowledged lawyers are involved on both sides, with Canadian Plasma arguing it is not collecting specimens for analysis in the same manner as a typical lab.

Canadian Plasma has invested $7 million in equipment and startup costs for two clinics in Toronto and one in Hamilton, said Bahardoust.

The firm intends to collect blood plasma for use in pharmaceutical products, paying $25 to donors — a move Matthews says puts the voluntary blood collection system and its safety in jeopardy in the wake of the tainted blood scandal that infected 30,000 Canadians with HIV and hepatitis C two decades ago.

“We’ve been very clear with them for some time this is not something I can support, and that I will not approve a licence for them. They went ahead anyway,” Matthews said.

“There is a process that needs to be followed … the next step is a cease-and-desist order.”

Health Ministry inspectors arrived early Tuesday afternoon at the clinic, where lab technicians and nurses will be trained to use centrifuges that take blood, separate cells from plasma and return them to the donors’ bodies in a saline solution, allowing the company to keep the blood proteins that would eventually be used in medicines called “plasma-derived therapies.”

“It was uneventful,” Bahardoust said. “They have been observing for a few hours. We gave them a tour.”

In a statement, Matthews spokeswoman Samantha Grant said “the ministry continues to monitor the site and will follow the actions of the company in the coming days and weeks.

“If the company chooses to undertake activities governed by the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act without a licence, we will be prepared to take every necessary action to ensure they comply with the law.”

Canadian Plasma is also waiting for Health Canada to rule on its application for a blood establishment licence. Without it, the company can collect plasma for research but cannot sell it for use in pharmaceutical products, Bahardoust said.

He accused Matthews of “trying to take action on this for political gain” and freezing Canadian companies out of the market for plasma products.

The drama wouldn’t be dragging on had the minority Liberal government taken firm action sooner, said New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath.

“The minister is scrambling,” she charged, concerned the province could be on the hook for damages in a lawsuit if the clinic is shut down.

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Horwath said Canadian Plasma has been making its intentions known for months — just as Matthews has telegraphed her opposition — but the government still has not introduced promised legislation to ban pay-for-plasma operations.

Sources said the bill will be tabled Thursday in the legislature, while the government finalizes a regulation prohibiting pay-for-plasma as an interim step.

Matthews said that regulation could take effect “quickly.”

“Regulations can’t come soon enough,” said Mike McCarthy, a longtime tainted blood activist and hemophiliac who acquired hepatitis C from blood that was donated in a U.S. prison.

Canadian Plasma said it would comply with any new regulations or laws passed in the minority legislature, where a spring election is possible if the upcoming budget is defeated.

“Obviously we have to comply with those new laws and regulations,” said Bahardoust. “Until that act is passed, the legal opinion we have is we don’t need a licence from the provincial government.”

If pay-for-plasma is banned in Ontario, Bahardoust said he would move his operation to another province such as Manitoba, where the payments are allowed.

Matthews accused the company of locating its clinics in low-income neighbourhoods to prey on the poor. The company says it is trying to recruit regular donors by offering payouts in the form of donations to the Hospital for Sick Children in the donor’s name or $25 Visa gift cards. But critics say such cards could be used to buy alcohol.

Ontario has called on the federal government to institute a national ban on pay-for-plasma instead of allowing provinces to decide for themselves.

Health Canada held consultations on pay-for-plasma to be used in the production of pharmaceutical products last year and says the federal government’s role is to ensure the safety of Canada’s blood supply, while provinces are responsible for blood distribution systems and practices.

In Manitoba, Cangene Corp. has been licensed by Health Canada for more than 30 years to make plasma products from paid donors.

In Canada, plasma for blood transfusions is collected through Canadian Blood Services.