What is Grifols doing with Canadian-donated blood plasma?
This week’s edition of who is saying what about public health care is compiled by Pat Van Horne.
Calls grow for investigation of biopharmaceutical giant’s use of Canadian-donated blood plasma
“I think every member of Parliament deserves an explanation from Canadian Blood Services about the murky details of its agreement with Grifols,” said Steven Staples, the group’s national director of policy and advocacy of the Canadian Health Coalition to the Globe and Mail, August 13, 2025
OPSEU calls for resignation of Canadian Blood Services board
“The Canadian Blood Services CEO and Board have abandoned their mandate to protect Canada’s public blood supply. This agreement was an ethical violation of CBS’s duty to safeguard the blood system and voluntary donor base, and it happened in plain sight under the Ford government’s watch,” said JP Hornick, OPSEU/SEPFO President in a media release on August 19, 2025.
“We have seen the tragic pitfalls of corporate greed entering our blood system. Our blood, our plasma, our care, and our labour should all serve the public good – not private profits.”
Alberta’s COVID experiment is ‘bizarre and dangerous’
“(Smith) believes the secret to reforming health care, by which she means privatizing it, is the introduction of fees and co-pays to soften the Canadian public up for the coming of U.S. style pay-to-survive health care. . .What it’s not about, is saving money or preventing waste of vaccine. . . Albertans need to tell their MLAs — especially their (United Conservative Party) MLAs that they need to smarten up and follow national guidelines, and that their wanton disregard for the safety of others to suit a tiny minority of MAGA fanatics at their AGM has been duly noted,” wrote David Climenhaga, journalist and trade union communicator (follow him on @djclimenhaga), in The Tyee, August 13, 2025
Canada has most measles cases on the continent
“As of Aug. 8, 10,139 confirmed measles cases were recorded across 10 countries, representing a 33-fold increase compared to the same period in 2024, when there were 311 cases. Canada leads the pack with 4,548 measles cases, particularly in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario. . .The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says countries should strengthen routine immunization and conduct targeted vaccination campaigns in high-risk communities,” stated the Pan American Health Organization, noting that Canada has the highest number of measles cases on the continent and that more action is needed to address low vaccination rates, to The Canadian Press, August 15, 2025
Provinces and territories need to get together on health care, not just trade
“We ask (Prime Minister) Carney and the Council of the Federation: If we can find practical solutions to remove trade barriers that are bad for our economy, why can’t we find a practical solution to the barrier of unequal access to medically necessary treatments across this country, too?” said Kathleen Barnard, founder and president, and Louise Binder, health policy consultant, of a patient-led organization aimed at fighting non-melanoma skin cancers, melanoma, and ocular melanoma, Montreal Gazette, August 6, 2025
Nurses want to feel safe in the workplace
“What recruits and retains nurses is nurses who are happy with where they’re working, and who feel safe and secure… You stay where you feel like you’re valued by your employer. You don’t stay somewhere where you don’t feel safe… Mr. Employer, if you actually had a safe workplace and respected and valued your nurses, it wouldn’t be an issue to recruit and retain nurses,” said Manitoba Nurses Union President Darlene Jackson, to the Winnipeg Free Press, August 14, 2025
Racism an ongoing challenge in health care, says researcher
“I’ve heard everything from micro-aggressions, racial slurs, physical violence, a lot of assumptions being made about people [regarding] substance use and the challenges that they’re facing, just based on the fact that they’re Indigenous . . . Across the board, all of these interactions have made people very hesitant to go back and seek care. . .There’s been a lot of mistrust historically as well for these communities, and so the experiences that they’re having really do have an impact on their care-seeking behaviours moving forward.”—said Ashley Wilkinson, PhD candidate at the University of Northern British Columbia and research co-ordinator at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, ON, who interviewed unhoused people to learn if racism is impacting their efforts to get proper health care, CBC, August 14, 2025
