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The letter dated August thirteenth two thousand twenty five addressed to the Honorable Hedy Fry as Chair of the Standing Committee on Health in the House of Commons begins with concerns raised by the Globe and Mail report that Spanish drugmaker Grifols is profiting from the international sale of products made from blood plasma donated by Canadians, despite a two thousand twenty two pledge from the CEO of Canadian Blood Services that plasma collected from Canadians and none of the product made from plasma would be sold offshore. It highlights the troubling involvement of Brookfield Asset Management which has been attempting to acquire Grifols over the past year with a multi billion dollar takeover bid in late two thousand twenty four and renewed contacts with shareholders in April two thousand twenty five, signaling an ongoing desire to control a firm that exploits Canadian blood donations even if no deal has been finalized. The letter expresses deep concern over Prime Minister Mark Carney’s significant personal investments in Brookfield, suggesting a potential financial conflict of interest that could benefit him personally through such an acquisition. It poses two critical questions demanding investigation, first why foreign corporations like Grifols are profiting off blood plasma donated by Canadians without their knowledge, and second what financial gain Mark Carney would reap if Brookfield acquired Grifols given its persistent efforts to take over a company profiting from Canadian plasma. Urging the recall of the Standing Committee on Health to probe both the use of Canadian donated plasma by Grifols and the conflicts arising from the Prime Minister’s investments in Brookfield Asset Management amid its Grifols acquisition attempts, the letter concludes that Canadians expect their donated blood plasma to save lives in Canada and not to be turned into profits for foreign companies or the Prime Minister, signed by Dan Mazier MP for Riding Mountain as Shadow Minister for Health, Todd Doherty MP for Cariboo Prince George as Shadow Minister for Addictions, Mike Lake MP for Leduc Wetaskiwin, Burton Bailey MP for Red Deer as Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Wellness, Helena Konanz MP for Similkameen South Okanagan West Kootenay, and Doctor Matt Strauss MP for Kitchener South Hespeler.
This letter exposes a festering web of corruption that strikes at the heart of Canada’s healthcare integrity and political accountability, where foreign corporations like Grifols shamelessly exploit unsuspecting Canadian donors for massive profits while politicians with vested interests like Prime Minister Mark Carney stand to gain millions through shadowy investment ties, betraying public trust in a system meant to save lives but instead lining the pockets of the elite. The scandal erupted into public view with the Globe and Mail’s August eleventh two thousand twenty five article revealing that Grifols, a Spanish pharmaceutical giant plagued by its own fraud allegations, is manufacturing medicines from Canadian donated plasma and selling them abroad, directly contradicting the explicit two thousand twenty two assurance from Canadian Blood Services CEO Graham Sher that no plasma or derived products would leave the country, a pledge now exposed as a hollow lie that allowed Grifols to rake in billions from global sales while Canadians face plasma shortages at home.
Donors, often motivated by altruism or modest payments in provinces like Ontario where paid collection was controversially legalized in two thousand twenty four, are kept in the dark about their contributions fueling Grifols’ international revenue stream exceeding seven billion euros in two thousand twenty four, with net profits of one hundred fifty seven million euros largely from plasma derived immunoglobulins, a commodification of human blood that echoes Canada’s tainted blood scandal of the nineteen eighties and nineties where thousands died from contaminated products, yet here Grifols pushes forward with plans to open more paid centers in Whitby, Cambridge, and Hamilton by late two thousand twenty four and into two thousand twenty five, ignoring warnings from critics like the Canadian Health Coalition and OPSEU that this privatization risks safety and creates a two tier system where the poor sell their plasma to survive. Grifols’ history is riddled with ethical lapses, including a two thousand twenty four short seller attack by Gotham City Research accusing the company of accounting fraud through improper consolidation of entities like Haema and BPC Plasma to hide debt, leading to a forty percent stock plunge and ongoing lawsuits in the United States where a court allowed defamation claims to proceed in May two thousand twenty five, while Spain’s regulator sanctioned Gotham but also investigated market manipulation, all under the oversight of the Grifols family who own about thirty five percent and have been scrutinized for overpayments to related parties, perpetuating a culture of greed that now infects Canada’s blood supply.
At the helm of Grifols’ operations are figures like Anne Catherine Berner, the board chair appointed in June two thousand twenty five after serving as Finland’s Minister of Transport and Communications from two thousand fifteen to two thousand nineteen, who now presides over this tainted empire without addressing the plasma export betrayal, drawing millions in compensation while donors suffer potential harms like the Winnipeg man who sued in July two thousand twenty five after an equipment failure at a Grifols acquired center caused severe kidney injury during donation. Victor Grifols Deu, an executive director and fourth generation family member with a chemistry background involved since the nineteen nineties, shares in the family’s two to three billion euro stake, profiting from acquisitions like Alpha Therapeutic in two thousand three that built their global plasma dominance, yet he remains tied to the Gotham fraud allegations of debt manipulation that eroded investor trust. Albert Grifols Coma Cros, another family director elected in two thousand twenty four with a business background, benefits from the same dynastic control criticized for poor governance, while CEO Nacho Abia, promoted amid the restructuring post Gotham scandal after his time at Olympus, oversees a plasma division that saw net profits plummet to fifty nine million euros in two thousand twenty three due to rising costs, yet he pockets one to two million euros annually in salary and stock, indifferent to the ethical storm of exporting Canadian plasma products abroad for profit as revealed by Breach Media in June two thousand twenty four.
Compounding this exploitation is Brookfield Asset Management’s predatory pursuit of Grifols, a move that could amplify the profiteering from Canadian donations, with failed bids in late two thousand twenty four valuing the company at six point four five billion euros rejected for being too low, followed by resumed talks in April two thousand twenty five involving shareholders and the Grifols family, though discussions terminated in November two thousand twenty four amid demands for more information on related party deals, yet Brookfield’s persistent interest signals a hunger to integrate Grifols’ lucrative plasma business into its seven hundred billion dollar asset portfolio, boosting stock prices and executive fortunes. Brookfield’s own sordid history of controversies makes this even more alarming, accused in two thousand twenty three of tax avoidance through a global network of subsidiaries in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands that helped dodge an estimated five point three billion dollars in Canadian taxes from two thousand twenty one to two thousand twenty four, as exposed by reports topping lists of corporate tax evaders, while facing bribery allegations in Brazil dating back to two thousand thirteen where executives were charged though not CEO Bruce Flatt directly, and more recent two thousand twenty five lawsuits accusing the firm of fraud, attempted bribery, and improperly limiting investments in Elon Musk linked companies. Bruce Flatt, CEO since two thousand two with a net worth of about three billion dollars, has grown Brookfield from twenty five billion to seven hundred billion in assets under management through aggressive acquisitions in real estate and renewables, but he navigated the two thousand eight crisis while overseeing the Brazil bribery case and downplaying risks like the two thousand seventeen Home Capital debacle, profiting handsomely from salary and stock as the company engages in greenwashing by investing in fossil fuels despite transition investing claims. Tristan Tully, managing partner for private equity in Europe since two thousand twenty three, leads the Grifols negotiations with the family, drawing on his Wesleyan University education and old school investing style, yet he operates within a firm criticized for opacity and tax schemes that deprive Canada of revenue.
The most explosive element is Prime Minister Mark Carney’s deep entanglements, a man who became Canada’s twenty fourth Prime Minister in March two thousand twenty five after leading the Liberal Party, holding over ten million dollars in Brookfield investments including three million in stock and six point eight million in options as of December two thousand twenty four, before placing them in a blind trust that critics call a loophole filled smokescreen unable to resolve his one hundred three declared conflicts of interest across companies like Brookfield, Stripe, and others, forcing recusals from decisions that could benefit them as per his July two thousand twenty five ethics filing with the commissioner.
Carney, former Bank of Canada and England governor and UN climate envoy, served as Brookfield’s vice chair and head of transition investing until January two thousand twenty five, using his influence to secure government contracts and funnel ten billion dollars in pension cash to Brookfield in two thousand twenty four while advising the Trudeau government from two thousand twenty to two thousand twenty five, actions labeled as influence peddling under the Criminal Code and misappropriation of public funds by the Auditor General, rendering him ineligible for office as he personally profited.
His hypocrisy is staggering, preaching green policies and emissions caps while Brookfield invests in United States pipelines like the nine billion dollar Colonial Pipeline purchase in April two thousand twenty five, and accepting a two hundred fifty million dollar loan from the Chinese Central Bank for Brookfield during his advisory role, compromising national security as accused by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who called Carney bent over to China and unfit for office.
Public outrage on platforms like X boils over, with users like Viva Frei exposing Carney’s crippling energy policies that profit Brookfield’s offshore shielded assets in Bermuda and Cayman Islands, Rebel News investigating his tax haven maneuvers in Bermuda, and others like Martyupnorth accusing him of helping Brookfield avoid billions in taxes, labeling him a walking conflict who moved Brookfield’s offices to America before imposing damaging policies on Canada, with posts garnering thousands of likes and shares decrying this as the mother of all betrayals where Carney corporatizes Canada for personal gain through long options until two thousand thirty four.
Canada’s plasma self sufficiency drive, reliant on imports for seventy to eighty percent of immunoglobulins, led Canadian Blood Services to partner with Grifols in two thousand twenty two under a fifteen year contract riddled with loopholes allowing exports if not needed domestically, shifting to paid donations in select provinces despite bans in Quebec and British Columbia, commodifying blood and undermining voluntary systems as advocacy groups decry a betrayal that risks another tainted blood crisis.
Grifols acquired Canadian Plasma Resources centers in two thousand twenty three with full ownership planned by two thousand twenty five, processing plasma in Montreal but selling products abroad, fueling Grifols’ empire while Canadian donors face exploitation and injuries, all while Brookfield lurks to seize control and Carney’s investments swell, a corrupt nexus where elite greed trumps public health and national sovereignty, demanding immediate accountability to halt this vile profiteering.
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