Health Committee on March 26th, 2026

[Dr. Margot Burnell]

The members who have been proposed are from the national industry association, pharmaceutical representation, biotech firms, regulatory policy and research partners. I would leave it to the task force to identify any gaps they feel they need to fill.

I would suggest that the patient voice and lived experience, as well as the voice of practising physicians, be entertained in the task force.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Okay.

I gather that you don't have any position on the membership structure of this task force.

Is that right?

[Dr. Margot Burnell]

The members who have been appointed to date cover a broad spectrum, and I would encourage the group to discuss amongst themselves any gaps to ensure that the lived experience of patients, as well as practising physicians, is included on their task force.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

That's the end of this round.

I will now go to Ms. Konanz for the Conservatives for five minutes, please.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

Ms. Hughes, if you walked down any main street in a Canadian city and asked, most Canadians wouldn't be aware of the drugs that you manufacture from Canadian blood donations, but they would be aware, from the news in the last six months, that two donors died not long after donating at two of your blood donation sites.

I appreciate that you've tried to address this today, but I want to ask you this: What can you say to Canadians to reassure them that they can have confidence in your operations, considering these two very unusual and tragic losses of life?

[Mary Hughes]

Madam Chair, Grifols has been providing life-saving plasma-derived medicines in Canada for 20 years. For Canadians, we have invested significantly in ensuring that there is a domestic security of supply of life-saving immunoglobulins for patients at the Montreal facility, the network of plasma centres and the over 800 Canadian employees working to support these patients. It hasn't changed our mission and our vision to improve the health and well-being of patients.

We are regulated by Health Canada. We continue to work with Health Canada. For any serious adverse event, we report it to Health Canada, irrespective of whether there is a causal link.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.

My next question is, did those operations and staff continue immediately after these deaths, or were the sites and staff subjected to review and retraining before you opened again? Was the facility closed temporarily? What happened? What was the timeline?

[Mary Hughes]

Madam Chair, I don't have the operational details. I can follow up and provide them.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Will you table this?

[Mary Hughes]

Yes.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.

You don't know whether the two sites in Manitoba were closed at all after these deaths, even temporarily.

[Mary Hughes]

Madam Chair, I can follow up. I don't have the details for you.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

That would be great. It would be really good to know. That's very important, I'm sure, to reassure Canadians.

I want to return to Grifols' presence in Canada. You're collecting plasma, through Canadian blood donations, for the purpose of manufacturing immunoglobulins in Canada. However, you're also collecting by-products from those blood donations, which you pay Canadians for, to make albumin and sell it abroad. I'd like to know this, if possible: What's the average payment you make to Canadians for their blood donation, compared to your profit margin? How much does Grifols make from the sale of immunoglobulins and albumin abroad, even a ballpark estimate?

[Mary Hughes]

Madam Chair, as I noted earlier, the details of the contract are confidential. As a publicly traded company, our consolidated financial statements are available on our corporate website.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Okay. To go back to the deaths that happened at the Grifols site in Canada, or in any other countries.... Actually, that would be a question: Have there been any other deaths in Grifols facilities in any other countries?

[Mary Hughes]

Madam Chair, no.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Okay. There haven't been, so these investigations haven't taken place in any other country.

[Mary Hughes]

Madam Chair, as far as I know...but I can look into that and the details. Our president of plasma procurement oversees plasma globally.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

If you could table that, it would be—

[Mary Hughes]

We can certainly table that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have one minute.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.

How often has Health Canada reviewed your blood collection sites or procedures?

[Mary Hughes]

Madam Chair, once again, on the operations and for this level of detail, I'll have to get back to you on that particular question.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

You can table that also. Great.

Has Health Canada been provided the agreement between Grifols and Canadian Blood Services, yes or no?

[Mary Hughes]

Madam Chair, Grifols has not provided the agreement. I cannot speak on behalf of Canadian Blood Services. The agreement is confidential.