a private plasma collector was permitted to open in saskatoon in 2016 and in moncton in 2017. since then, every bag of plasma collected by the company has been sold on the international market. contributions to our self-sufficiency? zero. it will be no different in alberta. why? because the company has sold their plasma to a fractionation facility in germany, which was recently sold to a chinese investment firm. in reality, paid blood brokers operating in alberta would be ceding control of their plasma supply, by proxy, to china.
the argument for private blood brokers is put forward like this: let private industry take over plasma collection, they will pay people to sell their plasma like they do in the u.s., which has a huge plasma export business, jobs will come to the province, and canada will become self-sufficient. and none of it is true. canadian blood services had to go to the canadian senate last year to testify against the deeply flawed propaganda that blood-brokers pitch to government.
it is also not illegal to compensate donors in alberta under the current law that mr. yao wants to repeal. it is illegal for private companies to pay donors to sell their plasma and turn over profits by selling our blood as a commodity. this is why pharmaceutical companies are trying to repeal the law. if they can control the supply chain, they can hold governments hostage with astronomical prices for plasma drugs. it’s a trick and a terrible business deal. we lose supply, we lose qualified donors, and we lose control over mitigating public health emergencies.