Concerns are being raised over the secretive deal between Health Canada and Grifols, a Spanish owned medical firm, following the deaths of a pair of plasma donors in Winnipeg.

“According to reports, Grifols has been using blood plasma donated by Canadians to sell products overseas,” Conservative MP Dan Mazier wrote on social media.

The Manitoba MP raised the issue during a health committee hearing in the House of Commons, where he called on Grifols to disclose the terms of its agreement with the Canadian government.

On Thursday's Rebel Roundup livestream, hosts Sheila Gunn Reid and Tamara Ugolini weighed in on the government's misplaced priorities when it comes to protecting Canadians.

“Health Canada is rogue,” remarked Tamara.

“Remember when their whole campaign was 'just save one life'? Well, here you have at least two, and you haven't even seen the contact that binds these two together,” she said, after the firm's representative told the committee Health Canada was not aware of the terms of the agreement signed between Grifols and Canada Blood Services.

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“Health Canada didn't even investigate the facility” after two deaths at the Grifol's site in Winnipeg, said Sheila. “What we do know is, in a Grifols facility, while plasma was being withdrawn, two people in the same facility died — and Health Canada has not yanked their ability to operate or have they even investigated.”

Meanwhile, the public is not allowed to see the terms of an agreement that sees Canadian plasma being sold, potentially without donors' consent, for profit, Sheila noted.

“I'm not against profit; I'm a capitalist through and through,” she clarified, “but if you donated your blood to Canada Blood Services to help somebody — that may not be what happened to your blood product. It's awful.”

Like so many issues in Canada, Tamara pointed to MP Mazier's comments linking Grifols to the investment formerly chaired by Prime Minister Mark Carney, Brookfield Asset Management, which had attempted to by the Spanish company.

“It's a multilayered story,” said Tamara. “Blood suckers, literally,” replied Sheila.