Yet one sector that is still largely under for-profit control is Canada’s blood supply system, including the private sale of blood and plasma.

The privatization and deregulation of Canada’s blood system poses a threat to accessibility, safety, and equality. And perhaps the greatest failure of this for-profit system was the tainted blood scandal of the 1980s, where 30,000 Canadians were infected with hepatitis C and 2,000 were infected with HIV. Tragically, approximately 8,000 of those who received tainted blood have died or are expected to die as a result.

It is widely known as the single largest, preventable health disaster in Canadian history.