Bill C-316 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act (organ donors)

This enactment amends the Canada Revenue Agency Act to authorize the Canada Revenue Agency to enter into an agreement with a province or a territory regarding the collection and disclosure of information required for establishing or maintaining an organ and tissue donor registry in the province or territory.

Canada Revenue Agency Act

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

moved that Bill C-316, An Act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act (organ donors), be read the third time and passed.

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to rise to speak to my private member's bill, Bill C-316, at third reading.

For those who may not be familiar with Bill C-316, it is a legislative proposal that would allow Canadians to indicate their interest in being an organ and tissue donor through their annual tax forms. It is just that simple.

Right now, the tax forms can only be used for the collection of taxes. This bill would create a legal exemption, just like that made for Elections Canada, to allow this important question to be added to the tax forms.

If we have any hope of getting these changes to the tax forms implemented in time for the 2019 tax year, we need to move this through both the House now and the Senate early next spring. If we miss that deadline, the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA, will not be able to implement the required changes for another year. We cannot let that happen. We need to get this done quickly.

This bill was unanimously supported at both second reading and committee, and has progressed from its first debate in the House to its last debate in just 23 sitting days. I think that is a record.

I do want to reiterate my sincere thanks to all the parties in the House for showing such support and offering their genuine co-operation to move this proposal forward so quickly. In particular, I must express a great debt of gratitude to the hon. member for Red Deer—Lacombe for the quick progress of this bill. The bill was not actually scheduled to be back for third reading debate until February 25 of next year, but the hon. member for Red Deer—Lacombe graciously traded his position in the PMB calendar with me to make this debate possible today and to further ensure that this legislation is passed. I know the member for Red Deer—Lacombe is a strong supporter of improving Canada's organ and tissue donation system, and his willingness to help prioritize this bill demonstrates that. His graciousness might be proven one day to have resulted in the saving of hundreds of lives. I sincerely thank the hon. member.

I also want to thank all of my colleagues on the health committee who have been vocal, determined and dedicated supporters of this bill. As I said in the health committee the other day, “I have referred to this bill several times as 'my bill', as it stands in my name, but I do want to say that this is really our bill.” It is our bill, because we worked together in committee as a single team to make it a reality. We found a shared goal and a sensible solution, and worked together to make it happen.

I also want to thank the government, yes, the government, for its allocation of $4 million in funding in the recent fall economic statement to facilitate the implementation of this legislation. Governments do not often commit funding ahead of legislation being passed, especially when for a private member's bill by an opposition member of Parliament. The fact that funding has been committed is very much appreciated and signifies an impressive willingness by the government to see this initiative happen.

I must also thank Mr. Terence Scheltema, my assistant here in Ottawa, for his tireless efforts throughout the entire process of this bill. Without him, this bill would not be before us today.

My final thanks go to my friend, Robert Sallows, a double-lung transplant recipient who recently passed away at the age of 31. He was, and always will be, a hero and a true inspiration.

At the health committee last week, we had an opportunity to hear from CRA officials. They told us that for this proposal to be in place for the 2019 tax season, the legislation needs to be passed by early spring. I think that is quite possible, again, thanks to people like the member for Red Deer—Lacombe.

A few other things became very clear in committee, and I want to talk about them for a moment. First of all, for this initiative to be most effective, the question about organ and tissue donation needs to be placed on the front of the tax form. The committee members made this very clear to the CRA. I was pleased that the CRA has acknowledged this as a priority of Parliament and committed to putting this on the front page.

I also think that the committee process was very informative and allowed the CRA to demonstrate its commitment to making this proposal a reality by working co-operatively with all provinces and territories on this matter.

The path ahead for the CRA will require a lot of work and dedication by many people to make sure this change happens smoothly. In advance, I want to thank all of the CRA employees who will work on this project for their dedication and persistence. I know there will be days of frustration as small details are worked out and circled back and forth in the consultation process with the provinces and territories. However, when the 2019 tax forms come out and thousands, perhaps millions, more donors register, they will know they have played a key role in saving the lives of some of their fellow Canadians. Therefore, I implore the people at the CRA to dig deep on those tough days and push forward to make sure that we get this done as soon as possible with the highest rate of effectiveness. Their work will have purpose and the results will be rewarding.

One other aspect I want to spend a few minutes on is something the bill does not directly address, but is a significant problem in Canada. Research has shown that as many as one in five potential organ and tissue donors has their final wish overturned by their families at their time of death. That is 20% of families who are overturning the wishes of their deceased loved ones. That is just sad. The decision by their families are robbing those in need of a life-saving transplant of a chance to live. To me, this is unconscionable and has to change. We can and must do better.

It is beyond my understanding how we can allow people to die at a rate of five a week, while at the same time burying, incinerating or putting to rest perfectly good organs every single day. My daughters know I want to be an organ donor, and they know I expect them to follow through on this wish.

As the Christmas holidays approach, families will gather in every corner of the country. I encourage willing organ donors to please speak to their families during this time, to make sure their families know that their final wish is to be an organ and tissue donor, and to let them know how they would feel if they were to find out the family failed to honour their wish.

Throughout my organ and tissue donation advocacy work, both here and in Alberta, I have been approached by many people who have donated the organs and tissues of their deceased loved ones. Every single one of them has made it clear to me that they found the ability to donate to someone in need as a very essential part of their grief and healing process. Their ability to find some good in a time of utter grief and loss was profound and everlasting. Without exception, they encouraged me to let other families know that sharing their loved one made accepting their loss so much easier.

Their loss has purpose, and their gift has brought unimaginable relief and joy to another family in need. By honouring the wishes of their loved ones, they have allowed grandparents, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers to live. Their gift has meant that many parents have not had to see their children die. That is a legacy to leave for their loved ones.

We all have our own reasons for supporting this legislation. Some members in the House are living organ donors, the real heroes among us. Some members here have families in need of a life-saving transplant. Some members themselves, or their family members, have medical conditions that they know one day they might require their getting a life-saving transplant. Other members are able to love, laugh and live with loved ones because they got a life-saving transplant and are still with us here today.

No matter members' reasons for supporting the bill, it is very much appreciated.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague once again on a creative initiative. He has done something that is done all too rarely in this House: He has reached across party lines, he has identified an issue of importance to Canadians and one that touches constituents of everybody in this House, and he has drafted a very practical and positive measure that is achievable. I want to congratulate him on that one more time.

I have two questions. We did hear evidence at the health committee, and I am sure the member is aware that having a presumed consent system, where all citizens are presumed to be organ or tissue donors unless they choose otherwise, results in very high rates of organ donation in other countries. I am wondering if the member thinks that is a step that this country ought to explore in the future.

Second, does the member believe that the government will co-operate with him in order to make this bill a reality so that we can get this question on Canadians' tax returns in time for the 2019 tax year?

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Madam Speaker, on the first question with regard to presumed consent, I believe that if my bill is implemented, and implemented soon, I do not think the requirement for an opt-out system is necessary. I have high hopes that if the question is on the tax forms, which reach likely 90% of Canadians, those who make money and pay taxes, that would be all we need rather than having to go forward to a presumed consent. Of course, if it does fail and people do not tend to sign up on the registries through their tax form, then an opt-out presumed consent is perhaps something that we would need to look into.

With regard to the member's second question, I certainly hope that the government continues to move forward in a positive direction. I am optimistic. The Liberals have provided the money to move forward on this, so I absolutely believe that they will continue to move this forward. I hope it does go quickly in the Senate because there is a deadline from the CRA, as I mentioned.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade]

Madam Speaker, I want to acknowledge the work that my colleague has done with regard to this bill, and to congratulate him on the way that he has approached such an important issue in this country with tremendous sensitivity in understanding how this affects families and individuals. I have had the opportunity to see life from such a program and it is remarkable. It is remarkable for those in mourning; it is remarkable for those in celebration.

What can we all do as members of Parliament to help promote this program in the country and in our constituencies, and to make people more aware of the trend that he is setting right here in the legislature today?

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her kind words. I absolutely have witnessed, as well, the joy of seeing somebody wake up after surgery knowing he or she has received a life gift from someone else. It is truly emotional. It is something that affects one and has certainly increased my passion to continue to move forward on organ and tissue donation advocacy.

With regard to what we can do here in the House, I would encourage members to please share with their constituents through their mail-outs and in any way possible, to share with Canadians the fact that it is now on the tax form and to encourage them to please sign up for organ and tissue donation registries. As I mentioned in my speech, sitting around their dinner tables at Christmastime and ensuring that their family knows that their wishes are to donate their organs is so important. I would ask that all members please do that.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

It is my duty pursuant to Standing Order 38 to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, International Trade; the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, Veterans Affairs; the hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît, International Trade.

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Madam Speaker, first, let me thank the member for Calgary Confederation for introducing his private member's bill and for his tireless and passionate work on this issue. His personal commitment to this and the co-operative way he has worked with MPs from all parties has moved members of the House, as demonstrated by the unanimous all-party support Bill C-316 received at second reading.

I would also like to acknowledge the member for Edmonton Manning for his early advocacy on this issue and his private member's bill and, more recent, Motion No. 189, organ and tissue donation, brought forward by the member for Thérèse-De Blainville.

Our government understands that organ and tissue donation and transplantation is an important part of our health care system that relies on the generosity of Canadians to give the gift of life. We know many Canadians, when approached, are willing to be a donor, however, reaching them to get that consent is hit and miss.

We all recognize that more work is needed to address the chronic shortages of organ and tissue donations for transplantation across the country. It goes without saying that transplants not only save lives, but also drastically improve the quality of life for the recipients. In some cases, transplants are the only treatment for end-stage organ failure.

The Canadian Transplant Society notes that more than 1,600 Canadians are added to organ wait-list every year. In 2017, more than 4,333 people were waiting for transplants across Canada. That same year, 2,979 organs were transplanted.

Over the past decade, the number of deceased organ donors has gone up by 42%, so that is good news. While that is encouraging, unfortunately, the number of people needing a transplant has also gone up during that same time. In many ways, we are not making progress and many people are continuing to suffer.

Hundreds of Canadians could no longer wait, and did not get a transplant in time. In 2017, 242 people died while waiting for a transplant.

As our population ages, the need for transplants will only increase. Any one of us could one day find ourselves in need of a donation. As I have mentioned before in previous debates on the bill, and I am sorry, I am getting a little emotional, my sons have a very rare genetic condition resulting in serious heart disease. The only option currently for my eldest when his heart fails to pump effectively is to have a heart transplant. I am hopeful for more options in the future through cardiac and transplant research. However, we must do more to ensure Canadians have timely and effective access to the care they need.

That is why the government is standing in support of Bill C-316. By working together, we can improve the organ and tissue donation and transplantation system and ensure that Canadians have timely and effective access to that care.

Bill C-316 would enact a provision that would authorize the Canada Revenue Agency to enter into an agreement with a provincial or territorial government to collect information required for establishing or maintaining an organ and tissue donor registry in the province or territory.

Specifically, the CRA would collect and share personal information for individuals who wish to receive information from their provincial or territorial government on becoming an organ or tissue donor. A memorandum of understanding with the willing provinces and territories would need to be signed so the CRA could share information from potential donors. To this end, the CRA would work diligently with provincial and territorial governments to put these agreements in place.

Canadians can be assured that we are committed to improving the organ and tissue donation and the transplantation system.

In the meantime, people need to know that registering to donate is not complicated and that registration can be done at any time. We know one organ donor can potentially save as many as eight lives and a tissue donor can improve the quality of life for up to 75 people. This is the gift of life, not only for the individuals with the serious health problems who are direct beneficiaries, but also for their family members and loved ones.

I want to mention again the significance of this gift of life, as we saw in the Humboldt disaster. I am sure people have heard the stories by the member opposite.

I have my own story in my own community. A vibrant, loving young mother, an inspired teacher, suddenly lost her life when she suffered a stroke. She had signed up to be a donor and was able to give the gift of life and improve the outcomes for eight other people. Out of one family's pain came joy for eight other families who were forever grateful for her final act of kindness.

Living donors who are at the age of majority and in good health can donate a kidney, part of a liver and a lobe of a lung and continue to lead full and rewarding lives. We know that one donor, as I said, can potentially save up to eight lives and improve the quality of life for up to 75 people. Lives are transformed through these miracles.

Canadians can count on this government to continue to improve the organ and tissue donation and transplantation system. To demonstrate this commitment, the Minister of Health announced on October 18, 2018, renewed funding of $3.3 million for the Canadian donation and transplant research program, CDTRP. This funding allows the CDTRP to continue its research to advance organ and tissue donation and transplantation in Canada. It is through research that we can increase the availability of transplants for Canadians and transform clinical outcomes for transplant patients from coast to coast. It is absolutely incredible what is being done in research institutions in Canada.

I had the opportunity to see the work being done in Toronto at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. They were working on keeping a cow's heart alive outside of the body for weeks, which would provide an opportunity to do external repairs to fix damaged organs and potentially allow for treatments that would not be possible implanted in a body. This is most promising research to be able to make best use of all the organs donated, as many get rejected due to defects or disease.

Our government is committed to supporting Bill C-316. We will collaborate with the provinces and territories upon royal assent to implement this legislation as quickly as possible to be in place for the beginning of the 2019 tax filing season.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to stand on behalf of the New Democratic Party of Canada. All my colleagues in our caucus and I offer our support to this important bill.

Canada's New Democrats believe that we must make every possible effort to ensure that every Canadian who needs an organ or tissue transplant receives it. We know that one donor could save up to eight lives and benefit more than 75 people, yet at 18 donors per million people, Canada's current donation rate puts us in the lower third of developed countries. Therefore, I particularly welcome this bill as an attempt to try to remedy that unfortunate state of events, because allowing Canadians to register as an organ donor through their tax returns will no doubt help increase registration rates, improve consent rates and help build a donation culture in Canada.

By way of background, Canadians are currently dying on wait-lists because our organ donation rate is so unacceptably and unnecessarily low. At present, only 20% of Canadians have joined their province's organ and tissue registry. Provinces like Ontario are taking steps to make it easier by asking about organ donations on health card and driver's licence renewals, which has increased registration. However, even with everything in place, some 20% of families refuse to transplant a registered donor's organs.

In its recent study on organ donation, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health learned that of the 4,492 Canadians currently on the wait-list, 260 died waiting for an organ in 2016. In order to better meet that demand, improved coordination across provinces and territories is absolutely required.

Bill C-316, the bill before the House, allows the federal government to coordinate with provinces and territories to allow Canadians to register as organ donors through their federal tax filing. In this case, individuals would be required to consent to the sharing of their information before the agency would share that information with the provincial and territorial levels of government for the purpose of receiving information that hopefully would result in their being added to an organ donor registry.

I pause here to say that, in my view, it would be better if there was a box on everybody's tax return that taxpayers could check off to directly indicate they want to be a donor and the information would go straight to an actual organ donor registry. That is not what this bill does; however, in my opinion, it is worthy of support, because I think it will improve the situation, but I think that a more direct portal and a national registry is ultimately a better way to go.

Of course, this bill aligns with the long-standing advocacy and legislative work of New Democrat members of Parliament around organ donation. This bill is essentially a version of a previous proposal to create what I just referred to, a pan-Canadian organ donor registry, that would coordinate and promote organ donation throughout Canada. That bill had previously been introduced seven times both by Liberals and New Democrats. Judy Wasylycia-Leis, a New Democrat member of Parliament from Winnipeg, introduced a bill in 2002, 2003 and 2008. Malcolm Allen, who was a New Democratic Party member of Parliament from Welland, introduced a bill in 2009 and 2013. Unfortunately, of those five times that New Democrats have introduced bills to set up a pan-Canadian organ donation registry, neither the Conservative nor Liberal governments have ever taken up that excellent idea that would save lives.

I want to share some facts with members and any of the Canadian public who might be watching this debate.

While 90% of Canadians support organ donation in concept, less than 20% have made plans to donate. Unlike the United States, Canada does not have a centralized list of people waiting for an organ. The current Liberal government voted against a bill in 2016 that would have supported the creation of a national registry to align with the United States to help identify those wishing to donate an organ and those who need them.

That leaves us with a patchwork of provincial and territorial systems, the efficiency of which varies greatly from province to province. In the case where someone dies outside of the province where the individual is registered for organ donation, it is unlikely that the hospital would be able to identify the individual as a donor. This is one of the reasons that a centralized national registry is so much better.

Online registration is available in only five provinces: my province of British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. Even if someone is registered as a donor, the family always has the final say. In Ontario, about one in five registered organ donors have their wishes overridden by family members, according to a 2016 report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

To put this into perspective, for every patient in Canada who does receive an organ transplant, there are two more on the wait-list. In 2016, over 4,500 people were waiting for organ transplants, 2,800 organs were transplanted and, again, 260 people died waiting for a transplant that never came.

In the past 10 years, the number of deceased organ donors has gone up, but the number of people needing a transplant has also gone up. In fact, over 1,600 Canadians are added to organ wait-lists yearly. While most Canadians consent to donate after death, it is also possible to donate organs while one is still alive. Living donors who are the age of majority and in good health can donate a kidney, part of their liver or even a lobe of their lung. About 1% of Canadians who die in hospital donate an organ, but 99% do not, which works out to about 18 per million, about half the rate in countries such as Spain, which is 34 per million, and the United States at 26 per million.

I want to talk about the presumed consent system, because that is why countries like Spain and other European countries have organ donation and transplant rates that are twice as high as Canada's. It is because they have moved to a presumed consent system, which means that every citizen is presumed to consent to be an organ donor unless they choose otherwise. Individual choice, of course, is respected, but it vastly increases the pool of people who are available for organ donation.

The truth is, as I said earlier, over 90% of Canadians agree with the concept of organ donation, but it is difficult or confusing for them to know how to do that, and so most of those wishes go unexpressed. However, if we changed our system to a presumed consent system, we would have the best of all worlds. We would still respect individual choice for those who, for a variety of reasons, do not want to donate, but we would vastly increase the number of organs and tissue available for donation and hence save the lives of so many more Canadians who are waiting for an organ transplant.

It is funny that Canada is the only developed country without national organ donation legislation such as the 1984 U.S. National Organ Transplant Act. The comments that I am making were borne out repeatedly when we studied this bill at committee, and I will read some of the comments we received from people with respect to a national database.

Dr. Norman Kneteman, professor and director, Division of Transplant Surgery at the University of Alberta said that:

...the Canadian Transplant Registry that CBS has built is in place; the computer system exists. The challenge is how we get the information into it. In Canada, all the reporting and transplant and donation in our history has been voluntary, and because of that, it's full of defects; it's not reliable. We have to get beyond that, and we need to be thinking about how we are going to fund the activity of getting the information into the database so the professionals, the researchers...have something to work with.

The Kidney Foundation of Canada backed that up. It said:

Currently, there is a lack of data concerning missed donor opportunities in Canada, which stems from inconsistency in the frequency, methods, and scope of data collection between jurisdictions. Furthermore, this data is not centrally accessible to patients on the waitlist, researchers, clinicians, administrators, or policy makers. Current Canadian approaches to measurement and reporting of potential donor identification and referral are fragmented and lack consistency, timeliness and accessibility of information.

It is rare that one can identify a policy response to a problem that is so obvious and achievable. We need a national organ donor registry in this country. We need a presumed consent system in this country. Why? It is because those two policy initiatives have been identified by all the stakeholders and all the experts. We know that it will increase organ and tissue donation in Canada and save lives. The New Democrats will continue to work towards those ends.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, the issue of organ and tissue donation has come up for debate in the House on a number of occasions, and I have found that the debate on this subject invokes more emotion than debates on other subjects, and in a very positive way.

Whether it is the sponsor of this bill or other members who have had the opportunity to address the issue, I have witnessed that it is a very personal issue. I really do appreciate members' willingness to share their stories and thoughts and I recognize their passion.

I am sure the sponsor of the bill has listened very carefully to what has been said. I want to compliment his willingness and co-operative approach in trying to pass legislation that concerns an important issue to all Canadians.

I was a health critic in the province of Manitoba. Every so often the issue of organ donation would come up. It was an issue of utmost importance, and one on which there was lobbying. At the time, provincial MLAs said that something needed to be put on driver's licences, that maybe people should have to opt out as opposed to opt in to organ donation. All sorts of ideas were put forward as to how we might get more people to participate in organ donation.

I did a quick search on Google to get a better sense of organ donation. Well over 50 lives can be directly affected through the untimely passing of an individual who made the commitment to organ donation. The individual's passing could contribute to 50-plus lives being saved in a profound and positive fashion. When I say “positive”, I mean it could be anything from a life-saving heart transplant to a tissue transplant. The recipient might not be in a life-threatening situation but the donation of either an organ or tissue would be very important to him or her.

I want to emphasize to those who might be following this debate that we need to work with different jurisdictions. There are certain aspects of this for which the provinces and territories should be at the table. It is important to recognize, as the member across the way has done, that Ottawa needs to play a strong leadership role. My New Democrat friend referenced the importance of having a national registry. That may be something we could strive for.

On a Saturday a few weeks back, I met with a constituent at a local restaurant. The individual was virtually in tears when he talked about his niece who needed an organ donation. She had lived in Winnipeg but had moved to another province. It is hard to think of a young 15-year-old or 16-year-old girl with so much potential having to plead for help. She lives in Alberta and there are special circumstances surrounding the situation. My daughter, who happens to be an MLA, became engaged in the situation. We appealed through some media outlets for help and we are hoping and praying that the appeal will be successful.

There are far too many examples I could cite. I suspect that if we were to canvass all 300-plus members of Parliament, we would hear some very personal stories about how individuals could be assisted, lives could be saved and so forth.

I truly believe that we are moving forward, but not nearly as fast as we could be on this particular issue. I would like a bigger commitment to co-operate and facilitate something that would be in the national interest in terms of having a data bank from coast to coast to coast. That is ultimately what we should strive to achieve. However, we should not kid ourselves. It is not easy.

If members do a quick search on the Internet, they will find that different provinces have different approaches. If someone on Prince Edward Island needs a liver or another organ, that person, and his or her family, wants to know that whatever can be done is being done and that it goes far beyond the boundaries of Prince Edward Island. That is something we should strive for. Obviously, there are things in place to assist someone from P.E.I., but it is not as simple as it should be.

The point is that we need more organization, co-operation and collaboration among the different partners. I am referring to the provinces, territories and the federal government. That is what we need on the one hand. On the other hand, we need promotion to make the public more aware. We could talk about the statistics. There is no doubt that in Canada, we could do a lot better in terms of getting more people engaged by stressing how they could impact the lives of others by checking off a box.

Organizations have gone out of their way to simplify the process. For example, in the province of Ontario, there are websites that are very simply designed. It is easy to navigate the system to register. There is a national website. Those who may be following the debate can go to the national website, which links to the many provincial websites so that no matter where people happen to live, they can become directly engaged.

Some of the best known contributions are through blood banks. We talk about the G7 and western countries. In terms of Canada's participation in blood banks and organ and tissue donation, Canada does not fare very well. It is purely guessing on my part that one of the primary reasons is that we do not have a coordinated approach with the different stakeholders. I believe that could ensure that we have the ideal list. We need promotional campaigns and recruitment drives.

There has to be consent. All parliamentarians recognize the importance of consent. To that degree, it is getting people to buy in and provide their consent the best way we can.

I appreciate what the member is attempting to do and hope that at some point, the bill will pass.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to speak to Bill C-316. I want to start by congratulating the member for Calgary Confederation for bringing the bill forward to the House of Commons and doing it in a manner that sought the support and input of many Canadians, and members of the House as well.

The bill itself recognizes the value of organ and tissue donation and transplantation and the important role that plays in protecting the health and safety of Canadians. I think all of us at some point or other in our lives have known people who have been confronted with that situation, whether a family with a loved one who is on a wait-list, or someone else needing an essential organ or transplant for their future survival and ability to continue to live a good quality life, or a family that has to deal with the grief of losing a family member and is faced with a difficult decision at the time of their sudden death. That cannot be easy. I think we have all heard of many of these stories and situations.

The bill allows people to reflect upon their own lives and those of others around them. It gives them the opportunity to make a very important decision on what will happen to their organs and tissues upon their death, so those kinds of decisions are not left to others and family members at a time of tremendous grief.

My colleague, the member for King—Vaughan, who spoke earlier was very emotional in her speech, but was certainly able to relate to this particular situation in a way that many of us cannot. She talked about her own family and how this issue has hit the heart of it, with the emotional decisions and trauma of having a family member who might need an organ transplant at some point, and their reflections on that decision. Obviously, this bill will go to heart of what many Canadians and many families might face in this difficult situation they might face in the future.

We also know that the bill before us today is one of the pieces of legislation the Minister of Health and our government have been following through on in their mandate. The minister has been working with provinces and territories on this very legislation to try to facilitate some collaboration, some partnership, across the country when it comes to an organ and tissue donation and transplantation system that would give Canadians timely and effective access to the kind of care they need.

I think most of us who listened to our colleague from the NDP cite the statistics of the numbers of people currently on wait-lists for organ and tissue donations and transplantation and of those who have died waiting can agree that far too many people are still on those wait-lists.

We can also agree that far too many Canadians die waiting, waiting for organ and tissue transplants that are necessary for them to continue to live and have a good quality of life.

I do not think any Canadian wants that to happen. It is all our responsibility to allow for a system that will ensure more people become organ donors, that there is a system in place to allow those who need transplants to get them. It is all our responsibility as Canadians that if we can bring life to someone, we bring life to that person.

In my riding, I have a very close friend and a family that went through such an experience. The family was faced with the decision upon the death of its son, which was very sudden, on whether to donate his organs for transplantation. That was a difficult decision, one I cannot even imagine. At a time when his parents were already shocked, heartbroken and in despair, they made a decision that their son's organs would be donated and used for transplantation.

Just recently, they had the opportunity to meet an individual who received one of those organs, an individual who today is enjoying a good quality of life, bringing joy to his family, to his grandchildren, watching his grandchildren and his children continue to grow and be a part of their lives.

As difficult as it was for her, her husband and her daughter at that time, knowing that in some way their son had been able to give this gift of life helped them through what had been one of the most tragic and difficult situations in their lives. It has helped them look at grief in a different way.

It was probably a couple of weeks ago when I was listening to CBC Radio's The Current one morning. She was on the radio, talking about this situation and so was the recipient who had received the heart as part of that donation. It was one of the saddest yet most inspiring stories I had heard in a very long time.

I do not think any of us wish for any family to be placed in that situation. By allowing this as a question, as a part of the Canada Revenue Agency work that it does through the application process, in reaching out to all Canadians, creating that awareness and allowing Canadians to make that decision to become a donor, we not only give them a sense of comfort in the decision they make, but we give their families a sense of comfort as well. Hopefully, at the end of the day, we are able to bring light to more Canadians who need it.

I am happy to support Bill C-316. I know many members of the House will, including government members. I am proud of the fact that as a government we have already stepped up to do many of the things outlined in the bill. In addition, we have been able to invest more into research related to transplantation, this year it is $100 million additional, to ensure these transplantations are successful.

We are continuing to work with research agencies, with science, along with families to ensure we can improve the system of organ and tissue donation in Canada.

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Madam Speaker, I am extremely pleased to rise today in support of Bill C-316. I would like to thank the member for Calgary Confederation for bringing this forward.

One of my friends once told me that the best speeches are given from the heart, that it is not about great notes or somebody who writes us a good speech. My speech today is coming from the heart. I am going to tell a little story about Nick. I did speak to Nick and I asked him if I could speak in the House on why this was so important and why it was important to him.

I first met Nick 21 years ago when he showed up at my door with my oldest son. He was an eight year old. As soon as he walked into the house, I noticed he was coughing. I asked him if had a really bad cold and he said, no, that he had a chronic disease called cystic fibrosis and because of that he had a hard time breathing and a lot of digestive problems. He explained the whole disease to me. Nick became a huge part of our lives. He was my son's best friend through his whole time growing up.

Nick's medication was kept in our cupboards. Oftentimes Nick would spend the night and he needed it to survive. Nick would come to the cottage with us and he would bring his breathing machine and his medications, but he never let it slow him down. There were a couple of times as Nick was growing up that he ended up in intensive care in the Halifax hospital because of his condition. A number of times we sat our son down, because they were very close, they had been friends since they were very young, and we told him we did not know if Nick would get out of the hospital. We had those conversations and we always knew it was a possibility. It was always really tough, when dealing with a young child and our own kids, trying to explain to them that this could happen.

Nick was amazing. He continued to beat the odds and he got out of the hospital both times. I remember when the Children's Wish Foundation asked him what his wish would be. Unfortunately, at that point in his life, he was very sick. He said that what he really wanted to do was make memories with his best friends. Therefore, Nick, my son and one of their other friends went to the big city for the weekend. The foundation gave them money to go shopping. They went to movies, ate steaks and they made memories. To this day, at 29 years old, when they get together, they still talk about it. It was just such a wonderful thing.

However, as everyone else was moving on, going to school and getting degrees, Nick was struggling more and more as he got older. Nick continued to go to university. He would oftentimes go for a semester and then have to take a semester off because he was too sick to continue. His dream was to become an architect. He continued to go to university and then he would take time off because of his health.

About a year and a half ago, Nick got very sick. I remember talking to him and him saying to me, “It's like I'm breathing through a straw”. If we think about that, how would that feel? Every breath we take and feeling like we are breathing through a straw.

Nick was put on the waiting list for a double lung transplant and he continued to deteriorate. One of the challenges for individuals who are that sick is having to deal with this. We live in a province that does not do transplants. Nick had to go to Toronto to have this transplant. His family needed $20,000 to be raised in our community in order for him to live there while he waited. Unfortunately, Nick ended up in intensive care on life support, waiting, because he was failing so badly.

However, this is a great news story. In July, Nick got a double lung transplant. It was a 10-hour surgery. He was on life support before the surgery. He is doing great. He is out of the hospital. He is back home. He says that he will never take for granted every breath he takes. One of the things he is also very cognizant of is that somebody else died in order for him to have the transplant.

It took almost two years for him to get a lung transplant. It is so important for us to sign donor cards and to ensure we have bills like this that will encourage more people to become donors so people like Nick are not left waiting for two years.

I am really pleased Nick is doing as well as he is. I want to thank the member opposite for the bill. It is very important that we continue to support these initiatives, that we continue to work with the provinces and territories and ensure we play a leadership role in transplants, ensuring they are available to people.

It would be great if there were some way we could also support people financially so the communities do not have to raise as much money to send people to places like Toronto for their surgeries.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

The member actually has five minutes left, which she can have the next time this matter is before the House.

The time provided for the consideration of private members' business has now expired and the order is dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.

The House resumed from December 5 consideration of the motion that Bill C-316, An Act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act (organ donors), be read the third time and passed.

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to debate Bill C-316, an act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act with regard to organ donors, introduced by my colleague from Calgary Confederation.

My colleague's bill would authorize the Canada Revenue Agency to enter into an agreement with a province or a territory regarding the collection and disclosure of information required for establishing or maintaining an organ and tissue donor registry in the province or territory. With authorization from the taxpayer in their last tax return, the CRA could disclose to the province or territory the individual resides in the information collected under the agreement.

The NDP supports this bill. We firmly believe that we must take all necessary steps to ensure that every Canadian gets the organ or tissue transplant they need. This is not new to us. Since 2002, two NDP MPs on five occasions have introduced a bill to create a Canada-wide organ donor registry and to coordinate and promote organ donation across Canada.

This bill is essentially a weaker version of what we have been calling for for some time in order to allow anyone who needs a transplant to have access to the organs or tissues needed.

In this Parliament, the Conservative member for Edmonton Manning, whose son has received three liver transplants, had once again introduced a bill to establish a Canadian organ donor registry. Bill C-223 was debated in the House in 2016, but was defeated when the Liberal caucus voted against it. The health minister at the time, who is currently Minister of Indigenous Services, defended that Liberal Party decision by saying, “This is a matter that is under provincial jurisdiction, and it is for that reason that the bill was unsupportable.”

It is interesting that the Liberals claim to be the great champions of the provinces when it suits them, but then impose their decisions in other situations. That is another story.

That being said, we truly hope that this time the Liberals will support this new bill that essentially seeks to have the federal government collaborate with the provinces and territories to help them implement their own organ and tissue donor registry. What everyone in the House needs to realize is that Canadians registered on a waiting list to get an organ or tissue transplant are dying, in part because of our low donation rate.

Currently only 20% of Canadians are registered organ and tissue donors in their province or territory. Some provinces and territories are already taking steps to increase the number of registered donors, but, unfortunately, despite these initiatives, far too few people consent to have their organs or tissue removed and transplanted to people in need.

According to a recent study by the Standing Committee on Health, in 2016 alone, 260 out of 4,492 people registered on a transplant list died before getting the organ or tissue they needed to survive. These are our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers and children. This has to stop. Losing one person is one too many.

The NDP believes that, by passing the bill, the federal government could help without interfering in provincial jurisdiction. I will say it again: if it is passed, the bill we are debating today will make it possible for the federal government to co-operate with the provinces and territories and make it easier for people to sign up to be organ donors.

Of course, special measures would have to be implemented to ensure that taxpayers consent to giving personal information to their province or territory of residence so they can be added to an organ donor registry, as it would otherwise not be possible to forward this type of information to other levels of government.

One donor can save up to eight lives and help more than 75 people by consenting to the harvesting of organs or tissue. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, Canada is lagging behind when it comes to organ donation. In fact, Canada's donation rate of 18 donors per million people puts us in the bottom third of developed countries.

The objective of this bill is to increase the number of donors by making it possible for Canadian taxpayers to register with their province's or territory's organ and tissue donation registry by providing their consent on their income tax return.

This legislative change will improve the consent rate and promote a culture of organ and tissue donation in Canada. Many health professionals and organizations support this bill and additional incentives for people to consent to organ and tissue donation. All it takes is a little political will.

I would also like to take this opportunity to speak directly to everyone tuning in and strongly encourage them to sign up for organ donation using whatever procedure their home province or territory has in place and, most importantly, to discuss their wishes with their family members.

I really want to emphasize that last point because, unfortunately, even if a person has made the choice to be an organ donor, family members have the final say. According to a 2016 Ontario study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, families vetoed the donor's wishes in one in five cases, which is huge.

I would also like Canadians to keep in mind what I said earlier, and that is that one donor can save up to eight lives and improve the quality of life of 75 people through tissue donation. What is more, age does not prevent people from becoming donors. In fact, the oldest organ donor in Canada was over 90 years old, and the oldest tissue donor was over 100. Medical history also does not prevent people from registering as donors. People with serious illnesses can sometimes donate their organs or tissue. Each potential donor is assessed individually.

If this bill is passed, Canadians will have a new way to consent to donating their organs and tissue. They will be able to do so via their income tax return and by consenting to allow their personal information to be shared with their province or territory of residence. If the bill does pass, I strongly encourage people to use this method. It will save lives.

I want to take advantage of this opportunity I have to address the House today to thank all those who work behind the scenes and who make us look good every day and to wish everyone an excellent Christmas break. With the subject of Bill C-316 in mind, I ask everyone to be very careful over the holidays, especially on the roads.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to wish you and all of my colleagues a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be joining the debate at third reading on a private member's bill which I seconded, and which I support. I know it is late in the day, but I still want to give credit where it is due to the member for Calgary Confederation for the work he has done to bring it this far and to get consensus from both sides of the House on the value of the bill, the contents of the bill and also what it would do for Canadians.

They say that a good name is better than a precious stone. That is a Yiddish proverb. Members know I like Yiddish proverbs, so as it is my last opportunity in this place to use one, I had to do it. In the fall economic statement, the Government of Canada made an allocation of $4 million to ensure there is follow through on this private member's bill's intent and purpose. I am hopeful.

I see a great opportunity to help Canadians who are in need of that precious gift of life, an organ or tissue donation sometime during their life. I will not repeat the statistics that members have heard repeatedly. Members also know that my two oldest boys will some day likely need a kidney transplant. Therefore, I have taken this issue to heart. That is why I want to give credit to the member for Calgary Confederation who has used his good name to advance this cause of organ donation.

It has taken over three years to get this to the point where members from all sides could agree that making a very small change to the information the Canada Revenue Agency collects and a simple, small modification to the schedule 1 tax form would ensure that perhaps over the next few years we will save a dozen, 100, 200, and hopefully more lives. It is a very small change. Our provincial and territorial governments would be able to use this to their advantage.

I do not often say two Yiddish proverbs in one speech, but I will since it is my last time rising in this House. It is said that health comes before making a livelihood. Those who have either donated an organ or received one will tell us that in the lead-up period, their lives change drastically. Someone who perhaps is in his or her thirties or forties and is in need of a kidney transplant and is on dialysis has to give up all the foods he or she ever loved eating during his or her entire lifetime. For the period of time the individual is on dialysis, the entire diet of the individual has to be adjusted. The individual has to learn to love things like no-salt food. French onion soup is something we often hear transplantees talk about. Those who are waiting for a lung transplant, like Robert Sallows, will tell us it is very difficult to work or earn a livelihood. I know the member for Calgary Confederation could speak volumes about Robert's activism. Robert is the recipient of a double lung transplant. We absolutely depend on our health to further our careers and earn a livelihood.

I will not be speaking for too long today, which will please a great many members. I will not be taking up the full time I have been allotted in Private Members' Business. However, I will say this. When this week comes to a close, we will be moving from this chamber over to the interim chamber in West Block, in the new renovated space. In this chamber, many members have come before us to take on the great issues of the day. We heard the House leaders speak about this too. The NDP House leader made an excellent statement on our ancestors who spoke in this place about the great issues of the day.

The person I will mention is John Diefenbaker. Everyone knows about the office he used. He was a member of Parliament who spent decades in this place, trying to make it better. He loved the House of Commons. He loved the space. He loved the debate. He thoroughly enjoyed the cut and thrust of it. His biographers have said of him that he would use a speech crutch. Whenever he would forget the next sentence of a speech, he would stop and say, “But, Mr. Speaker, I am still a House of Commons man.” He would pause for a moment so he could catch up to where he was going with his next argument, and then he would continue. His speeches are peppered with that speech crutch. He would use it quite often. Many members use “ums” and “ahs” and say, “Mr. Speaker,” which is all fine. It is just part of the debate.

When I was a very fresh member of the House, I used written speeches. I would write them out ahead of time because I was always afraid of making a mistake or not covering all the points I wanted to make.

A great number of members have vastly improved in their ability to do that and it is thanks to hours of Private Members' Business, where we can spend 10 minutes on a specific subject that we are passionate about, hopefully, to provide personal viewpoints and viewpoints of constituents, or personal experience or the experience of constituents told through a letter or an email to make a case for a legal change, a regulatory change or simply a different viewpoint that needs to be put into Hansard.

As our time comes to a close, I will be supporting this legislation at third reading. I want to thank the member for Calgary Confederation and also all those who seconded the bill to take it this far to ensure that those who are looking for that gift of life, the precious gift of an organ or tissue donation, will have it that much easier in the future.

Many members perhaps will agree with me on this, that the Canada Revenue Agency will be seen as being a great help to Canadians instead of being an impediment to them, especially during tax season.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-316, An Act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act (organ donors), be read the third time and passed.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I rise briefly to speak to the bill and indicate that this particular piece of legislation has strong support from the minister and all members in the House.

We support the bill and will not be putting forward any more speakers to speak to it as an indication of the support coming from this side of the House.

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will be brief as well.

In the week since we have debated this legislation, five more Canadians have died awaiting a life-saving transplant. Delays are costing lives at a rate of five per week.

Bill C-316 has been unanimously supported through a health committee study and it has been unanimously supported by all parties at second reading. The bill was unanimously supported by health committee when it reviewed it. Bill C-316 has had all-party unanimous support in every single vote it has faced to date.

In a moment, the Speaker will ask for a unanimous decision on the bill. If it passes on a unanimous voice vote, the changes will make the 2019 tax return. If someone forces a recorded vote, this will not take place until next year and we will miss that 2019 deadline. The changes will only be on 2020 tax returns. In that year, 250 Canadians will die waiting for a life-saving transplant.

Bill C-316 will be the last private member's bill debated in this chamber for a very long time.

Everything that needs to be said has been said. Everything I wanted to say I have said. There is nothing more really to be said.

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

I declare the motion carried.

(Motion agreed to, bill read the third time and passed)