Bill S-204 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs)

This enactment amends the Criminal Code to create new offences in relation to trafficking in human organs. It also amends the Immigratiand Refugee Protection Act to provide that a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible to Canada if the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is of the opinion that they have engaged in any activities relating to trafficking in human organs.

Human Organ Trafficking

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, the second petition is in support of Bill S-204, currently before the Senate.

This bill would make it a criminal offence for someone to go abroad and receive an organ for which there has not been consent. Essentially, it extends extra-territorial jurisdiction in an attempt to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking around the world.

The petitioners note that this is an important human rights bill. Efforts have been made to pass it for over a decade, and they hope this Parliament will finally get Bill S-204 passed into law.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, the fourth and final petition is in support of Bill S-204, a bill that would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ in a case where the person from whom the organ comes has not properly consented. This bill seeks to combat the horrific practice of forced organ harvesting and trafficking.

A bill like it almost passed in the last Parliament. Petitioners are hoping this Parliament will be the one that finally gets it done.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Madam Speaker, today is the 20th anniversary of my first election. I will not say that it gives me pleasure, but it seems fitting and appropriate that I am once again returning to a subject that I addressed in my very first address to the House 20 years ago, which at the time was human rights in China and the treatment of Falun Gong.

This is a petition signed by many Canadians on the subject of a piece of legislation currently before the Senate that would deal with the issue of organ harvesting where organs are taken involuntarily, that is to say by people who have been forced into confinement and had organs removed, often with fatal results. This takes place in China and has been done to victimize many Falun Gong practitioners. Testimony was given before the human rights committee when I was the chair by imminent human rights experts, David Kilgour and David Matas, on this subject.

The petitioners ask that Bill S-204, currently before the Senate, be expedited. This bill would amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, to make sure that Canadians are prohibited from travelling abroad in order to benefit from organs that have been removed without consent from their human donors, and also to render it inadmissible for Canada to admit any permanent resident or foreign national who has participated in the trade of involuntarily donated human organs.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting two petitions today.

One is on behalf of Canadians who are very concerned about organ harvesting. It has been proven that there is a practice where Canadians can go overseas and obtain an organ that has been illegally trafficked and taken from someone's body. There is a bill, Bill S-204, that the people who have signed this petition are calling upon the House to support and to move forward as quickly as possible.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the second petition I am presenting, the petitioners are asking the government to recognize and take seriously the increase in the trafficking of human organs internationally.

As there are currently two bills before Parliament proposing to impede the trafficking of human organs, Bill C-350 as well as Bill S-204, the petitioners call upon the House of Commons and the Government of Canada to pass these bills expeditiously to ensure the reduction of trafficking in human organs.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition in support of Bill S-204, a bill that seeks to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking.

The bill would make it a criminal offence for a Canadian to go abroad to receive an organ that had been harvested from an unwilling person. It would also amend immigration law to create a mechanism by which someone could be deemed inadmissible to Canada if that person had been involved in organ harvesting and trafficking.

A bill like this almost passed in the last Parliament, but we ran out of time at the end. The petitioners are hoping that this Parliament will be the one that finally gets the job done.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Madam Speaker, this petition is close to my heart because I am a member of the international human rights subcommittee.

The petitioners request that Bill S-204 be moved through the Senate and then to the House as quickly as possible. The goal of that piece of legislation is to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to prohibit Canadians from travelling abroad in order to acquire human organs that have been removed without consent and to track down any financial transactions that take place as a result of such travel.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, the second petition is in support of Bill S-204, a bill that would seek to make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ that had been harvested or trafficked.

This also responds to the human rights situation in China and concerns about forced organ harvesting and trafficking that target Falun Gong practitioners, Uighurs and other communities in China. Although Bill S-204 does not name a specific country, it would apply to any case of forced organ harvesting or trafficking.

I commend these petitions to the consideration of all members.

Uighur Muslims in China

[Yasmin Ratansi, Independent, Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to raise the plight of over three million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims who are interned in concentration camps in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China. The Chinese government continues to subject them and other Turkic Muslims to forced labour, physical and psychological torture, and forced organ harvesting. Uighur women suffer forcible sterilization.

The Chinese government's method of political and anti-religious indoctrination, destruction of cultural sites and forcing Uighurs to denounce themselves as Muslims is akin to cultural genocide. I call on all our allies and partners to demand the closure of the concentration camps and the release of all detainees. I urge the passage of Bill S-204, which would criminalize organ trafficking and make it a punishable offence for Canadians to partake in transplant tourism.

Human Organ Trafficking

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is in support of Bill S-204, currently before the Senate. This petition would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ that has been harvested or trafficked without the consent of the person involved.

I commend these three petitions to the consideration of the House.

[Terry Dowdall, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured and pleased to present a petition as well in support of Bill S-204, which seeks to combat forced organ harvesting as well as trafficking.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a mere three petitions in the House today. I will try to do better next time.

The first petition is on Bill S-204, which is currently before the Senate. It has been put forward by Senator Salma Ataullahjan, who is doing so much great work on human rights. This bill would make it a criminal offence for a Canadian to go abroad and receive an organ where there had not been consent. It would also make a provision for a person to be inadmissible to Canada if they have been involved in organ harvesting and trafficking.

[Derek Sloan, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a similar petition to those raised by my two colleagues in relation to the concern that we have with international trafficking in human organs and harvesting that is done without the victim's consent, a truly grisly practice. There are two bills, Bill C-350 and Bill S-204, that address this. The petition is in relation to concerns the petitioners have with that practice.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is in support of Bill S-204, a bill currently before the Senate that would make it a criminal offence for someone to go abroad and receive an organ that had been harvested from somebody against their will. It seeks to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking, which is a concern in China but also in other countries around the world.

I commend these petitions to the consideration of the House.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is in support of Bill S-204, currently before the Senate. Bill S-204 addresses the horrific practice of forced organ harvesting and trafficking, and seeks to make it a criminal offence for someone to go abroad and receive an organ when there has not been consent from the person giving the organ.