Let me begin by thanking Mr. Genuis for sponsoring this legislation. He's already mentioned the long journey that has brought us here. In fact, it's been 11 years. On February 5, 2008, C-500 in the 39th Parliament it was first introduced by me, so I'm feeling very expectant and anxious. I believe that we can get this through our committee this week, and this could be a great example in difficult circumstances in the House of parliamentarians doing what's right on a very important file. We have support of all parties. We have the support of both chambers within our Parliament. It's a rare occasion that we see this type of support, and it will be a demonstration of the legislature and legislators doing their vital work.
You mentioned the great work done by the two Davids: David Matas and David Kilgour. They really shone a light on perhaps the darkest of evils of our current times. Perhaps not in the same way as you see in cases of genocide, but there was something to what you said when you referenced your grandmother. Not since World War II have we seen human horrors on an industrial scale by a state, a government. China has, on an industrial scale, been taking the most vulnerable—people who have been incarcerated for their beliefs—and profiting from a systemic system put in place to literally cannibalize the bodies of those vulnerable individuals.
You're going to get some more tough questions, as you referenced. Mine won't be so much a question, but I want you to further provide context around why it's so important for us to do this. Ten or 12 years ago this first became an issue, and it's the confluence of a number of things that have happened globally. Medical technology wouldn't have allowed for these sorts of transplantations 20 or 30 years ago, so it was a change in medical technology. And then there is this global disparity. You have people of the wealthy west, and you have not just China but destitute farmers in India falling victim to this type of trafficking. You have 17-year-old orphans in Ukraine falling victim. The most vulnerable globally are the victims of this horrific trade in human organs. If people say, “Well, that's far away. It doesn't affect us”, it does, in ways that perhaps people need to be reminded of.
I think it was the week after I introduced the legislation—February 5, 2008—that the Toronto Star had headline stories about “Dr. Horror” from Brampton, who lived in a mansion, had a very good life here in Canada, and had a series of clinics in India that preyed upon the most vulnerable. Farmers who were destitute were promised significant amounts of money. They didn't always receive it. It wasn't necessarily explained to them that you can only donate one kidney and not two.
I would like to conclude my statement of support by saying this is a horrific trade. All of the trends that have led to this trade are increasing the income disparities and the number of vulnerable through medical technology.
We should be a leader. We can be an example for other countries by passing this legislation.
I have a minute and a half left if you'd like to comment on any of the statements I've made.