Actually we do have some ideas. First, Madam Chair, members of the committee, I would ask you to consider this: we have been debating the new regulations since 11 a.m. All the while, people have been dying in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and London. These are the people who are on my mind. I hope that the committee will come to a decision quickly so that the waiting list doesn't get even longer. For the sake of the people on the waiting list, I urge the committee to clarify the situation as quickly as possible.
Members of the committee, recognizing the people who have donated organs is very important to families and to the grieving process. Let me say again that families who experience this recognition after the death of a loved one ultimately feel that their death was not in vain, that other people were given a chance to live and to enjoy a better quality of life.
Our association was totally disheartened to see the high cost involved to transport organs and medical teams to hospitals to perform transplants or to harvest organs. This was especially true in Quebec, where we are quite active and where we work with over 2,000 police officers across the province. We have put in place a transportation system that is unique in North America. A permanent team is in place at Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport in Montreal to welcome teams arriving from Toronto, London, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and the United States and to accompany them to hospitals, saving valuable time in the process.
Every minute counts when an organ is harvested for transplantation. We have four seasons here and as you can well understand, during the winter, especially winters like the one we have just experienced, every minute counts. We cannot afford to lose a single organ. Unfortunately, statistics show that in 2007, there were only 135 donors in Quebec. The families of people on the waiting list for a new liver or heart are understandably concerned. Waiting lists are so long that finding a donor takes time.
There is work to be done and we believe that the recognition ceremony that we have been holding for the last 15 years in Quebec is an initiative that should be embraced by the federal government in all provinces. We would like the Governor General to agree to be the official sponsor of this ceremony honouring donors, just as donors from Vancouver, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and other parts of Canada are honoured at the special, one-of-a-kind memorial in Sherbrooke . We need the federal government's support to move forward with this ceremony. By the way, I would just like to mention that we have consulted on this with our friends from France. Sometime in the next few months, a similar type of ceremony will be held in Paris to honour donors.
I leave here hopeful that your committee will come to a decision quickly and resolve this situation.
I remind you that while we do not have the required expertise to give advice, we do believe that we need to do everything we possibly can not to lose potential organ donors.
On behalf of the people waiting for a transplant, I thank you for giving this matter your prompt attention. Thank you very much.
