Yes, I will be. Thank you.
Hello, Minister. Thank you for being here today.
I have an important question to ask you about my private member's bill, Bill C-316, which would allow Canadians to indicate their intent to register as organ and tissue donors on their income tax forms.
Everyone on this committee supported it. We passed it unanimously in the House back in December and it is now in the Senate. I was also pleased that you and the government allocated funding as well for this implementation in your fall economic statement. The Canada Revenue Agency also says that if the bill is passed soon, they can get it on the 2019 income tax forms.
However, I am told by several senators, from all parties, that this bill might not pass because it has become a political football in the Senate. Senators do not have a problem with my bill, but they apparently are trying to use it to leverage other pieces of legislation, so it's a type of Mexican standoff. While I understand this happens in politics, we are now seriously risking losing a life-saving, sensible and affordable change to our tax forms, and of course, hundreds of Canadians will continue to die waiting for a life-saving organ.
Is there anything you can do, or are willing to do, to ensure that Bill C-316 can get passed?