Mr. Speaker, I congratulate University of Guelph students for an extraordinary campaign to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation.
With support from the Trillium Gift of Life, University of Guelph students are partnering with staff and faculty and with high school students in the broader community to ask 1,000 people to show their support tomorrow for this important cause.
Each supporter has signed a pledge that they will speak to 10 people about organ and tissue donation and direct them to join the movement on the website, recycleme.org.
Because of efforts like those, last year in Ontario almost 700 lives were saved because of 218 organ donations, an increase of 17% from 2008, and yet there are still 1,600 people in Ontario who are waiting for a transplant.
I hope the House will join me in congratulating those in the community of Guelph who have dedicated their time and energy to this very worthy cause. I ask other members to raise awareness of this pressing issue in their own communities.