Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be joining the debate at third reading on a private member's bill which I seconded, and which I support. I know it is late in the day, but I still want to give credit where it is due to the member for Calgary Confederation for the work he has done to bring it this far and to get consensus from both sides of the House on the value of the bill, the contents of the bill and also what it would do for Canadians.
They say that a good name is better than a precious stone. That is a Yiddish proverb. Members know I like Yiddish proverbs, so as it is my last opportunity in this place to use one, I had to do it. In the fall economic statement, the Government of Canada made an allocation of $4 million to ensure there is follow through on this private member's bill's intent and purpose. I am hopeful.
I see a great opportunity to help Canadians who are in need of that precious gift of life, an organ or tissue donation sometime during their life. I will not repeat the statistics that members have heard repeatedly. Members also know that my two oldest boys will some day likely need a kidney transplant. Therefore, I have taken this issue to heart. That is why I want to give credit to the member for Calgary Confederation who has used his good name to advance this cause of organ donation.
It has taken over three years to get this to the point where members from all sides could agree that making a very small change to the information the Canada Revenue Agency collects and a simple, small modification to the schedule 1 tax form would ensure that perhaps over the next few years we will save a dozen, 100, 200, and hopefully more lives. It is a very small change. Our provincial and territorial governments would be able to use this to their advantage.
I do not often say two Yiddish proverbs in one speech, but I will since it is my last time rising in this House. It is said that health comes before making a livelihood. Those who have either donated an organ or received one will tell us that in the lead-up period, their lives change drastically. Someone who perhaps is in his or her thirties or forties and is in need of a kidney transplant and is on dialysis has to give up all the foods he or she ever loved eating during his or her entire lifetime. For the period of time the individual is on dialysis, the entire diet of the individual has to be adjusted. The individual has to learn to love things like no-salt food. French onion soup is something we often hear transplantees talk about. Those who are waiting for a lung transplant, like Robert Sallows, will tell us it is very difficult to work or earn a livelihood. I know the member for Calgary Confederation could speak volumes about Robert's activism. Robert is the recipient of a double lung transplant. We absolutely depend on our health to further our careers and earn a livelihood.
I will not be speaking for too long today, which will please a great many members. I will not be taking up the full time I have been allotted in Private Members' Business. However, I will say this. When this week comes to a close, we will be moving from this chamber over to the interim chamber in West Block, in the new renovated space. In this chamber, many members have come before us to take on the great issues of the day. We heard the House leaders speak about this too. The NDP House leader made an excellent statement on our ancestors who spoke in this place about the great issues of the day.
The person I will mention is John Diefenbaker. Everyone knows about the office he used. He was a member of Parliament who spent decades in this place, trying to make it better. He loved the House of Commons. He loved the space. He loved the debate. He thoroughly enjoyed the cut and thrust of it. His biographers have said of him that he would use a speech crutch. Whenever he would forget the next sentence of a speech, he would stop and say, “But, Mr. Speaker, I am still a House of Commons man.” He would pause for a moment so he could catch up to where he was going with his next argument, and then he would continue. His speeches are peppered with that speech crutch. He would use it quite often. Many members use “ums” and “ahs” and say, “Mr. Speaker,” which is all fine. It is just part of the debate.
When I was a very fresh member of the House, I used written speeches. I would write them out ahead of time because I was always afraid of making a mistake or not covering all the points I wanted to make.
A great number of members have vastly improved in their ability to do that and it is thanks to hours of Private Members' Business, where we can spend 10 minutes on a specific subject that we are passionate about, hopefully, to provide personal viewpoints and viewpoints of constituents, or personal experience or the experience of constituents told through a letter or an email to make a case for a legal change, a regulatory change or simply a different viewpoint that needs to be put into Hansard.
As our time comes to a close, I will be supporting this legislation at third reading. I want to thank the member for Calgary Confederation and also all those who seconded the bill to take it this far to ensure that those who are looking for that gift of life, the precious gift of an organ or tissue donation, will have it that much easier in the future.
Many members perhaps will agree with me on this, that the Canada Revenue Agency will be seen as being a great help to Canadians instead of being an impediment to them, especially during tax season.