Mr. Speaker, I am extremely pleased today to stand in the House in support of Bill C-234, which calls for the creation of a living donor recognition medal.
Let me start by telling members why I am supporting the bill. For starters, how can anyone not be moved by the experience of the member for Edmonton Manning, who as a father of a child stricken by a critical illness, donated part of his own liver to save his son's life? Many brave Canadians over the years have also been willing to do the same by being a living donor to save someone's life, whether it be a family member, a friend or sometimes even a stranger. That is completely inspiring.
In my estimation, that kind of selflessness and courage captures the best of Canadian values and of human values, and it should be justly rewarded. We already reward selflessness of a different sort with the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers, for example. We also bestow several military and civilian honours on Canadians who have risked danger to come to the aid of others in emergencies.
Creating this type of award to celebrate these qualities, particularly in the context of living organ donation, seems to me to be the next logical step.
I support the bill also because of the experience of two friends of mine, Mr. Dan McLaughlin and Michael Walsh.
Just a few months ago, Dan McLaughlin lived a thrill of a lifetime. During the Second World War, his father joined the RCAF, and like thousands of airmen from across Canada and the British Commonwealth, he honed his flying skills here in Canada in a Harvard trainer aircraft. Just a handful of Harvards are still flying today, but Dan recently had the chance to fly one of them, eighty-four years after his dad first climbed into a Harvard cockpit.
He kindly showed me the photos of that amazing experience, and I have to say that the expression on his face as he was flying through the air in a plane just like the one his dad piloted almost a century ago was absolutely priceless.
I tell this story because absolutely none of this would have happened if Dan had not received a life-saving kidney transplant six years ago.
My friend Mike Walsh received a kidney transplant seven years ago, and today he is managing his health and making the most of the years he thought he would never have.
Mike and Dan, who know each other well, went through similar trials as each waited for the donation of a kidney. They both did everything they could to stay positive and hopeful, but they also did what a reasonable person would do when the odds are stacked against them: They got their affairs in order. They said what needed to be said to their family members and friends, and they also made their funeral arrangements.
At one point Dan was so desperate to find a donor that he even put an advertisement on his car and drove around the city in hopes that someone would see it.
At last, after what seemed like a never-ending wait during which he had almost given up hope of his prayers being answered, against all odds, Dan received a kidney just in time, just as his time was running out.
Just like that, Dan suddenly received a new lease on life because of another family's tragic loss.
This is where Mike Walsh's case is very different. Mike had the extraordinary luck of finding a living donor thanks to his membership and active involvement in a local Rotary club. Mike lives just a few blocks from me in Moncton, but he happened to be far away from home at a Rotary event in Seattle, Washington, when a chance conversation with a fellow Rotarian from Washington state led to the man's giving Mike one of his kidneys.
Both my friends beat extraordinary odds in their own journey, but unfortunately, too many of the friends they made in the transplant community of people who were also waiting on the organ transplant list were not as lucky.
I think most members of the House, and indeed most Canadians in general, may have friends or loved ones like Mike and Dan. Most of us also probably know someone who did not survive because they did not get the transplant they needed. The saddest part of all of this is that, as we all know, the kidney is an organ that can be transplanted from a living donor. Living donors could greatly increase the life-saving transplants we could do in Canada, but only, of course, if we have more people stepping up.
The fact that Mike received his transplant kidney from a living donor did not speed up the process. In fact, just like Dan, he waited many years before the stars aligned and a match was found. Just think of how many Canadians' lives could be saved if we encouraged more people to donate a kidney or even a piece of their own liver while they are still alive.
I believe that Bill C-234 could help raise awareness, as my fellow colleague indicated, and encourage more Canadians to step forward to make this important gift. I also support the bill because I strongly believe it is simply the right thing to do. We should show our gratitude as a society to the people who make the sacrifice to save Canadians lives.
In conclusion, I just want to say that donations from all living donors are truly gifts of life. They are, by definition, priceless.
We could never pay someone enough to be a living donor. No amount of money could ever reimburse someone for giving so much of themselves to someone else, and that is why I personally support the idea of the member for Edmonton Manning, someone I also consider a dear friend, who proposed the bill, because the gift of life is truly priceless. We should reward living donors with a token of gratitude that is also priceless, a medal that can serve both as a tangible symbol of our nation's gratitude and also as a mark of recognition to ensure that the donor's selflessness, courage and honour are underlined.
Once again I offer many thanks to the member for Edmonton Manning. My friend has done well.