Lou Sekora

[Organ Donation Act, November 16th, 1999]

moved that Bill C-227, an act to establish a National Organ Donor Registry and to co-ordinate and promote organ donation throughout Canada, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Madam Speaker, Bill C-227 seeks to create an act to establish a National Organ Donor Registry to promote organ donation throughout Canada. The objective of Bill C-227 is to provide the means to increase the amount of available organs in Canada for the purpose of transplantation through organ acquisition.

A national organ donor registry would allow people to register legal consent for organ donations and would subsequently lead to an increase in Canada's low rate of donations.

We must establish a system to support high levels of organ donation in Canada. We have the opportunity to store or provide a link between information on organ donors from participating provinces. Information will be maintained in an efficient form for the purposes of identifying intended or potential organ donors.

According to the report of the Standing Committee on Health released in April 1999, entitled “Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation: A Canadian Approach”, Canada is currently facing a serious situation with respect to organ and tissue donation and transplantation.

The present organ donor rate is unacceptable. Organ donation must be made an issue of national importance.

A national registry would provide an efficient means to allow available organs to be matched with waiting recipients. This co-ordinated effort would ultimately reduce the current waiting time for a match. As it now stands, one-third of individuals who wait for an organ transplant die as they wait for a matching donor.

Lives will be saved with the establishment of an organized and efficient national organ donor registry. It will be possible to co-ordinate the supply and demand of available organs.

The widening gap between the organs available and the number of Canadians in need of them highlights the void that we will continue to have without a national organ donor registry. The problem is that there is no national system to ensure that usable organs are used and matched to those in need.

The annual number of patients waiting for an organ replacement grows faster than the number of transplants being performed each year. Potential organ donors are lost because we lack a clear, organized and simple system in Canada. Laws need to follow rather than lead the issues that require a legislative response.

A national organ donor registry would provide the means to prevent the deaths of a third of all people who wait for an organ transplant now. The very success of transplants clearly depends on every effort that is made to increase the number of available donors.

The public is becoming increasingly aware of the vast potential of organ transplantation. Public awareness is the key to tackling the issue of transplant shortages in this country. The first week of April is now designated as National Organ Donor Week. Public awareness of the importance of organ donation continues as April 18 to April 25 now marks National Organ Donor Awareness Week.

It would seem only logical to have people's organ compatibility levels easily accessible in a national database so that matches could be made in seconds once the organs become available. The price of a human life is worth the time needed to organize a national co-ordinating organ donor system, as opposed to the many lives that are now lost without it.

The success rate for transplantation is worth noting. After one year, both liver and kidney transplant recipients enjoy a very high rate of survival.

The most recent figures indicate that the current rate of organ donations in this country remains at a standstill of 14.8 organs available per million, as opposed to 21 organs per million in the United States. A national organ donor registry would help reverse the critical shortage of donated organs.

Canada has one of the lowest donor rates among western industrialized countries. Organ donations need to be on the public agenda simply because the situation is at a crisis level.

A national registry would enable provinces to share information about prospective donors. The ability to provide donor data when required by a hospital is crucial to the success of any registry.

The primary purpose for the establishment of an organ donor registry is for donor identification. Donor identification is effective only if there is a system for linking the potential donor to a potential recipient. There are three different types of donors. They include the following: intended donors, potential donors and actual donors.

An intended donor is an individual who has expressed the desire or intention to become a donor upon death, or when appropriate during life.

A potential donor is an individual who has been identified within the health care facility as being appropriate for the purpose of being an organ or tissue donor.

Lastly, an actual donor is an individual from whom at least one organ or tissue has been procured, allocated and transplanted.

Potential organ donors must satisfy brain death criteria before they can be deemed suitable for donation. Brain death is the irreversible ending of all brain functions, including that of the brain stem.

According to the Canadian Medical Association, the whole brain must be dead in order for the patient's organs to be harvested. After brain death has been declared there is no hope. It is time to let go and give hope to someone else. The pronouncement of brain death is never made by a physician who has anything to do with the transplant process. Death is not prematurely announced in order for the patient to become an organ donor.

We need to find a workable plan to address the very real lack of available organs in the country. We need one central database, or linked databases, which will allow Canadians the opportunity to register their choice about organ donations in a legally enforceable manner. Lifesaving information should be available to those in the health care profession.

Securing organ donations is a community responsibility. Now is the time to rethink our approach to organ donation. Social awareness of the need to make a conscious and deliberate choice to donate one's organs at the time of death brings us to the point where we can acknowledge the importance of a national organ donor registry.

We need a national program that will co-ordinate well with participating provinces.

The British Columbia Transplant Society is a provincially funded health organization that supports the needs of transplant patients and families. The British Columbia Transplant Society directs, delivers or contracts for all organ transplants within the province and sets standards on quality.

In the spring of 1997, the British Columbia Transplant Society tested a new and significant program to help increase the effectiveness of organ donation in Canada. The program is called the organ donor registry. This provincial registry includes a computerized database that records the wishes of organ donors in B.C. Since the creation of the British Columbia Transplant Society the number of organ transplants performed annually has increased by more than 400%.

The multiple organ retrieval and exchange program of Ontario, founded by the ministry of health, was developed as the central registry of organ donors and recipients for Ontario to facilitate the equitable distribution of transplant organs in the province. Potential recipients, once registered and listed on the system, are eligible for the fast, efficient and equitable allocation of organ donors.

The Canadian organ replacement register includes data and analysis of kidney dialysis, organ donation and transplantation activities in Canada. The Canadian organ replacement register provides information on the level of activity and outcomes of dialysis in Canada.

The Canadian organ replacement register is managed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. More Canadians are waiting for organ transplants and the numbers are rising annually, with kidneys in the greatest demand.

The best treatment replacing dialysis is a kidney transplant. The shortage of organ donations causes patients to be left on dialysis, which remains very costly.

We need to gather our resources to turn the desire to live into a realistic goal.

Because there are millions of people in Canada, the chances of finding an organ donor and recipient who are chemically compatible are significantly reasonable. However, testing for compatibility takes time. Minutes are critical when deciding where to transport the newly acquired organ.

As many as one-third of the potential donors remain unidentified or poorly managed. Another third is lost due to family or coroner refusal. The actual number of donors is only one-third of the potential.

This bill is about removing obstacles and creating a venue for change. Donors ensure a future for those in need of transplantation by providing the option for a longer life. There is an increasing demand for organ transplantation as the medical procedure maintains a high level of success. This demand has not been met due to the shortage of available organs.

The critical shortage of organs and tissues remains the most important challenge for health care professionals. The presence of a national organ and tissue sharing system would help to ensure safe, equitable and efficient transplantation in Canada.

We can see the positive effects of successful organ transplantation in our everyday lives.

The Canadian Transplant Games Association is a non-profit organization of transplant athletes and others committed to positively influencing public attitudes toward organ donation and motivating transplant recipients to maintain a healthy lifestyle by holding athletic events. Public awareness and community involvement can combine to offer help to needy recipients.

[Endangered Species, November 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of the Environment. Constituents from my riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam have declared a widespread support for endangered species legislation.

I would like to know how far the minister is prepared to support the species at risk legislation.

[The Late Greg Moore, November 1st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, it is with deep sadness that I announce that Greg Moore, age 24, an accomplished race car driver from Maple Ridge B.C., was killed in an accident on October 30, 1999.

Greg suffered massive head and internal injuries after crashing into a wall at 350 kilometres an hour during the Marlboro 500.

I had the pleasure of playing golf in the Greg Moore Golf Tournament this past summer. He was an exceptional young man. His death is a great tragedy.

[Supply, October 28th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I sit on the transportation committee as the member does. I do not know what will be before us. I do not know what our final agreement will be as far as the transportation committee is concerned.

On Wednesday afternoons when we sing O Canada we do not see any members from the Bloc in here joining us. I do not think they believe in Canada. They believe in their own ways. They will not come and pray with us on a prayer day. They will not come and sing O Canada with us because they do not believe in Canada. I do not know where they are coming from.

[Supply, October 28th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is the rules have not changed. We always hear from the other side some kind of breeze, that some miracle has happened or that something has not happened. It is frightening that the member sits on the transport committee with me.

I have listened to all sides. We are reviewing. We have many witnesses to listen to. I do not know what the intention of those on the other side is, but my intention is to get the best airline service across Canada and we must save all the jobs we can.

[Supply, October 28th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the hon. member's motion concerning the government's policy framework for the airline restructuring in Canada announced on October 26 by the Minister of Transport.

The motion before us concerns whether the current prohibition on any person or persons holding more than 10% of Air Canada voting shares should be maintained. The government has clearly stated in its policy framework that it is prepared to consider increasing the limit to a new level after input from parliamentarians, if such a measure contributes to achieving a healthy Canadian controlled airline industry. In this context it articulated a number of key elements in its policy framework, including the desire to foster as much competition as possible in the airline industry in Canada.

This framework also clarifies the government's intention to review Canadian international air policy in a new Canadian airline environment.

A revised international air policy is a critical element of the new policy framework for airline restructuring. International air services account for more than 50% of the revenues of Canada's two major airlines, Air Canada and Canadian Airlines International.

These services are even more important to Canadian's largest charter carriers: Air Transat, Canada 3000, Royal Aviation and Sky Service. These carriers operate extensive passenger charter services both domestically and throughout the world. In his policy framework announcement the minister clearly stated that the government would revise its policies for international scheduled and charter air services with a view to removing unnecessary restrictions on air services.

I am sure members would all agree that such a commitment is clearly warranted now that the industry structure appears to be changing. Canada's international charter policies, for example, were developed in 1978. One of its primary objectives was to allow charter carriers to compete effectively with scheduled carriers like Air Canada and Canadian Airlines for international leisure passengers.

The objective has been implemented through regulations administered by the Canadian Transportation Agency and effected through a series of charter fences such as pre-booking and minimum stay requirements. Therefore a policy approach that protects parts of the market for scheduled services from charter competition was deemed to be in the public interest.

In an environment where Canada might be faced with one dominant Canadian scheduled carrier operating both domestic and international air services, the minister has clearly signalled that the current degree of protection for scheduled air carriers from charter service competition on international routes will be reviewed.

The minister has also indicated that the government intends to review its international scheduled air policy. This is the policy framework by which the Minister of Transport exercises his authority to assign to specific Canadian carriers the right to operate scheduled international routes to specific countries.

Other than the Canada-U.S. market where any number of Canadian carriers may be designated, today's policy framework designation of international routes states that two Canadian carriers may be designated in markets exceeding 300,000 scheduled passenger trips per year.

In markets below that threshold only one Canadian carrier will be designated. This policy framework has developed over time. Historically international scheduled routes were granted to Air Canada and CP Air, later known as Canadian Airlines International. This approach was known as the division of the world approach whereby each carrier was assigned exclusive access to specific markets in order to support the broad viability of each carrier's operations.

Changes have evolved to make the approach more transparent and more competitive. The current policy framework includes a use it or lose it approach whereby airlines that are granted designations must operate them at a minimum level of service or potentially lose them to another air carrier.

Given the potential changes to the airline structure in Canada, the minister has indicated a need to revise these policies with a view to removing all unnecessary restrictions on air services. This clearly is in keeping with the objective of fostering competition as articulated in the new policy framework which has formed part of the recently released recommendations of the commissioner of competition in his letter to the minister.

The government has stated its intention to reconsider its approach to the 60 plus bilateral air agreements the government has negotiated with other countries. We will determine the extent to which Canadian and foreign carriers should have more international route opportunities. These agreements or treaties guarantee the airlines assigned by each country the right to operate specific international scheduled routes, the frequency of services permitted, the type of aircraft that may be operated, and even the number of airlines that may be authorized to operate.

Canada's bilateral air agreements are varied in their degree of openness. Sometimes Canada is not able to secure at the negotiating table all the rights it may seek. In the end this can have an impact on the kinds of services that may be operated. Canada does have considerable experience with open or liberal bilateral agreements.

The Canada-U.S. open skies agreement is a case in point. Before the agreement was concluded some 82 city pairs received non-stop scheduled services. After the agreement the number of such city pairs increased to 135. Passenger traffic has increased by 8.5% a year. The Canadian charter industry has remained active and has converted many of its services from charter to regular scheduled flights. Furthermore the Canadian airline industry has increased it share of the Canadian-U.S. market from 43% in 1994 to 49% in 1997.

In the context of a restructured industry where we want to foster and enhance competition and provide opportunities for Canadian carriers to operate international scheduled services, the government's decision to review its approach to negotiating bilateral air agreements, combined with a review of its international air policies, will be timely and warranted. The government has proposed an approach that will promote a healthy and viable air transport system in Canada.

[Organ Donation Act, October 18th, 1999]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-227, an act to establish a national organ donor registry and to co-ordinate and promote organ donation throughout Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I am introducing a bill to establish a national organ donor registry to co-ordinate and promote donation throughout Canada.

The bill would provide the legislative response needed to address the demand for a national co-ordinated organ donor system in Canada. The lack of available organs in the country results in unnecessary loss of lives, loss of quality of life and many needy recipients.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Air And Army Cadets, June 11th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I recently attended ceremonial reviews for the air and army cadet squadrons in my riding. I came away tremendously impressed with the level of training displayed by these young Canadians. The precision with which these cadets carried out their assignments reflected their dedication to the military.

I congratulate the 754 Phoenix Air Cadet Squadron and the 2893 Seaforth Highlanders Army Cadets. These fine young people are setting an example for all of their colleagues and making their parents and their peers proud of them.

Well done, cadets.

[Relay For A Friend, June 8th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have played a small part in the Canadian Cancer Society 1999 Relay for a Friend held last weekend in my riding. What the organizers and the participants achieved in this event was truly amazing. Over a period of 12 hours, 2,000 participants raised $366,500 for cancer research and equipment. We have all been touched by cancer at one time or another either personally or through a loved one.

Many of those involved have survived cancer. Congratulations to everyone involved.

[Foreign Affairs, June 3rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, there are many media reports on the possible breakthrough of the Pacific salmon dispute with the United States.

Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs please advise the House on any progress that is being made?