Health committee  Presumed consent has been in effect and has perhaps been very effective in a number of countries, especially in Europe. Many of those countries had histories such that they have a bit of a different past. North America has a legal system based much more on the individual's rights

Health committee  —with presumed consent, you could have a backlash. That's the reason, I think, there hasn't been great enthusiasm to leap forward. But, in reality, the numbers in polls have steadily, over the years, improved in terms of the direction of presumed consent; and it's actually over 5

Health committee  I think if you look at that slide as well as at the other one that shows the rates of donation, you can see that Alberta trails well behind Ontario. There's no reason that it should. But one of the differences—in fact there are several—is the fact that we basically have only two

Health committee  I think it is an important discussion and I think it's important to understand what those criteria actually mean. The criteria basically are things that increase the risk. They don't necessarily prohibit donation. That is an important difference. As I said to Mr. Webber, those pi

Health committee  It's not an absolute prohibition. It's basically a reflection of increased risk that we have to understand, and we have to explain that to the potential recipient, because they of course need to be able to give informed consent to go forward with that transplant.

Health committee  My experience in practice is that it can and does happen with the understanding that this presents an increased risk that has to be discussed with the potential recipient.

Health committee  There's a major difference between a blood donation and an organ donation. The big difference is that in the situation of an organ donation, there is nowhere near enough supply to meet the demand, whereas with blood, we're much closer to being able to supply the need. You certain

Health committee  I'd make two points. One, as I pointed out, is that mandatory referral of potential donors is going well in Ontario. These areas that we talked about, which are so important—and you pointed them out—do not happen across the country. Two, having donation professionals involved in

Health committee  Certainly, I don't think it's for a group like ours to try to get down to that level of exactly what steps need to be done day by day, but having the system in place that can do these things, I think, is the critical factor.

Health committee  It's all voluntary.

Health committee  Thank you very much. I'd like to thank you, Mr. Chair, as well as members of the Standing Committee on Health, for the opportunity to speak to the role of the federal government in improving access to organ donation. We have dealt with a number of challenges for much of the las