Moved:

That the Senate agree to the amendments made by the House of Commons to Bill S-240, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs); and

That a message be sent to the House of Commons to acquaint that House accordingly.

She said: Honourable senators, I rise today as the sponsor of Bill S-240, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs), a piece of legislation that has been described as “the culmination of over 10 years of parliamentary work on the important issue of organ trafficking.”

In the years since human organ transplantation became a viable treatment for patients with terminal organ failure, the demand for organs globally has resulted in lengthy wait times for donor organs in many parts of the world. This demand has created a shortage of available organs and has compelled countries to develop systems to increase supply, mainly via deceased organ donation programs. Unfortunately, these programs have not been enough to fill the gap between demand and supply.

Consequently, trafficking in human organs has become a global problem, particularly in countries where an economic crisis along with social and/or political instability often creates opportunities for traffickers.

Recipients of trafficked organs are most often people from wealthy countries who have been waiting on organ donor lists and travel abroad to obtain a black market organ from victim donors. The victim donors predominantly are suffering from desperate poverty and have been deceived or coerced by trafficking networks into giving up an organ for a fraction of the money the organ recipient paid to the traffickers. Worse still, victim donors are kidnapped and held against their will for the purpose of harvesting their organs without their consent, and many do not survive the process.

Bill S-240 proposes to strengthen Canada’s response to organ trafficking by creating additional Criminal Code offences in relation to such conduct and extends extraterritorial jurisdiction over the new offences. Further, it seeks to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to provide that a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible to Canada if the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration finds that they have engaged in trafficking in human organs.

The European Parliament has stressed that the recipients of illegally obtained organs must be held morally responsible and that measures must be taken to discourage and deter this practice, including holding organ recipients criminally liable. The Declaration of Istanbul also states that any commodification of organs is ethically wrong and must be criminalized.

Honourable senators, there is currently no law in Canada barring Canadians from travelling abroad, purchasing organs for transplantation and returning back to Canada notwithstanding that Canada has joined most of the world in condemnation of the sale of organs and transplant tourism.

On April 30, this bill passed in the House of Commons with all-party support, with the following amendments: A clarification that a substitute decision maker can provide consent on behalf of an organ donor; the removal of both the definition of “informed consent”; and the duty of the physicians to report organ transplants. I accept these amendments and ask, therefore, that this bill be adopted as amended.

I would like to extend my gratitude to parliamentarians from all parties who supported this bill in the Senate and House of Commons. In particular, I recognize the critic in the Senate, Senator Richards, and sponsor in the house, MP Genuis, as well as Senator Jaffer, MPs Rankin, Virani and Wrzesnewskyj. In this regard, I echo the sentiments of MP Genuis who said:

Let us get this done. Let us make this a legacy of the 42nd Parliament, that notwithstanding disagreements and occasional rancour, we were able to do something incredible for the world’s most vulnerable, something that other Parliaments until now have failed to do.

Honourable senators, organ trafficking is a horrendous predatory practice that targets and exploits impoverished and otherwise vulnerable people. It is a violation of the principles of equity, justice and respect for human dignity. Let us be global leaders in the battle against organ trafficking and pass Bill S-240 here and now.