Living Donor Recognition Medal Bill

Honourable senators, I am pleased to rise today as critic to provide some constructive criticism on Bill C-234.

Like many of you, I am personally affected by this issue. Thanks to the selfless generosity of living donors, two of my close friends are still with us today. They are among the lucky few who have received life-saving transplants.

In 1998, one of those friends received a bone marrow transplant from his brother. In 2019, the other received a stem cell transplant from someone he had never met before.

I worked for the Government of New Brunswick for many years, and I have always been proud of the work that New Brunswick does to promote organ donation.

Regardless of their political affiliation, successive governments for our province have taken significant action to encourage people to make this essential sacrifice.

Along with Nova Scotia, New Brunswick is one of two Canadian provinces to have introduced a deemed consent program for post-mortem organ donation. That means that adults are automatically considered donors after their death, unless they have actively completed a form to opt out. I mention that to highlight the broad consensus that exists across the political spectrum on issues such as this. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have succeeded in advancing these policies because politicians set aside their differences and worked for the common good.

The recent passage of Bill C-234 by the House of Commons is another illustration of this broad consensus. As the bill’s sponsor pointed out in his speech, members of all parties were eager to rally around this initiative.