Thank you, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS very few organ donations are made in the NWT and no transplants are taking place;
AND WHEREAS the NWT’s Human Tissue Act is extremely out of date and contains no legal definition of death for the purpose of transplantation;
AND WHEREAS the NWT’s act lacks protection from criminal and civil liability for parties acting in good faith and without negligence;
AND WHEREAS the NWT’s act contains no mention of who may carry out organ removal, beyond “therapeutic purposes,” “medical education,” and “medical research;”
AND WHEREAS the NWT’s act does not explicitly provide for transplants between living bodies, such as for a kidney donation to a relative;
AND WHEREAS the NWT’s act does not define what is considered to be “tissue;”
AND WHEREAS the NWT’s act contains no penalties for violations of its provisions, and does not explicitly ban the sale of body parts or benefitting from donation of organs or tissue;
AND WHEREAS it is not clear in the NWT act’s consent provision if a “spouse” would include a common-law partner;
AND WHEREAS the NWT’s act has no clause dealing with confidentiality of information and how it may be used;
AND WHEREAS the NWT’s act does not provide for the Commissioner or Minister to make regulations pertaining to such things as the qualifications of physicians involved in the donation and transplant process, or the establishment of a coordinating body to facilitate donations and use of donated organs or tissue;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the Government of the Northwest Territories revise or replace the Human Tissue Act in order to create a framework for organ donation that reflects the best practices across Canada;
AND FURTHER, that the government provide a comprehensive response to this motion within 120 days.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the saddest things in the world is seeing a loved one die when they could have easily been saved. Unfortunately, this seems to happen in Canada more often than we’d like to admit and it’s happened to residents of the Northwest Territories. And, Mr. Speaker, I’ve been personally affected by this myself.
I’d like to start with some facts. A single organ donor can save up to eight lives, and tissue can help up to 50 other people. More than 4,000 Canadians are on waitlists for transplants. The demand is not being met, often with tragic results.
Financially, a single kidney transplant saves the health system about $250,000 every five years. The estimated savings of kidney transplant alone was $800 million in Canada in 2009. One year, Mr. Speaker.
So why are we doing this? Saving lives, saving quality of life, or is it about saving money? Very few people in our territory donate their organs, but it’s not because they don’t want to, it’s mainly because it’s so hard to do it here.
Again some facts. Canada’s system of organ donation is supported by legislation in each province or territory, but the NWT’s Human Tissue Act is hopelessly out of date. Even if we improved our ability to donate organs, our legal framework is seriously deficient. We have to correct that and catch up with the rest of Canada.
Our act was passed in 1988. It is a very short act, only a page and a half, and it has been amended only once. My review of other acts across Canada revealed just how inadequate this act truly is. For example, we have to enable and protect our health system, doctors and donors if we are going to start saving some lives through organ and tissue donation and transplants. We have to make sure doctors have no conflict of interest but to protect the privacy of donors. We have to address liability issues. We need definitions such as what is tissue and what is…(inaudible)…and, yes, we need to give the Commissioner or Minister the authority to make some appropriate regulations.
It sounds complicated, but in reality it isn’t really hard to do at all. There are many excellent laws in Canada, let alone the rest of the world.
We assume it’s a big issue, and in reality, this is not a lengthy act. It should be stated that revising and replacing our act will not tax the expertise of our Health department or our fine lawyers in our justice system. I would be pleased to turn over all my research to get this ball rolling, Mr. Speaker. This work is long, long overdue. This issue has been raised by many Members in this House going back to at least 1994. That’s when our former colleague, Mr. Tony Whitford, began a long push for volunteer organ donation. MLA Groenewegen gave it another try in 1998 with no luck as well. MLA Charles Dent raised the issue again in 2001 and our colleague Mr. Miltenberger promised to investigate the situation. In 2002 Mr. Miltenberger announced a task force on organ donation. Mr. Speaker, it even included Dr. Corriveau, who works with us today, but there seems to be no record of this report or action plan. Quite frankly, who knows? It may never have been finished.
In 2009 MLA Hawkins urged the Health Minister, Sandy Lee, to take some action, but again, as usual, nothing happened. This shows sustained effort in this House that successive governments have put it aside or ignored over the years.
Improving the Human Tissue Act is a necessary first step in improving our system. We owe a functioning system of tissue donation to our residents and to other Canadians. Let’s be clear. Right now, if one of our residents needs a kidney or a heart or a lung or even a cornea, they depend 100 percent on Canadians in other jurisdictions. We aren’t helping, but we do benefit from the generosity of others.
It was asked in this House a number of times for information and statistics, and the only stats we have been given from the Department of Health and Social Services is that 22 NWT patients had a kidney transplant in the 15 years ending 2010. Twenty-six NWT residents received organ and tissue transplants in just five years from 1995 to 2000. Mr. Speaker, we need more statistics, as well, to support our facts, and I know that given a chance, the people of the Northwest Territories will help each other out as other Canadians. We are generous to a fault and we do so in every other way of our being here in the North.
What is the value of life? Just ask someone whose life was saved or a person who helped save another’s life. To sum it all up, we have a good many reasons to overhaul or replace our Human Tissue Act.
I sincerely thank my colleagues for the support on this leading up to today’s motion. I hope that through some hope and force I can extend my Cabinet colleagues here an opportunity to vote in favour of this motion as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a few words to thank Mr. Dolynny for bringing this motion to the floor. When I first looked at it some time ago and Mr. Hawkins, as Mr. Dolynny pointed out, I didn’t really think much about this from an Aboriginal perspective. When we pass away, we are buried with all our parts. I had a hard time to come to grips with this, not until I heard some reports that a young man here in Yellowknife saved lives in Edmonton. I thought that was something. It must have taken a sacrifice by the family, just coming into a belief of a person who is deceased and how you do that with a loved one. I had a hard time understanding that at first, but when I heard the reports on the radio that there was a young man who saved six people’s lives because of what we know now today of the miracle of surgery and medical use and how we can save another life even though we are no longer here on this land here.
I was happy to second the motion in regard to having the government look at it and say is this possible. How can we have people in the Northwest Territories who can help other people in the North or in southern Canada? How can we put a more updated legislation together that we can come and have some discussion on? It doesn’t mean we’re going to do it. There are going to be other factors that they’re going to come into drafting this legislation like they do with other LPs, that we have a good discussion.
We need a starting point, and I think the motion calls for some discussion point, so if we look at possibly legislation within the two years of this government to look at something that’s worthwhile, support the people like this young man’s family, and looking at ways that we can help each other in Canada. I think that my saying yes to support this motion is by bringing it to the floor. Thank you, Mr. Dolynny, for bringing this motion forward.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also speak in support of this motion. The motion really does speak for itself. It’s laid out quite well here, and I thank my colleagues for bringing this forward.
Legislation is overdue. Obviously, 25 years old this year, and only one and half pages, very few amendments. The definitions are clearly out of date and there is no protection from liability. We know that our residents are accepting organs and it’s extending their lives, cutting our health costs right here in the Northwest Territories.
There is no reason why we shouldn’t be participating, and I know that our residents would be signing up. I know one of the issues is apparently we don’t have a mechanism for somebody to use their signature to indicate that they can have their organs donated after their death. Simple things like that. I know there are extra challenges in the Northwest Territories related to our many communities that are remote and many situations are remote. People need to be maintained on life support systems and so on, so there are challenges here and it’s trying, but Northerners are used to these sorts of conditions.
I know also that we have partners that help out, the Alberta Health ministry and the HOPE Foundation and so on, and they will always be there for us, but I think we have now the maturity and the time to move on this. I express my support. I will be voting in support.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year on October 31st, I made a Member’s statement and asked questions of the Minister of Health and Social Services on stem cell donation, dealing with cancer and leukemia and those types of cancers and how it can be prevented, how we can increase our database so we get more people signing up to be donors to save people’s lives. This goes along the same lines of something that I had pushed for last year, so obviously, I will be voting in support of this motion.
It’s a motion that shows action needs to be done to update and modernize the current act that we have. With the greater prevalence of diseases and illnesses in this day and age, we have to find ways that we can protect the residents of the Northwest Territories, and throughout all of Canada, for that matter, and be able to save lives, like I said. It’s something that I do promote, and promote having people be educated and be aware of how to become a donor to such a good cause.
I will support this motion. I do thank Mr. Dolynny for bringing the motion forward, Mr. Yakeleya for seconding it, and all Members that are speaking in favour of this motion today.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am going to stand and vote in favour of this motion. As stated by my colleagues, it’s quite straightforward. This is asking for an updating of an act which is very much out of date. It’s asking for changes that will allow us to provide better services to our residents. It will allow us as residents to feel a bit more involved to allow us to do sort of the social service aspect of our lives, if we wish to do it, which we certainly can’t do now.
The whereases in the motion talk about specific areas in the current act which are out of date and which need to be changed. Organ donation and tissue donation has become something which is far more common now than it was certainly in 1980, whatever, when this act was originally developed. I recognize that this is not on the government’s legislative agenda at this point, but I think what Members are trying to say is it should be, and I think that our Department of Health needs to take this motion, should it pass, and they need to consider the recommendation in this motion seriously, look at their legislative agenda, and perhaps revise it and bring the idea of this motion into their agenda and move it up.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise with great pleasure on this particular issue. As Member Dolynny has pointed out, a few years ago I raised this issue as well. But you know what? I only sit on the shoulders of others to help try to carry the issue forward. With that, I’m going to thank Mr. Dolynny for hoping this time that we nudge it across the goal line. He’s taken on this issue with some new emotion and new fervency in the sense of zeal that I hope it carries it across that line.
I am not sure what seems to be the issue with government realizing on how important something like this motion can be. I mean, quite frankly, this not only changes lives, it saves lives. There isn’t really anything more precious out there than life itself, and you question yourself by asking why does the government continue to either ignore or disregard the plea or call for something like this. We’ve had other pleas about trying to extend drivers’ licences to allow that information to be put on so if somebody does show up in an accident and we don’t know them, we can access this type of information and find out one of the choices of life of this person was to help continue the life of others. But we don’t have that ability. This is just one more piece in this puzzle.
It is a paralyzing issue for many people. I’ve talked to folks before, and folks are nervous. Yes, it may not be for everyone, but I can tell you, if you hear somebody waiting for a transplant, I mean, every day… I can tell you this for a fact, because a close friend of mine lost a child, and many people know who that is, and it’s not the only time we know these terrible things have happened, but they went through terrible emotions every day, thinking the only way their child was going to survive was another child had to die. It was horrible. And the likelihood of somebody coming forward in that circumstance, the same age and the same sort of compatibility was very slim. It was such an emotional drain for that family. It was horrible to watch them go through.
All of a sudden now we have barriers that we can take down. This is a barrier that says it doesn’t mean there’s going to be a flood of donations. No, it won’t. But what it means is people will have access to a process to allow this to happen. Because if somebody’s last wish of their life is to help sustain someone else’s life, allow them to return to a normal life, I mean, why would we be denying this?
I can remember those tragic weeks and months with great pain myself, and it wasn’t easy. All I can remember is the father telling me that statement I said earlier. It’s such a horrible paradox to be carrying that. The only way that their child will live is another child had to die. That is so awful to think, and that’s not a good thing to be sitting there. Yet, as I said earlier, and I will continue to say, we have barriers here that stop us from helping those who want to do this, and we’re taking their choice away. I’d say let’s find a way to help them with their choice that they want to give. It’s a choice that they make deep inside. It’s a choice that some, maybe their families don’t support, or their families do support, but we must make the choice available for people and that’s why this motion is so critical.
I want to finish by once again thanking Member Dolynny and certainly Member Yakeleya for being the stewards of this latest push. I just hope this push isn’t seen as fruitless, because it’s very important. To the government, it’s paperwork, it’s policy, it’s oh, we have to make some time, but I can guarantee we’d get thank you letters every day from the one family we saved. We’d hear endless thanks from them because we did take the time to recognize how important this is.
As said, I think already by Mr. Dolynny, we can’t appreciate how important this is until you’ve run into it in your own circle of life, whether it’s happened to you and your individual family or it has happened to a friend or even just someone you know. With that, I will certainly be supporting this with significant pride. I’m very thankful it is being brought forward today. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. To the motion. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be voting in favour of this motion. Many things have changed over the years as the territory is changing. I know it is not traditional for many people to donate their organs, but like I mentioned, many things have changed and there are a lot of people that are here in the Northwest Territories who want to help their family or friends by donating an organ. I think that that should be made available in this territory in this day and age, 2013. We need to come up to speed like many of the provinces in Canada. For that reason I am supporting this motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. To the motion. Mr. Beaulieu.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services supports organ and tissue donation. The best way for people to ensure their wish to be an organ donor is to let family members and loved ones know and ask for their support, should they be in a position to donate when they are unable to speak for themselves.
The NWT is in partnership with Alberta Health Services. They provide transplant services for our residents. They are currently looking for better ways, better options to identifying potential donors, including the possibility of a registry that will include our residents in any initiatives they develop.
The department will look at ways that the NWT residents can identify their wish to donate their organs through health care cards. The department will work with Canadian Blood Services and Alberta Health Services to develop our own common materials from organ and tissue donation in the NWT. The partner will discuss with Canadian Blood Services strategies for them to be more visible in the NWT and further encourage NWT residents to become donors of blood, organs and tissue. Implementing organ and tissue harvesting in the NWT would be costly due to specialized resources needed for laboratory organ storage and staffing.
Family’s right to refuse to donate requires an amendment to the Human Tissue Act, NWT. Specialized surgical teams, equipment and advanced life support essential to organ harvesting are not available in the NWT. Logistical barriers such as geography, transit times and lab limitations also prevent NWT from organ harvesting. Although organ and tissue harvesting is not available in the NWT, the Stanton Health Authority has partnered with the Human Organ Procedure Exchange Program based in Alberta which funds all air and ground travel costs for potential NWT donors to travel to Alberta.
In the case where a patient on life support at the Stanton Territorial Hospital is identified as a potential donor and where the donor can be transported to Edmonton in the condition where the organs will remain suitable for transplant, Stanton Territorial Health Authority can contact HOPE to medevac a donor to Edmonton and have their organs harvested. The dialysis unit at the Stanton Territorial Hospital provides dialysis patients who are on the transplant list with a pager so they can be located at any time, should a kidney become available.
The Human Tissue Act in the NWT, which came into force in 1988, provides the basic legislative framework for consent for organ and tissue donation. A brief scan of the legislation in other provinces shows some of the acts also include provisions respecting the requirement for two physicians to declare death, criteria for brain death, prohibition on declaring the doctor to be involved in the transplant – that is the same doctor that is declaring death – the prohibition on buying and selling or dealing with human tissue, and confidentiality.
Historical figures in the NWT where the recipients obtained through HOPE: in 2008-09, three kidney recipients and one liver recipient; in 2009-10, one heart recipient and two kidney recipients; in 2010-11, four liver recipients; in 2011-12, five liver recipients, islet cell recipient, one; liver, partial donation from living donor. At present there are seven NWT residents on the waiting list to receive organs: one heart, one double lung and five liver.
This motion is a direction to the GNWT, to government, so we will be abstaining from the vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. I will allow the mover of the motion to have final remarks. To the motion, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the seconder of the motion. I forgot to do that earlier. I do thank him for coming forward and letting the debate happen today, Mr. Yakeleya.
I am honoured. I heard a lot of positive comments from my colleagues from different perspectives and looking at it from many different angles. I do appreciate all of the support. They see the vision. They understand. You can’t put a price on human life.
We heard from the Minister of Health and Social Services that he had a brief scan of the Human Tissue Act. I have done a full review of this act. This group of my colleagues know very well I am very thorough in my design. This act is deficient and is defiant of what is considered best practice and standards across Canada. It doesn’t hold up to what we consider on a worldwide basis in the Human Tissue Act or the harvesting of organs. This act is greatly deficient.
The pass of a vote that we are hearing from across the hall here is not soothing words for the people of the Northwest Territories. We need to hear an active role. This motion speaks to an active role that this government can pursue and do for the people of the Northwest Territories, nothing more. It is not about dollars. You can do what you like with the barriers to life, and I think Members on this side of the House are trying to remove those barriers so we are giving life a fair chance in the Northwest Territories. I am hoping our colleagues across the room are thinking in the same capacity.
