BILL C-443 (First Reading)

	1st Session, 37th Parliament, 49-50-51 Elizabeth II, 2001-2002
	House of Commons of Canada
	BILL C-
	An Act to establish a National Organ Donor Registry and to coordinate and promote organ donation throughout Canada
	Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
	SHORT TITLE
Short title	1. This Act may be cited as the Organ Donation Act.
	INTERPRETATION
Definitions	2. The definitions in this section apply in this Act.
``Minister'' « ministre »	``Minister'' means the Minister of Health.
``organ'' « organe »	``organ'' includes any form of human tissue.
``organ donor''or ``donor'' « donneur d'organe » ou « donneur »	``organ donor'' or ``donor'' means a person who has consented to the use of all their organs or one or more specified organs on death or for whom the consent has been given by another person, who will donate pursuant to the laws of the province in which the person resided at the time the consent was given, or in which the donor dies or becomes incapable of giving consent.
``participating province'' « province participante »	``participating province'' means a province
	(a) that has legislation that includes the principles listed in section 7 and that provides for persons to consent to one or more of their organs being donated to another person and for other persons to give that consent when the donor dies or becomes incapable of giving consent; and
	(b) that has made an agreement with the Minister that provides for the province to provide to the Registry information on organ donors residing in the province in a manner and form that permits the information to be included in the Registry and be used for the purposes of the Registry.
``recipient'' « receveur »	``recipient'' means a person who receives or who is intended to receive an organ from an organ donor.
``Registrar'' « registraire »	``Registrar'' means the person appointed as Registrar of Organ Donors under section 4.
``Registry'' « Registre »	``Registry'' means the National Organ Donor Registry established pursuant to section 3.
	NATIONAL ORGAN DONOR REGISTRY
Registry established	3. (1) There is hereby established a registry to be known as the National Organ Donor Registry.
Form of Registry	(2) The Registry shall consist of
	(a) a compilation of information on organ donors, recipients and those who have directed that their organs should not be donated; or
	(b) a system that allows for the linking of such compilations held by others and facilitates access to such compilations.
Electronic form	(3) For greater certainty, the Registry may be partly or entirely in electronic form.
	STAFF
Registrar	4. (1) The Registry shall be administered by a chief executive officer appointed by the Minister as Registrar of Organ Donors.
Registrar reports to Minister	(2) The Registrar shall report to the Minister as the Minister directs and shall submit an annual report to the Minister on the operation of the Registry.
Staff	(3) There may be appointed, pursuant to the Public Service Employment Act, such persons as are necessary to assist the Registrar.
	OBJECTS
Objects of Registry	5. The objects of the Registry are
	(a) to store, or provide a link between, information on organ donors from participating provinces;
	b) to maintain the information in a form in which it may be provided quickly to persons authorized by a participating province to receive it for the purposes of identifying individuals who have consented or who may consent to be organ donors; and
	(c) to maintain the information in confidence, subject only to its release for the fulfilment of the purpose described in paragraph (b).
	PARTICIPATING PROVINCES
Standardizatio n of provincial legislation	6. The Registrar shall endeavour by consultation with provinces
	(a) to ensure that as many of the provinces as possible become participating provinces;
	(b) to ensure that the legislation that provides for donation of organs in a province that wishes to be a participating province is compatible with the provisions of subsection 7(1); and
	(c) to secure a sufficient degree of compatibility between the provincial legislation of participating provinces that provides for
	(i) donation of organs and the promotion of organ donation,
	(ii) notification of the appropriate agency of the death or imminent death of a person who is or may become an organ donor,
	(iii) procedures to be established to assess the medical suitability of organ donors for transfer,
	(iv) the training of hospital staff who may have to approach families of patients for consent to the donation of an organ, and
	(v) the keeping of records and production of statistics.
Participating provinces	7. (1) For a province to become a participating province, it must make an agreement with the Minister under section 8 and it must have legislation that, by specific provision or by acceptance of a national standard:
	(a) makes provision for consent for organ donation and refusal to donate any or specified organs, in writing
	(i) by the donor or on the donor's incapacity or death by a person specified to consent on the donor's behalf to a donation,
	(ii) in the case of a person who is a minor, by the donor and the donor's parents or other person specified by the laws of the province as the person to give such consent;
	(b) specifies whether and how a donation is revocable and states whether or not the donor's next of kin have the right to revoke a prior agreement to donate made by a deceased person;
	(c) specifies the procedure by which a determination of death of a donor prior to removal of an organ must be made;
	(d) allows for the sharing with other jurisdictions of information on individuals intent to be an organ donor or not; and
	(e) specifies how an organ donation is to be managed within the province, either by
	(i) the establishment of a body, or
	(ii) the appointment or recognition of a governmental or non-governmental organization
	to carry out the function.
Provisions need not be identical	(2) For greater certainty, it is not necessary for the legislation in a province respecting organ donation to be the same as that in other provinces that are participating provinces if the Minister, after consultation with the Registrar, is of the opinion that the difference will not unduly impede the operation of the Registry and the fulfilment of its objects.
Report to Minister	(3) When the Registrar is of the opinion that a province may become a participating province, the Registrar shall make a report to the Minister.
Annual report	(4) The Registrar shall, no later than April 1 in every year, prepare and submit to the Minister a report on the operation of the Registry during the previous year and containing any recommendations the Registrar may wish to make concerning the Registry or organ donation.
Agreements	8. After receiving a report from the Registrar under subsection 7(3), the Minister may make an agreement with the province concerned to become a participating province, providing for
	(a) information on organ donors residing in the participating province to be provided to the Registry and made available to other participating provinces;
	(b) information on organ donors from other participating provinces to be provided to the participating province to assist it to identify organ donors;
	(c) the information in the Registry to be kept confidential except as necessary to fulfil the objects of the Registry; and
	(d) the promotion of organ donation throughout Canada through the development of a national public education campaign on organ donation that includes clear information on the issue of the establishment of death before organ removal.
	REPORT TO PARLIAMENT
Report laid before Parliament	9. (1) The Minister shall cause every report received pursuant to subsection 7(4) to be laid before each House of Parliament no later than the fifth day on which the House sits after the day the Minister receives the report.
Referred to committee	(2) The report referred to in subsection (1), when laid before the House of Commons, is automatically referred to the standing committee appointed by that House to deal with matters relating to health for consideration and report to the House.
Content of committee report	(3) The committee in its report to the House may make general recommendations on human organ donation and on possible amendments to this Act.
	FIVE-YEAR REVIEW
Five-year review	10. Five years after the coming into force of this Act, the House of Commons shall instruct one of its committees to undertake a review of the operation of this Act to date and the committee shall report to the House its findings and any recommendations for amendments to this Act.