Need more consultation before 'presumed consent' comes to Ontario: Smitherman

The province is appointing a team to examine the issue and consult with the public, and Smitherman said he hopes it will report back before next fall's election.

"You'll see action coming on this very, very soon."

It can't come soon enough for Sarit and Sherry Kind, from Thornhill, Ont.

Their mother, Suzi, contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood 15 years ago and is waiting for her second liver donation. She is one of 1,700 people in Ontario waiting for an organ transplant.

She waited five years for her last transplant and is now suffering from a litany of health problems as she waits once again. Her daughters say a system of presumed consent would save countless lives, including that of their mother.

"One person can save eight people's lives," said Sherry Kind, 26. "We have to do something about it. We have to help."

Some critics say a presumed consent system isn't necessary in Ontario, because new measures are already increasing rates of donation. But nothing would yield the kind of results that presumed consent can deliver, said Kind's sister, Sarit.

"I'm sure the majority of the population would want to give this second chance at life," said Sarit, 28. "They want to be heroes. Why take your organs to heaven? Heaven knows we need them here."

George Marcello, a liver transplant recipient and co-founder of the Step By Step Organ Transplant Association, said presumed consent has had a dramatic impact in countries like Spain, which now has a 94 per cent success rate.

"It's about time we tested it here," said Marcello, who embarked Monday on a walk from Toronto to Ottawa to raise awareness about organ donation and the plight of the Kind family.

But the organization that oversees Ontario's organ donations isn't as enthusiastic about requiring people to opt out of transplant donation.

Mark Vimr, vice-president clinical operations and chief nursing officer with Trillium Gift of Life Network, said the organization has looked at the system and decided it's not necessary in Ontario just yet.

Donation rates are already going up, he said, thanks to a new law that requires 13 major Ontario hospitals to report to the network every time someone dies at their facility. The network then matches donors with patients in need of transplants.

Presumed consent isn't in place anywhere in North America, he added.

"We have looked at this issue very closely and carefully," said Vimr, who noted that public opinion surveys have exposed a split among Ontario residents when it comes to presumed consent.

"We did not feel we were prepared to support implementing a presumed consent approach in Ontario."

Members on both sides of the legislature said Monday the status quo isn't good enough. The NDP's Peter Kormos said perfectly good organs will continue to go to waste until Ontario has the courage to strengthen its organ donor system.

"It's a matter of political will," said Kormos, who has introduced a private members' bill to bring in presumed consent.

"There is some squeamishness about it. I, for the life of me, can't understand why people are squeamish about saving the lives of mothers, daughters, sisters, brothers, children and parents."

Liberal backbencher Dave Levac, who also introduced a private members' bill to make learning about organ donation part of the high school curriculum, said an opt-out system of organ donation may not be the answer.

But he said the province must do something more to save the lives of those who sit on a waiting list for transplants.

"At the end of the day, we've got to get a better process moving and get those organs into the bodies of the living," said Levac.

"The status quo is not acceptable."

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