After many similar bills were repealed when parliament was dissolved over the past 15 years, several lawmakers are optimistic that a bill that creates new crimes related to human organ trafficking will soon be enacted. It is said that
Building S-223A Canadian citizen or permanent resident Going abroad to receive organs from a person who has not given informed consent to the harvesting of organs.
The bill also amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to deny permanent residents or aliens access to Canada if they engage in activities related to the sale of human organs.
The bill passed a second reading in the House in May and was submitted to the Foreign Affairs Committee for review. The bill passed the committee and will automatically return to the House on November 28th.
The bill’s second proponent, liberal MP Samir Zuberi, told The Epoch Times that the bill “sends a signal that illegal organ harvesting is unacceptable for the country and that it will be addressed concretely. ‘ said.
“15 years in the making”
Conservative MP Garnett Genuy, who serves as the party’s shadow minister for international development, said she was confident the bill would pass, and in 2008 parliament voted to end forced organ harvesting and human trafficking. The bill has come a long way since it first called for legislative action to combat it, he added. .
“This bill took 15 years to make. It was Canadians who really recognized the problem of forced organ harvesting and human trafficking and exposed it to the world, but our country still We have spent a great deal of time finally legislating this issue.
“However, with this automated report going to the House of Representatives, we are very optimistic that this bill will become law in Canada by the end of the year.
The first bill aimed at combating human organ trafficking was introduced in 2008 by former Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj. Building C-500 It was introduced in February of that year, but died when parliament was dissolved. In 2009, he made his second attempt. Building C-381He also died when parliament was dissolved.
In 2013, then-liberal MP Erwin Kotler introduced a similar law. Building C-561, which also did not become law. After Kotler retired, Genuis reintroduced his C-561 at the 42nd Congress.
In December 2019, Ataullahjan also introduced a similar bill. S-204but after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suspended parliament in 2020, all legislative work came to a halt after the bill only passed its first reading in the Senate.
organ harvesting
The human rights activist was a former lawmaker after the Epoch Times reported in 2006 that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was involved in forced organ harvesting to profit from followers of the spiritual practice Falun Gong in China. ‘s David Kilgour and asked him to investigate. suspected crime.
Kilgour joined forces with human rights attorney David Matas, and their investigation culminated in a report later published as “bloody harvest‘ and concluded that the allegations were true.
Their findings inspired other investigations into the forced organ harvesting and human trafficking trade in China and around the world, with countries striving to end practices like “organ tourism.”
Renowned British human rights activist and journalist Benedict Rogers said the work of the 2019 China Tribunal, an independent tribunal that investigated allegations of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience of Falun Gong practitioners in China, Sir Geoffrey Nice chaired and said he played an important role. Further expose the Chinese Communist Party’s organ harvesting crimes.
“I think this tribunal is an incredibly important tribunal because … it is an independent body chaired by a very eminent lawyer, and this barbaric practice is so widespread in China that it is a crime against humanity. ‘, said Rogers. Epoch Times on November 23rd.
Donna Ho and Isaac Teo contributed to this report
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Andrew Chen is a reporter for the Epoch Times based in Toronto.