PureInsight | December 2, 2018
[PureInsight.org] Two days after Bill S-240 was passed, Senator Salma Ataullahjan and Conservative MP Garnett Genuis hold a joint press conference on October 25th to announce the Bill was sent to the House of Commons for consideration to become legislation. Bill s-240 was to combat organ trafficking.
Bill S-240 Act amended the Canadian Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs) bill, similar to the bill proposed by Guinness in 2017. Senator Ataullahjan introduced the Senate bill to speed up legislation.
Defining new crimes, combating trafficking in human organs, receiving cross-party support
Ataullahjan explained at a press conference, "The bill amends the criminal code to create new offences in relation to trafficking in human organs and tissue.”
“It also amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to provide that a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible to Canada if the minister of citizenship and immigration is of the opinion that they have engaged in any activities related to trafficking in human organs and tissue.”
At the press conference on October 25th, Mr. Genuis said that the bill was strongly supported by senators from different political factions. According to the facts, parliamentarians of different parties have proposed similar bills in the past, which has received cross-party support.
He said, “A similar bill, C350, that I tabled was seconded by Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj, so we are pleased to see cross-party support,” he said, noting that Wrzesnewskyj himself had in the past introduced a similar private members bill, as had Irwin Cotler, a former Liberal justice minister.
“This is not a one-party initiative. That said, we have yet to hear the government’s position on it. We’re hopeful that they will do the right thing and support it,” Genuis said.
“My plea to all MPs from all parties is that this is a good human rights initiative, it’s a non-partisan initiative, and it’s something that needs to be done. Let’s save lives. Let’s make sure that it gets done before the next election.”
Falun Gong practitioners are the majority victims in CCP’s live organ harvesting
Prior to the adoption of the bill, Canadian senators heard opinions from relevant groups, including human rights activists who investigated the issue of organ trafficking.
Former MP and secretary of state for Asia-Pacific David Kilgour, who also appeared before the committee, highlighted the gravity of the situation in China. He said, “There’s only one country in the world, out of I believe 196 now, where the government runs this trafficking, and there are no survivors in China”.
“It’s important to differentiate between what happens in back alleys in some city and what happens in the People’s Republic of China,” he noted.
According to investigations by Kilgour and Winnipeg human rights lawyer David Matas, China has been harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience on a mass scale—mainly Falun Dafa adherents—fueling a multi-billion-dollar business that benefits Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials.
Matas, who also spoke at the hearing, said transplant numbers in China shot up shortly after the CCP launched its campaign of persecution against Falun Dafa adherents in 1999.
An updated investigation by Kilgour, Matas, and American investigative journalist and author Ethan Gutmann in 2016 shows that at least 60,000 transplants take place in China each year—far more than the official figure of 10,000 cited by the Chinese regime.
“If you do the arithmetic, which means about 150 people daily in China are being killed for their organs. And there are no survivors in these operations,” Kilgour said.
Matas said the legislation would also act as a deterrent to the medical professionals in China who participate in forced organ removal.
He said “So to say that you cannot enter [Canada], or even worse, that you’ll be prosecuted if you’re allowed entry, it means something to them. So … even if the number of people that are going to be prosecuted is small, it sends a message.”
The senator unanimously got the Law to stop live organ harvesting
Several senators said that Canada should have its own legislation against organ harvesting and trafficking of organs. Wanda Elaine Thomas Bernard, chairman of the Senate Human Rights Committee, said, "The evidence provided about the organ harvesting in China is convincing. This legislation can make Canadians not involved."
Senator Thanh Hai Ngo said in an interview, "This bill will prevent many Canadians from transplanting organs in China. Most of the organs are from Falun Gong practitioners."
Wanda Elaine Thomas Bernard said in an interview, "All people involved in the trafficking of organ have to be fully aware of the problems and everyone needs to be legally responsible for his actions."
Senator Jane Cordy said that the bill was introduced by the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party many times, but failed to move forward. She said, "We must ask ourselves when we can really take actions."
She added, "This is a global issue. Sometime I believe it will not affect us. But when I heard a doctor from Toronto let 50 patients go to China to transplant organs, it’s so harsh."
Cordy cited an example from the Matas’s report: 50 patients from a St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto went to China for organ transplant.
Some countries, including Taiwan, Israel, Spain, Italy and Norway, have passed legislation to restrict their citizens to do organ transplants abroad.
Quoted from:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/senator-sponsors-bill-to-combat-forced-organ-removal_2535656.html
https://www.theepochtimes.com/kilgour-and-matas-respond-to-chinese-government_1416829.html
https://www.theepochtimes.com/canadian-senate-passes-organ-trafficking-bill_2699714.html
Translated from http://www.zhengjian.org/node/247509
