A London woman, whose stepfather would have died without a liver transplant, is lobbying the federal government to take a more proactive role when it comes to organ donation.
Erika Lashbrook has launched an e-petition asking the government to form a task force or special committee to review the legislative and educational practices of other countries on organ donation and donor registration. The task force would then make recommendations to the government aimed at boosting donor registration across Canada.
"It's not asking for any specific legislation, it's really just asking them to examine how other countries do it really well and see how some of those options can be implemented in Canada," said Lashbrook.
The cause became very close to the 22-year-old's heart after her stepfather, Doug, nearly died waiting for a liver transplant in 2014.
"I want to make sure that no one else has to go through that fear of possibly losing a loved one because there aren't enough organ donors," said Lashbrook. "When my step dad got that second liver that ultimately saved his life, we took that as a second chance, a chance to make sure that no one else had to go through that. I've had the experience of meeting the families of a couple of donors and being able to see and have that knowledge that their loved one was able to save a life really seemed to help with their grief."
Currently, there are more than 1,500 people in Ontario waiting for an organ transplant, but only 31% of the eligible population are registered to give, according to figures released by the Trillium Gift of Life Network in February.
Across the country, statistics from the Government of Canada show over 4,500 Canadians were waiting for a transplant in 2014, of them 278 died waiting.
"That's a huge amount of people where there really is no reason for them to have passed away," said Lashbrook. "There is that life saving surgery, we do have the ability and resources to perform it, the only thing we are missing is people willing to donate their organs after they pass away."
Lashbrook's petition opened online in mid-June and has already collected more than 500 signatures. It will remain open until October 13. After that London North Centre MP Peter Fragiskatos will present the petition in the House of Commons.
"The government will be compelled to look at the petition and is forced to give a response. I look forward to that," said Fragiskatos."It is a matter that is so critical to so many Canadians. We can do better on this and certainly the government is working actively with the provinces and territories and Canada Blood Services to improve the situation."
Since the federal Liberals came into power they have invested $64-million to support Canada Blood Services, the organization that oversees national patient registries for organ donation and transplantation. While Fragiskatos wouldn't speculate on what action the government would take on this petition, he personally would like to see Lashbrook's initiative come to fruition.
"Why not convene a task force or special committee as the petition calls for to study organ donation and donor registration in other countries, as a way of ascertaining the best approach that we can take as a country to not only increase public awareness but also increase the number of Canadians who are registered? Ninety per cent of Canadians support organ donation but less than 30% actively register their consent to donate. This petition seeks to rectify the situation," said Fragiskatos.
Lashbrook's petition can be found by clicking here.