Manitoba government rejects call to change how organs donated

The Manitoba government has rejected a proposal that would have made all people in the province organ donors unless they specifically requested not to be.

Members of the Progressive Conservative government caucus voted Tuesday against a private member's bill from Independent legislature member Steven Fletcher that would have set up presumed consent.

Fletcher proposed the idea as a way to cut long waiting lists for organ transplants.

The bill is to come to a final vote Thursday and Tory caucus spokesman Reg Helwer said his colleagues prefer to promote voluntary registration on the existing donor registry.

"We see the education side as the proper route to take," Helwer said.

"There are implications for particular religions that want to see their loved ones buried whole. There's all kinds of things that have to be covered off on this."

Premier Brian Pallister said he is willing to look at the issue at a later date perhaps as a joint effort with other political parties but he did not offer details.

"There could be ... an all-party type of mechanism and I'm exploring the options of possibly going that route," the premier said.

"I'm hopeful that we can come up with something even better than what has been initially proposed."

Manitoba, like other provinces, currently has an opt-in model under which people choose to be organ donors by signing up on a provincial website.

Fletcher's bill, introduced last spring, would have presumed people to be organ donors unless they opted out by registering their desire not to donate.

There is no presumed consent anywhere in North America, Fletcher said, but some European countries have it.

The Saskatchewan government is examining the idea of presumed consent for organ donations as well. Last week, it said it would focus on ways to expand the pool of donors, but will also focus on other ways to expand the donor pool.

Potential problems: NDP

Fletcher, who has been paralyzed from the neck down since hitting a moose with his vehicle in 1996, said Tuesday he remembers being close to death in hospital, unable to talk and not having registered as an organ donor.

"If I had passed on, it would have been a real shame had my family not knowing what my intentions were decided to err on doing nothing," Fletcher told the legislature.

NDPLeader Wab Kinew said his party is "open and willing" to work with the government, but would have to see what sort of bipartisan process the government is proposing before signing on.

"At the end of the day, if we can come together andserve the people of Manitoba, ensure that theselife-saving procedures can take place, but in a way that respects the sanctity of an individual's right to exercise self-determination over their own body, then I think that we'd be prepared to participate," he said.

Opposition New Democrat Andrew Swan said Fletcher's bill warranted more examination, and suggested it could be passed into law with some changes following consultations with experts.

He pointed out there are potential problems with presumed consent, because people may be unaware of how to opt out or English may be a second language.

"It may be people ... who are not empowered, who may not know or who may not have the ability to truly consider this and make their own choices."

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