Organ donor law a fitting testimonial to Kormos

Two pieces of legislation introduced to the Ontario legislature last week are fittingly reflective of the life and career of former Welland MPP Peter Kormos.

And their introduction five years after the popular and outspoken politician’s death, at the age of 60, on March 30, 2013 reflect two of his key priorities – public health and organized labour.

The legislation was introduced by France Gelinas, an MPP for the Nickel Belt riding in Sudbury and a former protégé of Kormos.

The first is a law called the Trillium Gift of Life Amendment and would change Ontario’s organ donations law from an opt-in to an opt-out system, and is the less politically divisive of the two laws.

Currently, Ontario residents can fill out a form on their drivers’ licences to indicate they agree to donate their organs in case of death. The bill would reverse this, creating an “assumed consent” system through which people can opt out of donating their organs by filling out a form. A person’s next of kin can also opt out on behalf of the deceased.

The bill would help address the health system’s acute need for more organ donors. That need was recently demonstrated by a CBC story about an 81-year-old Toronto man who is in need of a new kidney. Marcel Rozen’s family has taken to putting up flyers around the city seeking donors in the hope the posters will spur someone to come forward. Rozen’s kidneys function at five per cent of capacity and he has to spend nine hours every night hooked up to a dialysis machine.

“I’m on a waiting list, but how long do you wait? That’s the question,” Rozen is quoted by CBC in the story. “It’s very hard. And I’m not a young kid either, so that doesn’t help.”

Then there’s the story, reported by Global News, of Ottawa resident Marie-Josee Coyle, also in need of a kidney transplant, who with her husband Murray crafted a sign for the back window of their vehicle which says: “KIDNEY NEEDED, O positive, Share your spare & be a hero,” along with her phone number.

The CBC story says the Ministry of Health reports there are 1,000 people seeking new kidneys in Ontario and each patient on average will spend four years on the transplant waiting list. The ministry also said that in 2017 alone, 37 Ontarians died while on the waiting list for a kidney.

And these are numbers related to kidneys alone. There is a need for all other types of organs and the stories of people seeking help are just as desperate.

The second bill is an amendment to the Labour Relations Act and would prohibit replacement workers from crossing over picket lines during a strike. Kormos made his political career as a working man’s politician, and often pushed for legislation that would enhance workers’ rights.

Both issues were ones Kormos cared deeply about, Gelinas said, and she felt it fitting to bring them before the provincial legislature near the anniversary of his death.

To pass, both bills need support from Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government.

Gelinas thinks it unlikely the labour act amendment will attract the government’s support but is hopeful the organ donation legislation will. She had to reintroduce both bills to the legislature after the house was briefly prorogued for the recent throne speech.

“We are going to be sitting for the next four weeks maximum,” said Gelinas in an interview with The Standard, “so I hope we will be able to make this happen.”

And so it should.

If Gelinas’ organ donor bill does pass, it will be a fitting testimonial to a man who proudly served the public.