On October 23rd, the Canadian Senate unanimously passed Bill S-240, an Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The bill, introduced by Sen. Salma Ataullahjan, creates new criminal offenses in relation to human organ and tissue trafficking and allows the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to deny admission into Canada of permanent residents or foreign nationals who have engaged in any activities related to human organ and tissue trafficking. Senator Ataullahjan discussed the bill in an October 25th interview.
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis introduced Bill S-240 to the Canadian House of Commons on October 30th. Despite a decade of failed attempts to create such legislation, Genuis is optimistic that Bill S-240 will be passed by Parliament and become law. He feels strongly that Canada needs to join other countries which have already enacted similar legislation, such as Israel, Spain, Italy and Taiwan, so as to protect Canadians from becoming complicit in criminal acts related to human organ and tissue trafficking.
