Calgary MP Len Webber has become a dogged advocate for increasing Canada's rate of organ and tissue donation.Crystal Schick / Postmedia

Its a crusade that began with his beloved wifes dying regret.

Calgary MP Len Webber has become a dogged advocate for increasing Canadas rate of organ and tissue donation, a fire that was kindled after his wife lost a lengthy battle with breast cancer in 2010.

When she did pass away, she said the one regret she had was that she wasnt able to donate her organs, said Webber, who in October was elected to his second term in the House of Commons after serving for a decade as a Calgary MLA.

From there, it just evolved. You start getting involved and the more you do that, the more you get motivated to do what you can.

Three years after her death, Webbers private members bill, the Human Tissue and Organ Donation Amendment Act, was passed by the Alberta legislature, establishing a single agency to co-ordinate organ and tissue donations while also establishing a provincial organ donor registry. It further required agents at provincial registry offices to ask for peoples consent to become an organ or tissue donor.

But Webber wasnt finished.

Soon after he was elected to represent the federal riding of Calgary Confederation, Webber started working on a plan to bring the conversation of organ and tissue donation to every Canadian household.

So, he turned to one of lifes two certainties as a new lever to increase the nations donor corps taxes.

Last November, Webber received unanimous consent on Bill C-316, a private members bill that will add a question on tax forms about whether people will consent to becoming organ and tissue donors. Those who sign up will then be added to the rolls of provincially run organ donor registries.

This is not a political issue; it is a human issue, he said last September in the House of Commons.

Any one of us could be in need of donor organs or tissues at any time. Just asking this simple question could increase the number of donors.

Canada remains a middling performer globally when it comes to organ and tissue donation, with about 22 Canadians per million population becoming donors. Despite consistent polling that finds about nine in 10 Canadians in support of the idea of donating their organs, only around 20 per cent nationwide have their names on donor registries, a puzzling ratio Webber has long hoped to narrow.

Webber dedicated the bill to his friend Robert Sallows of Red Deer who received a double lung transplant when he was just 17, and had become an ardent supporter and counsellor to the Calgary MP as he crafted the proposed legislation, even through deteriorating health.

He helped me lobby that bill even through his difficult time, said Webber, noting Sallows also helped him pass the bill that created Albertas organ donor registry.

Sallows died just a week before the federal legislation, which he helped craft, passed second reading unanimously in a rare show of support across party lines.

It went on to the Canadian Senate but died on the order paper when the federal election was called in September, meaning Webber will now have to start the process anew.

I lobbied hard in the Senate to get this through, but the Senate is also very political, he said. It died on the table. So, now I have to bring it back to the House of Commons.

Despite his disappointment, Webber expects the bill will now face a smoother ride among his parliamentary colleagues, though he admits the uncertainty of how it might be impacted by a minority government is troubling.

I do worry about minority governments because not a lot happens, he said. However, a bill like this shouldnt be political. Its something all parties agree with so damn it, lets get it done.

This concludes a month-long project from Postmedia Calgary and Edmonton, which examines the state of organ donation in Alberta whats working, what isnt and how the system can be improved. Catch up on the series here:

Also, Albertans share how the issue of organ transplants has changed their lives:

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Calgary MP won't give up effort to add donor consent option to tax forms - Calgary Herald