Another lobbying conversation is in the books for Sammy Khalife as he talked to Swift Current’s MLA Tuesday to discuss organ donation policy.

Sammy Khalife, a heart recipient hopeful, met with Swift Current MLA Everett Hindley on Tuesday to discuss what the government is doing to help those in his situation.

The digital meeting was broadcast live on the Help a Heart Fundraiser Facebook page.

The meeting touched on a few things, such as the recent mass shooting in Nova Scotia and COVID-19, but the focus was on the issue of organ donation.

Khalife is hoping that by meeting with Hindley, he can stimulate progress in streamlining Saskatchewan’s organ donation system.

While currently waiting for a heart, Khalife said that he wants to leave his fight for this as his legacy.

Everett was able to tell Khalife since the last time they had met to discuss the issues a year ago that the situation had made some changes for the better.

In a year, the provincial government budgeted $500,000 towards the Donation after Cardiocirculatory Death program in Saskatoon which harvests the organs of those being kept alive artificially.

That amount was increased to $1,200,000 in the latest budget to have a similar program created in Regina.

Everett also said that they have also started the process of setting up an organ donor registry, something he said they would have had ready by June until it was interrupted by COVID-19.

“Unfortunately that, along with a number of programs, have been pushed off a little bit, but not too far,” Hindley said. “It remains a priority for our government to move forward on this and to be one of the first in Canada.”

When asked by Khalife, Hindley said the progress of the program wouldn’t be wiped out because of the virus's delays, and encouraged people to talk to their families about their request to donate their organs, put an organ donor sticker on their health cards, and sign the consent sign that comes with the card as well.

Khalife said that he believed that the government would follow through on the organ donor registry based on Hindley's word.

“I trust him. In my experience with him, he is a man of his word. I will hold him accountable next year if I’m alive next year to live through it.“

At the end of the meeting, Khalife scheduled another meeting of a similar nature next year, and said that if he wasn’t there to attend himself, he would send a representative.

Khalife said that it was a productive meeting, and said that the yearly conversation would hopefully speed up the process of improving the healthcare system

“If they know we’re following up with them each year, they’re not going to put this on the back burner, they’re going to work on it...I’m going to hold him accountable to what he promises and what he says.”

“I was satisfied with his answer and his actions, and his sincerity to being able to work with me on this issue.”

Hindley said that Khalife puts a face to the issue and hopes he is able to inspire conversations with other Saskatchewan residents and their MLA’s in the province on the topic.

One point of contention between the two is when future bills will be introduced. Everett said that they want to establish the legality and organization of medical staff before introducing future bills such as presumed consent for organ donation, which Khalife questioned on the basis of how fast a new bill could be introduced.

“We should be doing this yesterday, not wait until tomorrow,” Khalife said. “We are in a [time] crunch, we people are dying from the need of organs”

“It’s a priority for the government and we intend to get there, but there’s a number of steps that we need to take first before we get to the presumed consent phase of this,” Hindley said in an interview following the live-stream.

Khalife also questioned why the province is supporting an Edmonton organ donation centre rather than Calgary due to Calgary being closer. Everett said that he has reached out to get an answer on that.

Following the interview, Khalife stated that if anyone wishes to join his Organs and Tissue Awareness Committee of Swift Current and Area, to message him at 306-772-1331.

You can watch the full interview between Khalife and Hindley below.