Ontario legislators, anxious to trim a growing list of people waiting for an organ, are trying to rekindle the lingering debate over whether everyone should be considered a would-be organ donor unless they explicitly indicate otherwise.

It's a concept known as presumed consent, making every eligible person in Ontario an automatic organ donor upon death unless they specifically opt out ahead of time.

Though it has yet to win much support in Canada, a pair of New Democrats are taking one more shot at making their private member's bill the law in Ontario.

"As we speak, good organs are being burned or buried across this province because the province insists on maintaining its presumption system," said NDP MPP Peter Kormos, who has twice introduced the legislation unsuccessfully. He and MPP Cheri DiNovo are pushing the issue now.

This fall, the NDP will introduce the bill again, hoping to provide an urgent solution to nearly 1,700 Ontarians waiting for organs, he said.

About 4,000 Canadians are waiting for organ transplants and 140 to 250 die each year before they get it.

Still, a report commissioned by the provincial government last year found little public appetite for a presumed-consent system.

Andres Cotic, 60, who has been waiting for a liver for three years, pleaded yesterday with Canadians to show support for the concept.

Several years ago, a colleague donated half his own liver to Cotic, but it's now failing, he said.

"We cannot let our fellow Canadians (die) in silence when we have all these things at our disposal," said Cotic, an architect and urban designer.

According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, presumed consent is practised in various forms in Europe. Mark Nesbitt, an Ontario Health Ministry spokesperson, said there are no further discussions planned on the issue following the citizens' panel report.

The report found they're generally not comfortable with the concept, Nesbitt said.

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Under the current system, people who want to donate their organs can fill out a donor card to notify family members of their wishes. Family members are asked to provide the final consent.