WAIT times for an organ transplant in Canada, as in most nations, are months and, in many cases, years.

In China, however, hospitals consistently boast of wait times for transplants, especially for kidneys and livers, being but a matter of weeks.

Unsurprisingly, foreigners willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for lifesaving new organs are frequent customers.

How is that possible?

Chillingly, according to an independent report published last month by two Canadians – Winnipeg human rights lawyer David Matas and former Liberal secretary of state for Asia Pacific David Kilgour – the source for these apparently readily available organs are members of the persecuted Falun Gong who’ve been imprisoned for their beliefs.

Last week, representatives of the Falun Gong spiritual group were in Halifax, as part of a cross-country effort, asking all Canadians to speak out against this barbarous practice.

The Chinese government, of course, denies the allegations. But the evidence, although circumstantial, is overwhelming.

For example, the Chinese transplant statistics alone are impossible to reconcile. Ever since 2000, when China began cracking down on Falun Gong, imprisoning thousands of adherents, that country has had documented a steep rise in the number of organ transplants.

Kilgour and Matas found that, over that period, there were 41,500 transplants that could not be accounted for from executed prisoners, itself an internationally condemned practice, or family donations, which cultural beliefs make relatively rare.

Then there are the testimonies of various medical workers and journalists, many of whom have fled to the West, verifying the horrific practice.

China has recently passed new laws putting strict controls over organ donations, but many observers believe – based on the Communist government’s track record – that these are merely window dressing, not to be strictly enforced.

China has good reason to want to dampen world outrage over these allegations, which are but the latest accusing the Asian giant of allowing harvesting of organs from political and criminal prisoners: the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Which, conversely, provides critics with an even stronger wedge to put pressure on China to truly end such inhuman butchery.

The federal Tories have vowed to investigate; they need to act quickly. The report recommended that the UN investigate whether China is breaking international rules against trafficking in human organs.

Others have called for special UN investigators to be allowed into China to probe the allegations firsthand. Given the gravity of the charges, the sooner the better.