Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to welcome to Parliament Hill today representatives of the Children's Miracle Network, a network of 170 non-profit children's hospitals, one of the more compelling and dramatic of humanitarian and health care initiatives anywhere today.
In a word, the Children's Miracle Network treats 14 million children a year suffering from cancer, heart defects, diabetes, kidney disease and accident trauma, to name a few. It provides more than $2.5 billion a year in charitable care and 100% of every dollar remains within the community that raises it. Every community and every region in Canada is a beneficiary of this incredible effort to save and improve the lives of our children.
I am delighted to welcome to Parliament Hill today one of my own constituents, Christopher Sherlaw, who has undergone multiple hospitalizations and surgeries, yet through it all this teen has exhibited the courage and fortitude that defines him and others here today whose lives have been transformed by the Children's Miracle Network.