Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on being re-elected. He spoke very compassionately about seniors and I want to bring up the issue of Alzheimer's disease and, more broadly, dementia, which really is the most significant critical health care issue we face.
Today, some 500,000 Canadians live with some form of dementia and the terrible impact of the illness on families is profound. The current cost is $15 billion and in 30 years we will be looking at a cost of $153 billion. I recognize there is money for neurological disorders in the budget, but I will ask a very specific question.
Where is the national or federal strategy to cope with the rising tide of dementia and why do existing federal programs, research funding, support and income assistance pale in comparison to the enormous and rapidly escalating health, economic and social impacts of this disease?