Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from a number of citizens, all from the province of Ontario.
The petitioners are concerned with Lyme disease. They say a number of things about this disease, including that Canadians will benefit from the establishment of a national standard of care for the treatment of Lyme disease, a coordinated national effort to track the spread of the disease and increased public education and awareness to better prevent and detect instances of Lyme disease in Canada.
The petitioners call on the government to convene a national conference with provincial and territorial health ministers, representatives of the medical community and patient groups for the purpose of developing a national strategy to work towards ensuring the recognition, timely diagnosis and effective treatment of Lyme disease in Canada.