moved for leave to introduce Bill C‑282, An Act to amend the Veterans Well-being Act.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be introducing the service dogs for veterans act to help ensure that service dogs are available to every veteran who needs one, regardless of where they live in Canada. This bill would make it so that service dogs are an eligible form of rehabilitation support under the Veterans Well-being Act. It would create a national training and certification standard for service dogs in coordination with the provinces and territories.
This bill was inspired by a meeting I had with a great veteran, Cindy Weir, and her service dog, Gracie, who are here with us on Parliament Hill today. Cindy is the founder of Veteran’s Elite Canines, a non-profit based in Brockville, Ontario, supporting veterans living with PTSD and operational stress injuries through their expertly trained service dogs.
There are other incredible organizations like Veteran's Elite Canines, people like Cindy, and the extraordinary dogs, like Gracie and Ghost, who are both here today, that have been working to establish national standards for trainers, handlers and dogs to support the veterans community.
I look forward to members hearing about the life-changing impact service dogs have for veterans. I encourage them to vote in support of the service dogs for veterans act.
I want to thank my colleagues, the hon. members for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, Airdrie—Cochrane and Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, for their support.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)