Thank you very much. I am joined today by Yassemin Cohanim, from our Ottawa chapter, who will be sharing the presentation time.
We're very pleased to have this opportunity to speak to the Standing Committee on Finance.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society is a national voluntary organization that supports both multiple sclerosis research and services for people with MS and their families and caregivers. MS touches people across a wide spectrum in this country. In fact, Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, affecting an estimated 55,000 to 75,000 Canadians.
In our brief we have focused on three broad areas of concern to people with living with MS. Today we'll focus our comments on a few highlights, and Yassemin will start us off.