Good morning, and thank you for the invitation to speak before you.
My name is Michael Sangster, and I'm appearing as an individual to co-present with Sharon Baxter, the executive director of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association. I'm not an expert on hospice and palliative care, but I do sit on the association's champions council because I feel the issue will have profound impacts on Canadian society as more and more Canadians look for hospice and palliative care and solutions and programs in Canada.
This committee is familiar with numbers and reports, so I'm not going to re-read the submission we have made to the committee. We all know that our society is getting older. We know that we are all living longer, and there is and will be a growing need for end-of-life care for our parents, aunts, uncles, spouses, and friends. I believe you see it in your ridings, in your families, and within your own social groups. You know that the need is rising and will continue to rise. I am here to add my voice of support for a group of Canadians who do these heroic services across Canada at the most trying of times for the families and friends of dying patients.
I am here because the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association has created a champions council to look for alternatives and solutions outside their everyday routine and to create partnerships that can make a difference. They are working with industry and other health care organizations, politicians, and everyday Canadians to make the change that is necessary. They need your support, and I am here to highlight their four requests for support and to make one of my own.
Visit a hospice or palliative care unit in your riding and see the amazing work these Canadians do every day across Canada. I believe you'll be amazed, and you'll learn more in a few hours about the work they do to ensure dignity and respect for families and patients at the most terrible times in their lives. After that visit and the understanding of the population issues that are facing Canada, I think you will better understand how this issue needs your support, along with Canadians and industry, to ensure that we better understand the issue. We will get better at talking about the issue, and we can work even closer together to plan for the growing demand for these serious issues.