Thank you very much, Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to come before committee.
I think you've had the opportunity to read Bill S-220, An Act respecting a National Blood Donor Week. This bill designates the week in which June 14 occurs in each and every year as national blood donor week. There are numerous benefits to passing this legislation. It has a tremendous amount of support in the House and from other organizations and Canadians who have written to me about this.
First and foremost, the purpose of this bill is to create an awareness of the importance of blood donation within Canadian society. I think it also helps reinforce that blood donation is completely safe, that people should not be concerned about giving blood, and that we have a very safe system.
We are fortunate, as a nation, but there could be circumstances where a crisis could occur and we'd need to build up some additional blood supply for peak demand periods.
It's also very important to celebrate the contribution of various blood donors and volunteers in each and every community.
The purpose is fairly straightforward. It's a very concise bill. If you have any questions, I'd be more than glad to answer them now. Otherwise, I think we can proceed to clause-by-clause.