Thanks, Madam Chair.
For the committee, we've heard repeatedly in our subcommittee that we need a galvanizing effort. So the motion as was passed by the subcommittee would be that the committee recommends that the Government of Canada declare 2013 as the year of the brain.
I'll give you some background as to why that would be a good thing to do. The EU has named 2013 year of the brain in Europe. As you all know, our first national population health study of neurological conditions concludes at that time. The EU has funded a similar study. The World Parkinson Congress will be held in Canada that year. It brings 4,000 people together. It's the largest conference. The World Congress on Conductive Education will also occur in Canada. That's for children and adults who have motor disorders with neurological origins. We'll have the conclusion of the Canadian Dementia Knowledge Translation Network project, which is funded by CHR. The neurological health charities of Canada would be willing to work with the community to leverage planned events into significant year-of-the-brain occasions. They would be keen to coordinate a knowledge exchange event between the Canadian and European population health studies.
It's a timely target to work toward improving the quality of life for more than eleven million Canadians who live with a neurological or psychiatric condition.
I just want to finish by saying that in the 1970s we took real action on smoking, and on the heart in the 1970s and 1980s. We made a real difference. We have an opportunity with 2013 and Canada doing so much to use this as a galvanizing effort.