Mr. Speaker, yesterday 25 Canadian communities walked the fourth annual Walk for AIDS at the start of AIDS Awareness Week. In fact our own Minister of Health was walking for AIDS in the city of Montreal.
More than 1,000 people from the region in which I live took to the streets of downtown Ottawa, raising over $150,000 for prevention and support services for local AIDS victims.
Throughout the week the Canadian AIDS memorial quilt will be on display at the Ottawa-Carleton regional headquarters. A benefit concert of traditional, contemporary and spiritual music by the Canadian Centennial Choir will be presented on Thursday night at St. Joseph's Church on Laurier Avenue. The week will culminate in a 7 p.m. vigil at RMOC headquarters in remembrance of those who have lost their lives to AIDS.
I offer my best wishes to those who have organized these events and I congratulate all those who have and will be participating in AIDS Awareness Week.