Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to remind the House that May is Hearing Awareness Month. This is a time to recognize how important hearing is to communicating. It is also an opportunity to promote public awareness about deafness and to emphasize the importance of protecting our hearing.
More than a million Canadians have a hearing loss, with the greatest incidence occurring among the elderly. For people with this problem, communicating may necessitate additional resources such as sign language, oral interpreters, and telecommunications devices for telephone access.
Many national, provincial and regional organizations such as the Canadian Association of the Deaf, the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association and the Canadian Hearing Society work diligently to improve the lives of deaf and hard of hearing Canadians through services and advocacy.
Let us all acknowledge the challenges faced by those with hearing loss and urge Canadians to safeguard their hearing. It is a precious avenue of communication.