Mr. Speaker, it is important for me to bring to the attention of the House that March 6 to March 11 is Vision Awareness Week in Canada. This year's theme is "Hope is in sight: good vision and literacy, there is a clear connection".
It is a sad fact that many Canadians cannot read well simply because they cannot see well. One in six children has a vision problem that makes learning and reading difficult. If our children cannot focus on the chalkboard or on words in a book, how can we expect them to learn to read?
This problem is not unique to children. Three-quarters of adults with poor literacy skills also have problems with their vision.
The difficulty is that not all vision problems are easily detected. We know the earlier problems are detected and corrected, the faster we can get children and adults alike on the reading track and the faster they will be literate.
Awareness is the key. I ask my colleagues to join me and 2,800 optometrists in reminding Canadians-