Mr. Speaker, you might agree that in your chair you are more often a listener than you are a speaker, but not all Canadians share the luxury of hearing as you do.
May is Hearing Awareness Month and as such is an occasion to promote greater public understanding of Canadians who are deaf or hard of hearing. It is also a time to help those with related communication disorders and to emphasize the importance of protecting our hearing.
More than one million Canadians have a hearing loss. For these people communication is not a simple task. It means using teletypewriters, close captioning for television, listening devices, sign language and oral interpreters.
This year the hearing awareness campaign will focus on access and communication. Hearing organizations will be working together to promote programs and services that improve the lives of the hearing impaired in Canada.
Please join me in saluting the Canadian Hearing Society and the Canadian Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists for their devotion to improving the lives of Canadians with hearing difficulties. Thank you all for listening.