Mr. Speaker, May is National Speech and Hearing Awareness Month.
Our government is committed to building a society where the 10% of Canadians who suffer from hearing impairment can reach their goals both personally and professionally.
I am a person who suffers from hearing loss. I have no hearing in my left ear and only 50% in my right. In spite of this disability I have been able to build a successful accounting practice.
As a member of this House I have been able to use the sound equipment here without much impediment. In fact it has sometimes been a great advantage to me to turn off my hearing aid which I might say often adds to the comprehensibility of this place rather than detracts from it. Of course this is the lighter side of what for many is a major impediment.
I can say that government through programs at HRDC has made funding available to allow for training and computerization of many job functions to allow people with hearing impairments to have full and productive lives.
I salute the 10% of Canadians who suffer from hearing loss.