Mr. Speaker, Sunday, June 21, is Father's Day. It is also the day for Canada's first ever run for prostate cancer research in Victoria, B.C.
Volunteers have been working for months to organize and promote this event and have even managed to attract the sponsorship of major corporations like CIBC, a company which also supports breast cancer research.
Until recently very few people were talking about prostate cancer even though one man in eight will be struck with the disease during his lifetime. As a result prostate cancer research has struggled to attract research funding, just one-twentieth of the money going to breast cancer research and less than one-hundredth of the money going to AIDS research.
It is time for governments to begin distributing their research funding in a more equitable manner and to catch up with public awareness about prostate cancer.
Congratulations to the Victoria, B.C., organizers of Canada's first ever run for prostate cancer research. They have overcome enormous obstacles to help raise awareness of a very serious disease.