Mr. Speaker, I too would like to highlight International Literacy Day.
Once again this year nearly 100 adult learners, teachers and volunteers from literacy groups are on Parliament Hill to make us aware of the needs of people to combat illiteracy in this country. According to Statistics Canada, 22% of Canadians have difficulty reading simple text. It is simply unacceptable.
We must all work together to ensure that Canadians have the tools they need to be full participants in the social, economic and cultural life of our country, as well as in the age of information.
Canada is blessed with many extraordinarily talented writers, including Yann Martel, who won the Booker Prize this week for his book, Life of Pi . It is unfortunate that some Canadians do not read, it is tragic that some cannot read.
Let us all contribute to--