Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of this initiative. I would like to commend the member for Thornhill for the work she has done and the comments that have been made just now.
I think it is relevant to the debate to start with a comment on the findings of the National Advisory Council on Aging. It states:
Alzheimer Disease, and other forms of cognitive impairment, will have the highest economic, social and health cost burden of all diseases in Canada over the next 25 years.
This is a matter that is of great concern to all Canadians, and I will touch on this later in my speech. All of our lives have been touched by this particular disease or we know someone who has been touched by this disease.
The question of whether or not we develop a national strategy to tackle this horrible ailment is what role the federal government will play. I understand there are questions of jurisdiction and that many people believe this is a provincial matter and the federal government should not intervene. However I do think there are many ways that the federal government can intervene.
Would the hon. member specifically indicate some of the areas nationally that would be touched upon and dealt with by the federal government?