Mr. Speaker, today marks the last day of movember and as our moustaches have grown, so has the popularity of this great campaign. Here in the House the three teams, the “New DeMOcrats”, the “Strong, Stable Conservative MOjority” and we “Li-Bros”, have together raised over $50,000. All together, 245,000 Canadians grew moustaches and made Canada by far the number one country in the world, with over $32 million raised. Movember is a good way to bring attention to men's health issues, but more needs to be done.
As Dr. Larry Goldenberg said, “A man is more than just a penis and a prostate”. Dr. Goldenberg said that men's health needs to be about more, too. Men have shorter life expectancies, almost five years less. Heart disease, suicide, liver disease and diabetes are all more prevalent among men. Dr. Goldenberg has taken the first steps in proposing a Canadian institute of male health. We need a national body separate from government that would be entirely focused on men's health that could co-ordinate research activities, education campaigns and other initiatives.
Just as Canada leads in movember, so too can we all lead here in Canada with the Canadian institute of male health.