Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a wonderful fundraising hockey tournament that recently took place in my riding, the Pro-Am Face Off for Alzheimer's.
Approximately 747,000 Canadians are currently living with dementia. This event raised critical research dollars for the Alzheimer's Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories. From April 26 to 28, local amateur hockey players teamed up with some of the NHL's all-time greats, like my weekend teammate, Theo Fleury, as we took to the ice in the battle against Alzheimer's and other types of dementia. There were many highlights in the weekend, including a luncheon with the one and only Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe, where we heard some very heartfelt stories of people touched by this disease.
Through fundraising efforts, we raised over $2 million for the Alzheimer's Society. Currently, Alzheimer's disease has no known cause or cure. Until a cure is found, the society is there to help and provide support to those impacted by this terrible disease.
I would like to recognize and thank the local organizing committee and the volunteers in Edmonton and Leduc for putting together such a wonderful event.