Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in this House in support of the sixth annual Chair-Leaders Campaign that runs in the month of May, with the goal to raise awareness for people living with spinal cord injury.
Every day I am inspired by people in my riding and throughout Canada who live with a spinal cord injury. We all believe in promoting inclusion and accessibility because everyone deserves meaningful opportunities to lead a fulfilling life.
Today and every day there will be approximately 11 new spinal cord injuries in Canada. That is over 4,000 new injuries a year, with over 86,000 Canadians affected. Historically the highest incidence of spinal cord injury is in young men between the ages of 18 and 24, but in recent years there has been an increase in the rate of new injury to seniors.
I and about 30 of my parliamentary and Senate colleagues have made the commitment to spend May 22 in wheelchairs to help raise awareness about ability. We need to do everything we can to support treatment and, importantly, research and development.
We have made a lot of progress, but there are many steps left not taken.