Mr. Speaker, this weekend I participated in the Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes, hosted each year by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Along with 45,000 other people across Canada, I walked to help raise funds for research to cure, better treat and prevent type 1 diabetes. To date, this annual walk has raised $90,000 in Simcoe County alone. This year's walk had 800 participants just in Barrie.
As chair of the all-party juvenile diabetes caucus, I have had the privilege of meeting hundreds of Canadians affected by type 1 diabetes. Currently, there are more than 3 million Canadians living with some form of diabetes and more than 300,000 Canadians living with type 1 diabetes.
Although a cure has not yet been found, Canada has long been a world leader in diabetes breakthroughs in the realm of science, including the discovery of insulin and the Edmonton protocol.
I would like to recognize Simcoe County's JDRF youth ambassadors: Noah Stock, Sydney Grace, Carson, Rebecca, Michael and Olivia for all their hard work in making this past weekend's fundraising walk a big success.