Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to a matter of deep concern for the tens of thousands of families who each year experience the most horrific of circumstances, that of finding a loved one missing. Anyone who has experienced the tragic loss of a family member or close friend will tell us that closure is an important part of the healing process, but for so many Canadian families with missing loved ones, this process cannot even begin. Canada has many national days of observance, but we do not have a national missing person's day.
The latest RCMP numbers suggest that approximately 71,000 people went missing in 2015 alone.
At the request of the Boyle sisters, from Scarborough, Ontario, whose brother Jay went missing in 1995, at the age of 17, I was honoured to sponsor a petition calling on the Government of Canada to enact a national day of solidarity and remembrance, a day for action to prevent this tragedy from happening to another family. I urge all Canadians to support the petition for a national missing person's day, which can be found at petitions.ourcommons.ca.