Mr. Speaker, today I rise in the House to draw attention to an important disease. With the help of Results Canada, Rotary International, UNICEF, and of course, my friends at Global Citizen, we have created an e-petition calling on the government to continue efforts to eradicate polio.
From 40 children affected every hour in 1988 to fewer than 40 children affected in all of 2016, we are very close to eradicating this disease. Sixteen million people are walking today who would otherwise have been paralyzed. However, if we do not keep up our efforts, major outbreaks could affect numerous polio-free countries, and within 10 years, 200,000 children a year could be affected by polio.
The only disease we have been able to eradicate so far in the world is smallpox. We are so close to eliminating polio. This would be a major milestone. We are in the final push to ensure that no one has to suffer from polio again. Our e-petition already has over 1,000 signatures. I hope all of us in this House, along with my fellow Canadians, will put their names to this petition to end polio for good.