Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to rise in the House today to recognize language diversity. It is time to re-evaluate how we define and practise communication in our communities.
Yesterday was our country's very first International Day of Sign Languages. I am honoured to welcome to the Hill today my constituent, Jessica Sergeant, who is a great advocate for the deaf community. Sign languages are equal to spoken languages and thus should be widely embraced and accessible. For deaf people, early access to sign language is vital to their growth and development. We must not treat deaf people as disabled and we need to embrace our differences and encourage the growth and acceptance of sign languages as a norm.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I encourage you and all of my colleagues from all sides of the House to not only celebrate this first International Day of Sign Languages, but to also reflect on how we can better represent all languages throughout our diverse country.