Mr. Speaker, I rise in recognition of World Tuberculosis Day, which takes place March 24.
Around the world, nearly 4,500 people lose their lives to TB daily, to a disease that is preventable and curable. Here at home, too many communities are still living with tuberculosis. Nunavut has the highest rate of TB in Canada. My home province of Manitoba is second.
First nations people living on reserve have an eight to 10 times higher TB notification rate than other Canadians. TB is a disease linked poverty. It is caused by crowding, poor ventilation and mould.
Earlier this year, I joined with my northern NDP colleagues in calling on the Prime Minister to address the mould crisis in homes on reserve. We had hoped that budget 2019 would make clear a Liberal commitment to ending this housing crisis, but the budget ignored it, so today we once again call on the government not just to acknowledge TB Day but to make the investments necessary to commit to eradicating TB once and for all.