Honourable senators, I rise today to raise awareness of multiple sclerosis, or MS. Our colleague Senator Duffy has traditionally risen to make these remarks in the month of May, MS Awareness Month, and to congratulate the Atlantic Division of the MS Society on its awareness activities. The month of May has passed, but the need to raise awareness and applaud the efforts of the Atlantic division and all the chapters of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada has not.

Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world. The global theme for 2019 for MS to raise awareness is #myinvisibleMS. Fifteen years ago, when I became more aware of MS, it was called the “unknown illness.” Colleagues, it still is. We do know that MS is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. MS can alter vision, memory, balance and mobility, becoming disabling. It is unknown how MS will affect any one person diagnosed.

Colleagues, we do not know the hard numbers of Canadians living with MS. In Atlantic Canada, it is believed that 7,000 maritimers live with MS. Saskatchewan is often believed to have among the highest incidence. Northern Canada is also believed to have a high per capita; however, governments in the territories have not traditionally collected and shared those sorts of health numbers for privacy reasons.

The MS Society of Canada states there are 77,000 Canadians living with MS. One in 11 Canadians is diagnosed every day. It is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults. Sixty per cent of adults diagnosed are between the ages of 20 and 49. Those Canadians diagnosed are supported by the MS Society of Canada.

The Canadian campaign to raise awareness this year is #lifewithMS. The campaign outlines four key policy priorities, stating it’s time for Canada to improve life with MS. The MS Society of Canada asks in their campaign to accelerate the pace of MS breakthroughs and to improve policies, legislation and programs to empower people affected by MS to live their best lives.

Colleagues, your work, most especially the inclusion of “episodic” in the definition of disability in the Accessible Canada Act is one of their recommendations. A job well done to this chamber passing that legislation.

With this statement, I encourage all of us to recognize the other policy priorities and to raise awareness of MS and the MS Society of Canada. Thank you.