Honourable senators, it is so lovely to look across the chamber at the sea of red carnations you are all sporting today. Thank you for that.

May is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month. Our guests from the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, or MS Canada, brought us these red carnations to wear, to demonstrate our solidarity with and support for the 90,000 Canadians who live with multiple sclerosis, or MS. Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world, and 75% of people diagnosed in Canada are women. Most are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 49.

MS is a neurological disease affecting the central nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Its symptoms can include vision problems, cognition and memory issues and impaired balance and mobility.

Most of us know someone — a friend, family member or colleague — who lives with MS: a favourite teacher who had to retire early due to motor function failure; a friend fighting poverty because she could no longer work full-time, and fell through those cracks between employment insurance and disability programs; a young professional worried she might lose her job because she had to miss work for unpredictable periods of time.

Colleagues, MS is an expensive disease. For the people living with it, annual costs are estimated to exceed $40,000 annually. For Canada, MS costs $3.4 billion annually.

With us today is MS Canada’s Senior Vice-President, Community, Jennifer Arp, and the dedicated MS Canada team, including Sarah MacDonald from — you guessed it — Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

MS Canada is committed to achieving their bold vision, which is a world free of multiple sclerosis. In her May 2023 The Hill Times article entitled, “A cure for multiple sclerosis could be just around the corner,” MS Canada CEO Dr. Pamela Valentine cited the breakthrough research identifying the Epstein-Barr virus as an early trigger for MS. She said: “We owe it to Canada to seize this moment and fund research on ’Canada’s disease’ . . . .”

Finding a cure for and preventing MS are now seen as possible, colleagues.

How can we support MS Canada in this life-giving work they do? We can support their urgent call for research funding. We can make sure that all Health Canada-approved MS treatments are covered under the new national pharmacare program. We can make sure the Canada disability benefit gets out in a timely manner, at an adequate level to all who need it.

Colleagues, let’s support our fellow Canadians living with MS and let’s support MS Canada in their vital and urgent work.

Wela’lioq, thank you.