Honourable senators, I would like to acknowledge that I am speaking to you today from my home in Riverview, New Brunswick, on the traditional unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month in Canada and there are 11 million Canadians, or 1 in 3, who are currently living with diabetes or pre-diabetes. Many of us know someone who is affected. My 8-year-old grandson Max was diagnosed with Type 1 when he was just 2 years old. That’s why it makes it more real and serious to me.

There are three major types of diabetes. The first is gestational diabetes, which occurs during pregnancy and is usually temporary. The second is Type 2, which is the most commonly diagnosed and usually develops during adulthood; 90% of people living with diabetes cannot properly use the insulin made by their bodies or they do not produce enough of their own. The third is Type 1, an autoimmune disease often known as insulin-dependent diabetes, which usually develops in childhood or adolescence. Their body attacks the pancreas, since they’re not able to produce their own insulin and aren’t able to regulate their blood sugar. Because of this, they must inject insulin or use an insulin pump to regulate amounts.

During the ongoing pandemic, there is even more urgency to develop a national diabetes framework, which I intend to speak to in more detail at a later date. According to Diabetes Canada, if infected with COVID-19, those living with diabetes are at a greater risk of developing serious symptoms and complications, such as pneumonia, and they are almost three times more likely to die in hospital. Access to new technologies, especially for Type 1, is crucial to better manage their disease during the pandemic.

Recently, I had the privilege to virtually meet with some Atlantic Canadian youth with Type 1 through a Kids for the Cure meeting hosted by JDRF. I had an interesting and lively conversation with Colby, Mariah and Chloe, and their parents, about the issues they experienced around Type 1. Their ask was straightforward: More funding for Type 1 research so there will be a cure in the very near future, making Type 1, type none. Mariah Inglis, age 11, said:

I control my Diabetes. Diabetes does not control me. I dream of a day that I can say “I had diabetes.”

Colby Ryan from Newfoundland, age 14, said:

I will never let Type 1 diabetes stand in my way of doing the things I love and accomplishing the dreams I have, but finding a cure would make these tasks so much easier. By putting money into research and finding new ways to make this disease a little less terrible would be amazing.

100 years ago, Doctors Banting and Best discovered insulin right here in our country, and this is what is now saving us, but is not a cure.

Their words struck me. If they aren’t giving up, neither should we in trying to find a cure, so it won’t be another 100 years until this happens. Will you please join me? Thank you.