Today I’d like to speak about prevention of head injuries in our youth. I had the opportunity to be home for the weekend, and while I was walking around there, Mr. Speaker, I noticed that we still have people ski-dooing around and pulling children around without proper head gear. My condolences, of course, go out to the family in Fort Smith at the beginning of this year with their child who had sustained a head injury in a similar event. And we’re still doing that in our communities. I’d like to urge this government to start looking at prevention of head injuries in the schools and with our children and, indeed, the community as a whole.
It is standard practice now, when playing hockey, that you wear a helmet. It never used to be, but head injuries became prevalent in the NHL, so now it’s standard practice to prevent head injuries. I don’t know why that type of attention is not being given to snowmobiles.
So I’d like to urge, at this time, the public and families and parents to urge your children to wear protective head gear when they’re out ski-dooing. And also I’d like to urge this government, Mr. Speaker, to indeed strive towards prevention of head injuries in our youth and children in our communities. Mahsi cho.
