Eye Ball Gala

Speaking Notes
for
The Honourable Tony Clement

Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic
Development Initiative for Northern Ontario

at the Eye Ball Gala

October 28, 2006
Toronto

Check Against Delivery.

• Thank you Ali and Pauline for that warm introduction. Thank you also, to my friends at ORBIS Canada for the chance to take part in the second Eye Ball Gala, just as I did the in the first one, last year. [I guess the fact that you asked me back means I passed the audition.]



• I am pleased to be here to help everyone in this hall to salute and expand the work that Canadian ORBIS volunteers are doing in many countries.
• All of us are here because we understand this one compelling statistic. Of the nearly 37 million people in the world who are blind, 28 million of them don’t have to be.



• Think about it. Almost the entire population of Canada, needlessly blind – with conditions that are treatable – or even reversible.



• It's not what we would want for Canadians. It’s not what we want for people around the world.



• Every one of us here knows that we, as Canadians, live in a wonderful country in many ways. Canadians grow up expecting to get the health care they need, when they need it.



• As part of that, Canadians expect their governments to lead the way in making improvements to the health care system. Canadians want a system that works for all of us.



• It should be no surprise in a country with an aging population, issues such as access to cataract surgery, are important.



• That is why Canada’s new government placed Patient Wait Time Guarantees for sight restoration surgery, along with four other areas, among our five key priorities.



• That is why we are working hard with our provincial and territorial partners and with people in the health care system to get the results that Canadians want and deserve.



• There is no doubt that we are on track. For example, here in Ontario the median wait time for cataracts surgery went down by 21% between August 2005 and January of this year.



• The Yukon government has publicly reported it is already meeting the common benchmark in the area of cataract surgery announced by governments in December 2005. The wait for cataract surgery in the Yukon is 12-13 weeks as compared to the common benchmark of 16 weeks for high priority cases.



• That is important work that I am pleased to be helping to lead now. But I am also delighted to be part of making a difference internationally by supporting the work of ORBIS Canada.



• I first learned about ORBIS Canada and its work through Julie McDowell [who hired me as a lawyer, 15 years ago]. Through her, I learned about the importance of ORBIS’s efforts to address vision loss.



• As you know already, some of that takes place through initiatives such as the Flying Eye Hospital. Indeed, I was pleased to visit it during its trip to Canada in June.



• ORBIS also has a lasting impact by enabling physicians and health care workers in developing countries to learn procedures that they can put to work for ongoing results.



• Some of us here can help ORBIS directly in that work. Some of us have valuable and relevant professional skills to contribute – as a physician, an optometrist or a nurse, for instance.



• Yet even those of us whose careers have gone other directions have many ways to help.



• For years now, I have been proud to do my own part for ORBIS Canada, using my contacts to help raise funds and bring more members of the ophthalmic community into this excellent organization.



• The Eye Ball Gala is already establishing itself as major way for ORBIS to reach the community and support its work.



• Thanks to your presence here tonight [– not to mention the bidding frenzy that I expect to see during Mary Walsh’s auction later on –] ORBIS Canada will be able to continue to bring its important and valuable work to communities in many countries.



• That work is so important. The reality right now is that millions of people in developing countries never ever receive care as their vision fades, even if that vision loss can easily be prevented or reversed.



• Thanks to ORBIS Canada and the entire ORBIS team internationally, that is changing!



• Tonight, we are all helping that work to continue. Thank you all for being part of that change.