On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, CASA appeared before Senate of Canada Standing Committee on Social Affairs to discuss the unique impacts of COVID-19 on post-secondary students across Canada, and the need for a yearly Pandemic Observance Day in support of the Bill S-209. CASA believes that the challenges faced by a generation of Canada's youth over the past twenty-four months have been immense and they will leave a lasting legacy that requires consistent attention and reflection. In our testimony, CASA supports and believes that if Bill S-209 passed, it would provide Canadians with an annual day of commemoration that can be used to remember those we lost while also reflecting on the broader impact of the pandemic on Canadian society. Future Pandemic Observance Days can be used to raise awareness on mental health, the importance of social interaction that can be used to celebrate togetherness over isolation and that can be used to highlight the lingering effects of the pandemic to ensure we are investing in areas like health care and mental health supports.
This testimony can also be viewed with full French and English audio translations on ParlVU.