Hon. Kristopher Wells: Honourable senators, I rise today to commemorate World AIDS Day, which is recognized each year on December 1.

This week, we pause to remember the more than 40 million lives lost globally to HIV and AIDS since the beginning of this epidemic. This includes over 40,000 Canadians who were our friends, lovers, family members, colleagues and community leaders whose absence is felt every single day. Their memories strengthen our resolve. Their stories remind us that progress has never come easily and that it has never come without courage.

We also pay tribute to the advocates, caregivers, researchers, front-line workers and community organizations who have carried this work forward for more than four decades. Their efforts have saved countless lives. Their advocacy has given hope where once there was none. Because of them, treatments have become more effective, prevention tools have become more accessible and stigma — slowly but steadily — has been challenged.

Yet, colleagues, our work is far from finished. In Canada, for the first time in many years, HIV infections are on the rise in some parts of our country, disproportionately affecting those who are already marginalized, including Black, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQI+ communities, as well as people who use substances, newcomers and those facing poverty or unstable housing. Rising rates of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections remind us that inequities in access to prevention, testing and care remain deeply entrenched and driven by social inequities.

Globally, the picture is even more sobering. Millions still lack access to life-saving antiretroviral therapies and prevention treatments. Young women and girls in the Global South continue to bear the brunt of new infections. Individuals around the world face criminalization, discrimination and barriers to essential health services. Science has given us the tools to end HIV as a public health threat, but injustice prevents us from fully using them.

Honourable senators, Canada has long been a leader in the global HIV response, but leadership requires ongoing commitment. We call on the government to increase investment in treatment, prevention and research, both at home and abroad. This includes support for community-based organizations, investments in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and enhanced contributions to the Global Fund.

We also urge the government to ensure equitable access across Canada to prevention tools, including PrEP and doxycycline, which remain uneven and far too often out of reach for those who need it most.

We must act with urgency, compassion and renewed determination. Ending HIV is possible. It is just a matter of political will, resources and our collective commitment to human dignity.

On this World AIDS Day, let us recommit to a future where no one is left behind, where stigma has no place in our policies, laws or communities, and where the promise of an AIDS-free generation becomes not a dream but a much-needed reality. Thank you. Meegwetch.