Thank you.
People discuss this concept of intersectionality in legal issues. In the world of indigenous care, I am not an expert, but I work with the Indigenous Dental Association of Canada, and they have expertise. I'm well aware that while 27% of the population of Canada identifies as having a disability, that percentage is higher among our indigenous population, and the indigenous members of our community are more likely to live in rural and remote communities.
In access to care, we have the challenge that without regulation.... I realize that the panellists here are not fond of regulation, but without regulation, we have difficulty in ensuring that we're providing sufficiently trained individuals in rural and remote communities to meet the needs of people who live in remote parts of our country. We are always, in the case of persons with profound disabilities, requiring them to travel to urban areas to access medically necessary care. The systems don't cover those costs, of course, so you're often asking rural individuals, who are more likely to be less wealthy, to travel to expensive parts of our country to try to access care and to possibly stay for some period of time, if it's expensive and difficult to provide.
I think there's probably a greater challenge. If you are a disabled individual in a rural and remote community, you are much more likely to struggle with accessing care.