Thanks very much, Madam Chair, and thank you to our panel here this morning.
I'm sure you've all been following the presentations we've had so far on this study, and as my colleague has said, it has been a long study and it has been rather drawn out. It's a challenge for all of us here now, I think, to try to draw it all together and put together the many things we've heard.
I'd like to ask Ms. Woods the first questions, if I could.
We heard a lot from the first nations and the Inuit health organizations about special challenges they face, and definitely data collection was one. We've heard a bit of information about that, but I have a question on the data collection first. Do we need a lot more data collection, and is there a timeframe involved with putting that together? Do we have enough at this point to make any recommendations or to try to develop a strategy? That's my first question.
We also heard that there were challenges in the Inuit and first nation communities about pay scales and the high levels of burnout because of a lot of different circumstances. We heard there were extreme challenges with the education portion, especially with the math and sciences, and that those challenges were a deterrent to those who wished to get into the field.
In terms of the education issues, is anything being done through your department to coordinate efforts to improve that situation?