Thank you very much for having me here. I apologize for not being able to attend on Tuesday, when you were discussing issues of health human resources in rural and remote communities and their populations.
By way of personal introduction, I am a family physician. As a Canadian, I probably manifest some of the issues and attributes of individuals who've come through a system addressed to assist Canadians and other practitioners to work in remote northern communities. This was a significant part of my undergraduate medical education, part of my post-graduate medical education, and for more than 20 years I have served in remote populations, principally those of aboriginal ancestry in Canada.
By way of introduction of personal involvement, I'm with the University of Manitoba faculty of medicine. I have two roles there: I'm the associate dean of undergraduate medical education; and I'm also director of the university's J.A. Hildes Northern Medical Unit, a population and public health department initiative created in 1970 to address the underserved populations of northern Manitoba and what used to be the NWT, now the central region of Nunavut.
I have before me some speaking notes, which members have received, and would like to briefly introduce the challenges of health human resources in rural and remote populations.