Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
My questions are for the witnesses from the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada.
When I heard that you were coming to provide evidence, I wondered what kinds of questions I wanted to ask you. The first thing that came to mind was improving the health of indigenous peoples. I think that is one of your many roles. Could you tell me what the members of your association are doing to make sure that more first nations doctors are entering the workforce so that their communities' health care needs can be better served?
As we know, indigenous populations are in poorer health than other Canadians and they have quite a unique socio-economic situation. That is why it might be better to send first nations doctors onto reserves and into their communities to help the people there rather than to send white doctors who do not necessarily understand their reality.
You did not have the time to talk about your recommendations, but I was pleased when I read them. I was pleasantly surprised. Recommendations 2 and 3, which deal with…
medical education opportunities fund. I want to know more about that. I am so glad you mentioned that you want to allocate funds, and that you wish, if I understand correctly, that the federal government would launch a fund that would allocate funding to clear the growing backlog of eligible aboriginal students wishing to pursue post-secondary education, etc. Tell me more about that.
Specifically, you also mentioned a backlog. Tell me more about that backlog. You mentioned that this fund would invest in local pipeline projects. Can you give me examples?