Thank you to the witnesses for coming today.
Mr. Gold, I noticed you were thankful and eager to clarify your comments on the planning role for the federal government. I hate to say that your clarification confused me a bit because it seems to me that we talked about a couple of roles that the federal government may take to assist with planning, like the distribution of physicians across the country to make sure the supply is spread out where it needs to be. We talked about the loan forgiveness program as a planning role. I was going to ask you what other things the federal government can do to assist in ensuring that the supply of physicians is the supply we need.
That brings me to the second question. I'm hoping I'm clear enough that you get the connection. The second question is this issue of diversity that you talked about. That's not just about first nations doctors and that cultural competency, but it seems that you have a broader perspective perhaps in competencies that emerge out of a more diverse workforce.
I wonder if you could talk about those two things: again, if you could clarify for me the federal role that you see in planning and what planning maybe means to you; and if you could also specify the value that your organization sees in diversity.