Thank you very much for the question.
I think there is real and growing interest in the country on the issue of palliative care and end-of-life care. We recognize it as an area where many families, many communities and facilities, all face a sense of the challenge in doing this as best we can for Canadians.
Budget 2013 did make an announcement of funding for some research into how best to do end-of-life care, with $3 million over three years to the Pallium Foundation of Canada. This organization has a national scope, providing professional development and modules for family care providers—family physicians, for example, or nurse practitioners—and developing interdisciplinary palliative care training modules and education. They have already educated over 500 health professionals through a number of learning projects.
There are funds in this budget over the next three years for them to have continued support to increase this development. We see it as a key area, and one where we think the federal government can play a role, not in delivering the service but in helping to support the improvement by providing these resources.