Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you all for coming. We all appreciate so much what you and your members do to help promote health for Canadians, your work on this issue, and your very detailed submissions. We are all very appreciative of your efforts. There are lots of questions.
I'm going to share one minute of my time with Mr. Eyolfson at the end. If someone could remind me, that would be great.
I have a couple of questions for Ms. Ashley.
With respect to the plan that has been put forward by the Canadian Nurses Association, there are certain aspects that I see as very fruitful. On our side of the House we're very interested in closing these gaps in some way, shape, or form, to help Canadians receive the full scope of care they need. This is something that we're committed to. At least, I am personally committed to it.
We want to make sure that this is operationally achieved with the type of excellence that provides Canadians confidence that they're gaining something and not losing something in this endeavour. When I look at one of your recommendations or requirements, I'm wondering whether it's just nice to have or is actually a requirement. It's that the scope of prescribing be extended beyond physicians, surgeons, veterinary surgeons, and pharmacists to nurses. Nurses are already very overworked. Is this division of labour that we have currently appropriate? Is it appropriate to extend these other duties to nurses?