Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I did circulate my written text to the committee yesterday, as requested. However, I have just seven fairly quick points.
One is to congratulate members of this particular standing committee for the role you're playing with regard to reviewing some of the aspects of our health care system. As you all know, the issues that relate to Health Canada and the various health-related agencies, particularly the Public Health Agency of Canada, are quite important in view of the situation that we find ourselves in now.
I would hope that when the pandemic comes to a close, or its substantial numbers go down, that the parliamentary committee will continue to review what has transpired to try to ascertain best practices not only in Canada but indeed in other jurisdictions throughout the world so that the appropriate protocols can be put in place and, where necessary, updated from time to time.
The second point I raise is on the issue of governance. I think the Public Health Agency of Canada, as I as a former minister of health understand it, is indeed part of a unique system. It's a federal entity, but it works very closely with provincial entities and with the jurisdiction split between the federal and the provincial governments. It's important for those two entities to share good quality information and to have a frank dialogue among the members.
From what I can see, Mr. Chairman, I think that is taking place as we now speak. The federal agency is regularly meeting with provincial agencies—virtually, that is. They share information, different analyses, and different models. I think this is good for our country and it's good for our health care system.
In my small province, Nova Scotia, I think the system is working well. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Strang issued a health order on or about March 13, followed thereafter by a state of emergency being declared by the province. But they meet regularly with their federal counterparts to exchange information, analysis and best practices.
From a university perspective, the Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents has a working group that meets every day. We are in constant communication with the chief medical officer and his professional staff to share information and to try to address some challenges, particularly for post-secondary, and that has worked well.
The politicians and the political leaders of the three political parties have been very professional, very non-partisan, and very helpful, and I believe the premier, the leader of the opposition and the leader of the NDP are deserving of public praise for the way in which they have handled themselves.
Also, at the senior level in terms of the governance model, or the bureaucracy, we have the deputy minister of health, and of course we have the deputy minister of labour and advanced education, Duff Montgomerie, who has played a particularly helpful role for post-secondary institutions, for universities, in our province.
The third point, which may be perceived by some as provincial in focus, does have a national aspect and that is the need for the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia to address the fact that a lot of international students across the country do not have access to our provincial health care systems. Many international students have to pay a private sector provider to assist them with their health care needs. These can range anywhere between $1,300 and $1,700, and they get limited access to our health care system.
University presidents, student union leaders and many others have called for provincial governments with the assistance—moral persuasion if you will—of the Government of Canada to ensure that all of our international students have ready access to health care in our respective provinces.
The fourth point is that, as I now speak, there is real anxiety and fear among students, family members and friends. There is actually grief, and of course there are mental health challenges. We see those in a variety of ways. They're manifested in such questions as, “What am I going to do to pay my rent?”; “What am I going to do for my food?”; “What can I do about my tuition?”; “I don't have any summer job to go to now”; and if there are summer jobs, they will be limited to those in a few sectors. So there's real anxiety and fear about their future, and universities, I am sure, across the country are attempting as well as they can to co-operate and to address those. I don't want to miss this opportunity to note that the concerns they have are real, and I think Universities Canada has made a submission to the Government of Canada for what it calls “a better future” education investment grants, which would provide, across the country, about $500 million to assist these Canadian and international students in their time of need, in their time of anxiety. I would hope that the committee, in its wisdom, would do this.
Point number five is support for remote Internet access. Some may say that this is a health care committee, not an IT committee. But you need to know that there are real challenges to our health care system to not having good-quality remote Internet access.
If I may, I'll give you a small example. All of our Cape Breton University Bachelor of Science in Nursing students have continued their studies remotely since face-to-face courses were suspended on March 16. As students returned to their homes across Nova Scotia and began remote online learning, many have experienced Internet connectivity difficulties since they live in rural areas across the province. For instance, 77 students had started their nursing-practice placements with the Nova Scotia Health Authority in Cape Breton, and they had completed only two days of their placement when the health authority suspended all student health learners from practice settings across Nova Scotia.
Thinking innovatively, we at the university, and in the nursing program in particular, sought an alternative learning model for students who had to leave their hospital placements. We purchased a virtual sim. A VS uses online learning modules that are interactive and require the students to apply their knowledge and prioritize the care of the patient. There are multiple case scenarios, and the student is provided with feedback on their decisions at the end of the scenario. The student can repeat the scenario multiple times, receiving feedback and a mark each time. The problem is that the virtual sim modules require a strong Internet connection to access and work through each patient scenario. These young nurses are now being asked to join the health care system as new providers in order to support our existing cohort. But a lack of good-quality Internet access is making it very difficult, if not next to impossible, for them to take part and to make a contribution at this difficult time.
The sixth point I would like to raise with committee members is strategic infrastructure investments. A program that could be modelled on the post-secondary institutions strategic investment fund would stimulate the economy and add to our health care science.
Each university is different, but we here at Cape Breton University in rural Nova Scotia want facilities for a collaborative research laboratory, public health applied learning clusters and community engagement hubs, which provide real benefits for the community and the students. Universities Canada, after extensive consultations with all post-secondary institutions across the country, had made that submission to the Government of Canada as well.
Finally, my seventh point is the following. Canada needs a rapid testing module that can be scaled accordingly. Let me be a bit parochial since I represent a university. There are currently 634 students studying in our bachelor of health sciences program in public health, which is one of six programs in Canada accredited by the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors. Students who graduate from this program are eligible to pursue practicum and certification to be environmental or public health officers in Canada, providing a talent pool that is trained and ready to meet workforce demand for rapid testing.
Additionally, Cape Breton University welcomes students from well over 50 countries to study at our institution. Many of these students arrive in Canada with international credentials, particularly in the health professions. A bridging program would assist the country, let alone the small communities, in meeting its health care staffing shortages, a challenge that is significant in Canada, but particularly in Atlantic Canada. At present, there are more than 150 internationally trained health care professionals studying at Cape Breton University—doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and the list goes on—but a model needs to be set in motion for rapid testing. If we have the vaccine, whatever it takes in terms of years, I think testing will be here with us for quite some time, and we need to develop that capacity in order to give comfort to the country at large, to the health care professionals and to our first responders in terms of what we may do to address those kinds of things.
That is my submission, Mr. Chairman.