Dr. Allaire, I would like to continue with you.
In your presentation, you mentioned salaries for health care professionals and doctors. You also talked about access to operating rooms, in particular.
The Standing Committee on the Status of Women conducted a study on the disproportionate effects of the pandemic on women. We also suspect that the pandemic had an impact on health care and resulted in delays.
Organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society have indicated that there were delays in obtaining certain diagnoses.
I would like to hear your thoughts on the pandemic's impact on treatment delays, recognizing that we should have invested more in Canada's health care system, and that has been the case for a very long time.
The pandemic simply highlighted the cuts that were made over time, in the name of austerity, to our health care system and to health transfers.
What link has to be made between the pandemic and the emphasis the government must place on adequately funding the health care network, in spite of periods of austerity and the pandemic's impact?
This is the time to send the public the clear message that massive reinvestment in our health care system is needed in order to increase staffing.
It is not simply a question of recognizing credentials; we must also offer good salaries to attract and retain health care workers. Greater access to operating time is needed.
Can you make a connection between the pandemic and the issue of investing in our health care system?
My question is a bit long, but I would like some information nonetheless.