Thank you, Chair.
This is a matter of great importance to me because it applies to my constituents.
A lot of people don't know it, but in southern Ontario a lot of communities, including Oakville, have a shortage of doctors. There was a doctor from Pakistan who came to Oakville last year. It was in our community paper. He was delivering pizzas while studying for some very tough exams put up by the Canadian Medical Association--and they should be tough; no one is suggesting they should lower the standards. However, it's a difficult situation, and he was in a difficult situation. My understanding is that he's moved on and is practising medicine.
Mr. Beaudin, since most professionals are provincially regulated, can you talk about what your member provinces are doing to determine whether foreign credentials are equivalent, and in areas where they're not equivalent, what are your members doing to get foreign-trained professionals up to Canadian standards?
For example, it occurred to me that I don't know why this doctor from Pakistan in Oakville couldn't get a student loan to help pay his bills so that he didn't have to deliver pizzas in the meantime.