Thank you.
Yes, I am very concerned about the closure of Laurentian University because of its unique mandate. Laurentian University was the only bilingual midwifery education program in Canada, and the only French language midwifery education program accessible to non-residents of Quebec.
Its loss will be felt profoundly across the country in francophone communities. It also happened to be the only northern university-based midwifery education program—and, to be frank, rural care, remote care, northern care are specialty kinds of care. You can't fly just any midwife into a rural community and assume they will have this unique and expanded full-scope skill set to be able to provide care in these areas.
We are very concerned to see that northern specialty lost, and in particular I am deeply saddened to hear of the loss of the program that was the first in Canada to openly welcome indigenous students. So many of Canada's indigenous midwifery leaders were trained at Laurentian University and that was because they openly and explicitly welcomed indigenous students.
Again, indigenous care, as well as an educational program that's tailored to meet the needs of indigenous students and to set them up for success, is a key focus if we're going to meet our commitments to UNDRIP and the TRC.