Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I thank Ms. Campbell and Ms. Bacon for joining us today and for reminding us of how important of a role midwives play in women's reproductive health. They are also reminding us of the important role of the program that has been abolished at Laurentian University for francophone communities in Canada, indigenous communities and northern communities.
You explained that those communities must be served in their language, that they have unique needs and that the program was important to them.
Ms. Bacon, you also talked about inequitable pay, health system underfunding or an unfair service allocation. You also talked about the importance of investing more in midwife associations.
Ms. Campbell, you talked about the fact that midwives were underpaid, and you also talked about income inequality and the lack of resources.
At a time when the pandemic has exacerbated problems, midwives and health care staff are exhausted. It is important for the government to reinvest in health transfers to enable Quebec and the provinces to in turn reinvest in their health system. That would obviously impact midwives.
I would like you to talk to us about the importance of having a vision now. We should not wait until after the crisis to give money back to the health system and to provide means to help midwives and other underpaid professions.
As you have both discussed the issue of funding, perhaps Ms. Campbell could start. We will then hear from Ms. Bacon.