Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his comments and concerns. I must say that previous to this summer, the furthest east I had travelled in Canada was Montreal. I made it a point this summer to take 10 days to visit the eastern provinces.
The member refers to the problem of the shortage of doctors in Newfoundland. For a different reason, we have those same issues in my area of the province. Doctors are retiring but they are not being replaced. Believe it or not, one of our most successful initiatives has been with local municipalities. They have been taking on doctor recruitment teams.
Do I feel comfortable that it has been left up to the municipalities with their dwindling resources to undertake this exercise? Absolutely not. Do I think that there should be more assistance from the province? Absolutely. Do I think that the federal government should play more of a role? Absolutely.
As I mentioned in my speech, we are looking forward to the Romanow Commission's report, which has widespread support in my area of the riding. We want to look at what the commission has to say about the scarcity of professional medical resources such as nurses and doctors. Hopefully, subsequent to the release of that report, a first ministers meeting will be convened to take that report and implement some of the changes that are needed.
We stand in the House of Commons and speak to Canadians about changes to health care, and there will have to be changes. However, I caution that with changes come a price and one way or another we will have to be prepared to pay for those changes.