Finance committee  That's right. In hindsight, we know that it was totally wrong. Now we have to try to correct that. The thing about correcting it is that we are correcting it throughout Canada, but we must not forget that in rural Canada we have half the number of doctors out there to accomplish

Finance committee  From a health perspective, we learn a lot from each other. Quebec has nice models, too, for health care services and has done a lot for the rural population as well. Surely we all need to share our best practices and we can learn from each other. We can do a lot better together.

Finance committee  I certainly understand that we need money to address some of these issues. The important thing, though, is that if health care is not addressed in our rural communities.... Don't forget that those communities provide natural resources for the country. We need to address that. We

Finance committee  We're very careful when we put in those solutions. We are aware of the issues surrounding the federal-provincial-territorial jurisdictions. We think these solutions will address all that can be addressed by the federal government. I'm going to leave it to James to clarify that.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable members. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before your committee to speak on behalf of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada. My name is Michael Jong, and I am a rural family physician in Goose Bay, Labrador. I am the president o

Human Resources committee  The Society of Rural Physicians has been in place for 14 years.

Human Resources committee  That's right. It's been a very linear growth. It started with only 40 of us 14 years ago; now there are more than 2,000 members.

Human Resources committee  Good morning, honourable members. Let me begin by thanking you for the opportunity to appear before your committee to speak on behalf of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada. My name is Michael Jong, and I am a rural physician in Goose Bay, Labrador. I am the president of