The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - Canadian Healthcare; Concerns and Solutions

00:00:00.000 hello and welcome once again to the blueprints this is canada's conservative podcast with new

00:00:13.900 content for you every single tuesday 1 30 p.m eastern time i'm your host jamie schmael member

00:00:19.000 of parliament for halliburton 4th links brock we ask that you like comment subscribe and share

00:00:23.040 this program you can also download and listen to it on platforms like cast box itunes google play

00:00:28.660 and spotify a message that is not always said in the mainstream media and something ears need to

00:00:34.480 hear eyes need to hear this show and we need your help to do that another great program lined up for

00:00:39.860 you and another great guest he's coming back on the show a friend of the show dr stephen ellis from

00:00:45.080 cumberland colchester member of parliament for that writing and also the critic for health

00:00:49.340 the shadow minister for health a good man thanks for coming back on well thanks very much jamie and

00:00:54.520 i wore my shirt today that has my name and writing on in case you forgot who i was so i thought that

00:00:59.640 was uh thought that was important to highlight that well i have my name behind me here in case you

00:01:04.800 forget who i am so it's all good we're going to talk about something i think that's well it is

00:01:09.540 affecting every every corner of the province and that is a shortage of physicians shortage of nurses

00:01:16.620 healthcare professionals uh you see emergency rooms closing in in in british columbia led by the

00:01:23.460 ndp you you see the same thing happen in liberal newfoundland labrador and yes in ontario provinces

00:01:29.740 uh as well with provincial governments of the the blue stripe so it it is happening everywhere uh you're

00:01:36.740 a doctor what what's going on there's it just seems to be a labor shortage and a whole bunch of things

00:01:42.600 why don't you give us your perspective yeah you know what i mean there's 6.5 million canadians

00:01:48.100 without access to primary care and of course that could either be a family doctor or a nurse

00:01:54.100 practitioner and that creates significant problems because of course the system that we have

00:01:59.560 you need to have access to a primary care provider so that you can access things like lab

00:02:06.480 diagnostic imaging x-ray ct mri etc ultrasound or access a specialist that's the canadian system that

00:02:14.960 we have so when you don't have access of course what happens is you end up going to the emergency

00:02:21.080 room the emergency rooms become overburdened people wait there a long time and uh and then of course bad

00:02:27.980 things can happen to them and we've seen that sadly here in nova scotia we've seen it but i think in

00:02:35.020 every province we've seen uh the tragic stories of people who have died in emergency rooms

00:02:40.640 and uh that of course cannot continue to happen uh related to that though is you know your question

00:02:49.000 off the top is what's going on and why does there appear to be a shortage you know certainly i think

00:02:54.820 that uh we all know that that times change uh i know that i was a family doctor for almost 25 years

00:03:02.380 and the person that i took over from i worked less than he did uh he was that uh ultimate family

00:03:11.440 physician so that jamie uh you know if you fell down at home and you said i think i broke my leg you

00:03:16.760 would call the doctor and and he would show up at your house uh and say oh no your leg's fine you know

00:03:23.120 get up and walk you know uh you're good uh you don't need anything pat you on the head

00:03:28.100 uh those times changed we we knew that very clearly uh for those emergency things we've

00:03:34.680 developed this incredible system across most of the country where if you have an emergency you can

00:03:39.840 call an ambulance if it's that style or you can go to the emergency room when you know you need

00:03:44.040 an intervention you know such as stitches or or a cast etc or if you need uh you know diagnostic

00:03:51.740 imaging so things have changed significantly from that style of medicine now excuse me

00:03:57.900 even further to understand that even from the style of medicine that i practiced which uh you

00:04:04.700 know i provided inpatient care a family medicine office emergency room i had a chronic pain clinic

00:04:11.340 that i was a part of uh nursing home visits etc we know that that place is a significant burden

00:04:18.200 upon health care providers and on their families as well and so that those not everybody now

00:04:25.340 don't get me wrong that's that's an unfair characterization but many folks who are going

00:04:30.860 into medicine have determined that that that is a lot to ask and and so medicine's now being practiced

00:04:36.760 even uh more differently if that's the correct english uh than than the way i practiced it so i think

00:04:43.860 that those are the things that are creating significant problems so we have as i mentioned emergency room

00:04:51.220 closings but we also have family physicians that are hard to find do we as you mentioned nurse

00:04:55.920 practitioners are coming in to try to to fill that gap and fix it and a lot of this is managed well pretty

00:05:00.960 much all of it's managed by the province but there is something the federal government can do and that's

00:05:05.240 something our leader has talked about and i know you've talked about it many times uh that's a blue seal

00:05:09.920 program tell us a bit about that so the blue seal program is really built upon this um knowledge that

00:05:18.220 there are physicians who have trained internationally who are who have come to canada under federal

00:05:25.740 programs which say hey you're a physician you should come to canada we'd love to have you here

00:05:30.900 but then there's no way for them or no easy way for them to access the possibility of becoming a doctor

00:05:38.800 who can work in canada and in some cases perhaps it's justified we we have standards that we have

00:05:45.900 established in canada for training and knowledge etc in other cases though it's not and even those

00:05:53.600 folks are finding it almost impossible to get a license to practice in canada of course if you don't

00:05:59.320 have a license you can't practice it doesn't matter what your training is so the blue seal program would

00:06:04.280 be really um built on the fact that it's related to if you can demonstrate that you have the knowledge

00:06:12.500 the cultural ability and the language ability to be a physician in canada then you should be a

00:06:18.420 physician in canada and on top of that we would also have a national licensing program so that if

00:06:26.100 you were a physician licensed to practice in i'm here in nova scotia if i were licensed in nova scotia

00:06:32.140 then i could practice anywhere in canada much i'll use the analogy for folks out there listening

00:06:37.420 of your driver's license you don't have to get a new driver's license when you move to british

00:06:42.520 columbia well eventually you do but certainly if you're visiting there you can drive with a nova

00:06:47.620 scotia driver's license so those are the ideas and i have to tell you i had a meeting with one of our

00:06:55.900 colleagues anna roberts who's riding as king von just north of gta and we met with around 25 physicians

00:07:03.840 who'd been here variably from 20 years to six months and none of them were able to gain licensure

00:07:11.440 here in canada and sadly one of the things that really stuck with me is two things one is um one of

00:07:19.120 the physicians who was a security guard his his children said to him dad why are you going to work

00:07:24.920 in this security guard outfit when we know you're a doctor that was heart-wrenching and the second part

00:07:30.820 of it was another physician who had been here he had uh many um cousins who were physicians back in

00:07:38.100 his home country and i can't remember which it was and i apologize for that uh but he said he said first

00:07:43.260 of all he told them not to come because internationally canada has become known as the graveyard for

00:07:49.420 physicians now isn't that a reputation to have oh wow yeah so so is it bureaucracy within these uh

00:07:57.880 provincial organizations these licensing bodies are just uh just slowed right down like that there was

00:08:03.980 this a problem before the pandemic or is this just grown worse throughout the the three years it's

00:08:09.640 just continued to grow worse uh you know and there's really no easy pathway for internationally trained

00:08:16.980 physicians to get work here and and gain licensure here in canada so those are the things that we want

00:08:22.620 to work with the provinces to remedy and we know and i've met with five of the provincial ministers

00:08:28.740 already and and certainly we know that there is significant interest in how we would make this happen

00:08:34.920 and uh and significant support and there's already been some work uh as hard as this is to believe but

00:08:41.760 even physicians trained in the united states uh didn't have easy access to come to nova scotia which now

00:08:48.860 uh the registrar here in nova scotia has rectified and we also know that the four atlantic provinces are

00:08:55.800 saying if you are licensed in one of the atlantic provinces then you can work in any of the atlantic

00:09:01.260 provinces uh so we do see some movement on this but what we really wanted and i think what really

00:09:06.800 what canadians expect is to have a homogeneous system across the country so that you know whatever's

00:09:14.460 happening in in nova scotia is the same in bc or alberta ontario and that's what i mean by

00:09:19.180 homogeneous it's the same and i think that's certainly as a canadian that's my expectation it

00:09:24.520 should be the same everywhere i think when you're when you're sick and you can't find a doctor you

00:09:29.040 don't really care where you know you obviously they have to hit standards and show that they're

00:09:34.860 disciplined and all that other stuff but at the same time i don't care if someone's been licensed in

00:09:39.200 nova scotia is practicing on ontario like this should be something that we we didn't leave

00:09:44.860 till 2023 to deal with i think no and i think many canadians are absolutely astonished when we

00:09:51.100 when we talk about this when they hear it as an issue they say well this doesn't make any sense and

00:09:55.740 and we know that uh as well as uh most of our listeners do that there is a red seal program out

00:10:01.360 there for carpenters electricians plumbers uh etc other trades people uh so that once you gain

00:10:08.040 that certification in in one province you can then of course practice anywhere in the country and

00:10:13.120 and that really is a sensible program that we would use uh to kind of build this upon so i think that

00:10:19.380 makes sense one of the things that i would highlight though is the inability for canadian citizens who've

00:10:26.100 chosen for whatever reason to be trained abroad ireland is somewhere they often train uh the caribbean is

00:10:32.400 somewhere they often train that even those canadian citizens who obviously are familiar with our

00:10:39.540 language and familiar with our culture are still unable to gain a spot back in canada and i i think

00:10:47.640 that's uh you know just a travesty for those young people who have this burning desire to be part of our 0.98

00:10:54.720 system and we have already established obviously that we have a significant need in our system

00:11:00.520 and as canadian citizens they can't gain licensure here in canada and that is something that uh that

00:11:07.480 a conservative government would rectify as well and i've heard a couple i have two uh stories that

00:11:12.600 i've heard in my time here of of uh canadians uh from my area going off to different countries

00:11:18.460 and getting trained getting their getting their license but unable to come back despite being a

00:11:24.640 canadian citizen despite growing up here uh not being able to actually uh practice despite a massive

00:11:31.100 physician shortage in every uh corner of this country i mean i mean it's just it's nonsensical uh

00:11:38.640 there was a story in the news the other day uh a female physician who had i think practiced in 1.00

00:11:45.760 australia for 10 years who was a canadian citizen who said hey i'll come back to canada

00:11:50.780 uh i don't think so nope no i don't think i mean you know this would be someone who is in the prime

00:11:57.440 of their career uh really at the height of knowledge and and i think any of our listeners are uh out there

00:12:04.920 that we would that they would also agree that you wouldn't think that the climate in australia from a

00:12:10.660 medical perspective is that different from canada so how could this individual have such a difficult

00:12:16.440 time coming back into her own country uh and to me that's inexcusable those are the things that we 1.00

00:12:23.200 need to change and those are the things that we need to make a significant priority for canadians

00:12:29.020 and you're right you can even argue it's a commonwealth country for crying out loud if there aren't you know

00:12:34.100 countries that you could really find common ground with it would be a commonwealth country

00:12:39.240 and and yet we can't seem to do that yeah you know um before i decided to do this job and was

00:12:46.820 fortunate enough to be elected that was one of the things that my wife and i had actually talked about

00:12:51.600 in our uh you know perhaps quote-unquote retirement plans um and and in my understanding the research

00:12:58.460 that i've done is that because i hold a license in canada that i could easily get a license in

00:13:03.780 australia so why would we not have that reciprocity if the australian government can recognize that the

00:13:10.420 training is the same the illnesses are generally the same then obviously there may be some difference

00:13:16.100 in in names of medications etc which is all learnable things um if the australians can recognize that

00:13:23.780 why can't the government this sadly this liberal government of canada cannot seem to recognize that

00:13:29.680 uh so that's a commitment that we would make as conservatives to say we'll change this i like

00:13:35.160 that planet i also we don't have to get into it now but just as a reminder to those watching and

00:13:40.160 listening there are actually significant trade barriers in our country where different provinces

00:13:45.300 can't trade their goods back and forth in some cases it's actually easier for some provinces to

00:13:51.020 do business with another country altogether than it is another canadian province and and it's these

00:13:56.340 these these these hurdles these these gatekeeping hurdles that need to be removed in order to allow

00:14:02.480 canada to be the freest nation in the world well and of course as we improve those things as a

00:14:09.120 conservative government well and we have businesses that want to come here and they want to make their

00:14:14.640 businesses bigger employ more people obviously when you have those economies of scale you can you can

00:14:19.940 pay your people more you can give them better benefits uh those are the things again that as our

00:14:26.200 leader pierre pauliev would say you get bigger more powerful paychecks uh that allows you to uh to

00:14:32.660 improve the life of not just yourself but your family and your community uh your business etc and and

00:14:38.300 everybody benefits from that uh to removing those barriers and those gatekeepers that uh that really

00:14:44.560 keep people and businesses under the thumb of the liberal government and and if you look at most of the stats the

00:14:53.240 the freest countries in the world they're usually the happiest countries in the world i you know the

00:14:58.920 the more the government clamps down the more government restricts your movements your choice

00:15:04.020 making and the list goes on the more unhappy the population gets and and so this is something that needs

00:15:10.500 to be repeated many times that in in when we make this the freest country in the world you will see

00:15:16.380 paychecks get bigger you will see attitudes change you will see that possibilities are almost endless

00:15:22.120 if you get the the gatekeepers out of the way you know what lots of people out there you know

00:15:29.440 will say well we already are free in canada and we are i mean we do have freedoms but there's this

00:15:35.980 there's this significant undercurrent of gatekeeping and red tape uh that doesn't need to exist that could

00:15:42.760 easily be eliminated uh and that would make everybody's lives significantly better i really

00:15:48.300 love the idea that uh uh that pierre poliev has to say i will incentivize municipalities who get out of

00:15:56.440 the way of building new houses and new apartment buildings etc and and to me that really makes sense

00:16:03.700 uh to say hey you know what you want to do this you want to do the right thing because people

00:16:08.300 need a place to live and of course housing in any way shape or form is exceedingly expensive now

00:16:15.240 uh that we will actually then incentivize municipalities who want to do the right thing

00:16:20.240 and help people find a decent place to live and with anything business it doesn't matter investments

00:16:25.400 it always it always takes the path of least resistance and there is reason for that right like

00:16:30.440 business moves very fast government does not and when those hurdles are in place investment goes

00:16:36.980 elsewhere like it's very easy for the most part to to invest all over the world in companies that are

00:16:42.800 doing business everywhere and and when when you have a investors trying to uh hear a pitch from a

00:16:50.580 project in canada but at a country a similar project in a in another country knowing that you can get

00:16:55.400 something off the ground faster and see a return on your investment and i know that's a dirty word for

00:17:00.960 for some on the left yes profit um you're going to probably take that if they're a limited dollar so

00:17:06.400 we need to ensure that canada is competitive once again and that we are making it while ensuring all

00:17:13.200 the checks and balances are in place making it a smooth and quick process either way yes or no on

00:17:19.100 any project absolutely you know and you know i always sum that up in my mind by saying canada needs

00:17:25.900 to have a favorable business environment we need to be business friendly that's how people go to work

00:17:31.760 every day that's how they have benefits that's how they feed their families and pay their bills

00:17:35.980 keep the lights on and in the winter keep the heat on those are the things that we need to change we need

00:17:42.700 good jobs that pay people well for doing the work that we ask them to do in this incredibly resource

00:17:50.560 natural resource rich country and we have people out there and we know uh that when we allow canadians

00:17:58.200 to work hard that they they can improve their own situation in life that they want to work hard that

00:18:02.960 they want their families to be one step ahead of where they were when when they were the same age and

00:18:09.280 that's what i've always wanted for my own family and i'm sure uh almost all of our viewers want the

00:18:14.920 same thing and that's the type of canada that we that we conservatives want to see and that we talk

00:18:20.580 about doc ellis i've kept you here long enough but i do appreciate your time as you know guests get the

00:18:25.240 last word but i don't know if you can top that but i i encourage you to try or or maybe not

00:18:30.100 well you know uh give a politician a microphone uh you know that being said uh we know very clearly

00:18:37.140 that there are immigrant physicians uh who've been trained internationally who are unable to practice

00:18:42.400 in canada that's one of the things that we want to change we want to ensure that the blue seal

00:18:47.180 program allows physicians who are licensed in in one province to work anywhere in this country

00:18:52.140 and we want to ensure that those canadian citizens who who have chosen to train abroad

00:18:57.060 will be able to come back and work in their chosen profession uh in their health care here in canada so

00:19:02.720 lots and lots of work to be done on health care that's a smattering of of one very small part of

00:19:08.660 the platform that you'll hear as we get closer and closer to election and it's my pleasure to be a part

00:19:13.980 of all that dr stephen ellis member of parliament for cumberland colchester in the beautiful province

00:19:19.340 of nova scotia also the shadow minister for health we appreciate your time the second episode this

00:19:24.420 summer love to have you on i appreciate you doing that appreciate your time as well please like

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00:19:44.420 without hesitation throughout the summer there will be something new to talk about and dr ellis's

00:19:50.540 second program this summer i love it i love it until next week remember low taxes less government

00:19:55.840 more freedom that's the blueprint

00:19:57.300 you

The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - August 02, 2023

Canadian Healthcare; Concerns and Solutions

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