Western Standard - December 02, 2023


Increasing capacity for veterinary medicine

Topics
veterinarian recruitment
Mentioned
Dean Weller Emily Jackley Lovely Ed McCauley Sani Serge Shalhoub Natasha Kutryk Pat Burridge Registrar Mackenzie Blythe Jonathan Bradley Megan Bergman Phil Bad Sigurdsson McCorgill Camrose Chaloub Sawney Asani
Just a good old Saskatchewan boy Conservative plan to reverse the damage Trudeau has done

Episode Stats


Length

31 minutes

Words per minute

138.78

Word count

4,337

Sentence count

149


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Learn English with Minister of Agriculture, Agriculture and Irrigation, Sonny McCorgill. In this episode, Ms. Lovely speaks at a groundbreaking ceremony on the University of Calgary's Spruce Hill campus.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Thank you.
00:00:30.000 Thank you.
00:01:00.000 Thank you.
00:01:30.000 Thank you.
00:02:00.000 Thank you.
00:02:30.000 Well, good afternoon, everyone.
00:02:44.440 I'm Jackie Lovely, and I'm the MLA for the Camrose constituency, and I'm so happy to be here.
00:02:49.700 Welcome to the University of Calgary Spy Hill campus.
00:02:52.380 I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the traditional territories of the people of Treaty 7 region in southern Alberta.
00:03:00.000 The City of Calgary is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta Districts 5 and 6.
00:03:05.740 Agriculture is a foundational economic sector that creates opportunities in every region of our province while feeding the world.
00:03:13.200 However, the global shortage of veterinarians poses a significant challenge to the health and productivity of livestock and farm animals,
00:03:21.140 making it difficult for producers to access timely and quality veterinarian care.
00:03:26.740 This is why I'm so proud to be a part of a government that is marketing targeted investment
00:03:32.020 to support our rural economy, open doors for students, and get more veterinarians trained
00:03:38.180 and working in rural Alberta. In support of our government's initiatives, I introduced motion 524
00:03:44.740 in November 2021 to recognize the important work of veterinarians and explore ways our government
00:03:51.220 can help increase the number of veterinarians serving rural albertans this motion passed with
00:03:57.300 unanimous consent of the assembly and i'm so grateful our government for acted on behalf of
00:04:02.900 the province interests to increase veterinary education and opportunity and thank you to the
00:04:08.660 university of calgary and to the faculty of veterinary medicine for your partnership and
00:04:13.300 our government and taking serious action to support livestock producers and i just wanted to stop and
00:04:19.700 pause for just a moment and give a special shout out to Pam Trollock. So Pam really got the ball
00:04:25.780 rolling with me. She's a consultant with what matters. And Dr. Weller, where's Dr. Weller?
00:04:32.180 She's going to be coming to the podium here as well. And Dr. McCorgill, thank you so much for
00:04:36.820 your support for me with my motion moving this forward. As a rural Albertan and as an MLA,
00:04:43.140 this was highlighted to me by my constituents as being a number one priority. And I'm so glad
00:04:47.860 that we're finally moving forward on that today with a groundbreaking ceremony and with that i
00:04:52.260 would like to introduce our amazing minister sonny thank you thank you mla lovely and thank you for
00:05:08.100 your advocacy that's why we're here today and welcome everybody it's great to see so many
00:05:14.020 people here today for this amazing and monumental announcement all right it is a pleasure to be here
00:05:22.260 today at a university of calgary campus u of c is my alma mater and whenever i tour one of our world
00:05:30.980 class post-secondary institutions i'm always reminded of the importance of what happens here
00:05:36.980 for our society and for our economy and especially for our students colleges universities and
00:05:42.820 polytechnics matter today and obviously well beyond today this is where the future is being made
00:05:49.540 not just the future of students careers and lives but the future of our province
00:05:54.340 and that is what brings us together here today
00:06:03.060 back in 2005 the university of calgary established its faculty of veterinary medicine
00:06:08.900 Alberta's first true school of veterinary medicine. Over the years, Alberta's government
00:06:14.260 supported the decision to consolidate Alberta's veterinary training in Calgary instead of sending
00:06:20.020 our students to programs outside of the province. In less than two decades, the faculty of veterinary
00:06:26.340 medicine has become recognized among the top 50 veterinary programs worldwide and is renowned for
00:06:33.300 its innovative approach to veterinary education and basic and applied research as we have seen
00:06:39.780 in so many professions the demand for veterinarians has been growing as has been mentioned particularly
00:06:46.820 in rural alberta and our booming economy has only heightened that demand just last year my
00:06:53.620 predecessor minister nicolaitis announced an additional 8.4 million dollars over three years
00:06:59.780 to expand student capacity by 15 seats in the veterinary medicine program today i'm so very
00:07:06.820 pleased to announce that alberta's government is providing a further 11.2 million dollars to support
00:07:13.300 the faculty of veterinary medicine the additional funding
00:07:16.740 it truly is fantastic news worthy of applause this additional funding will achieve two very
00:07:30.420 important goals first a 10 million dollar expansion of program capacity it will help
00:07:36.780 address the demand for more veterinarians and secondly I'm happy to announce on behalf
00:07:41.820 behalf of my colleague, the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, RJ Sigurdsson, an additional
00:07:47.960 $1.2 million which will support equipment for molecular diagnostics for livestock and
00:07:53.680 capital funding for renovations to the clinical skills building and lab equipment. Beginning
00:07:59.420 in the 2025-26 academic year, these investments will allow the University of Calgary to welcome
00:08:06.360 even more veterinary students increasing the number from 50 to 100 this is an important milestone
00:08:15.400 it doubles the student levels from 2021 to 2022 as part of the expansion the funding will support
00:08:22.200 development of a new veterinary learning commons building here at the spy hill campus this new
00:08:28.920 modern facility will have flexible learning spaces wellness spaces and numerous student gathering
00:08:34.040 areas to achieve new levels of excellence in the educational experience since the faculty of
00:08:40.200 veterinary medicine was established almost 20 years ago we have seen the value of investing
00:08:46.360 in access to this program for albertans the program's highly skilled graduates support rural
00:08:52.040 alberta our animal and equine industries overall animal and human health research and of course
00:08:58.600 public health by providing a new and modern learning space here in calgary alberta's government
00:09:05.320 is offering more opportunities for alberta veterinary students to learn and contribute
00:09:11.240 their expertise closer to home in conclusion as minister of advanced education i'm committed to
00:09:18.920 working with our post-secondary community to provide our province with the skilled professionals
00:09:24.200 that we need to serve Albertans. I'm so very excited for the University of
00:09:29.720 Calgary, for the students, and for the significant difference that today's
00:09:34.100 investment will make for the University of Calgary's Faculty of Veterinary
00:09:38.320 Medicine and of course for Alberta's future veterinarians. Thank you so much
00:09:43.580 for this opportunity to share this wonderful news with all of you. Thank you.
00:09:47.900 Now, I have the pleasure of introducing the president, Mr. Ed McCauley.
00:10:02.600 Good afternoon. Good afternoon, everyone. It's really great to see everybody here today.
00:10:06.620 It's just an amazing afternoon to see members of the government, but also members of our
00:10:10.660 community and also our colleagues from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. It's just an incredible
00:10:15.140 day. We also have members of the Alberta Veterinary Medicine Association here with us,
00:10:20.800 including incoming president, Dr. Serge Shalhoub, who will be speaking a little bit later. And
00:10:26.360 again, welcome to those people who haven't had a chance to visit our University of Calgary
00:10:30.000 Spy Hills campus, a campus that we're very, very proud of, and soon to become the home
00:10:37.240 of the Veterinary Learning Commons building, which we'll see in a moment. Something we
00:10:41.000 are very very excited about something we know the entire veterinary community
00:10:45.560 and the important animal focused industries they serve are also extremely
00:10:50.300 excited about and something that's possible thanks to the significant and
00:10:54.860 generous provincial investments to expand our capacity which I know are
00:10:59.180 strongly backed by our community that we serve our capacity for diagnostic
00:11:04.040 services something very very important across the province capacity in terms of
00:11:09.380 increasing our enrollment as the minister mentioned in terms of enabling the
00:11:13.880 University of Calgary to actually double the number of veterinary seats per year
00:11:18.320 to 100 seats per year a very very important capacity that means we are
00:11:23.360 going to be able to create more veterinarians for this province who are
00:11:28.640 urgently needed to serve and fill the shortage of Alberta's needs for
00:11:33.140 veterinary services as well as knowledge that we're creating through veterinary
00:11:37.640 science every Albertan knows how important veterinary medicine is to our economy and we
00:11:44.280 can only support those sectors if universities like the University of Calgary train people in
00:11:49.960 in-demand skills so they can keep up with the job market as well as its changing needs the way in
00:11:55.880 which we treat animals throughout the province and we could not do that without the incredible
00:12:01.160 support of our partners like the provincial government and the incredible support from
00:12:06.360 our community an example i think people know about quite well is our support from valued
00:12:12.120 philanthropists like jack anderson and win chisholm thanks to their generous gift of the wa ranches
00:12:18.280 just west of here university of calgary can offer veterinary students a truly hands-on experience
00:12:24.920 one that's helped us propel up the ranks of veterinary schools we might be the newest in
00:12:30.840 canada but we're already ranked number three and minister we're not only the top 50 globally we're
00:12:37.320 number 34 globally which is just amazing given the age of the faculty of veterinary medicine here at
00:12:43.880 the university of calgary so with this cutting edge infrastructure like this one that's being
00:12:49.400 announced today whose groundbreaking we celebrate today as well we're able to do even more more
00:12:55.560 training more research and more support for a critical sector of alberta's economy and now
00:13:02.760 i would like to welcome dr renata weller the dean of veterinary medicine at the university
00:13:09.160 of calgary to speak in more detail about how this additional support will transform veterinary
00:13:14.440 education and diagnostics thank you president for the nice introduction and
00:13:26.080 welcome minister welcome Jackie welcome all the guests I'm truly appreciative
00:13:35.440 that you are here to celebrate with us this absolute milestone in our journey
00:13:41.680 together to address the veterinary shortage in Alberta. Now, the veterinary shortage is a global
00:13:48.320 thing, right? What I have to tell you that I came here two years ago from London and UK, that is,
00:13:55.840 not Ontario, and we have been working on this problem there already. Now, the difference is,
00:14:03.440 excuse me, Alberta did something about it. And it was absolutely exemplary in the way
00:14:10.880 the ABMA our regulatory body for the veterinary profession here the government and the university
00:14:18.480 work together to address it right problem come up with a solution this was absolutely
00:14:25.200 absolutely outstanding so thank you very much to everyone who made this possible
00:14:32.080 obviously I'm a vet by profession and also by passion so it's very important for me that the
00:14:37.360 veterinary needs are met of all the animals in this province so many many people own dogs cats
00:14:44.240 horses guinea pigs and other things but vets do more way more than that right we safeguard
00:14:52.240 you from anything to do with food so many of you may have had some milk with their cereal this
00:14:59.360 morning or an egg for breakfast or are planning to have some steak or chicken for dinner this won't
00:15:07.680 happen without a veterinarian behind it so we are safeguarding population health and ever since
00:15:15.200 covid hit i think it's very clear to everyone that viruses don't necessarily respect species borders
00:15:21.040 or any border geographical border or anything else so what the veterinary profession also does
00:15:28.080 is we do disease surveillance we watch and we react and one of those units is housed here
00:15:37.120 that's the diagnostic services unit and our director dr jen davis is sitting right here
00:15:42.960 this team does an amazing job just doing that for us keeping us safe and obviously
00:15:50.960 money is needed for this right so we have to pay salaries vets are in demand and for operations so
00:15:59.280 thank you to the government for recognizing the importance of this service and for providing
00:16:06.400 the funding to continue with this service so thank you very much for this so 2025 we will need a new
00:16:16.000 building i have the building team in the back here right we are on top of this are we i'm i'm
00:16:22.000 with uh dialogue and alice dawn we this building will open otherwise we have a bit of an issue it
00:16:27.920 will open yeah right uh and that awesome infrastructure is brilliant the other thing
00:16:34.400 we need is a new curriculum because what works for 50 students doesn't necessarily work for 100
00:16:41.120 students so we have a very dedicated team working on this and this something very special happened
00:16:48.400 here i have been through this process twice before in two different countries and you usually have to
00:16:55.120 kind of bribe blackmail people into helping you with this because what you need to know is what
00:17:04.080 does the market need what are the skills attributes the knowledge that the vets of tomorrow need right
00:17:12.240 so we went out to the community and thank you mla lovely for making a lot of those connections for
00:17:18.640 us and big thank you to pam jollack for also making those connections to us we talked to
00:17:24.720 hundreds of people they wouldn't stop coming they all wanted to talk to us so this connection between
00:17:30.560 the university the profession and the society at large it's unbelievably unique to alberta
00:17:39.280 seriously i'm the envy of all the other veterinary deans worldwide who are now following alberta
00:17:47.120 because guess what they're doing they're increasing their seats and alberta was first in north america
00:17:53.440 just saying isn't our motto start something president yeah we are starting something so
00:18:00.000 that's what we are doing and we are not stopping there so i'm going to make a sales pitch here
00:18:04.720 just saying people minister you have a proposal on the table right and it's budget going on right now
00:18:11.040 right um with the best will in the world and building as quickly as we can right team uh
00:18:19.200 these graduates won't hit the market until uh 2029 that's the fastest we can do it in the meanwhile
00:18:27.600 we would like to contribute a kind of a short to medium term solution we would like to help to
00:18:35.280 onboard recruit and onboard international vetnik graduates hey alberta is brilliant i came here
00:18:43.280 because it's the people are nice the skiing is good the hiking is good and so and so on the
00:18:49.920 university is awesome to do things at so yeah it's going to be popular however even the best
00:19:00.800 even the best cow vets in europe will struggle with providing feedlots with the support they
00:19:08.640 need because there are i think there are three feedlots in europe but they are not very common
00:19:14.800 so what we suggest is that we would like to create a stackable certificate program
00:19:19.600 that allows us to tailor really quick market-orientated learning opportunities
00:19:27.200 to the individual needs of international vets so you know that proposal right i'm sure you
00:19:32.320 have time this afternoon to review that yeah yeah yeah awesome so thank you very much for
00:19:38.560 listening thank you for coming uh to join us and uh next milestone when we are going to open august
00:19:46.480 2025 right so please come back and thank you all for coming
00:19:59.840 yeah apologies search i forgot to introduce you i do it now so i would like to introduce my
00:20:06.880 colleague at ucvm an amazing veterinarian who is also the incoming president of the alberta
00:20:14.240 Veterinary Medical Association, Dr. Serge Shalhoub.
00:20:23.120 Thank you so very much.
00:20:24.520 And I have to say, I think that was the first time Dean Weller introduced me.
00:20:27.520 Usually it's the opposite.
00:20:28.340 So I actually feel very special right now.
00:20:29.660 I'm glad that was on camera.
00:20:30.600 I'm just going to note that.
00:20:32.000 Good afternoon, everyone.
00:20:33.240 And thank you for joining us.
00:20:34.760 Thank you, Dr. Weller, for the kind introduction.
00:20:36.660 It's such an honor to be sharing the podium with you and all of you today.
00:20:40.580 And also all the guests.
00:20:42.200 Thank you all for coming.
00:20:42.980 I know my students were very confused, excited, confused, very worried about why I was wearing
00:20:48.280 a suit today, and I was explaining them to why, and they were, okay, we get this.
00:20:52.560 And also, just reflecting, this is a room where I usually come and teach feline physical
00:20:55.960 exams, certainly not the kind of wear I would usually wear, but here we are today, very
00:20:59.840 excited to be here with you.
00:21:01.620 Minister Sani, thank you so much for being here.
00:21:04.000 Emily Lovely, always a huge supporter.
00:21:06.540 Dr. McCauley, Dr. Weller, invited guests.
00:21:09.060 My name is Sir Chaloub, and I am the incoming president of the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association.
00:21:14.820 And as you heard from Dr. Weller, I'm also a very proud UCBM faculty member, have been for the last 10 years.
00:21:20.940 Today marks a very, very important day for our profession, and also for all our faculty and students who are excited by the needy growth of this critical faculty and facility.
00:21:30.880 I am pleased to be joined today also by some ABVMA colleagues.
00:21:34.260 Dr. Megan Bergman, our newly appointed Registrar of the ABVMA, and Dr. Phil Buat, our Complaints
00:21:40.780 Director and Deputy Registrar.
00:21:43.140 I'm also pleased to be joined by Dr. Pat Burridge, who is past President of the ABVMA,
00:21:48.720 and Dr. Burridge was very instrumental in working with government and many partners,
00:21:53.580 including the University of Calgary, to secure the funding necessary for this very expansion
00:21:57.700 that we are here today celebrating.
00:21:59.740 I wanted to thank him greatly on behalf of the entire profession and the University of Calgary
00:22:04.100 for all the work he has done for this expansion. A huge thank you. And also for being a mentor as
00:22:09.060 me as incoming president. I also want to pass along regrets from our ABVMA president, Dr. Natasha
00:22:14.520 Kutryk. Dr. Kutryk really wanted to be here today, but duty called. And this is the life of a
00:22:20.100 veterinarian and especially a rural beef producer. For those who know, being a veterinarian out in
00:22:25.840 rural practice often as she likes to say you have to hop in your truck and just go and as she likes
00:22:31.360 to say duty always before the fun that is also very interesting she does pass her wishes her
00:22:36.780 best wishes and appreciation to the government the university calgary and dr weller for all the hard
00:22:42.080 work and partnership that allows us to celebrate today's historic moment for our veterinary faculty
00:22:47.100 profession and also our province today i stand here humbly before you representing the approximately
00:22:54.040 3,800 veterinarians and veterinary technologists, medical professionals in Alberta who are working
00:23:00.900 in over 575 veterinary practices across this beautiful province. I can assure you, Minister,
00:23:08.080 that they are excited by this historic moment and for veterinary medicine because it represents
00:23:13.080 two broad things, which you've already touched upon. First of all, is that this groundbreaking
00:23:18.080 represents acknowledgement of the importance of a veterinary profession to the health and
00:23:23.040 economy of our province and secondly it represents hope true hope for our
00:23:28.740 professionals that help is on the way today is about acknowledgement hope
00:23:32.880 and certainty that are hard-working but stretch profession will have more
00:23:36.780 well-trained veterinarians to work with and they will also have access to
00:23:39.960 diagnostic lab capability that will help them better diagnose and treat animals
00:23:44.800 Alberta and the world as you heard from dr. well there are facing massive
00:23:49.260 shortages of veterinary professionals both veterinarians and veterinary
00:23:52.500 technologists. The solutions to address these workforce challenges are complex
00:23:56.960 and unfortunately there is no quick fix, but we know that working together and
00:24:01.500 working together alongside each other on solutions for these workforce
00:24:05.860 challenges is necessary for the future of our province. Without enough
00:24:12.600 veterinarians and adequate diagnostic capacity, our food security management of
00:24:17.060 diseases and livelihoods of our agricultural producers are at risk. It
00:24:21.540 It takes leadership, a commitment to bettering Alberta, and partnerships at all levels in all corners of the province to work on solutions that involve sustainable level of investment of this scale that have a generational impact on not just the profession, but on all the people of Alberta.
00:24:37.840 The Alberta government's investment of over $70 million, you've heard that, is historic and positively impacts the economic future of our province.
00:24:47.000 The funding, as you heard, expands the number of graduates from 50 to 100 and provides expansion to the facilities to accommodate the new students and faculty who will be developing innovating approaches to treating our animals,
00:24:58.840 conducting necessary animal research that bridges human and animal health and will be working
00:25:04.080 collaboratively for Provincial Veterinary Network to ensure accessible care for animal owners.
00:25:10.020 As we look to the future today, I must say I stand proud, very proud to be a part of the
00:25:15.320 veterinary profession, one of the oldest and one that has shaped the Alberta economy since
00:25:19.500 the early 1900s. Veterinary medicine touches everything from our own personal pets to emergency
00:25:25.700 medicine, feedlot health, cow-calf production, dairy production, swine, equine, poultry, sheep
00:25:31.860 medicine, and even bees. A lot of people that I speak to don't even know that veterinarians are
00:25:35.860 involved in that. And of course, we cannot forget the exotic animals, including reptiles and birds.
00:25:41.780 Our association and membership take pride in how our profession has been critical
00:25:46.740 to Alberta's development and is helping to shape the future health and prosperity of our province.
00:25:52.020 Today's groundbreaking recognizes critical role of our professions and plays a very important
00:25:59.300 role in the collective commitment to sustainable funding for veterinary education,
00:26:03.300 animal diagnostics, lab diagnostic services in Alberta. I want to thank Minister Sawney
00:26:09.060 for her commitment to public education and the work being done at UCBM. A huge thank you.
00:26:14.500 Our profession appreciates your leadership and we look forward to working together in the days ahead
00:26:20.100 as we continue looking for solutions to professional workforce challenges in other words
00:26:25.140 our work here together is only beginning minister and actually have my twitter feed my facebook
00:26:31.300 my other social media on here that i left no i'm just kidding but our thanks also goes on
00:26:36.900 to minister sir gerson who couldn't be here today who continues the long tradition of building a
00:26:41.620 positive relationship between the veterinary profession and the agriculture sector we
00:26:46.260 We appreciate the funding provided to the lab
00:26:48.700 that will support livestock diagnostics
00:26:50.740 and help our veterinary professionals
00:26:52.500 better manage zoonotic diseases.
00:26:54.820 We look forward to working together
00:26:56.320 towards the goal of a long-term sustainable funding lab
00:27:00.400 and ensuring veterinary workforce capacity in rural Alberta.
00:27:04.020 Perhaps Mr. Asani can also let him know
00:27:06.140 that we are excited to work with him very closely
00:27:08.500 and also that our work together is also just beginning.
00:27:11.940 I also wanna take a moment to acknowledge
00:27:13.820 Emily Jackley Lovely, who needs no introduction
00:27:16.440 to the veterinary workforce of Alberta,
00:27:18.760 been a fierce advocate for veterinary medicine.
00:27:21.340 A huge thank you so much.
00:27:24.060 Emily Lovely has visited vet clinics
00:27:26.100 in her Camrose consistency to learn firsthand
00:27:28.880 about the issues facing rural veterinarians,
00:27:31.340 and she's been a great friend to our profession.
00:27:33.980 This groundbreaking would not have happened without her.
00:27:36.500 Thank you, Emily Lovely.
00:27:37.720 We really, really appreciate it,
00:27:39.620 and we look forward to continue working with you as well.
00:27:42.800 This is only the beginning of a triumphant days
00:27:45.500 shared together.
00:27:46.860 Lastly, today would not be a triumph
00:27:49.100 without the bold vision and perseverance
00:27:51.260 of the University of Calgary and Dr. Weller.
00:27:54.000 Thank you, Dr. McCauley, for the vision
00:27:56.160 to build an exceptional veterinary faculty
00:27:58.560 and to hire an exceptional leader in Dr. Weller
00:28:01.360 to lead this awesome faculty that I also call home.
00:28:04.880 Our profession is proud to have a strong working relationship
00:28:07.360 with Dr. Weller and her team.
00:28:09.320 We look forward to working together
00:28:11.100 and standing in the new facilities,
00:28:13.420 they will get built, I've heard they will get built,
00:28:16.100 celebrating the graduates of UCVM.
00:28:18.880 On behalf of all the veterinarians
00:28:20.540 and veterinary technologists of this beautiful province,
00:28:23.700 thank you to Alberta government and the university
00:28:26.320 for the opportunities to be here today.
00:28:28.400 It's definitely worth me wearing a suit today.
00:28:30.820 My students were again, still curious,
00:28:32.560 but definitely proud of me able to share this
00:28:35.140 with you today.
00:28:36.200 I will now turn the podium
00:28:37.780 to Minister's press release, Mackenzie Blythe.
00:28:40.040 Thank you so much.
00:28:50.180 Thank you very much.
00:28:51.020 We are now ready to begin the question and answer
00:28:52.860 segment of today's announcement.
00:28:54.380 I would ask all journalists in attendance
00:28:56.440 to please state your name and your outlet
00:28:58.660 before your first question,
00:28:59.880 as well as clarifying who your question is directed to.
00:29:03.100 Everyone will have the opportunity to ask one question
00:29:05.460 and one follow-up question.
00:29:06.960 We will begin with reporters present
00:29:08.580 Can we please have the first question from the mic?
00:29:11.580 No questions from the mic.
00:29:13.580 Operator, please put through the first caller on the phones.
00:29:16.580 Jonathan Bradley, Western Standard.
00:29:18.580 Hello.
00:29:19.580 My question is for Minister Sani.
00:29:22.580 Minister Sani, you spoke about this program
00:29:24.580 wanting to
00:29:26.580 be able to
00:29:28.580 be able to
00:29:38.580 to recruit more veterinarians into the
00:29:41.340 profession, but obviously there's no
00:29:43.820 guarantee that these veterinarians will
00:29:45.620 stay in Alberta after graduation.
00:29:47.560 What will you do to ensure that these
00:29:49.620 veterinarians stay in Alberta?
00:29:51.660 Can you just repeat the question?
00:29:54.620 There's a little bit of interference.
00:29:57.360 I got the first part.
00:29:59.640 Okay.
00:30:00.840 So with this program, it's about
00:30:03.680 recruiting more people to become
00:30:05.640 veterinarians.
00:30:06.700 But there's no guarantee they'll stay in Alberta after graduation.
00:30:13.700 What will you do to ensure these veterinarians stay in Alberta?
00:30:19.700 Okay, I got it.
00:30:21.700 Thank you for repeating that question.
00:30:23.700 And yes, this program is designed to, and this investment is designed to double the number
00:30:28.700 of seats in the province.
00:30:29.700 And what we find is when students spend some time at an institution in a city and under
00:30:36.700 studies in that program they generally end up staying here and we have an
00:30:40.840 incredible demand we have a shortage of veterinarians in the province so just
00:30:45.280 being able to have those opportunities readily available for new graduates that
00:30:49.600 in itself is very compelling so I'm very very confident that if we have students
00:30:55.000 who are going to be studying here at this facility once it's fully open in
00:30:58.460 2025 they will find themselves with a plethora of job offers and
00:31:05.300 opportunities and and of course I mean Alberta is the best province in this
00:31:09.920 country's why would anybody ever want to leave so we