Is Canadian Health System expecting crucial changes?
Trudeau's opponent calls for measures to allow doctors to work across Canada. A similar proposal was brought to be discussed by the Canadian Medical Association.
Canada's health care system is facing significant challenges today: choosing a family doctor is becoming more difficult every year, some provinces experience a lack of professionals and many patients have to wait a long time to see a specialist.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre proposes to reform the Canadian Health system. He calls for the development of a national standards system that would allow qualified doctors and nurses to work in any province or territory in the country.
In Canada, health care is within the jurisdiction of the province or territory where the doctor is licensed. Trying to move between provinces means a lengthy application process, sometimes months-long, and thousands of dollars in fees.
Poilievre proposed what he called a "Blue Seal" standard, modeled after the "Red Seal" program used in the skilled trades. According to his idea, if healthcare workers pass the required test, they would quickly become licensed and be able to work anywhere around the country where the new standard applies.
This system would help reduce staff shortages and allow Canadian doctors and nurses to stay in the country instead of seeking work abroad. It would also make it easier for doctors and nurses who had previously studied abroad to get jobs in Canada.
Poilievre said the actual system that prevents some professionals from working in Canada if they have been trained abroad, is a result of bureaucracy and "government gatekeepers".
"It's time to bring home our doctors and nurses," the Conservative Party leader said.
Health care is subject to provincial jurisdiction. And therefore, in order to approve the proposed Blue Seal test, the federal government needs to show leadership and unite.
Canadian Medical Association Initiative
The lack of mobility for doctors has been flagged by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) as an important problem in Canada's healthcare system, and CMA advocates what it calls pan-Canadian licensure. The CMA argues that it has broad support among its members and would create a more efficient and flexible system.
"We need to rethink the idea that we can carry on with 13 separate health systems that don't collaborate with each other at a really deep level," said CMA president Dr. Alika Lafontaine last year.
A unified licensure system would have many advantages and would perform more effective health care assistance.
