Health services in rural Canada matters to our quality of life
HANTS COUNTY, NS – During a visit to the Hants Shore Community Health Centre outside of Halifax, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff committed to attract more doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners to underserved rural communities by forgiving up to $20,000 of their student debt.
“All Canadians should have a high quality of life and comparable levels of service, regardless of where they live,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “Too many rural families have to drive for hours to access health services for their loved ones – and that’s just not right.”
While 20 percent of Canadians live in rural areas, only 10 percent of Canada’s doctors practice there.
“Our rural caucus has told us that the availability of healthcare services has been a concern for many years – and we’re listening, because rural Canada matters so much to the future of our country,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “That’s why I’m committing a future Liberal government to fund incentives that would attract health professionals to rural communities where there is a shortage in health services.”
A future Liberal government would work with the provinces and territories to forgive $5,000 per year in federal student loans, up to $20,000 over four years, for doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners choosing to practice in a designated underserved rural community. An equitable share of funds would be applied towards regional health needs in Quebec, as they are not part of the Canada Student Loans program. This initiative would help to attract and retain more than 1,500 new health professionals each year.
“The Harper government’s priority is more tax cuts for corporations,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “That’s something that our country and our families can’t afford. We Liberals want to make a different choice – investing that kind of money in initiatives like the one we’re announcing today for rural health.”
“Rural Canada can’t thrive without access to the same tools as urban Canada, but the recession has strained the rural economy and rural communities to the point where they can’t get the services they deserve,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “Without comparable access to healthcare, education, internet connectivity, and even mail service, we risk a rural-urban divide that is a national unity challenge.”
Mr. Ignatieff also committed the Liberal party to work in partnership with provinces and territories to explore other ways to strengthen rural health services, including:
• Support for rural-focused medical and nursing education;
• Encourage young Canadians in rural communities to go to medical school or study nursing;
• Introduce programs to find employment for the spouses of new doctors and nurses;
• Strengthen rural medicine extension programs; and
• Improving internet access for rural health practitioners.
Mr. Ignatieff’s commitment to rural health services is the first part of the Liberal Party’s “Rural Canada Matters” initiative. More will be announced in the coming weeks.
At the recent Canada at 150 conference, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announced that a Liberal government would freeze corporate income tax rates in Canada. The Harper Conservative government is planning to continue cutting Canada’s corporate income tax rates – already among the lowest in the G7 – from 18% to 15%, starting next January. A Liberal government would take the savings from that corporate income tax freeze – between $5 billion to $6 billion a year – and invest in deficit reduction and initiatives to help Canadian families, such as the rural doctors and nurses initiative announced today.
