Atlantic Premiers Want Free Movement Of Doctors, Nurses Among Provinces
CHARLOTTETOWN — Atlantic Canada’s premiers want to dramatically change how doctors, nurses and other health care workers are certified, hoping to improve their mobility by creating regional professional licensing.
At a meeting in Charlottetown, the four premiers say the move will help address the challenges posed by an aging population and higher-than-average incidences of chronic diseases.
Nova Scotia’s Stephen McNeil doesn’t think any Canadians understand why professionals’ movement from province-to-province is so restricted.
He says there are national standards that should be recognized, and each province needs the support of its various professional colleges to help provide the needed mobility.
The premiers — joined for the first time by the lone East Coast Tory, New Brunswick’s Blaine Higgs — also agreed to approach Ottawa to seek a partnership in a regional electrical transmission system.
P.E.I. Premier Wade MacLauchlan says energy development is key to providing consumers with power that is “renewable, affordable and reliable.”
___
The Canadian Press