Primed for a political war over refugees, Cohn, Jan. 15

Bravo to Martin Regg Cohn for reminding us of the crisis of Canada’s reliance on Saudi medical residents to provide essential medical services. This situation has gone underground, but is not over. Nothing has changed since the Saudis relented on their recall of these residents. We remain just as vulnerable at the next Saudi crisis.

It is past time for Canada and the provinces to end this reliance on foreign residents and create a fair, transparent and ethical process for filling these residency spaces through the Canadian Residency Matching Service.

These positions should go to domestically trained doctors and Canadian doctors trained abroad who are often unable to return to Canada due to lack of residency spaces. Any remaining spaces should be open to foreign medical graduates of all nationalities based on a fair and competitive process; not paid for and protected for Saudi students.

Malcolm M. MacFarlane, Lindsay, Ont.

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