Ontario aims to try to attract gay doctors from the United States
TORONTO - Ontario will attempt to lure disgruntled gay U.S. medical professionals into the province, Health Minister George Smitherman said yesterday. Mr. Smitherman, who became the province's first openly gay cabinet minister in 2003, said Ontario was capitalizing on Canada's image for left-leaning values -- which includes gay marriage legislation passed this summer. "We're really just saying that Ontario is open for business, letting them know that we have a wide range of practice opportunities and a really, really wide range of communities that would be grateful to receive (more doctors)," he said in a telephone interview. "It's a little bit of a soft pitch, but it's well received because there are going to be a certain number of people in the United States at the moment who from a values standpoint are not really comfortable. And this is really quite evident among gay and lesbian people, but I think there's a broader constituency." Mr. Smitherman, MPP for the downtown riding of Toronto Centre-Rosedale, said he just spent two days talking to participants at the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association's annual conference, which wraps up tonight in Montreal. About 75% of the conference attendees were American, he said, and most were doctors.
TORONTO - Ontario will attempt to lure disgruntled gay U.S. medical professionals into the province, Health Minister George Smitherman said yesterday. Mr. Smitherman, who became the province's first openly gay cabinet minister in 2003, said Ontario was capitalizing on Canada's image for left-leaning values -- which includes gay marriage legislation passed this summer. "We're really just saying that Ontario is open for business, letting them know that we have a wide range of practice opportunities and a really, really wide range of communities that would be grateful to receive (more doctors)," he said in a telephone interview. "It's a little bit of a soft pitch, but it's well received because there are going to be a certain number of people in the United States at the moment who from a values standpoint are not really comfortable. And this is really quite evident among gay and lesbian people, but I think there's a broader constituency." Mr. Smitherman, MPP for the downtown riding of Toronto Centre-Rosedale, said he just spent two days talking to participants at the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association's annual conference, which wraps up tonight in Montreal. About 75% of the conference attendees were American, he said, and most were doctors.