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| Prince Edward Island: Meetings in my home province included talks with the director of medical services, provincial medical director Don Ling; manager of physician resources and medical services Johanne Irwin; and manager of hospital services, acute and continuing care division Joyce Thompson. A planned, very short meeting with health minister Jamie Ballem was missed due to an extended cabinet meeting. |
 Paul Jenkins, Ellen White, Johanne Irwin (Physician Resources Manager, Medical Services), Joyce Thompson (Hospital Services Manager, Acute & Continuing Care Division), Don Ling (Director, Medical Services) |
I must report that we actually received very little assurance from Dr. Ling that he would recommend any improvements or changes for travelling Canadians from Prince Edward Island. We have since received a phone call from Premier Binn's office, requesting a meeting.
Nunavut: Nunavut proved to be enlightening on a number of fronts. In addition to our presentation to Premier Okalik acknowledging Nunavut's high standing in our report card, we confirmed that there are large numbers of travellers leaving Nunavut during the long winter months. Premier Okalik is looking forward to continuing a positive relationship with the CSA.
| Newfoundland and Labrador: In Newfoundland and Labrador, we were honoured to meet with Premier Grimes, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and government House leader Tom Lush, and deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs Andrew Noseworthy. The welcome was typical Newfoundland – warm and friendly. The premier was very positive and agreed that residency requirements were unfair, and that a Canadian was a Canadian regardless of his or her travels. |  Tom Lush (Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs), Paul Jenkins, Ellen White, Premier Grimes |
The Election Act within the province has recently changed and the province will contact those who are out of province. A constituent can now arrange to vote prior to the election date's being announced.
| Quebec: Our visit to Quebec was the first of two – we hope to be returning within the coming months for additional meetings. This time around, Ellen and CSA Quebec director Roland Belanger met with chief electoral officer Marcel Blancet and information officer Farrah Bérubé. In our opinion, the mark given in our report card must be upgraded since Quebec's election office has developed an excellent system to ensure that the greatest possible number of voters go to the polls.
In order to vote in any election, all one must do is register (with a forwarding foreign address) with the elections office prior to leaving for an extended length of time. When an election is called, the elections office sends a package via courier to absentee voters. |
 Marcel Blanchet (Cheif Electorial Officer), Farrah Bérubé (Agente d'information), Ellen White, Roland Belanger  Roland Belanger, Ellen White, Claude Longpré (Attache Politique) |
We are very excited about this change. We are now dealing with a new government and the CSA hopes that dialogue with Premier Charest will lead to positive results for travellers.
Table of Contents Issue 48 / Continued