True patriot love, in all of us command. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Health, Patty Hadju, premiers, and nursing colleges of our provinces and territories. It has been more than a year since all of us have started this fight against this pandemic. We, the Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs), residents and citizens of our beloved country, Canada -- are once again extending our hands to our Prime Minister, Premiers, and Nursing Colleges/Ordres in Canada. We are asking permission to answer this call to help our country even more during these times. We ask you to allow us to do more to serve the public by giving us our licenses to practice as Registered Nurses (RNs) here in Canada.

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott addressed Ontarians and asked for healthcare workers to combat this pandemic from the United States, the Philippines, and several other countries. We are here to remind you once again that help is not far away. We are here. We are ready. We are Canadians fighting this for our family, our friends, our country, and the world. Most of us are already on the frontlines, but we want to help more and we can do more. 

Internationally Educated Nurses, like other internationally educated healthcare workers, come to Canada with years of experience and knowledge. We came to Canada ready to care for those who are sick and in need. But we are told that our years of caring for our fellow human beings are not equal to how we do it in Canada, a country that prides itself as a shining beacon of equality and freedom. We were told that our education, nursing interventions, management of the same complex diseases and medical conditions, were so different that we needed to be trained by sending us again to colleges and universities for another two to three years. 

All of us persevered. All of us toiled. Years were wasted by not allowing us to practice our chosen profession. Some of us succeeded while working to obtain our licenses. But all of us took care of our elderly, our children, and our sick in the same way you say that we are different, with the same hands that comforted our elderly, the same arms that carried our crying children and our sick, and with the same hearts that cared for each of our patients.  

Today, what we ask for is equality, equity, and the opportunity to serve and do more. We are Canadians. Our country is calling. We, the IENs, are called today to show our true patriot love by helping combat this pandemic. We are here to help our fellow Canadians. Give us our fair chance now to answer this command. Will you allow us?