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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 294

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 22, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 294 - Mar/22/24
Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)
  • Mar/22/24 12:31:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to present two petitions this morning. They are both of critical concern to members of my constituency. I had the honour of hosting 12 community meetings recently in different parts of the riding. There was not a single meeting where the issue of the crisis of access to family doctors was not raised. I put forward a petition where the petitioners note that, according to Statistics Canada, approximately 4.8 million Canadians do not have a regular doctor. Moreover, 92% of physicians are working in urban centres and just 8% in rural areas. In Victoria and Sidney, B.C., within Saanich—Gulf Islands, average wait times for a walk-in clinic are 92 minutes and 180 minutes, respectively. The petitioners call on the government to work with the provinces and territories to come to a holistic and fair solution to deal with the family doctor health care provider shortage.
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