This petition is titled “Ontario Needs a Rare Disease Strategy,” because, right now, in Ontario, we do not have a rare disease strategy.

In 2016, the Ministry of Health established a rare disease working group. The working group did their work and presented a report to the Ministry of Health in 2017, and since then, no action has been taken. Meanwhile, those living with rare diseases are left behind without the access to the supports that they need.

So, in this petition, the signatories are calling on the government to pass the Rare Disease Strategy Act. It is a bill that I have tabled and co-sponsored in the House that sets out to implement the recommendations outlined in the rare disease working group report.

There are 2.3 million Ontarians who do not have a family physician, so they’re not connected to any form of primary care. That obviously puts their health at risk. We know that access to primary care keeps people out of emergency rooms. It promotes health and well-being. It prevents conditions from getting worse. And one of the ways in which we can address the family doctor shortage, as recommended by the Ontario Medical Association and the Ontario College of Family Physicians, is to free up the time that doctors are spending on administrative work.

And so, this petition is calling on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to implement a strategy where support staff can be hired to take over the administrative portion of the doctor’s work so that family doctors can spend their time seeing patients instead of doing paperwork.

I support this petition and will affix my signature to it.