Mr. Speaker. I am presenting a petition that I suppose could have been from petitioners in almost any electoral district across Canada.
Petitioners from Saanich—Gulf Islands have asked me to present this petition, which points to the crisis across Canada regarding access to primary health care and having a regular family doctor. In my community, in the Sidney and Victoria area of British Columbia, the average wait time for a walk-in clinic is two to four hours, depending on the community.
The number of physicians in Canada is growing, but the number of Canadians without a regular doctor remains stable. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to work with all the provinces and territories to come to a holistic and fair solution that addresses the critical shortage of family doctors across Canada.