I'll tell you why I'm asking this question. In Ontario, the province I'm from, we have a shortage of 2,500 doctors. Over two million people don't have a doctor, and by 2026, there will be 4.4 million people without a doctor. In Ontario alone, 1.7 million people have a family doctor who is over the age of 65. In Canada, six million Canadians don't have a family doctor.
The reason I bring this up is that a couple in B.C., Jane and Steve Williams, have been on the waiting list for a family doctor for three years. He recently went in for emergency surgery, and he has no family doctor who will be able to help him.
Here we are talking about pharmacare and taking care of our patients. How can somebody get the required medical attention and have the drugs prescribed to them that they will need?
I'm going to go back to Dr. Morgan because I want to make sure I get this right. You made a statement earlier that this is a “patchwork system,” and I have to agree with you. I don't think this system was well thought out.
If I understand correctly, Dr. Norman, you said you were part of the panel. Is that correct? Were you part of the pharmacare investigation on the panel with the government?