Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present petition 10625058 today, dealing with an issue that constituents tell me is a daily concern, which is the significant shortage of family physicians. The petitioners point out that, according to Statistics Canada, 4.8 million Canadians do not have their own family physician.
The petitioners call upon the government to create a holistic, full program to ensure access to family doctors. We have doctors in Canada, and new doctors coming on stream, but they tend to mostly head to urban areas, which is of particular concern in areas like Saanich—Gulf Islands.