Speaker, it is estimated that approximately 1.8 million Ontarians do not have a family doctor—that means 1.8 million Ontarians without access to a primary care physician who has built a relationship with them, who understands their needs, and who can provide the consistent care that helps catch illnesses early and avoid serious illnesses. This unacceptable situation leads to inadequate health care for all Ontarians.

We need more family doctors, but attracting medical students to family medicine is becoming increasingly difficult. Family doctors are heavily overworked, burdened with way too many patients and out-of-date systems that result in mountains of paperwork.

Dr. Alykhan Abdulla is a local doctor in the Ottawa area. He works tirelessly to serve the thousands of patients he is responsible for. He says the administrative burden on him and his team is huge, occupying a third of his time. That’s 33% fewer patients with access to care every day.

By taking measures to reduce the administrative burden on our family physicians, this government can dramatically increase the time available for doctors to do what they were trained to do: provide care to patients. This would reduce the burden on family physicians, help attract and retain more family doctors, and allow more Ontarians to access the care they deserve.