Physician Retirement Fund - QP

THE SPEAKER « » : The honourable Leader of the New Democratic Party.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : We know how important it is that we retain family doctors in this province. With so many unattached patients, we can't risk adding more to the list. One of this government's key plans to retain family doctors in their 2020-2021 platform is to create a physician retirement fund. The retirement fund has not been delivered, but the government did commit to providing Doctors Nova Scotia an update on March 31, 2024. Speaker, can the Premier confirm that this deadline was met?

HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON « » : We continue to work on a regular basis with Doctors Nova Scotia, not only about this issue, but around other issues as well. We certainly appreciate the work that happens with them, not only around the settlement of a very competitive contract, which has actually resulted in more attachment and access for patients in Nova Scotia. We do know that is an outstanding item. There are conversations under way and there will be more to say to Nova Scotians in positions soon.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : The commitment wasn't a conversation. It was a retirement fund, and that contract stipulates that the update was in March.

We have a FOIPOP that shows that not only was this deadline missed, but that any movement on the creation of a physician retirement fund has been stalled until correspondence reveals the gravity of the situation. The department heard from Doctors Nova Scotia that a lack of details by the deadline would be "Seen by physicians as a failure on the Premier's part."

It was also heard that two emergency physicians said that if the promise wasn't kept, "It will be the nail in the coffin," as they would be moving back to Ontario to practise. I've tabled those documents and, anecdotally, these doctors are not alone. With 160,000 unattached patients and doctors leaving the province, why won't they keep their promise?

MICHELLE THOMPSON « » : That wasn't an item in my mandate letter, and to my knowledge, my mandate is not yet over, so we will continue to work with Doctors Nova Scotia. We want to deliver that for physicians. We're not going to impose something. We work back and forth with Doctors Nova Scotia. We know it's a pressing issue. We've also settled a very good contract. We work very hard to make sure that physicians across all practices and specialties are compensated well. We value physicians. We're recruiting more, we're retaining more, and we'll continue to work with Doctors Nova Scotia and physicians to make sure they have the practice environment that they enjoy.