Rich like us.

A provincial government passes into law arbitrary legislation (Bill 26) that severely constrains the autonomy of a major profession and, thereby, the capacity of its members to serve the people. Once passed into law, the provisions of this bill are not implemented. How are we to understand this?

F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "The rich are different from us" (To which Ernest Hemmingway replied, "Yes, they have more money."). Are premiers, cabinet ministers, and members of the ruling party also different from us? To get some answers, we consulted with our neighbour--a former "insider" who is no longer in government service but, because he holds a senior executive position in the health-care industry, wishes to remain anonymous. We asked him, "Why do our political masters deal with physicians in this manner? How do they view health-care professionals? Do they believe that we can not participate in decision making; that we can not sustain the give-and-take of the negotiating process; that we can not be dealt with in an open collaboration without being unbearably tedious and frustrating? Do they view us, not as allies, but as a special interest group that must be neutralized by a pre-emptive strike and kept in check by threats?

At first he declined to comment saying, "I have not seen a copy of Bill 26 and have no independent assessment of its operation or intent." However, after some coaxing he pointed out that although the bill was promulgated one and one-half years ago, no regulations have been issued to implement and enforce its provisions and, as he understands it, none of the bill's components related to physicians are being used. The recently struck multi-year agreement with the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) continues existing relationships between physicians and the government and does not resort to the bill's provisions. Therefore, he concluded, Dr. ...