Wise people insist that patience is a virtue. No question, absence makes us fonder for some things. But waiting ranks between nuisance and torture most of the time.
Just wait ’til your father gets home!
Someone’s here from a lawyer’s office. I’ll let her in.
Thanks for calling back. Just wait while I get the doctor.
The minutes between hearing – and our new life that follows – linger long after the news. Waiting separates our old self; it opens an existential gap filled with uncertainty.
Sue Government
Doctors launched a challenge under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms against the Government of Ontario this week. It argues that government ignored doctors’ rights. It will take years to settle. This is the second time doctors have had to sue government in 3 years.
In the meantime, we wait. We wait while politicians hack away at medical services, and access deteriorates.
What if doctors lose their case? Maybe the courts will find in favour of the government?
Perhaps a judge will award an arbitration process, but arbitrators might find that there is absolutely no way to return services back to 2012.
Maybe an arbitrator will reset the game, call a start-over with all the players in their current positions. An arbitrator might say that physicians in the new grad entry program should be grateful with their $100k salary. It was their choice to study medicine. They could have become nurse practitioners, if they wanted.
What happens between suit and settlement?
New grads leave, as they should. Established doctors who can relocate take their chances while there’s still work elsewhere. Retirement beckons others. Meanwhile, government can go on to cut more. No one can stop it.
Government will probably make an offer to settle the suit. Will doctors blink and drop it?
If the government offered a 2% raise with stability for 4 or even six years, would doctors make a deal? Would they give up their basic rights for a bowl of porridge?
Strategic Pause
All professional athletes have talent; the greatest know when to not use it. A simple pause can work better than a trick shot. But an expected pause does nothing. The game goes on with no change in strategy.
Doctors hope the Charter challenge will bring fundamental change in how government deals with physicians. It calls for new rules, an acknowledgement that doctors have the right to be treated fairly, too.
Lawsuits change people. The wait after filing solidifies new character. Two lawsuits in three years has shown a whole generation of doctors the worst of central planning, of nationalized public service. Very few docs enthuse about working with government these days. It helps younger doctors understand the suspicion older colleagues have long held about government programs.
Doctors have placed their faith in a justice system built on rights and freedoms. Let’s hope it’s worth the wait.