“I know you guys needed to act tough recently.

I get that.

But when are you going to start supporting government again?“

“You know, you get more done when you work with government than against it.”

I could fill pages with these comments.

Experts and establishment insiders insist that doctors should always try to support whatever position seems popular with government.

They believe that funding requires relationship, and relationship must come before principles or position.

You only Get to Yes when you abandon positions for interests.

Working with government was never in question. Doctors in Ontario have begged for a working relationship since 2012.

Even when medical leadership had deep ties to the ruling Liberals, doctors were shut out of decision making, shunned from consultations and heckled in the legislature.

Medical leaders had tea in private clubs with the Premier, at the same time that the Premier was unilaterally cutting doctors’ fees.

Did this relationship help doctors, patients or healthcare in general? Continue reading “Relationship Nonsense in Medical Politics”

Elites tell us what to think. They work to shape society in their own image, while looking down on the rest of us.

Is there such a thing as an elite, or is it just anarchist name-calling?

If elites do exist, are they always bad? Is populism the solution to elitism?

Elite : (noun) a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence – members of the ruling elite.

We assume that politics runs on structure and process. This is partly right but mostly wrong.

Government is the sum character of the people inside. Constitutional democracy is necessary but not sufficient for freedom. It needs good people to serve and lead, and good people to vote and pay taxes.

Everyone cheats and lies, sometimes, by ignorance or design. But if everyone cheats and lies all the time, trust evaporates.

Government cannot function.

Democracy ends.

Populists

Abused voters often elect populists. Tired of “elites” telling them what to think, voters tell the elites where to go. Continue reading “Populists, Elites & Distrust”

Crises do not just happen. Most times, someone causes the crisis.

A patient spends thirteen days in a hospital bathroom.

A man has his heart surgery cancelled four times.

A 15 year old hockey player, crippled in pain, waits ten months for hip surgery. 

An 18 year old dies after waiting months for a hospital bed. 

Someone cut hospital beds from 33, 400 down to 18, 500 between 1992 – 2017.  Ontario grew by 36% over the same period.

Someone keeps operating rooms closed, while patients in Strathroy wait an average of 671 days for knee replacement.  Someone makes patients wait, while the surgeons who replace knees go unemployed.

Of course, it is never someone. A mat of political webbing hides those responsible.

Players vs Being Played

Canadian Medicare copied the 1940s British National Health Service (NHS). After WWII, England wanted to extend its victory to social issues, so Aneurin Bevan, Labour Party leader, launched a campaign to create state medicine.

The British Medical Association resisted. It didn’t want bureaucrats controlling medicine.

Opposition threatened to ruin Bevan‘s plan. So he did what so many politicians do to get their way. He said, “I stuffed their mouths with gold.“

Note: This was not about negotiations of fees for services. It was about control, not funding. Bevan simply poured money into his plan making it irresistible to anyone who disagreed.  Continue reading “Medicare Provocateurs”