Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attacked doctors in the House of Commons this week.

As doctors struggle to rebuild from 5 years of cuts and attacks, Trudeau decided to throw his own punches.

How much more can doctors take?

Has there been a month when doctors were not under attack in recent memory?

Ontario’s doctors react to comments made in the House of Commons

Toronto, Ont., Sept. 20: The comments made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons on Monday, Sept. 18, are unacceptable to myself and physicians across Ontario. These comments undercut the hard work and long hours that doctors dedicate to providing quality patient care. Continue reading “Ontario’s doctors react to comments made in the House of Commons”

I was excited. The Globe and Mail had agreed to publish my op ed. It would ‘go live’ at 10 am.

I checked my phone every 15 seconds.

What did they edit?

What did they cut?

Did it still make sense?

At 10:01, my heart sank.

The editors had added one lethal sentence. Their edit left the reader thinking about doctors’ incomes instead of patient care.  Precisely what the government wanted, and exactly what I wanted to avoid.

The whole point was to show how Morneau’s tax would hurt patients.

I asked them to remove their sentence. They refused.

Here’s the full piece, with their sentence in italics. Let me know what you think: Did their edit ruin the message? Continue reading “Morneau’s proposed tax changes negatively impact patients”

I wrote a blog about intimidation versus straight talk today, but I was too intimidated to post it. So, I’ll save it for sometime in the spring.

On a safer topic, finance minister Bill Morneau has sparked outrage in the business community.

He plans to hit small businesses with an over 30% tax hike. Morneau says that incorporated small businesses are no different than a salaried employee.

Tim Paziuk wrote a great list that shows how Morneau is wrong.

Paziuk is an accountant specializing in Canadian professional corporations. His book on corporations was invaluable, when I was setting up my own corp.

The only thing I can add to Tim’s list is that corporations have a greater burden of accessing financing and complying with regulations.

Incorporated vs. Salaried

Morneau starts his dreaded tax proposal by asking us to imagine an incorporated person and her salaried neighbour. Morneau makes a dishonest comparison, and Paziuk shows why below. Continue reading “Incorporated vs. Salaried”