Toronto swooned over Senator Bernie Sanders last weekend. He came to visit Canadian healthcare.

He came, ostensibly, to learn.

He visited three of the shiniest, most advanced hospitals in Canada. Each of them fundraises more money than the total budgets of many smaller hospitals.

Wealthy people donate hundreds of millions to fund hospitals close to wealthy neighbourhoods. Sanders saw only the best, and he liked what he saw.

After his tour, he said Canadians were too quiet about our system. Continue reading “Weekend With Bernie While Canada Waits”

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”