There is a first time for everything. Doctors, patients, and concerned citizens have never marched together in protest over cuts to healthcare in Ontario.
For the first time, doctors, led by the Concerned Ontario Doctors group, marched in Toronto to protest cuts, on April 23, 2016.
They did not just gather on the lawn at Queen’s Park, like in 1986. They marched through the streets under police escort.
A careful head-count at the rally spotted over 1000 people. The parade stretched around a full city block. Drivers honked and waved in support.
Patients, members of provincial parliament, and organizers spoke before a row of media in front of the legislature. The crowd held a minute of silence. Speakers shamed hospital cuts and patient waits.
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear.”
George Orwell, Animal Farm
The End of Doctor Protests
Since 2012, communications experts have told doctors to speak up: get on social media, write to local newspapers, and meet with members of parliament.
The end of doctor protests was to raise awareness, to apply pressure to politicians. The means were writing and speaking.
Just never hold a public gathering, the experts said.
Every time anyone asked about a rally, some older physician – a wizened expert on medical politics – would tell stories about doctors jumping barriers the last time they gathered at Queen’s Park in 1986.
It sent chills through us all.
God help us! Someone might misbehave in public.
Provincial governments across Canada keep watch on Ontario. If Ontario gets away with unilateral actions against doctors – legislating without discussion – then other provinces mimic the tactic to save money.
Nova Scotia just overturned their laws on binding arbitration. Quebec legislated the number of patients doctors must have in their practices.
Define or Be Defined
Post modern society judges a cause by the amount of outrage it creates. No outrage? Your cause must be lame.
Calm, principled intransigence comes across as unfeeling condescension in the face of real injustice.
Public Attack
When someone attacks you publicly, time stops. We ask ourselves, “Did that just happen? Did they just say what I think they said?”
The audience looks to us in disbelief. They withhold judgment waiting for our response.
If we quibble and stutter some inane argument, we lose. The audience, as jury, decides the attack is legitimate. We lose the battle of public opinion, even if we have the best argument.
Peace trumps war most of the time. But there comes a point when calm, reasoned responses work against us. There is a time to fight.
At least once – even just for one tiny moment – we need to speak up with passion. We might just get a tiny bit angry, if only for a few seconds. Our response to outrageous attack defines us.
“In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be defined.”
Thomas Szasz
The End of Protest
In The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution
Doctors ask for something that government can deliver. Doctors ask to stop cuts to healthcare. They ask for binding arbitration, as suggested in the Canada Health Act.
After 4 years of cuts to medical spending and 9 years of sub-inflationary spending on hospitals in Ontario, government must fulfill its promise to provide healthcare, or give the responsibility to someone else.
The end of protest is change.
Doctors need to protest more, not less. The public gauges the merit of an issue by the degree of outrage.
Doctors act like a Baptist pastor at a barn dance. They avoid the event, or stand stiffly in a corner in case any dancing breaks out.
Cuts harm patients. If doctors believe that, they will gird their loins and speak up. The end of protest is change. The time is now. Can doctors show some emotion for their cause?
“In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
George Orwell
Thank you, Dr Whatley. 1984 was a warning, not a guidebook.
well said!
The 1980s became our legacy, our destiny.
Thanks for taking time to read and comment!
Shawn
Protesting for good reason is Humanizing. Doctors are Humans. They are Patients, Parents, Children, Friends… They are not Gods and don’t want to be considered deities of any sort. Being a Doctor is a special Vocation/Profession. But being a Doctor does not take away your Rights to be a Citizen with Rights. Doctors need to be Seen and Heard. And if Protesting is how they can achieve being Seen and Heard in their efforts to be better Doctors and Provide the Best Available Care for their Patients.. Then Protest they must.
Well said, LBG!
This rally marks a watershed in medical politics. It opens a new phase in advocacy. The public has stated clearly: they do not want paternalistic, god-like healers. They want humans. They want people who know how to relate to other people who are in pain. People who feel for other people will stand up for causes they believe in.
Thanks so much for sharing such a succinct, thoughtful comment!
Best
Shawn
Always you are welcome.
🙂
“Every time anyone asked about a rally, some older physician – a wizened expert on medical politics – would tell stories about doctors jumping barriers the last time they gathered at Queen’s Park in 1986.”
I didn’t think I was wizened but I definitely railed against demonstrations. I give credit to the organizers of the rally for making it go so smoothly. The speakers exceeded my high expectations of them.
The biggest risk we faced was the media’s spinning the rally as greedy doctors asking for more money for ourselves. That is what happened in 1986. But this time it was very different. The excellent work by grassroots physicians explained things so well that even the Toronto Star presented our points in a positive light. The Sun Newspaper opinion piece even more strongly with our goals.
Well done!
Hey Gerry,
I was not thinking of you when I wrote about ‘older physicians’! If anything, you represent the passion and drive that I hope all of us could emulate.
I agree with you: the event was so well planned that all the media coverage was positive…even when it tried not to be.
As always, thanks so much for taking time to read and comment!!
Warm regards,
Shawn
I was there too.. but I consider myself to be eternally youthful
🙂
Thank you once again Shawn for your words. It was a lovely day for a rally, with the sun smiling down on us. The passion of the speakers, and collegiality was a much needed salve for a battered soul. It was just what the doctor ordered!
Thanks Elizabeth!
Thanks for your blog and for encouraging physicians to stop the systematic liying that this minister is spreading, please keep writing and telling the truth about this despicable government!!!
Thanks for taking time to comment!!
Shawn:
Thanks for the article and pointing out the time has changed about protesting.
It was nice to see quite a few “older physicians”(myself included) in the rally. Yes I was at Queen’s Park in 1986. The news media response is definitely different. I hope OMA is paying attention to this change and do some soul searching.
Great to hear from you, Michael!
Protesting includes raising our voices in whatever way we find that fits best with our natural bent. Some people love to gather in public, and it seems that peaceful public protest works when done well.
Thanks for taking time to share!
Best regards,
Shawn
You are so right, Shawn.
“Protesting includes raising our voices in whatever way we find that fits best with our natural bent. “
Thanks Gerry!
I wanted to make clear that the post does not call for riots or misbehaviour. I hope no one reads that into it. Peaceful gatherings work to encourage those who meet and to raise awareness of the issue for those who watch the meeting.
I know you have said the same thing a few times. We do not need disruption: a doctor version of the Occupy movement. But the public needs to see that we care. I believe they need to see something tangible. Sacrificing our time moves us from slacktivism (‘retweets’ and ‘likes’) to true activism.
Thanks again for taking time to share!
Shawn