Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
Letters

Tax changes should be seen as a gateway to a larger discussion on reform of public health care in Canada

Jillian Ratti, Michaela Beder, Vanessa Brcic, Gary Bloch, Lesley Barron, Monika Dutt and Samantha Green
CMAJ January 08, 2018 190 (1) E22; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.733539
Jillian Ratti
Family Physician, Calgary, Alta.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Michaela Beder
Psychiatrist, Toronto, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Vanessa Brcic
Family Physician, Vancouver, BC
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Gary Bloch
Family Physician, Toronto, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Lesley Barron
General Surgeon, Limehouse, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Monika Dutt
Public Health and Preventive Medicine Specialist, Sydney, NS
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Samantha Green
Family Physician, Toronto, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

We read with concern the recent editorial on the government’s proposal to eliminate certain tax advantages for incorporated physicians and other small businesses.1 We appreciate the call for respect and maintaining common ground, and agree that a meaningful exchange of ideas, free of bullying, is the best path forward. In this context, it is somewhat ironic that the letter we signed on tax reform was dismissed as “frankly naive.”

The editorial misses the mark on the content of our letter, which explicitly calls for broader tax system reform while acknowledging that the current proposed changes are a small step toward that goal. We believe the best way to advocate for reform is by supporting the proposed changes that move us in that direction and then holding the government accountable for further required reforms.

In addition, as physicians with great social privilege, we believe it is our responsibility to consider the larger social context when advocating around reform of the tax system: we live in a country where the average Canadian makes a fraction of what physicians earn, and where precariousness of work is increasingly common. Our actions and words need to reflect these concerns.

Further dialogue about strategy and the process of reform is welcome and important to ensure accountability. We see this policy moment as an opportunity to move forward on long-standing challenges our profession has faced, and we are asking for parental benefits and access to pensions for physicians (and all Canadians), alongside a dialogue on securing appropriate models of compensation. We call upon our medical associations to focus on a full examination of payment reform, including the option of offering physicians salaried compensation and benefits — a model that prevails in many of the highest performing health systems internationally.

We are heartened by the recognition of common priorities for advocacy including payment reform, benefit options and a fair and transparent proces of tax reform. However, we are concerned that the vehement opposition to the tax reforms adopted by most medical associations may be harmful to our profession’s reputation and credibility.

Thus, we reiterate our call to refocus advocacy onto smart, equitable and evidence-based policy solutions that address the underlying issues in this debate. Going forward, a more astute, nuanced and balanced political strategy would help us pursue the common objectives of a tax system that improves the well-being of physicians and all people living in Canada, and a health care system that does the same.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests: The authors are a group of both incorporated and unincorporated physicians.

Reference

  1. ↵
    1. Stanbrook MB
    . Tax reform plays politics with doctors’ reputations [editorial]. CMAJ 2017;189:E1249.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 190 (1)
CMAJ
Vol. 190, Issue 1
8 Jan 2018
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Tax changes should be seen as a gateway to a larger discussion on reform of public health care in Canada
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Tax changes should be seen as a gateway to a larger discussion on reform of public health care in Canada
Jillian Ratti, Michaela Beder, Vanessa Brcic, Gary Bloch, Lesley Barron, Monika Dutt, Samantha Green
CMAJ Jan 2018, 190 (1) E22; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.733539

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Tax changes should be seen as a gateway to a larger discussion on reform of public health care in Canada
Jillian Ratti, Michaela Beder, Vanessa Brcic, Gary Bloch, Lesley Barron, Monika Dutt, Samantha Green
CMAJ Jan 2018, 190 (1) E22; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.733539
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Footnotes
    • Reference
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • Tax reform plays politics with doctors’ reputations
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Hospital-at-home programs in Canada: challenges and pitfalls
  • Author response to “Pitfalls of analyzing perinatal outcomes by health care provider”
  • Pitfalls of analyzing perinatal outcomes by health care provider
Show more Letters

Similar Articles

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • CPD credits
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2023, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: cmajgroup@cmaj.ca

CMA Civility, Accessibility, Privacy

 

Powered by HighWire