Discussions

As we all traverse this world of social media and the spread of hate based on race, religion and sexual orientation, it remains an open question whether Canada’s compromise of balancing the right to freedom of speech with other rights, will curtail hate crimes.

There is much to debate in the question of whether or not biosimilars should be promoted as an alternative to biologic medicines.

Are Ontario doctors better represented now than four years ago? The jury is out, and the priority shouldn’t be less democratic representation. While we know that well over 90% of doctors don’t pay any attention to medical politics, their well-being can and will be affected by the quality of how their interests are represented.

As a member of the Equity in Medicine team, I volunteered to discuss the gender pay gap in Canada for an online hour-long session on a weekday evening in early July. I thought the attendance in the summer would be around a dozen people if we were lucky. The response was incredible, enough to make me hope (faintly) that women physicians in this country may finally have had enough of being treated so unfairly when it comes to remuneration and angry enough to push hard for justified change.

I am now the only octogenarian left, but at one point there were several of us

This past weekend marked the fourth anniversary of the defeat of the 2016 tPSA (tentative Physician Services Agreement) at the Ontario Medical Association (OMA). It marked the culmination of the efforts to mobilize almost two-thirds of the membership to vote against the deal, despite heavy pressure from the then board to approve it. In the aftermath of that agreement, there have been some significant and rather seismic changes at the OMA, and it’s worthwhile looking back to see what’s different, and what still needs to be done.