NDP bill giving Yukon Medical Association bargaining rights, dispute resolution passes
Bill 310, introduced by NDP Leader Kate White, gives the Yukon Medical Association (YMA) representational rights and establishes processes for dispute resolution and binding arbitration.
MLAs unanimously passed the Act Respecting the Yukon Medical Association on April 16. It will take effect on Jan. 1.
Granting the YMA representational rights means the organization will become the sole bargaining agent for the territory's physicians on matters of compensation.
Historically, the YMA could only negotiate with the Yukon government on behalf of doctors being paid on the fee-for-service model. Doctors who wanted to be paid through contracts would have to negotiate on their own. The YMA has said contracts now comprise more than half of physician remuneration.
White called the passing of the legislation a "monumental occasion" in the Yukon.
In a phone interview after third reading, she said the impact likely won't be obvious to Yukoners. However, she said the law will make the territory more competitive when it comes to attracting and retaining physicians.
"Hopefully we're going to see some more clinics open, or certainly fewer clinics close. Hopefully we see some of these locums who've come through decide to stay," White said.
Health and Social Services Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee spoke in favour of the bill before third reading, saying it was a part of the government's work with doctors to improve the healthcare system and an opportunity to modernize it.
"We have all inherited a health-care system that is more than 70 or 80 years old. Even if it's considered to be post-World War II, it's extremely old and it is based on a system that has not had a lot of evolution or changes over that period of time," McPhee said.
The Yukon Party's health critic Brad Cathers also spoke about the need for change.
"The fact is, for many decades, the fee-for-service model had almost all doctors practising under it, and in the last eight years, there has been a shift to more operating under alternative payment models, which makes this legislation necessary to address the situation," Cathers said.
White's bill reached a final reading as a condition of the confidence and supply agreement between the NDP and governing Liberals.
As the bill made its way through the legislature, the party toggled between presenting itself as a champion for physicians in the face of a reluctant opposition, while also conceding that assistance from the Liberals and Yukon Party made its advance possible.
That contrast was pointed out by McPhee, who noted "hours of collaboration" to improve the legislation. She cited an NDP Facebook post on March 31 that nonetheless said it still needed to "convince" the other two parties to support the bill.
White's response was that she never received a formal commitment of the Liberals' support until April 4.
With the vote behind her, White credited the minority government for the cross-party collaboration. She also took pride in what the NDP accomplished.
"I was very generous with my gratitude to the other parties. But ultimately Bill 310 came forward and it came to the floor and it was there because the Yukon NDP was willing to do the work and was willing to work with our partners at the Yukon Medical Association," she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba added 201 doctors since NDP took office
Manitoba has seen an increase of 201 net new physicians practising in the province since the NDP formed government. Another 12 have accepted offers and are set to begin their practices in the coming months, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in a statement Wednesday. A contract with Canadian Health Labs to recruit 150 physicians that was signed by former Progressive Conservative health minister Audrey Gordon in 2023 resulted in the hiring of two physicians, each from the United Kingdom. That contract expired on July 24 and will not be extended. 'This was not a good deal for the province of Manitoba and, yeah, we're not going to be renewing it,' Premier Wab Kinew said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference. 'We were looking at the clock waiting for this thing to expire.' MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Premier Wab Kinew said a contract with Canadian Health Labs to recruit 150 physicians, signed by the former Progressive Conservative government, was not a good deal for the province of Manitoba. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Premier Wab Kinew said a contract with Canadian Health Labs to recruit 150 physicians, signed by the former Progressive Conservative government, was not a good deal for the province of Manitoba. The contract with Canadian Health Labs was valued at up to $5.25 million, with $3.75 million allocated for the 2023-24 fiscal year, a provincial government spokesman said in an email. The contract stipulated that the recruiter would be paid between $25,000 and $45,000 for each family doctor recruited, depending on their practice location. On Wednesday, the Tories blamed the NDP for the lack of results. 'This is yet another example of the NDP inheriting a successful PC program, and setting it up to fail,' PC deputy leader Jeff Bereza said in a statement. He called the contract a viable recruitment tool and compared it to the diagnostic and surgical recovery task force the NDP shut down after taking office. 'They didn't try,' Bereza said. 'It's time for the NDP to stop blaming the PCs for their health-care failures, and (start) delivering on their election promises to Manitobans.' Kinew said the deal was bad and his government was taking a better approach to health care. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. 'We've added close to 3,000 new health-care staff, physicians, nurses, health-care aides and we've done that using recruitment and retention services being run out of the department of health. That provides you the best value for your taxpayer dollar but it also makes sure that we have better oversight,' he said. The contract with the private recruiter did little to attract new doctors and nothing to retain them, Asagwara said. 'We are taking a hands-on approach, recruiting directly through the (Health Care Recruitment and Retention Office), which gives health care workers one-on-one support from the time they apply to when they're settled in their new community,' the health minister said. The office, set up last year, lined up 25 of the new doctors, with candidates from a variety of countries including the U.K., United States, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, South Africa, Jordan, Egypt, Hungary, Colombia, and across Canada. Doctors Manitoba president and Neepawa family doctor Nichelle Desilets applauded the province's efforts. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files Doctors Manitoba president and Neepawa family doctor Nichelle Desilets. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files Doctors Manitoba president and Neepawa family doctor Nichelle Desilets. 'Having reliable, consistent contact with people who are going to follow up on those inquiries and make sure that the paperwork's not getting lost and to support physicians through that process — that is absolutely what we need,' said Desilets, who went through the process of getting licensed in Manitoba when she moved from a neighbouring province 10 years ago. Desilets said the increase in doctors is great but many more are needed. Doctors Manitoba launched its own recruitment campaign in the U.S. after the election of President Donald Trump in November. 'Practise where you are valued and trusted as a physician and the government stays out of the exam room,' an excerpt from one of the ads in U.S. medical magazines and newsletters read. The campaign honed-in on health-care providers in North Dakota, Florida and other states where abortion and gender-affirming care have become deeply politicized issues. 'Physicians are in demand everywhere, so they can get offers from anywhere. In fact, other provinces are actively recruiting Manitoba physicians as we speak.'–Nichelle Desilets In Canada, Manitoba ranks second from the bottom compared to other provinces, with 219 physicians per 100,000 residents, Desilets said. 'Physicians are in demand everywhere, so they can get offers from anywhere. In fact, other provinces are actively recruiting Manitoba physicians as we speak,' she said. 'We know that Manitoba is a great place to live and work once you've been here, but sometimes the tough part is persuading doctors and other health-care professionals to check out our province and to come here and see what opportunities are available, despite the cold winters,' she said. Desilets said doctors are the best recruiters. 'If those physicians are saying positive things about their work environment, that's going to go in a positive direction towards recruitment.' The province also must play a part, she said. 'Make sure that we're not getting outperformed or outbid by other jurisdictions that might be offering bigger incentives or more resources.' Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
Rustad calls for BC Ferries to scrap Chinese vessel contract
The leader of B.C.'s official Opposition is calling for the province to cancel BC Ferries' multi-billion-dollar contract with a Chinese shipyard. The ferry company has faced criticism from all sides since announcing this spring it would purchase its next four vessels from China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards (CMI Weihai) after a lengthy open bid process. No Canadian shipyards bid on the project, and the ferry company says the Chinese bid came in at about $1.2 billion cheaper than European competitors. BC Conservative Leader John Rustad said Tuesday that in the wake of China's latest tariffs on Canada, the deal should be scrapped. China announced a 75.8 per cent tariff on Canadian canola products this week, expected to deliver a $5 billion hit to the industry. 1:57 Union demands ferries be built in Canada Rustad said the Chinese move follows similar aggressive trade actions targeting Canadian seafood and wood pulp. Story continues below advertisement 'I think we should break this contract. I think that we need to send a message. We want to be able to have a good trade relationship with China. We want be able make sure that we have the ability to do things, but you don't reward a country that is quite frankly attacking other sectors of our economy,' Rustad said. 'I think there probably would be a penalty and quite frankly I think the board of BC Ferries should be fired for incompetence for actually putting us in this position in the first place.' Rustad further accused the NDP government of 'incompetence' for failing to work with local shipbuilders years ago to ensure they had the capacity to handle upcoming BC Ferries orders, and said if they were already fully committed to other projects the ferry company should have gone with 'some of our allies' like Germany or Poland. B.C. Premier Davide Eby has previously said that he would not override the deal, telling reporters it would cost billions to overturn and delay the procurement of badly-needed vessels. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy In a statement, NDP Saanich South MLA Lana Popham said acquiring the new vessels was urgent. 'People need the new ships, quickly, so they can get where they need to go and aren't left sitting at the terminal parking lot. We are working to ensure future ships for BC Ferries are built here in Canada. Story continues below advertisement BC Ferries has said that cost was a key driver in its new ferry procurement process, and that any additional cost of more expensive vessels would be passed on to passengers. 1:24 'We shouldn't be giving federal tax dollars to subsidize jobs overseas:' Poilievre calls for loan to BC Ferries to be cancelled BC Ferries currently charges $95 for a car and driver plus $15 per passenger one-way on its major southern routes, and has warned that it could be forced to further hike fares by 30 per cent by 2028. Earlier this month, CEO Nicolas Jimenez told the House of Common Transport Committee that while two Canadian shipyards pre-qualified for the process, neither submitted a bid. BC Ferries received six compliant proposals, all from foreign shipyards, and chose the bid with the best overall value, including delivery timeline, technical performance, lifecycle cost, and service-level commitments, he testified. 'This was a choice between a foreign bid or no new ferries,' he told MPs. Story continues below advertisement Domestic shipyards, however, have argued that the bid process essentially excluded them by focusing on cost alone and that they were unable to compete due to pricier local labour. UBC Sauder School of Business economics professor Werner Antweiler said that while there have been many calls for BC Ferries to drop the contract, it would only make sense if there was a realistic alternative. He noted that local shipbuilder Seaspan is already fully booked with contracts for the military and Coast Guard, and that waiting is likely not an option for BC Ferries. 'If you want to receive ships that are affordable and available soon, there seems to be very little other options than going ahead with the contract that has been signed with China CMI,' he said. 2:12 Push for government to support domestic ship building industry 'So I'm not quite sure when people say well, we should build them domestically, what exactly they are proposing who is going to build and when.' Story continues below advertisement He added that cancelling the deal would do little harm to China's larger economy, while risking further increasing trade tensions. BC Ferries is technically an independent company with its own board and executives, though its sole shareholder is the BC government. Antweiler added that given its arms-length status, it would be improper for the provincial government to step in and override decision making. 'It means like really renationalizing BC Ferries and bringing it back under provincial control and making it a Crown corporation,' he said. 'If that is what is being proposed then Mr. Rustad should be clear about if that is where he wants to go.' 1:48 Federal transportation minister calls out province on BC Ferries' contract with China Rustad is not alone in his criticism of the deal. Story continues below advertisement Trades in the province and the union representing BC Ferries workers have both spoken out against it. B.C. Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth said he was 'disappointed' more Canadian shipyards weren't involved, while federal Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland said she was 'dismayed' at the choice and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Canadian tax dollars should not be subsidizing jobs overseas. MPs have launched a probe at the federal transportation committee of a $1 billion loan to BC Ferries from Canada Infrastructure Bank. BC Ferries is not the first Canadian ferry service to receive a ferry from CMI Weihai. Marine Atlantic Ferries, a federal Crown corporation that services Newfoundland, recently took a delivery of a new vessel from the same shipyard.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
CDC shooting marks latest in a string of hostility directed at health workers. Many aren't surprised
ATLANTA (AP) — A barrage of bullets launched at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week by a man authorities say was angry over COVID-19 vaccinations is the latest attack directed at health care workers amid hostility lingering from the pandemic. Some public health care workers say the shooting that killed a police officer and rattled the CDC campus shouldn't be surprising in the face of ongoing misinformation and animosity about the safety of immunizations. 'All of us, anybody who stands up for science or vaccines, will at some level get hate mail or a phone call that's unnerving or a death threat,' said Paul Offit, the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine. Just four years ago, while hospitals overflowed with unvaccinated patients, school board members, local leaders and doctors were regularly confronted in public with taunts comparing them to the Taliban, Nazis and leaders of Japanese internment camps. Sometimes the conflicts descended into violence and harassment. The distrust and anger that grew since then has been amplified by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said Offit, who heads the vaccine education center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Kennedy has been a leading voice in spreading false information about vaccines, scientists and public health leaders, often using heated rhetoric that says they have caused mass death and injury. People he describes in such language have said his comments have led to threats, intimidation and even violence. Kennedy denounces violence but criticizes CDC's work Kennedy, who toured the CDC campus on Monday, said no one should face violence while working to protect the health of others and called political violence wrong. But he went on to criticize the agency's pandemic response. 'One of the things that we saw during COVID is that the government was overreaching in its efforts to persuade the public to get vaccinated, and they were saying things that are not always true,' Kennedy said during a television interview with Scripps News later in the day. A spokesperson for Kennedy blasted any notion that blamed vaccine misinformation for Friday's attack. 'This narrative is pure fiction, built on anonymous complaints and a willful disregard for the facts,' said Andrew Nixon of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 'Secretary Kennedy is not advancing an 'anti-vaccine agenda' — he is advancing a pro-safety, pro-transparency, and pro-accountability agenda.' Authorities have said that 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White had written about his discontent with the COVID-19 vaccine before he opened fire on the CDC. White also had verbalized thoughts of suicide, which led to law enforcement being contacted several weeks before the shooting, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. White died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Friday after killing DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose. Shooting rattles CDC campus Following the attack, CDC employees were asked to scrape off old CDC parking decals from their vehicles. But even before that, some workers had taken steps to become less visible, including not wearing their public health service uniform, said Yolanda Jacobs, a union leader who represents some CDC workers. The CDC's new director told employees this week that no act of violence can diminish their mission to protect public health. 'We know that misinformation can be dangerous. Not only to health, but to those that trust us and those we want to trust,' Dr. Susan Monarez told employees during an 'all-hands' meeting Tuesday, her first since the attack capped her first full week on campus as director. The federal agency, tasked with tracking diseases and responding to health threats, has been hit by widespread staff cuts, key resignations and heated controversy over long-standing CDC vaccine policies upended by Kennedy. 'What happened on Friday is a direct result of that misinformation,' said Sarah Boim, a former CDC worker whose job was targeted for elimination earlier this year. 'Health Secretary Kennedy is one of the biggest pushers of misinformation.' The shooting, she said, left her in tears. 'My friends and family still work in those buildings,' she said. 'My mom works in one of those buildings.' In the aftermath, officials are assessing security and encouraging staff to report any new threats, including those based on misinformation about the CDC and its vaccine work. Anti-vaccine tension has been building Despite its prominence since the pandemic, anti-vaccine rhetoric leading to harassment and violence took root before then. In 2019, an anti-vaccine activist assaulted California state Sen. Richard Pan, streaming it live on Facebook, after Pan sponsored a bill to make it more difficult to get a vaccine exemption. Another threw blood at Pan and other lawmakers. Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. The attacks came after Kennedy spoke outside the California Capitol, two large posters behind him featured Pan's image, with the word 'LIAR' stamped across his face in blood-red paint. Pan, a pediatrician, blames Kennedy for what happened then and now at the CDC. 'And you wonder why someone would go shoot up the CDC,' Pan said. 'Because he basically told them that those are the people you should hurt.' ___ Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri, and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio.
