Negotiating Priorities

SCO has taken a lead role in ensuring that last year's proposed agreement was turned down by Ontario's doctors. We believe that any new agreement, to be accepted, needs to address the following issues:

1. Restoration of professionalism and respect of physicians. An acknowledgement that the threat to impose a contract was wrong.
2. MOHLTC must treat doctors appropriately not because they decide they want to (this is too political, insincere and transient), but because they have to.
3. Repeal of Bill 26 and Bill 8
4. Binding arbitration
5. Consultation with, and input from physician groups considering new practice options. Following that, true choice for docs considering new practice options. Incentives are fine, but if they are set too high they make it impossible to maintain free choice.
6. COLA at least for all fees (professional and technical) and as a principle for all future contracts, plus more $, plus $ now, plus $ retroactive. Restore Ontario physicians fee schedule to first place amongst the provinces.
7. No one group will be left behind. No losers. Having said that the SCO acknowledges that there are real fee and income disparities between specialists and supports efforts to eliminate these over time. It is appropriate that there be a disproportionate increase amongst those whose incomes have fallen farthest behind.
8. OMA must ask doctors to judge the merits of any new agreement based on what is good for the profession as a whole. OMA will not recommend that doctors vote based on self interest. OMA will not agree to a tentative contract based on counting up potential individual votes to get to 50% + 1, and will not recommend a contract based in any way on what is good for corporate OMA.
9. After all groups are taken care of, there should be targeted funding for MOHLTC and OMA priorities. These should probably be outside the general agreement.
10. Eliminate thresholds for all doctors.
11. No dependence upon, or mention of, the "special relationship with MOHLTC"
12. The Rand formula must be voluntarily rejected by the OMA. If not, OMA must commit to a formal process whereby the impact of the Rand formula on negotiations, and the benefits and burdens it brings, is examined, with input from all physicians.
13. OMA should remain in control of the physician fee schedule. MOHLTC cannot make arbitrary unilateral changes.
14. OMA must demand a broader formal inquiry into the MRC including examination of past wrongs and restitution. This goes well beyond Cory's current terms of reference. It would be acceptable to expand Cory's terms of reference. Remember, we are dealing with "a denial of natural justice on a massive scale".
15. Incorporation with real financial impact for physicians
16. The negotiations table should not be the place where the health care reform agenda is hammered out. This gives way too much power to a small group at the table and means consultation and fair treatment of physicians is impossible.
17. There must be no side deals and no joint OMA-MOHLTC communication strategy.

There are two convenient ways to become an SCO Member: You can either apply for membership online by using our secure server, or you can download our printable Membership Application Form (PDF format), and return your completed Application by mail or fax along with your payment information to the address indicated on the form.

Viewing and printing PDF documents requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. If Acrobat Reader is not installed on your computer system, you can download it at no cost by clicking here: