The New Brunswick Medical Society is calling on the province to take action against the federal government’s proposed tax changes, saying they could lead to a mass exodus of physicians from the province.
Representatives of the organization were joined by Doctors Nova Scotia and the Canadian Medical Association at the society’s annual general meeting in Moncton.
All three groups voiced their concerns over how policy changes at the federal level could send shock waves through smaller provinces already dealing with a shortage of physicians.
READ MORE: 65% of N.B. doctors would leave province if federal tax changes come into effect: survey
“People are going to leave because they’re not going to be able to make that pension for later on and they can do that in other places, other countries,” said Tim Wallace of Doctors Nova Scotia. “In Nova Scotia, we have a fair amount of people who have already been contacted by recruiters in other countries.”
“I’ve already received one letter of resignation, this is going to happen,” he said.
The New Brunswick Medical Society’s President Lynn Murphy-Kaulbeck says that given New Brunswick’s current health-care situation where recruiting and maintaining doctors has been a challenge, advocating against these federal changes should be a priority for Premier Brian Gallant.
“I think at this point we’ve heard from premiers in other provinces who’ve expressed concerns to these measures and how that’s going to impact health care,” she said. “So we’d like to hear from our premier … does he support this moving forward but also how is he going to begin to address the possible fallout from this?”
READ MORE: NB Medical Society says province needs to plan ahead for better physician recruitment
Medical professionals are urging the federal government to pump the brakes on policy changes calling it difficult to accurately predict how negative of an effect would be experienced if implemented.
“The 75-day consultation is inadequate to deal with the scope of these changes to a structure that has been in place for 45 years,” said Laurent Marcoux, President of the Canadian Medical Association. “We strongly urge the government to undertake a comprehensive review of the tax system.”