Help most vulnerable patients: Health Minister Jane Philpott to doctors at CMA meeting

Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott says Canada’s doctors have a major role to play in promoting the health of the country’s most vulnerable populations.

Philpott made her comments Monday in an address to delegates attending the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association in Quebec City.

The federal minister focused her remarks on three of the country’s most vulnerable groups — Indigenous Peoples, those
addicted to opioids and at risk of dying of an overdose, and young people with mental health issues.

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Philpott told the physicians that for Canada to thrive, “we need to improve the health of our most vulnerable people. To do so successfully, we need Canada’s doctors to be actively engaged in population health.”

In a question following her speech, one doctor raised concerns about proposed measures that would tighten loopholes for private corporations, including some doctors’ practices, that reduce the amount of tax they pay.

Philpott says the proposed changes are about fairness, so that some doctors don’t end up paying less personal income taxes than their colleagues.

The incorporation tax is a hot-button issue for physicians. CMA president Dr. Granger Avery says the plan would have a negative effect on patients because it will make it harder for many physicians to practise in Canada.