I have a couple of observations. First, the Canadian Medical Association does not negotiate and does not represent doctors financially. We are presenting this issue as a risk to Canada's health system. We are very pleased to see responsible tax policy, and we're pleased that the budget recognized physicians as a strong economy within Canada.
The issue has some complexity, and it is around the group medical structures. These structures are put together by provinces and imposed upon physicians in universities and in teaching hospitals so that specialized services, research, and teaching can be supported. The doctors don't actually have an option; they have to join a structure like this.
What the proposed legislation does is make the small business deduction applicable to the group as a whole, so one deduction, rather than each individual physician within that group. That means that the 6% or so of money from the dedicated funding that the provinces supply goes into a pot so that we can support that research and teaching, which is not otherwise paid, or at least not significantly paid.
If these structures are dissolved, surveys of our physicians who are affected in that way indicate that at least 60% of those doctors will eventually leave those structures, and that will significantly impair teaching, research, and specialized services.