fees – mackaycartoons

Thursday May 17, 2012

May 17, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday May 17, 2012

City decries provincial benefit cuts

Councillors are declaring war on Queen’s Park after provincial cuts to social services benefits left Hamilton with a $1.8-million hole in its budget.

The emergency and community services committee voted unanimously Monday to shoulder the cost of discretionary benefits for Ontario Works recipients.

The move was in response to the province’s decision to put a cap on the amount of money it provides to cities to fund things such as funerals, glasses, dental care, prosthetics, cribs and baby supplies for people receiving social assistance.

If the city hadn’t agreed to pay the extra $1.8 million, it would have been forced to scale back the services it provides to people on social assistance.

Councillors on the emergency and community services committee railed against the provincial government for downloading the cost onto city taxpayers.

Meanwhile, Organizations that represents Canada’s doctors say Dalton McGuinty should resume negotiations with Ontario’s MDs rather than imposing fee cuts and urging his fellow premiers to do the same.

In a letter to the Premier dated Wednesday, the Canadian Medical Association and medical associations in 12 provinces and territories take aim at Mr. McGuinty’s decision to roll back medical fees – a move that has sparked some interest on the part of other provincial governments. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Wednesday May 9, 2012

May 9, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday May 9, 2012

Lower fees forced on Ontario doctors

Sending a signal that will reverberate throughout Ontario’s broader public sector, Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals have broken with their conciliatory past by forcing a tough new deal onto Ontario’s doctors.

Less than two weeks after negotiations with the Ontario Medical Association fell apart, and despite requests by the OMA to call in a conciliator, Health Minister Deb Matthews announced Monday that a package of cuts to doctors’ fees will be unilaterally imposed through regulations, retroactive to April 1.

The abrupt manner in which the cuts were unveiled, amid claims by the OMA that Ms. Matthews has misrepresented discussions at the bargaining table, sets an aggressive tone for other negotiations – including with the province’s teachers. And it epitomized the shifting focus of a government once known for its big-spending ways.

The 37 fee-schedule changes announced Monday focus heavily (although not exclusively) on a relatively small number of high-paid specialists – mostly radiologists, ophthalmologists and cardiologists – and by the Liberals’ estimate will save $338-million in 2012-13 and $440-million in 2013-14. But sources say there are more broad-based cuts to come, to get the rest of the way to a two-year freeze in doctors’ total pay envelope.

Still on the table is the elimination of a “retention bonus,” which the Liberals had brought in to dissuade doctors from leaving the province. That benefit currently peaks at $5,000 every three years for doctors who have practised at least three decades.

The government also wants to revive so-called clawbacks of doctors’ fees once they exceed a level at which their ratio to overhead costs becomes skewed. (Source: Globe & Mail)

Tuesday November 18, 2008

November 18, 2008 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday November 18, 2008

Bill’s Overseas Ties Entangle Hillary

Former President Bill Clinton’s globe-trotting business deals and fundraising for his foundation sometimes put his activities abroad at odds with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and could cause complications if President-elect Barack Obama picks her to be secretary of state.

Bill Clinton’s fundraising for his presidential library and charitable activities also could pose additional headaches for his wife if he selects her for the job.

Since leaving the White House in early 2001, Bill Clinton has raised at least $353 million for the William J. Clinton Foundation, which finances his presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., as well as his global anti-AIDS initiative and other charitable efforts.

The former president has raised money overseas beyond the Chinese Internet company’s contributions: from the Saudi royal family, the king of Morocco, a foundation linked to the United Arab Emirates and the governments of Kuwait and Qatar, The New York Times reported last year.

His foundation reaped millions of dollars from Canadian mining tycoon Frank Giustra, and Clinton accompanied Giustra on a 2005 trip to Kazakhstan, whose human-rights record Hillary Clinton had criticized, the newspaper reported. The pair met with Kazakhstan’s president, and within days Giustra’s company landed preliminary agreements giving it rights to buy into uranium projects controlled by a Kazakhstan state-owned enterprise. Clinton said he had nothing to do with the deal. (Source: Yahoo News)