This bill failed to pass because it put the Minister of Health’s salary on the line: Gerrard

 Winnipeg – Manitoba Liberal-sponsored Bill 223, The Family Physicians for All Manitobans Act, was killed on second reading today by the NDP. 

 The bill would require that an annual percentage of Manitobans without access to a regular family physician be publically reported and targets are established to increase access.   Under the bill if targets are not met, the Minister of Health’s annual salary would be reduced by 20% and Cabinet Ministers would see a reduction in pay of 10%.

 “The Manitoba Liberal Party developed this bill because we recognize the important role that family physicians play in keeping Manitobans healthy and lowering our overall health care costs,” said Gerrard.  “Having access to a regular family doctor is vital to reducing chronic conditions such as diabetes.  We must realize that walk-in clinics are not designed to promote preventative health care and we need to increase the number of people who have a regular family doctor.”

 According to the CANSIM survey by Statistics Canada, only 85.1% of Manitobans had a regular family physician.  The College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Canadian Medical Association both recommend that governments should aim to have 95% of their population under the care of a regular physician.

 Gerrard noted that bill 223’s clause to reduce the salaries of the Minister and Cabinet members is needed when working with a NDP government. 

 “With 10 years of opposition against the NDP, Manitoba Liberals have learnt that unless we hold the Ministers personally and financially responsible for the poor performance of their portfolios, the issues continue to grow and taxpayers’ money is wasted on ineffective programming.” 

 Bill 223, The Family Physicians for All Manitobans Act, was developed by the Manitoba Liberal Party as part of their commitment to social justice and fiscal responsibility.  The Manitoba Liberal Party believes that public access to regular family physicians is vital to improving the quality of care while lowering the overall cost of Manitoba’s medical system through the promotion of preventative health care.

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 For more information, please contact: Michelle Nyhof, Communications Officer for Manitoba Liberal Caucus at (204) 771-2513 or michelle.nyhof@leg.gov.mb.ca