Tax us more, says group of doctors
Posted May 12, 2012 8:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – I want more taxes! That’s a phrase we don’t hear often.
But that’s what a group of doctors is calling for. Doctors for Fair Taxation says high-income earners, such as themselves, have to pay their fair share.
Vanessa Brcic, a family doctor and researcher at UBC, is one of about 200 doctors who have signed on. She points out physicians are in a unique position to see tax dollars at work.
“It’s not hard to see in our patient interactions the kind of ways a well-funded system can help,” she explains. “Inequality in Canada has been rising since 1980.”
She says there’s misconception that tax dollars are misspent when we see long surgery wait-times.
“The reality is, is that it’s because the systems are starved, it’s not because the systems are incapable,” she insists.
She believes political parties and organizations that take great pains to oppose increases in taxes are doing a disservice.
“It’s a bit of a sneaky tactic to try to undermine these systems. The more you undermine these systems, the more you open the door to private health care.”
She says research shows levelling out income levels across a nation produces better health for everyone.
The doctors may be on to something. The movement has spawned Lawyers for Fair Taxation and also Clergy for Fair Taxation.
