Law Times

Page 6 NOVeMBeR 23, 2015 • LaW TIMeS www.lawtimesnews.com COMMENT Saying goodbye ne of the more interesting aspects of researching material for the special 25th-anniversary edition of Law Times last year was how little things had changed in many respects. Legal aid was perpetually in some sort of crisis, the le- gal profession was grappling with how to encourage diversity and be more welcoming to women, and lawyers were repeatedly raising concerns about auto insurance benefits, changes, and legislation. Many of the same people were commenting on the issues of the day, although their photos certainly had changed. So in the spirit of how little things change despite the fact that they seem to be so different, I turn over the editorship of Law Times — on a temporary basis — to the person who started it all: Jim Middlemiss. As I leave to take on a new role at Benefits Canada, Middlemiss, the editor who launched Law Times in 1990, will take over the paper for a short period. Having read the back issues from that time and see- ing what a great paper it was even from the first edition, Law Times is in good hands. When I joined the Law Times team as staff writer in 2008, the financial crisis was just taking shape with the collapse of Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. It was an uncertain time for so many people with a federal election campaign underway and the stock markets crashing. Having moved from Alberta to work at Law Times, I was nervous as well. I had done court reporting, but the coverage here is different given the audience of lawyers. I got a quick lesson in the nu- ances of reporting on the legal community when I faced a libel threat Ontario government picks easy targets for austerity ith Ontario allocating its two biggest expenditures to health care and educa- tion, how the government handles those files tells a lot about how it's running the province. Health spending is about 42 per cent of the budget this year, down from 46 per cent in 2008-09 when the debt was a mere 28 per cent of the provincial gross domestic product. That's a significant reduction, but it's still about $50 billion a year and the debt is now 40 per cent of GDP. Servicing that debt costs $11.4 billion a year, about half of what it costs to fund education at $22.5 billion. In an era of low interest rates — and the jury is out on whether the United States is likely to raise rates soon — it's the fiscal equiva- lent of whistling past the graveyard. If rates do rise, the cost of servicing the debt goes up by about $400 million for each percentage point and the zom- bies of past spending excesses start to rise from their graves to haunt the cur- rent regime. It's a scary scenario and that fear is driving the Liberal government to find revenue anywhere it can, from a deeply f lawed carbon tax plan to the recent selloff of 15 per cent of Hydro One. Ultimately, the government wants to realize up to $9 bil- lion by selling off a total of 60 per cent of the utility. As usual, it's short-term balance-sheet gain for long- term revenue pain because, with each sale, Ontario gives up a proportional share of the $750 million a year in divi- dends Hydro One pays out. Why is it so desperate for cash? The Fraser Institute notes Ontario spent $25 bil- lion on education in public schools in 2012-13. That's $8.3 billion more than in 2003-04. And why did it increase so much despite a 4.6-per-cent decline in enrol- ment? "Fully three-quarters (75.1 per cent) of all education spending in Ontario public schools is consumed by compensation, which includes salaries, benefits, and pensions," the Fraser Institute reports. Doctors, on the other hand, have no union, can't strike, and even if they wanted to withhold services to make a point, they're under an oath to care for patients first. As a result, they're an easy target. They can't even go to arbitration. Thus, despite working with the province to find ways to streamline the delivery of health care, Health Minister Eric Hoskins, a doctor him- self, imposed a 1.3-per-cent fee cut on Oct. 1. You have to wonder why the government is targeting doctors when fees for service account for only 25 per cent of health-care costs. Education unions, mean- while, received $3.75 million in negotiation costs during the past few months for which there has been no accounting. Premier Kathleen Wynne says those payments "are per- fectly normal" and that they started dur- ing her time as minister of education in 2008. She argues they came about when the province instituted a policy of two- tier contract negotiations. Surely, then, it's just another coincidence that the education unions spent millions on ads attacking former Progressive Conserva- tive leader Tim Hudak during the June 2014 election. Ontario's doctors, however, have no such leverage. Instead of scrutinizing why hospital administration costs are out of control or looking into Ontario audi- tor general Bonnie Lysyk's concerns that almost $1 billion annually went to admin- istrative costs to co-ordinate home and community health care under the Com- munity Care Access Centres, the govern- ment slashes doctors' fees. It might be an arguable position if the province also cut hospital administra- tors' salaries or, heaven forbid, nursing costs. Nurses, however, have the halo of Florence Nightingale and cut a much more sympathetic figure politically, while the province doesn't directly con- trol hospital administrators' salaries. Incidentally, the Canadian Institute for Health Information has noted that despite the belief that aging baby boom- ers are driving health-care costs, salaries are the big factor. Yet while the salaries of many health professionals have risen more quickly than the average, the gov- ernment has singled out doctors for aus- terity measures. Clearly, it's easier politically to rob Dr. Paul to pay Grade 2 teacher Ms. Pe- ters. LT uIan Harvey has been a journalist for more than 35 years writing about a di- verse range of issues including legal and political affairs. His e-mail address is ian- harvey@rogers.com. ©2015 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, com- pleteness or currency of the contents of this pub- lication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. 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And despite some ups and downs, the paper has gener- ally done well with solid readership and other ways of delivering content through Twitter, our Legal Feeds blog, a lively web site, and our digital edi- tions. Of course, as with 2008, the world remains in some turmoil. The economy is still uncertain and events such as the recent terrorist attacks in Paris are creating lot s of anxiety. It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. LT W Queen's Park Ian Harvey O

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