Two motions from the Yukon Party regarding health care in the territory have passed unanimously in the Yukon legislature. The motions in question were non-binding.
One motion, introduced by the health critic Brad Cathers, the MLA for Lake Laberge, called for the government to take advantage of the turmoil and tumult south of the border with a marketing campaign targeted at U.S. healthcare workers. The motion also asked YG allow U.S.-certified doctors to work in the Yukon, and give other U.S.-trained healthcare workers a fast pass to a license. It was introduced on March 13.
The other motion was moved by the leader of the official opposition, Currie Dixon. His motion proposed YG strike a joint task force with the Yukon Medical Association to explore ways to reduce administrative burden on doctors. However, as reported by the News, the motion was also introduced by Cathers in the legislature the previous week.
Health Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee amended both motions when they came up in the legislature on March 19.
With the motion regarding U.S. doctors, McPhee proposed a change of wording: instead of urging YG to “take immediate steps” to recruit U.S. health-care workers, the amendment said the government should consult with the Yukon Medical Associations and other professional health care organizations on appropriate recruitment measures, for health-care workers from the U.S. and elsewhere.
She also changed the language to specify that the marketing campaign would be targeted towards Americans.
McPhee said the amendment would make the motion more inclusive. Incorporating the Yukon Medical Association would be able to provide expertise on how to address recruitment and retention, she said.
“They are the front-line individuals who work in these professions,” she said.
“We absolutely must consult with them and work to collaborate with them to determine how we can best spend Yukon resources — those resources being financial, energy, opportunities or marketing — to make sure that we are reaching the audiences that we need to in order to work to solve this problem.”
Cathers accused McPhee of watering down the motion.
“The minister’s proposal also takes out any reference to taking immediate action, and what we have seen from this Liberal government is a lot of lip service since we raised this issue two years ago,” said Cathers.
In defending the amendment, Premier Ranj Pillai made reference to British Columbia’s U.S.-doctor-poaching plan. He said our southern neighbour is targeting doctors from west coast “blue states.”
McPhee also said she was in contact with B.C. health minister to learn more about the province’s outreach to U.S. doctors, and what the Yukon can learn from it.
The Yukon Party members voted against the amendment, but the NDP members supported it. The motion was amended with 10 votes in favour. Yukon Party members did support the amended motion itself, however, and it passed unanimously.
As for the motion to strike a joint task force on reducing the administrative burden on doctors, McPhee introduced an amendment to do away with introducing a special task force altogether, instead asking the Yukon government to simply work with the Yukon Medical Association to find ways to reduce the burden of administration on doctors.
McPhee has previously called the idea of a new task force redundant, a sentiment she repeated in the legislature on March 19.
“I brought this amendment because a task force, Mr. Speaker, is not what is needed,” said McPhee. “We should not duplicate tables that exist already.”
In an email sent out on March 20, cabinet communications listed seven different committees and groups dedicated to healthcare such as the Joint Management Committee, Health Human Resources Steering Committee, Fee Liaison Committee, Joint Administrative Committee, the Physician Payment Advisory Committee, Digital Health Strategy Working Group, and the “Tripartite Leadership” meetings which are called as necessary.
McPhee’s amendment received unanimous support from other members in the legislature, with Dixon saying the ultimate goal was getting the administrative load lifted from doctors.
The amended motion also passed unanimously.
Editor's note: The initial version of this article stated that "Motions in the legislature are non-binding and usually symbolic." This is incorrect. As per Standing Orders of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, motions adopted in the legislature become an order or resolution of the Assembly. In the case of an order, the motion would require legislative committees, members or any other person to do something. A resolution is when the Assembly declares its opinion, according to the Standing Orders. The motions in question were non-binding and largely symbolic, but that is not the case for motions in general. The News regrets the error.
Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com
