American Style

When all else fails, attack our friends and neighbours to the south. It’s such a Liberal thing to do. In the past two days several MPP’s have accused Ontario’s pharmacists of “American-style” campaign attacks. In question period today, Deb Matthews called the campaign a “multi-million-dollar American-style campaign of fear-mongering and misinformation.” She must have this confused with something else. I have been exposed to several American political campaigns, and this does not characterize the Ontario Community Pharmacies’ campaign.

In fact, this all started with an “American-style” campaign against pharmacists by the government. The blatant personal character assassination of pharmacists, like that displayed by Deb Matthews as the regulations were announced could be characterized as “American-style.” The distortion of the facts to demonize the profession of pharmacy and pharmacists is reminiscent of some great American negative campaigning. In America, though, the candidates attack each other, and use their own campaign funds to do it. In this case, the government is using resources provided through public tax dollars to spread misinformation, attack and demonize our profession. The only appropriate use of “American-style” in describing this situation is the future of Ontario pharmacy practice if these regulations come to pass.

The campaign by Ontario’s Pharmacists has been entirely factual. We have expressed the reality of the situation that most reasonable people could understand. When you take away almost a Billion dollars every year from pharmacy we will not be able to provide the same level of care and service. We do not like the source of the funding, but the system has evolved because of government neglect and under-funding over the past two decades. While not ideal, professional allowance funding has allowed us to practice our profession and serve the patients of Ontario. Most Liberal MPP’s have stated their support for the government plan, and we have let their constituents know about it. Polling has confirmed that the re-election chances for many Liberals are slim to none. These are all facts, not misinformation.

When this much funding is taken away with no real compensation, pharmacies will need to find ways to absorb the loss. This may mean reduction of services or implementation of additional fees. It may mean pharmacies need to close. Speaking the truth about the consequences of these actions is not fear-mongering. Is it “fear-mongering” to tell someone that they might blow themselves up if they smoke while pumping gas? Is it “fear-mongering” to tell someone that they might be attacked if they corner a wild animal? Is it “fear-mongering” to tell a Liberal in Ontario that they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of being re-elected come 2011?

Deb Matthews and the Liberals have woken the slumbering beast, and now they’re not quite sure how to handle it. Pharmacists will continue to speak out and have our voices heard. We will continue our campaign of facts and truths to counter the misinformation coming from the Liberal government. We will do it in a decidedly “Canadian-style” with professionalism and class. We can proudly stand behind our message with facts and evidence. We do not need to resort to “American-style” personal character attacks to get our message across. Let’s hope the Liberal government can do the same.