Ontario physicians are well-paid. No one is arguing that.

But right now, their paycheques are the only ones in the Liberal crosshairs.

Let’s look at other well-paid public sector employees. Google the Sunshine List; it’s all laid out by name, occupation, and taxable income. Professors, nurses, firefighters, the police and of course, politicians — any public employee earning over $100k annually is named for your salacious pleasure.

Even Premier Wynne makes an appearance. At $209,385.30, she seemingly earns less than her own aide Tom Teahen ($304,068). However, this anomaly highlights the weakness inherent in the self-righteous Sunshine List: it only discloses taxable income.

Taxable income is take-home pay. Do not confuse it with total income. Premier Wynne earns much, much more but only reports $209,385.30. She can do this because some of her salary goes to deductions and benefits; some is written off as work-related expenditure; the remainder appears in a well-publicized and prurient List so that she gives the impression of modesty, transparency and accountability.

All politicians have work-related expenses. So do small businesses. So do physicians: our overhead covers the operating expenses of running a medical practice — rent, utilities, salaries, equipment, professional licenses, the continuing education required for those licenses, insurance, pension, health and dental, sick leave, so on and so forth — much like a small business. These expenses that are a mandatory condition of our careers consume nearly 50% of our total income.

As such, the intense pressure to disclose physician billings (total income) is disingenuous and hypocritical. Billings are total income, not take-home pay. All things considered, both Premier Wynne and her aide work less and make more than most Ontario physicians who earn approximately $150–200,000.

This begs the question: Why does the public even care? Why has physician income become such a hot-button topic in the battle over healthcare funding?

After all, the Canadian economy is based on capitalism which celebrates individual achievement. Achievement is measured by education, income, financial freedom and self-actualization. By this yardstick, physicians should not be faulted for living the Canadian dream.

My parents immigrated to Canada, eked out an ordinary living, and instilled in my sisters and I a keen desire to succeed. My mom labored at a watch factory. One sister worked at McDonalds. Another at Walmart. I worked night shifts as a personal care worker. 15 years later, I am living the Canadian dream and I am grateful.

I know that the majority of the population works brutally hard to make ends meet. Not that long ago, I was one of them.

So when Hoskins implies that physicians are over-indulged, overcompensated and the chief reason why the province’s health care budget is in the red — I see red. After eleven years of training, a $200,000 debt, 60–80 hour work weeks, and ongoing sacrifices by me and my family, I work too hard to be blamed for something that isn’t my fault.

Then I understood: the Ontario Liberals are waging psychological warfare. They are clouding public perception by playing on emotion.

Yes, physician earnings have risen since 2003 “by 61%” trumpets Minister Hoskins.

So did the cost of just about everything else. In 2003, minimum wage in Ontario was $6.85; in 2015, it is $11.25 — a 64% increase, yet nobody seems particularly electrified by that. And that often-quoted 61% is, in reality, a composite of population growth (1.5 million more Ontarians since 2003), inflation, and a population that is aging and accumulating illnesses rather than an actual raise. Physicians earn more when they work more.

Perhaps you would rather physicians be employees of the Ontario government — well, sign us up! We would love built-in pension plans, maternity leaves, sick benefits, paid vacations, work-place injury protection, health and dental, overtime pay, and best of all, 40-hour work weeks with paid breaks and lunches.

Perhaps you would rather physicians be entirely removed from the government payroll. Dismantle OHIP and make each patient pay for their care just as with dentists, naturopaths or chiropractors. Then none of your taxes will go towards paying physicians — although much of your salary will.

There is suddenly so much chatter about how unmerited physician pay is that it nearly drowns out the very real issue of a government that refuses to pay fully for health-care, a government that is driving the health-care system into crisis. This government is not doing their job.

Ask yourself: who is driving this obsession?

After all, physician compensation did not cause the provincial deficit.

Yes, physician pay is 20% of health-care costs, but what about the other 80%?

Yes, 10% of the provincial budget goes to paying physicians, but what about the other 90%?

I’ll say it again: physician compensation did not cause the provincial deficit.

The Liberals are playing a shell game. Physician pay is not the seedy underbelly of the medical field. They are fear-mongering to keep you from noticing that they are not doing what they were paid to do — fulfill their fiduciary responsibility to invest in your health-care.

Worse, they are turning you against your physicians; they are shaming them as if Ontario physicians are wrong for actually doing their jobs.