QUEBEC – Canadian doctors from Quebec have signed a letter containing a demand considered curious: they are protesting against the increase in their own salaries. The 500 doctors and residents, plus more than 150 medical students, who support the document said their salaries are already high and they appear to be the only ones “immune from the spending cuts” made by the Canadian government.

In the letter, published on the website of Médecins Québécois Pour le Régime Public (MQRP) – a group that brings together doctors from the province to discuss and monitor public health activities – the professionals affirm that the salary increase is “ shocking” given the precarious situation to which other health professionals are subject and the lack of access for patients to the public health system, a consequence of cuts in spending in this area.

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— We, Quebec doctors who believe in a strong public health system, oppose the recent salary increase negotiated by our medical federations — says an extract from the letter.

Dr. Isabelle Leblanc, president of the MQRP, told Canadian television channel “CBC News” that the negotiation of a salary increase for doctors comes at the same time as nurses are demonstrating for better working conditions. In this scenario, the group wants to show solidarity.

— If our colleagues are happier, if our patients receive better treatment, we will all benefit and it is not a salary increase that will achieve this — she declared to the television channel.

Leblanc’s speech refers to the fight led by a nurses’ union in recent months. The group denounces the lack of professionals in the field and says its members are overworked. Furthermore, the union is fighting for a law limiting the number of patients that can be cared for by a nurse.

The letter ends with a request: that the increase be canceled and that the resources of the health system be redistributed for the good of workers and to guarantee quality service “which does justice to the population of Quebec.”

In response, the province’s health minister, Gaétan Barrette, said he saw no problem with the doctors’ speech and joked:

— If they think they’re getting too much, they can leave the money on the table. I guarantee you that I can put it to good use,” he declared at the opening of a clinic in Ville-Émard.