A draining experience

Date: July 16, 1999
Time: 11:54 am

Although CAUT says that Canada is not experiencing the mass exodus of highly educated and skilled workers that many doomsayers say it is, the group does admit that there is a southward flow of talent. It places the blame squarely on the shoulders of governments. "Where there is a net loss of professionals such as in the health and education sector, this is largely explained by government cutbacks and the subsequent lack of employment opportunities in Canada," CAUT explained in a report.

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is not as optimistic as CAUT, as it has been sounding the alarm about increased physician migration to the US for several years. The CMA, citing the latest data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, said there was a net loss of

452 physicians in 1997 due to emigration - this is equivalent to 6.5 years' production of new medical graduates at the University of Manitoba - and it has called on the federal government to examine the issue of physician workforce supply.

"The departure of each one of these physicians represents the loss of a major public investment in highly educated, skilled and dedicated practitioners who contribute to the wealth of the nation by restoring,maintaining and enhancing health in their communities," Dr. Hugh Scully, the CMA president-elect, stated in a late-June letter to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien .

Much has been made of the need for tax cuts for higher-income earners as a means to stem the tide of Canadians to the US - a measure denounced by CAUT - but both the CMA and the teachers' organization maintain that government reinvestment in Canada's social systems is the way to combat the problem.

"In short, the ‘brain-drain' controversy', if anything, points to the need for governments to reinvest in Canada's health care, education and research

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