Dissidents in the Coalition of Ontario Doctors were worried the general council might ignore a majority “no” vote from doctors and ratify the deal regardless, given that the OMA hierarchy is recommending acceptance. Under the OMA’s constitution, doctors can force a general membership meeting if five per cent of members sign a petition requesting one. The dramatic move scraps OMA plans for a non-binding referendum vote of doctors before an Aug. 6 meeting of the association’s general council, which was to make a final decision on the deal. It accused the OMA of “secretly” negotiating the four-year deal to avoid the government imposing another round of unilateral cuts on doctors, ignoring a directive from doctors to seek binding arbitration, instead. Doctors unhappy with the terms of a tentative contract reached with the province earlier this month have strong-armed the Ontario Medical Association into giving them a direct vote on it.

Source: thestar July 25, 2016 18:04 UTC