A $630,000 salary paid to a small-town doctor in Ontario is now the subject of a defamation suit in an Ontario court..The Owen Sound doctor was one of the highest-paid public health officers in Canada, earning more than twice Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, says Blacklock’s Reporter..Dr. Ian Arra, chief medical officer for the Grey Bruce Health Unit, was paid $631,510 in salary and $1,691 in benefits last year according to the Public Sector Disclosure Act..That was a year-to-year increase of 64%..By comparison, Health Minister Duclos is paid $274,500 a year..The Grey Bruce Health Unit serves 162,000 people..Disclosure of Arra’s salary prompted a public feud between regional councillors ending in a defamation lawsuit now pending in Ontario Superior Court..Arra is not a party to the lawsuit..Four local councillors in a March 29 petition expressed astonishment over the doctor’s pay..“We are told Dr. Arra acted in a ‘visionary’ manner for his use of hockey arenas as vaccination sites and because he obtained four deep freezers,” wrote the councilors..“We choose not to comment.”.The local board of health “rather glibly asks how one can ‘put a price on lives,’” the petition continued..“This is not a serious argument. Why stop then at a doubling of his salary? Why not move to seven figures?”.Sue Paterson, chair of the board of health, defended Arra’s salary and complained critics had “stepped outside the rules of decency, reducing overall confidence in the health unit as the leading agency for the management of the COVID-19 emergency..“We see this as a contributing factor to recent belligerence being directed at our employees and the diminished compliance by the public to undertake important measures needed to lessen the spread of COVID-19,” wrote the health board chair..“We’re in a crisis,” Chair Paterson told the local Owen Sun Times..“We need to focus on the pandemic and not have any distractions. We have to follow public health guidelines so we can come through this pandemic safely.”.Paterson and a councillor who signed the protest petition are named as defendant and plaintiff in the defamation lawsuit..“Defamation cases are often about pride and perceived reputation as much or more than money,” wrote Justice Fred Myers of Ontario Superior Court..“In a case like this one between competing political actors for public comeuppance, I would expect performative tactics to overwhelm economic incentives,” wrote the court..A hearing is scheduled February 11.
