Leadership lacking

Dear Sir,

When the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), our national broadcast association, funded by our public tax dollars, airs an “exposé” critical of the veterinary profession in Canada and calls for federal government regulation of veterinary pharmaceutical dispensing, every dues-paying member of the profession in Canada has a right to expect the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) to respond on his or her behalf. What we don’t expect is for our association to roll over and play dead in the face of uninformed, biased, and amateurish journalism.

From the CVMA Web site (1): Priority #2: Leadership on National Issues. “The CVMA takes pride in the national leadership it provides to the member constituents of Canada.” Priority #1: The Successful Practice of Veterinary Medicine. “The successful practice of veterinary medicine underpins the careers of our members as individuals and collectively, and thus is a very high priority for the association. The CVMA nurtures the growth and health of this...profession....”

So far, the CVMA’s response to this CBC program has been... nothing.

This is a shameful abdication of responsibility, which in no way represents Leadership on National Issues.

I received a facsimile at my office from the CVMA telling me that it would not be responding to the public, but that it would be providing advice to members on how to respond to client inquiries on the matter, something, the letter points out, the association doesn’t see happening anyway. In what way is this “leadership”? Exactly how is this “nurturing the growth and health of this profession?” At a time when our national body should actually step up and defend its membership, it is nowhere to be seen. This is absolutely unacceptable. It’s time the CVMA started actually doing something useful, rather than sitting in committee meetings debating the wording of “position statements,” which no one will ever see. This CBC program was seen by a million viewers. The failure to respond to it is a black mark on the profession and its national association. The membership should howl in protest, or resign in disgust.