TORONTO -- Doctors are growing frustrated with the province's hard line in contract talks and say they've given enough ground already.

"The government has to budge off its mandate," Ontario Medical Association president Stewart Kennedy said Friday.

Kennedy said the OMA has twice softened its stance in the talks, which opened in February -- even offering a two-year fee freeze, but the government is insisting on freezing the overall compensation package.

That would force docs to swallow cuts in some fees and take a smaller share of the total as the number of doctors or patients increases.

Despite their frustrations, doctors are committed to maintaining the services they now offer and won't cut back on them in protest.

In a statement, Health Minister Deb Matthews said Ontario's doctors are the best paid in Canada, earning $385,000 a year on average.

That's $164,000 a year more than the average salary in 2003.