Québec solidaire (QS) is calling on the Legault government to withdraw Bill 2, which changes doctors’ remuneration, imposes performance targets on them and threatens them with sanctions.
“The healthcare system is in turmoil. (…) At some point, we have to stop,” said QS co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal at a press conference in Quebec City, Saturday morning.
According to Ghazal, we need to “start from scratch” and “resume negotiations” with doctors in order to “put in place things that are applicable.” “The law is bad,” she said.
When Bill 2 was passed under gag order on Oct. 24, doctors were “shocked, sad, hurt, and angry,” according to a Montreal specialist (not affiliated with QS) who spoke to The Canadian Press.
“Now, it’s a kind of disbelief,” he said over the phone, requesting anonymity for fear of causing panic in his department, which is on the verge of losing five of its 12 specialists.
He confides that one of his highly specialized colleagues has his eye on the United States, that three others have taken serious steps to move to another province, and that another colleague is considering early retirement.
Are these just empty threats? “I’m telling you, it’s real. The requests that have already been made to the Collège des medecins are just the tip of the iceberg. I can’t speak for others, but in my department, it’s going to happen.”
He explains that doctors are against Bill 2 because it imposes “completely unattainable” targets and “affects the very essence of medical practice.”
To illustrate his point, he explains that his department should technically be able to see 16 patients per week, but for the past two years, he has been seeing four per week.
Why? “There is a shortage of technologists. It’s clear that I will never meet the ministry’s targets, but that’s because I don’t have the staff!” he says.
Another “very concrete” example: on Friday, three patients did not show up “because their appointments had been poorly scheduled by the appointment center.”
“I was here, available to see them! Give us computer systems that are capable of scheduling appointments properly and efficiently! I have specialist colleagues who are so fed up with having empty slots in their clinic schedules that they schedule their own appointments!”
“Doctors aren’t just complaining for the sake of complaining. We compensate for many weaknesses in the system,” he concluded.
About 1,000 people demonstrated last Saturday against Bill 2. Another large rally is planned at the Bell Centre this Sunday.
Meanwhile, this Saturday, QS members will elect Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois’ successor as male co-spokesperson.
They will have to choose between Étienne Grandmont, Sol Zanetti, and Yv Bonnier Viger at a convention being held in Quebec City until Sunday.
Grandmont is the only one to have received support within the QS caucus: Christine Labrie, Manon Massé, Alexandre Leduc, Andrés Fontecilla, and Vincent Marissal have thrown their weight behind him.
Before becoming the representative for Taschereau in 2022, Grandmont worked as the executive director of Accès transports viables.
He defended the rights of public and active transportation users, in addition to promoting land use planning that would help combat climate change.
Zanetti, meanwhile, has represented the riding of Jean-Lesage since 2018. He has received the support of former QS members Émilise Lessard-Therrien and Catherine Dorion.
A fervent separatist, Zanetti is a former philosophy professor and union advisor. He has also worked as a patient attendant and mental health worker.
Viger, a former regional public health director, is the only non-elected candidate in this race. He has received the support of former QS spokesperson and member of the National Assembly Amir Khadir.
This race for the spokesperson position comes at a time when QS is at its lowest point in the polls.
According to the poll aggregator Qc125, if elections were held today, the left-wing party would only receive seven per cent of the vote and elect three members (they currently have 12 in the National Assembly).
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
