dubé says doctors' unions are obstacle to eliminating health deficit
on sunday, santé québec becomes responsible for delivering health services in the province. so far it has been caught up with spending reductions.
4 minute read
we apologize, but this video has failed to load.
try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
quebec — health minister christian dubé conceded friday that the government’s much promoted new health agency, santé québec, is being launched in the middle of difficult circumstances and he wants to minimize the effects of current spending reductions. but setting the stage for a new battle, dubé argued another option exists to improving services: negotiating more flexible contracts with quebec’s powerful medical federations representing general practitioners and medical specialists.
to date, he said, they refuse to play ball, preferring to drag out talks.
“santé québec is not the only thing that will make a difference (in the quality of services),” dubé told reporters at a news conference marking sunday’s arrival of santé québec on the health landscape. “it’s one of the tools.
“that’s the reason i am putting a lot of pressure on the doctors unions. i am not talking about the doctors themselves. i’m talking about their union. sometimes they are playing the calendar, playing out the clock (like in hockey). i want to make sure quebecers understand that.”
at a news conference at the legislature, dubé reminded reporters it was almost exactly one year ago, dec. 8, 2023, that the coalition avenir québec government used its majority to adopt bill 15, which, among other things, established the new santé québec agency.
advertisement
the bill was adopted in the middle of the night, with dubé holding a news conference at 4 a.m. where he boldly declared that it was day 1 of quebec’s health care transition.
the philosophy of the bill sold to quebecers was that while the government would look after big-picture health planning, santé québec, an independent agency of the government, would manage and, in theory, improve day-to-day services to quebecers.
dubé then set out to hire what he called a “top gun” from the private sector to run the agency, recruiting geneviève biron, who was the head of biron private health group from 2014 to 2021.
she faced challenges from day 1, announcing during a series of media interviews that her first job was to find $1 billion in savings in the vast health network. that number could go as high as $1.5 billion, creating the difficult environment dubé said the agency finds itself in.
on thursday, dubé said eliminating the deficit is non-negotiable.
in theory the spending reductions are supposed to be in administrative functions but the opposition parties have been attacking dubé for days with more and more stories of how difficult the situation is in reality.
québec solidaire mna vincent marissal revealed this week that jobs are being abolished in several regional health networks including chaudière-appalaches, laval and montérégie-est.
advertisement
“home care is being amputated, the number of workers in chslds is being reduced, dialysis projects are cancelled and recruitment of personnel, including nurses, is suspended,” liberal health critic andré fortin said thursday.
asked about the $1.5 billion at his friday news conference, dubé recognized eliminating such a large chunk of spending could affect services. he said santé quebec is making every effort it can to “minimize the impact.”
“if we do nothing, it (the deficit) could rise up to $1.5 billion,” he said.
dubé rapidly steered the focus back on negotiations with quebec’s two big doctors unions: the fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du québec (fmoq) and the fédération des médecins spécialistes du québec (fmsq). on the table is a total of $9 billion in wages.
in a surprise statement, dubé argued quebec needs more say on how that money is spent and work is organized.
“for the first time we want to assume control of these (spending) envelopes,” he said. “we have no say about who does what with this money. we have control of about five per cent. it’s ridiculous. should we have control over 30 or 40 per cent of the envelope?”
he argued doctors need to show the same kind of flexibility quebec’s nurses did with their current collective agreement, negotiated after months of labour actions.
advertisement
he said in his mind it would be normal to pay more to a doctor who does house calls than one who works in a clinic. quebec also questions why some specialists are paid more than others and some less for similar work.
but he said he’s fighting an uphill battle. both federations have the means to employ legions of top lawyers who are good at dragging out talks.
“everyone agrees with change except when it’s in their backyard,” he said. “there is a lot of resistance to change at the negotiation table.”
there was a swift response from the fmsq, publishing a photo on x of its president dr. vincent oliva, at work in an operating room at the chum.
“we don’t have time to respond to the remarks of the minister of health,” the fmsq wrote.
dubé insisted, however, that santé québec has other ideas for improving services even if the context is not great for it to make a splashy launch sunday.
opposition politicians were ready to comment on santé québec’s performance so far.
“citizens more than ever are abandoned and the waiting lists are still excessively long,” interim liberal leader marc tanguay said.
“i remember very well (former liberal premier) philippe couillard saying at the time there is no austerity,” added québec solidaire mna alexandre leduc. “they said it’s just rigorous management. the reality is the same. they’re cutting.”
advertisement
“it’s a major fail,” parti québécois mna pascal bérubé said bluntly.
share story
