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Thousands of doctors, medical students and supporters filled the Bell Centre in downtown Montreal on Sunday to demand the Quebec government suspend Bill 2.
The controversial legislation, that ties a part of doctors’ remuneration to performance indicators, was forced through the National Assembly late last month after Premier François Legault’s government invoked closure.
Under the new law, doctors who take part in concerted actions or pressure tactics to boycott the changes risk steep fines.
Backlash stemming from the new law was immediate, with the federations representing Quebec’s general practitioners, medical specialists, and medical students each launching legal challenges.
According to rally organizers, which include the three federations listed above, as well as the federation representing medical residents, approximately 12,500 tickets were handed out for Sunday’s event.
Dr. Marc-André Amyot, president of the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ), said he’s been practicing medicine for 33 years.
“I’ve never seen a mobilization of this scale,” he said, referring to the thousands in attendance, “but I’ve never seen a law as bad as the one we’re seeing now.”
The government has said the intent behind performance targets is to encourage physicians to see more patients, with Legault saying it will benefit the 1.5 million Quebecers who don’t have a family doctor.
Amyot, however, said linking compensation to volume indicators is something that the Quebec College of Physicians—whose responsibility it is to protect the public—has deemed dangerous and unacceptable.
Amyot said patients are already paying the price with hundreds of physicians having either started the process to practice medicine in other provinces, or opting for an early retirement.
“It’s a catastrophe,” he said.
Maxence Pelletier-Lebrun, president of the Fédération médicale étudiante du Québec, agrees the new law will create a system in which patient care is affected.
“Now the ideal that’s promoted by the government is you need to work fast. You need to see patients in X minutes when sometimes, let’s say you’re an ER doctor, you need more time to eliminate stroke, to eliminate heart arrest,” he said.
Bill 2, adopted into law last month that imposes a new salary structure on physicians, has caused hundreds of doctors in Quebec to apply for work in other provinces. The College of Physicians of Ontario has reported receiving 250 applications from Quebec doctors since Oct. 23.
Meanwhile, Dr. Vincent Oliva, president of the federation representing medical specialists said the issue isn’t performance targets, but the lack of resources to attain those targets.
“We’re not afraid of performance,” he said. “What we want is a commitment from the government.”
Oliva mentioned the need for more staff and resources to run operating rooms and outpatient services.
“We need resources so that we can treat our patients,” he said.
Earlier in the week, the Quebec government announced it was suspending two measures of Bill 2, with the hope of persuading doctors’ federations angered by the special legislation to return to the bargaining table.
Federations say no talks unless law is suspended
Both Oliva and Amyot said that isn’t going to happen unless the law is suspended.
“Want we want, is to improve access,” Oliva said, pointing to productive contract negotiations over the summer. “What we are proposing is to resume those discussions but with a clean slate, without this law.”
About 13,000 medical professionals and supporters rallied at the Bell Centre in Montreal urging François Legault’s CAQ government to suspend a law that imposes a salary structure on physicians.
He went on to say the legislation not only infringes on doctors’ most “basic freedoms,” but also establishes a system of “mistrust and surveillance.”
While opposition parties at the National Assembly have been outspoken and critical of the legislation, Québec Solidaire backed the medical federations on Saturday, asking that it be withdrawn.
The new law has also caused turmoil in the ranks of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec.
One of Legault’s ministers, Lionel Carmant, quit the caucus and is now sitting as an independent after his daughter — a physician — criticized the law in an open letter.
Carmant said at the time that his decision ”was not a renouncement” of the bill, but “rather a choice between responsibilities,” and that he was choosing his family.
Another legislator, Isabelle Poulet, said last week — a day after being expelled from the CAQ caucus — that she was “profoundly disappointed” by how the party has handled the law.
In a written statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Health Minister Christian Dubé said in reference to Sunday’s rally, that they understand that doctors want to express their concerns and acknowledged the changes put forth are “significant.”
“We will continue to provide support to clearly explain what they entail,” the statement reads in French. “Our responsibility remains to improve access and ensure that the entire population receives the care they need throughout Quebec.”
