(Quebec) Christian Dubé asserts that he cannot be compared to Gaétan Barrette and that there are several differences between his health reform and “the old administration […] under the Liberal era”, while the parties of the opposition are trying to attach this label to him. “There will be no world war,” he tempered.
“There is no one in a hospital who has compared me to Gaétan Barrette. […] The deputy for Rosemont [Vincent Marissal] can make all the amalgams he wants, it will be up to people to judge the work we do, ”defended Mr. Dubé in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
His bill will be tabled on Wednesday. According to the information circulating, it will include no less than a thousand articles. This will be a major rewrite of the Health and Social Services Act, the network management bible. Unlike Gaétan Barrette, who forced the departure of nearly 1,300 managers, Mr. Dubé wants to hire hundreds. And he wants to force medical specialists to take more care of patients throughout the territory and merge the union seniority of employees throughout Quebec.
The elected representative of Quebec solidaire had just asked him how he intended to “become an employer of choice again” while drawing inspiration from Mr. Barrette and his controversial reform.
“We know that the Minister of Health has already hired Dr. Barrette’s former right-hand man to carry out his reform, Daniel Desharnais. Obviously, there are hooked atoms. As long as you have number 2, why not have number 1? Could the Minister of Health put Dr. Barette on his short list of top guns to manage his agency Santé Québec, a shot? asked Mr. Marissal.
Former Health Minister Gaétan Barrette’s support for the CAQ health reform marked Québec solidaire, the Parti Québécois and even the Liberals, who all see it as a bad omen of another upheaval in the health network. health.
“Structural reforms that plunge our health care system into shambles and chicanery have been done in the past. The one who did it the most was Gaétan Barrette. And today, this former Liberal Minister of Health tells us: it’s a damn good deal, the CAQ project, “lamented the parliamentary leader of Quebec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, in the morning.
He is not the only one to have reacted to the exit of the former Liberal minister. After reading La Presse reports on Monday on the government’s intentions, former Health Minister Gaétan Barrette concluded that “it’s going to be World War III,” and he “wholeheartedly” applauded the Dubé reform.
“Minister Christian Dubé’s first significant supporter is Gaétan Barrette. I will stop there, ”said PQ MP Pascal Bérubé. Its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, mocked Mr. Dubé, who has “this habit of finding grandiose words to qualify his action”. “Let’s remember the mini-revolution, or the little revolution, where we gave bonuses to nurses in the private sector, an initiative that did not give much, apart from a squandering of public funds, shaker the temple columns, find top guns, emergency action plan and tactical emergency committee. Christian Dubé makes a lot of announcements, but which do not correspond to anything concretely for the population, ”he said.
Liberal leader Marc Tanguay believes “we don’t need a Third World War in Quebec.” “Those on a waiting list don’t need World War III,” he said.
Prime Minister François Legault, however, explained that it was essential to tackle the structure of the health network, and that the “the success of [his] approach […] depends a lot on this flexibility that we will be able to look into the organization of work”, especially among nurses.
He lamented that “local reorganizations can be blocked by local unions”. “We would like this to be no longer possible, for us to be able locally to adapt to each situation and to carry out a good reorganization. »
He refrained from repeating what he had been saying for the past few weeks, which is that the unions are locked into “a logic of closure” and do not want to talk to the government to “change things”.
“If we want to change the organization of the network, and I think it’s unanimous in Quebec that we have to change the organization of the network, we have to look for more flexibility, for example in the production of schedules. And there have to be a lot more decisions made by the management of the establishments, so decentralize, ”he explained.
