Law professor Martine Valois ridicules the “four, five” reasons listed by Prime Minister François Legault for prolonging the state of health emergency put in place for almost two years. “It does not hold up,” she says in an interview with The duty.
First of all, the government can very well maintain the bonuses granted to nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic by having a law passed by the National Assembly, specifies Martine Valois from the outset. “We could have adopted a special law a long time ago,” she said while denouncing the “abuse of power” committed by the Legault government since the declaration of a state of health emergency on March 13, 2020.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister, François Legault, mentioned the “four, five reasons for [lesquelles] we have a health emergency” starting with that of “paying bonuses to nurses outside of collective agreements”. The obligation to wear a mask, the use of the vaccine passport and the hiring of vaccinators are also possible due to the state of health emergency, he continued during the question period.
According to Martine Valois, the Public Health Act allows the Quebec government to impose — even outside a period of health emergency — several exceptional measures, including the scenarios mentioned by the head of government, without first obtain the approval of the National Assembly.
For example, under section 106, a director of public health may “order any other measure he considers necessary to prevent the worsening of a threat to the health of the population, to reduce its effects or eliminate”. “I would like someone to tell me how article 106, paragraph 9, cannot be used to continue the measures. Because it’s the same criterion,” underlines the professor at the University of Montreal.
Several disputes
The maintenance of the state of emergency is not its first criticism from lawyers. Several of them have sought to convince the courts to order the Legault government to stop renewing the state of emergency with decrees, but without success.
The Legault government should have lifted the state of health emergency “at every low point” of COVID-19, especially during the summer, believes Martine Valois, who has regularly commented on the work – and the fallout – of the commission. Charbonneau in the media. This can be imposed “when a serious threat to the health of the population, real or imminent, requires the immediate application of certain measures”, which did not apply for long periods over the past two years. , she mentions.
Article 122 of the Public Health Act gives the National Assembly the power to block the renewal of the state of emergency, notes Martine Valois. However, in the presence of a majority government, its effect is nil. As a result, the Coalition avenir Québec must, like the opposition parties, commit to modifying the law if it is re-elected in the next election, argues the law professor.
On Monday, the Barreau du Québec also called for the insertion of new guidelines for the state of health emergency in the Public Health Act. “The Bar questions this power which is not accompanied by any time limit or a mechanism for consulting the National Assembly compulsory after a certain time”, he argues in a press release.
Retired professor from the Department of Political Science at Université Laval Louis Massicotte, for his part, “did not find much cause for scandal in the situation we are experiencing” – the governance of the pandemic by decrees and ministerial orders -, because ” she is truly exceptional”.
According to him, the state of health emergency made it possible to “turn on a dime” when the epidemiological situation demanded it. “This virus is extraordinarily unpredictable. Remember in November, we were making travel plans and then Omicron arrived. Then he turned everything upside down, ”says the specialist in democratic institutions.
“Normally, we will take the time to discuss the situation at length and weigh the pros and cons. But, there are situations in a democracy which, at some point, require rapid action and which require the suspension of the usual rules, ”he decides.