Public services have reached “a breaking point”, accuses the leader of the official opposition, Marc Tanguay. This reading is “exaggerated”, replies the Prime Minister, François Legault.
These first exchanges marked the beginning of the resumption of work of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Mr. Tanguay devoted his first question to access to public services. “The government is in its fifth year and everywhere in Quebec, citizens do not have the essential services to which they are entitled, especially in health where the network is in several places at breaking point, denounces the chief by interim member of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ). In hospitals, nurses are exhausted and they have sounded the alarm. »
The Prime Minister retorts that the Leader of the Opposition is “exaggerating”. “When the Leader of the Opposition says that all services are bad everywhere, I think he is exaggerating a little bit. There is a crisis in the health network, like everywhere else in the world, but when we look at the results, for example in education, we see that Quebec is still among the best in the Pisa tests. [Programme international pour le suivi des acquis des élèves] international. »
Mr. Legault invited Mr. Tanguay “to read a little about what is happening in the international press, to see what is happening in other provinces, in other countries. He will realize that the situation is no worse here than elsewhere. »
The Leader of the Official Opposition quipped by asking the Prime Minister if nurses who criticize the situation on the ground should “subscribe to the international publications to which the Prime Minister refers”.
Mr. Legault acknowledged that the situation was not acceptable and that there was “still a lot of work to do” to improve access to health services. The scarcity of manpower, however, complicates the task, he argues.
For the next question, the Official Opposition’s spokesperson for health, André Fortin, hounded the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, on waiting times for surgery for cancer patients. “The problem is that it’s not getting better. »
Mr. Dubé affirms rather that the situation is “stabilizing” and that the emergency measures have forced to postpone surgeries. He reiterated his strategy of resorting to the private sector to facilitate access to surgeries. “We are calling for tenders with private clinics to renew the entire portfolio of private clinics that we had. It is certain that when it will be finished, we will be able to act even more on our late surgeries. »