The leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, is calling on citizens to sign a petition against wearing a mask at school, and yet his health adviser believes that this measure is necessary. In many respects, Éric Duhaime’s public positions contrast with those of his health adviser.
In an exchange of e-mails with The Canadian Press, the head of communications for the Conservative Party presents Dr. Karim Elayoubi as the one “who is at the head of the health committee which advises Mr. Duhaime on the development of the PCQ health program”.
In an interview, Dr. Elayoubi stresses, however, that he is “not the one who leads the health committee”, that this is “false information” and that he is rather a “member of the health committee of ‘Éric Duhaime among many others’. A committee which, underlines Karim Elayoubi, is made up of “nurses, doctors and psychologists”.
A virus that is not “trivial”
In his practice, Dr. Elayoubi sees the effects of COVID-19 on a daily basis. He is the owner of the Argenteuil Medical Center and an emergency physician at the CISSS des Laurentides.
“Me, personally, I do emergencies, so I see, I personally took care of COVID-19 patients, I treat them in hospital and I am very sensitive to this disease”, explains the doctor to La Canadian Press.
“There are people for whom it is a disaster. Yes, I’ve seen people die of COVID, so no, it’s not a trivial virus, ”says the emergency doctor.
The term “trivial” is however the one chosen by the chef he advises in an interview on Radio X in January 2021 when talking about the virus.
“The health system in Quebec is not holding up, and it’s taken a little wind, because COVID is still a virus that is relatively harmless if we compare to what we thought at the time. start,” explained Éric Duhaime a year ago.
The vaccine is “the best weapon we have”
Dr. Elayoubi is much more nuanced than the leader of the PCQ and his candidate in Marie-Victorin regarding health measures and the government’s management of the crisis.
For example, Éric Duhaime does not hesitate to use the term “health extremism” to qualify the measures of the Legault government. The first candidate recruited by the PCQ, Anne Casabonne, has already called the vaccine against COVID-19 “shit” and Éric Duhaime recently received a guest on his Facebook show who “strongly advises against” the third dose of the vaccine.
“For your own health, do not take the third dose, I strongly advise against it”, had indicated the guest that Éric Duhaime presented as a specialist.
On the other hand, Dr. Elayoubi maintains that “the best weapon we have at the moment is clearly vaccination” and that the health committee of Éric Duhaime’s party is “completely unanimous on this “.
He added that Mr. Duhaime “knows very well that the vaccine is an effective weapon in the fight against the pandemic. »
Moreover, Dr. Elayoubi is of the opinion that Quebec “could have accelerated the delivery of the third dose more quickly”.
In an interview, he makes it clear that he “is not one of the people who say that the government has bad intentions” and that he “is not one of the people who put World War II epithets on the first minister, which is absolutely ridiculous”.
He also clarifies that he has “no empathy for people who are using the pandemic to make media capital by sending misinformation against the vaccine. »
Wearing a mask is appropriate
Asked whether young people should wear the mask at school, Éric Duhaime’s adviser replies that “the procedural mask minimizes the transmission of the virus” and that “from a scientific point of view, at a time when there is a peak of an epidemic, wearing a mask is completely appropriate”.
This position does not seem to be in phase with that of the politician he advises.
On his website, Éric Duhaime asks citizens to sign a petition against the wearing of masks by children at school, an “inhuman and harmful measure”, he claims.
A gradual lifting of measures
Dr. Karim Elayoubi says he is in favor of a gradual lifting of health measures without, however, being able to “offer a timetable” because, he explained, he does not claim to replace public health experts.
“Mr. Duhaime knows very well that Mr. Legault is not going to lift the sanitary measures tomorrow morning” according to his adviser, who specifies that what Éric Duhaime really wants is “a return to the National Assembly so that there is a panel discussion.
In an interview, Karim Elayoubi acknowledges that he has a much more nuanced “analysis grid” than Éric Duhaime.
“Should there be zero health measures? Of course not, there are barrier gestures that must be made and there is the concept of distancing, ”explains the doctor, adding that” in reality, our battle horse in the Conservative Party is the post -pandemic”.
Because if Dr. Elayoubi is involved with the Conservative Party of Quebec, it is mainly to reform the health system. He would like to “give back an efficient system to Quebecers” by putting an end to the state monopoly.
The PCQ proposes to establish competition in the health system and to proceed to a great decentralization.