François Legault does not rule out the possibility of lifting the partition between private practice and practice in the public sector currently imposed on doctors.
While on Paul Arcand’s show on Wednesday morning, the head of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), opened this door while discussing the contribution of the private sector to the health network.
Mr. Legault however repeated that any use of the private sector to support the health network would involve the provision of free services, paid for by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec.
“I have confidence that the private sector is capable of innovating to be more efficient”, he said to justify the opening of the network to this contribution.
François Legault also sought to deny the fact that he expected to keep in office the ministers of Health, Christian Dubé, of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon and the president of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel.
“The only one I have reconfirmed is Christian Dubé,” he argued, explaining that the latter is to carry out a major reform of the health system in Quebec.
The CAQ chief also minimized the health risk posed by arsenic emissions from the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda and put future decisions in the hands of residents. Glencore, the multinational owner of the smelter, has promised to reduce arsenic emissions to 15 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/mg3), a significant reduction from the current 100 ng/mg, but still five times more than the Quebec standard of 3 ng/mg3.
“In Rouyn-Noranda, it is true that we will not be able, in the short term, the company tells us, to go down to 3 ng/m3. Technically, it’s not feasible,” he argued, taking the opportunity to again blame the previous Liberal government for allowing the company to emit 33 times more arsenic than the provincial standard provides.
Pressed to respond to the reproaches formulated by doctors in the Abitibi region according to which even the reduction to 15 ng/m3 in five years is still not safe, he replied: “It depends on the definition of safe. I invite everyone in Rouyn-Noranda to read the public health report. It’s not as dramatic as some people say,” he said.
At the same time, referring to the impact of a possible closure of the foundry, he recalled that the company has more than 600 employees and that its activities represent more than a thousand jobs when indirect jobs are added. .
In these circumstances, he believes that the decision surrounding the future of the foundry is in the hands of the citizens: “Indeed, there is a decision to be made by the citizens of Rouyn-Noranda because – we were talking earlier about mental health – tomorrow morning, if there are 650 employees and we are talking about thousands if we add the indirect jobs who lose their jobs, there are consequences too.
“It’s up to the people of Rouyn-Noranda […] and it is not for us to decide what happens with the Horne foundry. It’s up to the people of Rouyn-Noranda,” he concluded.