Liberal activists gathered in congress at the end of the week chose to make the environment “the priority of priorities” and turned their backs on the Barrette era by asking to “withdraw political management” in the field of health.
Sunday, members of the Youth Commission of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) convinced 53% of activists to vote in favor of a proposal to “delegate the management of the health system to an independent state body”.
The idea is not to remove power from the minister, explained the advisor to the Youth Commission William Baril. The objective, “is [de] remove political power so that the reforms stop breaking the health system, because that is what is happening now, ”said the 18-year-old activist. He said he would prefer that the direction given to the health network is no longer the prerogative “of one man”.
“If there is another reform, are we ready to leave, once again, the power of managing the health system totally in the hands of the politician? Or do we want to hear everyone’s concerns? He asked.
The proposal on which he worked provides that the independent body responsible in particular for establishing “guidelines for the health system” should be headed by a board of directors (CA) whose members would be appointed by two-thirds vote. the National Assembly, following a recommendation from the Parliamentary Committee on Health and Social Services.
This board will be made up of a third of managers, a third of health workers and a third of users, whose terms of office would be ten years. Its mandate would be to decentralize the health system, to negotiate with network employees and to manage a budget: a “health fund” in which the Ministry of Finance would deposit “an annual budget envelope greater than the needs of the network”.
Already offered by Couillard
The proposal is reminiscent of that of the former Liberal Prime Minister Philippe Couillard. In 2011, three years after being Minister of Health, he proposed to entrust the day-to-day management of the network to an independent, not-for-profit state corporation. He also opened the door to this possibility in 2018, specifying, however, that the Barrette reform had to be completed first.
The ex-health minister said on Sunday that the Young Liberals’ proposal could not achieve its goals. “To want to remove a minimum or a maximum of policy in the decisions, it is correct. Will the proposal that is made do that? No. That, of course not, because it falls to the financing, declared Gaétan Barrette to the media. In his opinion, depoliticization will not materialize as long as the politicians have the last word on the financing of the network.
The liberal leader, Dominique Anglade, did not want to advance on the possibility that the proposal will make its way to the platform of his party, with the approach of the election of October 2022. “We cannot say that it is something that cannot be done, a priorii. It exists elsewhere. But you have to know: what would that change for us in Quebec? What are the implications? She asked.
The environment, the priority
The activists also chose, on Saturday, to make the protection of the environment and the fight against climate change “the top priority”, in addition to setting targets for reducing greenhouse gases (GHG). up to 45% in 2030 compared to the 1990 level.
However, they rejected a proposal to introduce penalties “for the purchase of large polluting vehicles such as SUVs. [véhicules utilitaires sport] and vans ”. Asked about this contradiction, Ms. Anglade replied that “at some point, we will have to be realistic”.
“People will be ready, but we will have to do educational work with the population and also a collective effort in relation to that,” she continued.
With its ECO project, which notably proposes the nationalization of the production and distribution of green hydrogen, the PLQ now prides itself on being “the only political party that truly combines the economy and the environment”.