In March 2022, the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, released the Plan to implement the necessary changes in health. It was followed in June by the report commissioned from theMinister Dominique Savoie, in order to “lay the groundwork for executing the necessary changes identified in the Health Plan”. The government has already made numerous decisions indicating that it will implement this Plan, without even submitting it to democratic public debate. To express its concerns about the deployment of the Health Plan, the Coalition Solidarité Santé sent a meeting request to the Minister, for which it unfortunately received no response.
This Health Plan is yet another reform aimed at transforming the fundamental foundations of our public network. It cannot be deployed without a proper legislative process. Aside from information tables with certain targeted partners — in particular unions, associations of managers and pharmacists, then intermediate resources — the government is once again proceeding behind closed doors, without public consultation or parliamentary process.
The overwhelming CAQ majority in the National Assembly does not free the government from Quebec’s democratic rules. The major changes that the government has announced, whether they are called refoundation or reform, must be the subject of real public consultation, among other things through the collective analysis of a bill in a parliamentary committee.
The Plan as presented is lacking in operational details. We refuse to sign a blank check to the government by blindly subscribing to it.
The accelerated shift from public service to private enterprise management also raises many unanswered questions, including the following:
Why would you want to implement patient-based funding when the perverse effects of this funding model have been demonstrated in several countries, some having even abandoned it; where are the studies and evidence demonstrating the superiority of this model?
What does the announced modernization and the “great technological catch-up” mean, in the context of the confidential information to be protected on the health of each person in Quebec?
As for the structural changes aimed at decentralization, what will be the consequences on equitable access to health care throughout the territory?
How will community groups maintain their autonomy and raison d’être if the government considers them, as the Plan announces, as “network establishments” or contractors?
We reiterate: we must hold a social debate on the issues affecting health and care for the population. To refuse to do so would be to deny democracy. Several measures, such as the end of the independent workforce and the creation of Santé Québec, must be the subject of a bill. The government cannot transform the health and social services system as if it were just an administrative file.