My chronicles (and criticisms) of the health care system have transcended the governments of three parties: the Parti Québécois, the Liberal Party of Quebec and the Coalition avenir Québec. I think I can say this: no matter which party is in power, the mess continues.
I have lost count of the number of chronicles over the past 15 years that have criticized the lack of organization, vision and means which results in a lack of access, efficiency and, ultimately, humanity of a system that is collectively costing us a billion a week.
Long detour to tell you that I am watching Christian Dubé go with his “refoundation” of the Quebec health system. He tabled a string of bills to “rebuild” the Quebec health care system. He tabled another, a few days ago, Bill 15, a titanic document: 300 pages, 35 amended laws, nearly 1,200 articles…
I don’t know if Christian Dubé will succeed…
But I want us to.
Over the next three months, for the duration of the study of Bill 15, groups and individuals will be able to testify in parliamentary committee to criticize it.
Hopefully these criticisms will do what any criticism should aim for: improve the criticized object.
But I must say that since the tabling of Bill 15, I have been absolutely stunned by the poor quality of the public interventions of several entities. Allow me to underline a few with a fluorescent marker.
Let’s talk about the unions, first…
The unions have a lot to lose with Bill 15. By wanting to reduce the number of union certifications in the network from 136 to four in the passage of the network’s 35 employers to just one, some risk losing money, a lot of money. Slight detail…
Yes, that’s exactly what I mean: you can’t dissociate certain criticisms of the unions from the financial risk that Bill 15 makes them run. But it’s smarter to say the minister isn’t listening than to say: Hey, we’re losing cash!
On this, we must speak of Julie Bouchard, president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle du Québec (FIQ), the large union of nurses (in particular), which represents nearly 80,000 employees.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The president of the Quebec Interprofessional Federation (FIQ), Julie Bouchard
When the bill on the end of private employment agencies was tabled (a request from the FIQ, among others), I interviewed President Bouchard on my radio show. To this day, if my life depended on it, I could not explain to you what Julie Bouchard’s objection to this bill consisted of.1
Last week, M.me Bouchard was invited to comment on Bill 15 at Paul Arcand.2 She saw nothing good in it, affirming that her union nevertheless multiplies the proposals for solutions at the negotiating tables…
Paul jumped on the ball: give me an example of a proposed solution?
Response from Julie Bouchard: a law on professional-patient ratios!
(Translation: a nurse should not have more than X patients to treat, according to the care units.)
There, the facilitator raised the obvious: it is a solution that is difficult to implement, since the network lacks nurses… A law will not bring them up.
Mme Bouchard then got bogged down in a response that would no doubt have earned her a standing ovation at the national convention of FIQ delegates. But to the average citizen listening that morning—whether she was stuck in traffic or making the kid’s lunch ham sandwich—the union leader just looked like she was crying for crying. .
Parenthesis: I lost a lot of illusions in the unions during the pandemic.3 There are a thousand examples of corporatism and buggering to give, but I will give this one: the FIQ sued the government4 which did not give enough protective equipment to its members (while the shortage was worldwide), but the FIQ defended tooth and nail the right of its antivax members to suffer no consequences for this choice… 5 Even if it means endangering immunosuppressed patients.6
Never forget this: unions answer to their members, to those who pay dues. Not to the public.
Now, a few words on the oppositions in Quebec…
Liberals and Solidarity competed in swelling to denounce the bill which had just come out of the oven.7 We also felt that the metaphors had been written for a long time.
I quote Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, from QS: Christian Dubé realizes the “wet dream” of Gaétan Barrette, Madam President!
(P.-S.: a “wet dream” is an…erotic dream.)
I quote Marc Tanguay, from the PLQ: by creating the government corporation Santé Québec, Minister Dubé will become a “mini-minister”, Madam President!
“Mini-minister”, “erotic dream”: it does not fly super high, let’s say, the criticism of Bill 15 by the opposition…
I do not include the PQ: Paul St-Pierre Plamondon refused to embark on the race for strong images, emitting felt flats without however having recycled the best moments of the CKAC Comedy Festival…
The next three months will be important for the future of the Quebec health care system, during the study of Bill 15, which aims to complete its “refoundation”.
I hope that beyond the sparging to steal the headline of the day and the traditional union rigidity, we will hear solid arguments to improve this bill.