Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital: Work will be carried out ‘in due course’, says Quebec

Work at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital will be completed “in due time,” declared the Quebec government on Thursday during a heated question period.

Pressure is mounting daily on the Legault government to renovate the dilapidated hospital in Montreal’s east end, where vermin have taken up residence and where a storm Tuesday caused a serious power outage and broken windows.

Numerous protests have taken place in front of the hospital in recent weeks.

Hounded by the opposition, the government again refused Thursday to announce the start of the work, which it had promised to begin in 2024. Health Minister Christian Dubé was not in the National Assembly for the debate.

One after the other, CAQ ministers rose in the Red Room to justify the postponement of work at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, citing other pressing needs across Quebec.

They continued to accuse the former Liberal government of having poorly maintained infrastructure over the years.

“When you look at the Liberal Party’s underinvestment when it was in power, (…) it created this obsolescence,” declared Infrastructure Minister, Jonatan Julien. “We’re taking it step by step. Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital is important. We will move forward in a timely manner.”

Liberal Party House Leader Monsef Derraji responded by saying he suspected the Legault government of not prioritizing Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital for partisan reasons.

Moreover, the day before, Premier François Legault had argued that his government was one of “the regions” and that it had a duty to renovate hospitals outside Montreal as well.

Addressing Legault directly on Thursday, Derraji exclaimed: “Let him stand up, look Quebecers in the eye, and tell them: ‘I canceled your project because you’re voting on the wrong side.'”

Derraji was also surprised by the evasive answers of the Minister responsible for Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, who is a nurse by training, he emphasized.

“She’s a clinical nurse. I’m asking for her intelligence, Madam Speaker, (…) because she just told us she’s in solidarity. In solidarity with what? A living environment with bats, (…) rodents (…) and ants?”

He then turned to the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, a medical specialist.

“Basic rule of public health: rodent urine can cause infections. (…) Are they going to make the Minister of Health stop and say that enough is enough, that we need a plan, that it’s urgent?” the Liberal MP fumed.

“Are we just waiting for someone to die?” added Ruba Ghazal, parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire.

PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon also urged the Premier to show “basic decency” and begin renovations at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.

Legault reiterated that he is trying to realign the government’s infrastructure spending to launch the first phase of the project, namely the construction of a parking garage estimated at $85 million.

“I suppose the leader of the Parti Québécois doesn’t want us to dip into the budget of the Dolbeau-Mistassini hospital, the Enfant-Jésus hospital in Quebec City, or the Sainte-Marie pavilion in Trois-Rivières. (…) So, (…) who are we taking the $85 million from?” he asked.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews