FMOQ postpones plan to stop teaching medical students, submits counter-proposal to Quebec government

The Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) – which represents the province’s family doctors – is postponing its teaching boycott until Oct. 4 and submitting a counter-proposal for mediation to Legault’s government.

FMOQ made the announcement Monday morning on social media, specifying that “the (boycott) of medical-administrative activities will continue” and that “the Federation still demands the withdrawal of Bill 106.”

With Bill 106, which was introduced on May 8 in the National Assembly, the government aims to link the compensation of family doctors, as well as that of specialist physicians, to performance indicators.

The two medical associations, the FMOQ and the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ), strongly oppose this and have been exerting pressure in recent weeks.

For example, they have stopped participating in medical-administrative meetings that have no direct impact on patients. The FMSQ has also stopped teaching medical students, while the FMOQ is threatening to do so.

An ongoing dispute

The FMOQ went so far as to file a motion with in court two weeks ago, requesting independent arbitration in the ongoing dispute with the government, which Quebec has refused.

Last Thursday, Premier Legault urged doctors to stop “holding students and the public hostage.”

“It’s not normal that we’re not further ahead in the negotiations, so my appeal, once again, to the two physicians’ unions and to the chief negotiator for one of the unions, Lucien Bouchard, is to come and negotiate, to propose new solutions if necessary, but to stop rejecting all solutions and only defending the status quo,” the Premier declared at the CAQ’s caucus meeting in Gatineau over the weekend.

The day before, the President of the Treasury Board, France-Élaine Duranceau, had “asked the federations to consider entering into a mediation process to find a way forward.”

On Monday afternoon, the Minister of Health reacted to the most recent outing of general practitioners.

“We take note of the FMOQ’s document and we will quickly study their counter-proposal in light of our essential conditions,” Christian Dubé said on the Bluesky network.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews