CAQ invokes closure to pass law on doctor remuneration

The special law imposing a new remuneration system on doctors and putting an end to their pressure tactics was passed under closure on Saturday, shortly before 4 a.m.

The bill passed by a vote of 63 to 27.

After the vote, Québec Solidaire health spokesperson Vincent Marissal said Quebec Premier François Legault “is trying to make a big splash by hitting doctors with a bill that frankly makes no sense.”

Under the new law, doctors will be prohibited from taking “concerted action” that could interfere with access to care and training, under penalty of heavy fines.

For example, three doctors who decide together to leave the network or stop teaching could be severely punished with fines up to $20,000 per day, disciplinary measures, etc.

Simply encouraging doctors to commit a breach becomes an illegal act.

“It’s a sad spectacle of a government that is on the wrong track, adding one bad solution after another,” lamented Liberal health spokesperson Marc Tanguay on Saturday morning.

The law also imposes a new method of remuneration on doctors, based in part on the achievement of performance targets. It ties 10 per cent of their remuneration to targets.

General practitioners will have to provide 17.5 million appointments each year. Specialists will have to perform at least 97 per cent of surgeries within a maximum of 12 months.

Late Friday evening, Health Minister Christian Dubé passed an amendment lowering the age of doctors who will be exempt from 65 and over to 63 and over.

Doctors have argued from the outset that they do not have the resources to meet the government’s targets. They say that one-third of operating rooms in Quebec are currently closed.

They also accuse Quebec of wanting “fast-food” medicine, focused on volume.

“I am thinking of the patients, (…) we have to do things differently, (…) the current situation is not sustainable,” Dubé argued during the debates.

Furious, the Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists (FMSQ) announced on Friday it would challenge the law in court.

Dubé invited doctors to let the dust settle and consider the new law as a whole, which includes 214 articles, before making any decisions.

This is the eighth gag order imposed by the Legault government since it came to power in 2018.

This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews