Bill 2: Negotiations have broken down between family doctors and Quebec

Negotiations between the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) and the Legault government have broken down, nine days after they resumed.

On his way into the National Assembly on Thursday morning, Premier François Legault said that he was learning the news at the same time as the reporters there and added that, “There are hundreds of thousands of Quebecers who don’t have access to a family doctor. So we need to find solutions together.”

The FMOQ spokesperson confirmed Thursday morning that negotiations had ended, adding that nothing was working and that the government remained entrenched in its position.

Treasury Board President France Élaine Duranceau expressed her disappointment following the announcement, “Well, I’m surprised. First of all, I’m surprised. And I’m a bit disappointed because during a negotiation, there are hard times and discussions that are more difficult. But it doesn’t mean that you have to break the table and discuss that openly. I think I spoke with Dr. Amyot. We’re still at the table on our end. So we’ll be ready when they are to continue the conversation.”

“I think the FMOQ really exposed that the vulnerability levels that we needed to work on that. So we’ve been having those conversations over the past days and weeks. And we agree that there’s something to do there. We also made commitments for the GMFs with regards to the resources that they need. So there are many other things that I discussed at the table. And ultimately, whatever the agreement is, we’re open to modify Bill number 2 to reflect that. So a lot of openness, but we can’t be, it takes two to tango, right?”

Negotiations resumed Nov. 26

The CAQ government and the FMOQ announced the resumption of negotiations on Nov. 26 after FMOQ president Dr. Marc-André Amyot travelled to Quebec City for a sit-down meeting with Premier Legault.

The provincial government then stated it was open to making amendments to Bill 2, which has generated significant discontent within the medical community. 

“The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss possible solutions to the current impasse,” the FMOQ wrote in a Facebook post afterwards. “The FMOQ reiterated the urgent need for action to stabilize the situation on the ground, as physicians announce their departures and patients lose access to essential care.

“We said that we were open if we had an agreement to change bill number two. And this agreement needs to show that we’re taking more patients. And more patients are covered by the general, the GPs. So first element, open to modify bill number two,” said Duranceau on Thursday. “Second element, we’re also open to review the level of vulnerability for various patients and reflect the difficulty or the challenges of those vulnerabilities. And we’ve made important commitments relatively to the GMFs. And also, the FMOQ has asked us to have a transition committee to make sure that in the event of an agreement, things would go smoothly. And we said we were open to that.”

Since then family clinics have said they will be forced to close if Bill 2 comes into effect in the new year and said “It’s going to be chaos.”

According to a survey by the Journal de Montréal, roughly 40 clinics across the province say they may also shut down in the wake of Bill 2.

“A lot of doctors are considering making decisions. What I’m saying is that we’re showing a lot of openness on many aspects of what was proposed, and to please wait before making decisions that are not, in my view, optimal,” added Duranceau.

-With files from La Presse Canadienne