PLQ: Charles Milliard proposes telemedicine 7 days a week

Telemedicine 7 days a week: this is one of the measures that a candidate for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), Charles Milliard, wants to implement to resolve the problem of access to primary care in Quebec.

The Canadian Press obtained details of the Liberal candidate’s health plan on Tuesday.

Access to health care will likely remain one of the issues of the 2026 election campaign, and if he is chosen leader of the PLQ at the June convention, Milliard intends to address this.

Among other things, it proposes a public telemedicine clinic accessible 7 days a week to relieve emergency room congestion and expand access to care. It also focuses on improving access to mental health care.   

The pharmacist by training also wants to increase the number of college and university health programs in the region, particularly in nuclear medicine techniques, medical ultrasound and radiation oncology.

In addition, a PLQ led by Milliard would advocate the creation of a faculty of medicine within the Université du Québec network, to promote family medicine, anchored in the region and dedicated to the public network.

The PLQ leadership candidate wants the costs of medical procedures performed in the private sector to be aligned with those set within the public network. 

A Milliard government would also commit to modifying the list of acts reserved for different professions, to make even greater use of nurses, pharmacists, psychologists and physiotherapists.

Milliard was president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce before entering the race.

The PLQ will elect its new leader on June 14 at the end of a convention to be held in Quebec City. 

In addition to Milliard, former federal minister Pablo Rodriguez, former president of the Employers’ Council and former MNA Karl Blackburn, lawyer Marc Bélanger and farmer Mario Roy are also in the running.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews