The Quebec government adopted special legislation in the early hours Saturday to force a new remuneration system on doctors.
It was passed just before 4 a.m. after Premier Francois Legault called a special session to rush through the bill, which imposes fines of up to $500,000 per day on doctors who take “concerted action” to challenge the government’s policies
Over the fall, federations representing family doctors and medical specialists had used pressure tactics to oppose the proposed remuneration system, such as refusing to teach medical students.
Under the new law, a portion of doctors’ compensation will now be linked to performance targets relating to the number of patients, particularly vulnerable ones, they care for.
The legislation, Bill 2, passed with a vote of 63 to 27, with Legault present for the vote.
It was presented by Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube on Friday morning and worded similarly to Bill 106, the legislation tabled in May to introduce the new remuneration system, but this time with sections aimed at forcing an end to the labour dispute between the province and its family doctors and medical specialists.
“Once again, we see a sad spectacle of a government on the wrong track,” Liberal health critic Marc Tanguay said Saturday morning.
Vincent Marissal, the health critic for Quebec solidaire, meanwhile called it an attack on “fundamental rights like freedom of expression and the right of association,” warning the law is sure to go “straight to the courts.”
Quebec’s federation of medical specialists already announced Friday that it intends to challenge the law before the courts. The federation representing general practitioners and family doctors has also said it’s considering the same.
The two federations the province has been negotiating with have argued from the outset doctors don’t have the resources to meet the targets proposed under the bill.
Speaking during debate over the bill, Dube said “we need to do things differently,” saying the “current situation isn’t sustainable.”
Opposition parties are criticizing the government for invoking closure to force through the special bill, the eighth time the CAQ government has done so since it came into power in 2018. Invoking closure is a tool that can be used to end debate on a bill and force a vote.
— With files from Caroline Plante.
