The federation representing Quebec’s medical specialists says it will take the government to court to challenge Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault\u2019s bill, tabled this morning, that changes doctors\u2019 remuneration and seeks to end their pressure tactics.<\/p>\n
The president of the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration des m\u00e9decins sp\u00e9cialistes du Qu\u00e9bec (FMSQ), Dr. Vincent Oliva, says it has already begun the legal process.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that there are legal elements in this that are absolutely ridiculous and questionable,\u201d he said Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Bill 2, titled an Act mainly to establish collective responsibility with respect to improvement of access to medical services and to ensure continuity of provision of those services, follows the broad lines of what was laid out in Bill 106, which was tabled in May, including linking physicians’ pay to performance indicators to get them to take on heavier patient loads. <\/p>\n
The special law comes after the province tabled its fourth offer amid stalled negotiations and pressure tactics by doctors and medical specialists, who have been without a contract since 2023.<\/p>\n
“[Health Minister Christian Dub\u00e9] lured us to the negotiation table four times while he was working on a bill that he planned to adopt all along,” said Oliva. “That’s more than bad faith, it’s lying.”<\/p>\n
Speaking with reporters on Friday afternoon, Dub\u00e9 defended the special legislation, saying the government had no choice but to ”draw a line” to make sure Quebecers receive care.<\/p>\n
”I know these are big changes for the doctors,” Dub\u00e9 said, while describing the current health-care system as ”pay-and-pray.”<\/p>\n
”We can no longer do that with the money that we’ve put into health care.” <\/p>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761338708_979_default.jpg\")
Christian Dub\u00e9 spoke with reporters on Friday and defended the special legislation, saying the government had to ”draw a line” and make sure Quebecers are being cared for. (Sylvain Roy Roussel\/CBC)CAQ says bill is for the patients, doctors dispute that <\/p>\n
With 1.5 million Quebecers without a family doctor, including 200,000 patients who are vulnerable, access to health-care services is a top priority, says the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec (CAQ) government. <\/p>\n
Under the proposed legislation, every admissible Quebecer will have to be taken in charge by a family medicine group or the equivalent.<\/p>\n
Technically, 15 per cent of doctors’ annual salaries will be linked to performance indicators, with a collective monetary supplement paid to family doctors and specialists if they reach certain goals aimed at improving access to medical services or ensuring the quality of the services. <\/p>\n
The bill also includes a provision to end pressure tactics by physicians and the groups that represent them, with significant penalties for those who take part in “concerted actions” such as refraining from training future doctors. <\/p>\n
Oliva says he doesn’t encourage doctors to disobey the bill in that aspect. Speaking Friday afternoon, he called the CAQ’s move “authoritarian,” criticizing Dub\u00e9.<\/p>\n
“He unilaterally imposes targets on doctors that he decides himself without providing tools. He unilaterally renews our framework agreement until 2028, he flouts our right to negotiation,” he said. <\/p>\n
Speaking out of Quebec City Friday morning, the president of the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration des m\u00e9decins omnipracticents du Qu\u00e9bec (FMOQ), Dr. Marc-Andr\u00e9 Amyot, said the premier is disconnected from reality on the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The] bill will have devastating effects on the accessibility of services for the population, demotivating effects for doctors,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is a shortage of 2,000 family doctors in Quebec and we are far from improving this shortage with a bill like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he expects a progressive exodus of doctors from the province and early retirement announcements given that 22 per cent of Quebec\u2019s doctors are over the age of 60.<\/p>\n
Amyot says the FMOQ is not against the goals laid out in the bill \u2013 of creating 16.5 million appointment slots per year or ensuring that 98 per cent of surgeries are performed within one year of the surgical request, among others \u2013 but tying those goals to doctors\u2019 remuneration is a mistake, he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I don\u2019t have control \u2013 I don\u2019t have the resources to carry out these appointments. Twenty-five per cent of the resources that were to be provided contractually to family medicine groups (FMG) aren\u2019t being provided,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Amyot says arbitration is still possible if Legault were to take a step back and request it, saying that patients are the “losers in this situation.”<\/p>\n
‘Fast-food medicine’ <\/p>\n
The province’s public health insurance board, the R\u00e9gie de l’assurance maladie du Qu\u00e9bec (RAMQ), will be tasked with putting in place a mechanism to ensure all eligible patients are affiliated with a health facility or family doctor.<\/p>\n
The RAMQ will also be responsible for determining a person’s vulnerability level, with priority given to patients with more serious health problems.<\/p>\n
In the new remuneration model, the doctors will receive a fixed amount based on the number and complexity of patients treated. That amount could range from $2.29 for a healthy patient to $41.19 for a very sick patient.<\/p>\n
They will also receive an hourly rate paid for working hours, including administrative tasks and there will be an amount paid for certain “acts” or specific services, which includes consultations. <\/p>\n
Penalties would also be imposed on doctors who leave Quebec’s public network to practise outside the province. These include fines and loss of years of practice for those who subsequently wish to re-enter the Quebec public network. <\/p>\n
For Dr. Beno\u00eet Heppell, Legault\u2019s bill means his clinic out of Sherbrooke, Que., will have to take in 6,000 new patients and create 12,000 new appointment slots per year, he says. He\u2019s contemplating leaving his teaching job at the University of Sherbrooke\u2019s Faculty of Medicine to better handle the additional workload.<\/p>\n
The new remuneration system, he says, will result in a trade-off between quality of service and quantity, leading to what he and the FMOQ call \u201cfast-food medicine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe quality will decrease and the health-care provider will lose their motivation. They will take this job like a job \u2014 my personal investment maybe will be less than before.\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH | Where Legault stands and how doctors are reacting:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761260588_341_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Quebec \u2018won\u2019t give in\u2019 to doctors as premier threatens bill to end conflict over their pay<\/p>\n
Fran\u00e7ois Legault\u2019s government is planning to table a special legislation Friday at the National Assembly to stop doctors\u2019 pressure tactics and move forward with changes to the way they\u2019re compensated. In a video, Legault said he\u2019s not doing this against doctors but for Quebecers. Heat from the opposition<\/p>\n
Legault’s plan to force through a special law has also been criticized by opposition parties.<\/p>\n
Qu\u00e9bec Solidaire health critic Vincent Marissal said the government’s special law amounts to invoking closure \u2014 a parliamentary procedure that limits the time devoted to debating a motion or bill and thereby fast-tracks its adoption.<\/p>\n
“The opposition is being gagged,” he said, ahead of Friday’s special session. “I am being deprived of my voice in my regular parliamentary work.”<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Marissal said the move would “further poison our already rotten relationships with doctors,” while not providing any benefits to patients. <\/p>\n
During these tense negotiations, the federations representing medical specialists and family doctors both resorted to pressure tactics, such as refraining from teaching medical students.<\/p>\n