{"id":249237,"date":"2025-10-24T19:22:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T19:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/249237\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T19:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T19:22:09","slug":"medical-specialists-to-challenge-quebecs-special-bill-forcing-new-deal-with-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/249237\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical specialists to challenge Quebec’s special bill forcing new deal with doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The federation representing medical specialists in Quebec says it’s turning to the courts to challenge Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault\u2019s bill changing doctors\u2019 remuneration, tabled this morning.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/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

More to come. A previous version of the story can be read below.<\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7ois Legault’s Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec government is forcing through special legislation to change the compensation model for family doctors and medical specialists and put an end to pressure tactics. <\/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, was tabled at the National Assembly Friday morning. <\/p>\n

The premier said the state of negotiations with Quebec doctors and medical specialists had left him with no other choice, saying “we are not doing this against doctors, we are doing this for Quebecers.”<\/p>\n

With 1.5 million Quebecers without a family doctor, including 200\u2009000 patients who are vulnerable, access to health-care services is a top priority, says the CAQ. <\/p>\n

Under the proposed legislation, every admissible Quebecer will have to be taken in charge by a a family medicine group or the equivalent. <\/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 a priority given to patients with more serious health problems.<\/p>\n

The proposed legislation 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

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

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

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

The medical specialists\u2019 federation released a statement saying, \u201cWe were taken for a ride. It was all scripted for a possible challenge to his law.”<\/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

On Thursday, the federation representing family doctors announced it would end its boycott<\/a>, at the pleading of Quebec Liberal Leader Pablo Rodriguez. It also took a jab at Legault, saying he should ”fully play his role as premier” and involve himself more in negotiations instead of resorting to special legislation.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Where Legault stands and how doctors are reacting:\"\"<\/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. ‘Declaration of war’<\/p>\n

The province said its fourth and latest offer \u2014 rejected by medical specialists\u00a0just hours after it was tabled Wednesday \u2014 aimed to address doctors’ concerns about the lack of resources needed to reach the performance targets.<\/p>\n

The proposal would have guaranteed that regulations linking physicians’ pay to performance would not be changed for the first two years after the law takes effect. <\/p>\n

It would set aside $50 million for 500 additional health professionals in family medicine groups starting in 2026, and $120 million over four years to improve the patient-physician matching system, which many specialists say is failing.<\/p>\n

To address operating room shortages, Quebec pledged $400 million over four years, adding eight new ORs and strengthening management. <\/p>\n

Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec executives would also be subject to performance targets tied to their pay. <\/p>\n

Vincent Oliva, head of the medical specialists\u2019 federation, criticized the offer, calling it \u201cthe same thing four times, even with setbacks,\u201d and urged a non-binding arbitration mechanism. The association called Quebec\u2019s new offer a \u201cdeclaration of war.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federation representing medical specialists in Quebec says it’s turning to the courts to challenge Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-249237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}