CAQ deputies meet in Rimouski to prepare for the parliamentary session

Photo: Graham Hughes The Canadian Press Premier François Legault at a Coalition Avenir Québec rally in St-Hyacinthe in May.

Caroline Plante – The Canadian Press in Quebec City

Posted at 9:46 a.m.

• Quebec

The 88 elected members of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) met in Rimouski this week to prepare for the next parliamentary session, which will be marked by negotiations with doctors and nurses.

These talks resumed in earnest last week, when the government submitted offers to family doctors and nurses from the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ). The latter have been without an employment contract since March 31, 2023.

Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel and Health Minister Christian Dubé have repeatedly made it known that they are seeking more flexibility from these key players in the health network, with the goal of improving access to care for Quebecers.

But negotiations are tough; nurses, for example, fear being forced to move from one care unit to another, or even from one facility to another, in the name of the “mobility” of staff so sought after by the government. The FIQ has asked its members to refuse to work overtime starting September 19 if there is still no agreement.

In an interview on Mario Dumont's radio show last week, Prime Minister François Legault warned that the negotiations were “very, very difficult.” “I don't expect this to be resolved before Christmas,” he said.

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Sonia LeBel persists in her negotiations with the FIQ and insists on “mobility”

Bills on health, energy and transportation

Until then, two bills that concern health will be scrutinized in the National Assembly: Bill 68, which aims to reduce the administrative burden on doctors, and Bill 67, which expands the powers of certain professionals, such as pharmacists and psychologists.

Other legislative pieces dear to the CAQ will be studied, namely Pierre Fitzgibbon's Bill 69 on energy, Geneviève Guilbault's Bill 61 which would create the Mobilité Infra Québec agency and Jonatan Julien's Bill aimed at reducing the costs and construction times of infrastructure.

The government also indicates that it wants to maintain pressure on Ottawa this fall on the temporary immigration file; The CAQ have been hammering home for months that, in their opinion, Quebec’s reception capacity has been largely exceeded.

Legault will remain discreet again

The watchword among the CAQ: continue the work, without paying too much attention to the polls, which continue, month after month, to place the CAQ in second place in voting intentions, behind the Parti Québécois.

The most recent Léger poll suggests that the CAQ may have managed to slow their decline, however, after Mr. Legault decided to be more discreet and limit his public speaking.

His advisors will encourage him to adopt the same strategy this fall.

Furthermore, even though rumours are becoming increasingly persistent about Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon preparing to leave his position, no ministerial reshuffle is expected this fall.

The National Assembly resumes its work on September 10.