Christinne Muschi The Canadian Press Health Minister Christian Dubé refuses to make new changes to Bill 15.
Health Minister Christian Dubé refuses to modify Bill 15 in reaction to the exit of former prime ministers on the fate that his reform will reserve for research centers like the Montreal Heart Institute.
In a press scrum on Wednesday, Mr. Dubé indicated that university hospitals and institutes needed to “work better together.” He said he had already presented “robust” amendments in response to grievances raised by former prime ministers.
Tuesday, Philippe Couillard, Pauline Marois, Jean Charest, Lucien Bouchard, Pierre Marc Johnson and Daniel Johnson wrote to François Legault to convince him to modify Bill 15, which should notably create the Santé Québec agency. The new structure, they argue, will undermine the autonomy of renowned organizations in the fields of research and philanthropy.
To (re)read
- Christian Dubé's health reform worries former prime ministers
- A short guide to understanding the Dubé reform
The former prime ministers had already contacted Minister Christian Dubé on this subject in recent months, but the amendments he presented on Tuesday were not to their satisfaction.
On Wednesday, the minister of Health emphasized all the “respect” he has for them. “At the same time, I need to find a balance, especially for the patient, the patient who is told “you are not in the regional bank” when he is on the island of Montreal. That, I find unacceptable. »
The PLQ and the PQ support the requests
On Wednesday, the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) and the Parti Québécois (PQ) urged Mr. Dubé to give in to the demands of the six former heads of the Quebec government.
“Christian Dubé must listen to them, declared the MP for Pontiac, the Liberal André Fortin. I've been sitting here for nine years, and I've never seen six prime ministers […] from different political parties […] come together to send a clear message [indicating] that a reform is not satisfactory. »
“We are not trying to repair what is working,” argued the member for Îles-de-la-Madeleine, PQ member Joël Arseneau. The bureaucratic machine wants to absorb university centers, research institutes which operate with the aim of centralization. »
Only Québec solidaire has not taken up this cause. “We will not take advice from Philippe Couillard when it comes to managing the health system,” said co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. Health financing should not be driven by private interests. »