2 doctors’ federations to challenge Quebec’s special bill forcing new deal

The federations representing Quebec’s medical specialists and family doctors say they will take the government to court to challenge Premier François Legault’s bill, tabled Friday morning, that changes doctors’ remuneration and seeks to end their pressure tactics.

The special legislation was adopted into law early Saturday morning with a vote of 63 to 27, despite strong opposition from medical professionals and members of opposing political parties.

The president of the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ), Dr. Vincent Oliva, says it has already begun the legal process. 

“It’s clear that there are legal elements in this that are absolutely ridiculous and questionable,” he said Friday afternoon.

A few hours later, the Fédération des médecins omnipracticiens du Québec (FMOQ) announced it was following suit.

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.

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.

“[Health Minister Christian Dubé] 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.”

Speaking with reporters on Friday afternoon, Dubé defended the special legislation, saying the government had no choice but to ”draw a line” to make sure Quebecers receive care.

”I know these are big changes for the doctors,” Dubé said, while describing the current health-care system as ”pay-and-pray.”

”We can no longer do that with the money that we’ve put into health care.”

CAQ says bill is for the patients, doctors dispute that

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 Québec (CAQ) government.

Under the proposed legislation, every admissible Quebecer will have to be assigned to a family medicine group or the equivalent.

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.

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.

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 Dubé.

“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.

Speaking out of Quebec City Friday morning, the president of the FMOQ, Dr. Marc-André Amyot, said the premier is disconnected from reality on the ground.