Quebec adopts sweeping health-care reform bill
CBC
The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government has adopted its sweeping health-care reform legislation, Bill 15.
The motion was adopted at 5:15 a.m. following an electronic vote at the National Assembly, with 75 votes in favour, 27 against and no abstentions.
Overnight, MNAs debated the bill, which centralizes much of the health-care system's decision making in a new entity, Santé Québec.
After failing to reach an agreement with opposition parties to extend the session on Friday, the CAQ government invoked closure — a procedure that enables it to end debate and fast track the bill's adoption, before the end of the legislative session.
Parliamentary business was adjourned until Jan. 30, 2024.
This marks the fifth time the government has invoked closure since coming into power in 2018.
Health Minister Christian Dubé said at a news conference Saturday that Bill 15 is intended to make the health-care system more efficient.
For instance, he said it would allow Quebecers to access a medical specialist more quickly and "no longer be refused access to a hospital because we don't have the right postal code."
He added that health-care workers will be experiencing "significant changes in the coming months and it will be up to us [the government] to properly explain these changes."
The bill contained nearly 1,200 articles, making it one of the most imposing bills in Quebec history.
It will make way for the creation of provincial agency, Santé Québec, which will oversee all activities related to the public health-care system, including providing services and facilitating access. The Health Ministry would provide the agency's guidelines.
Santé Québec will become the sole employer, integrating the CISSS and CIUSSS networks. Union accreditations will be merged and a single seniority list will be established, allowing staff to move from one region to another.
Québec Solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said the bill is the "opposite of change."
"We have been centralizing, privatizing and bureaucratizing the health system for 25 years and this bill continues in that direction," he said.
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