FRansua Legault, leader Quebec's coalition government, Avenir Québec, has earned its reputation as an authoritarian government. Over the past seven years, he has repeatedly used emergency parliamentary tools to consolidate power and evade democratic control. The premier invoked the provision to shield two major laws from Charter challenge—effectively placing them outside judicial review—and relied on closure to cut through the controversial legislation, ending debate. Most recently, the CAQ again used cloture to speed up consideration of Bill 2, highlighting Legault's preference for control over consultation.
The CAQ says its new legislation aims to wrest control from a fragmented and ineffective system and ensure equal access for all Quebecers. It is trying to do that by completely overhauling the way doctors are paid, tying compensation to performance metrics that doctors say are unrealistic, especially after the government cut $1.5 billion in health care, leading to the very shortages and delays it now says it wants to fix. These cuts have seriously compromised the system's efficiency, deprived staff of resources, and limited access to care—issues far beyond physicians' control. Even more alarming, doctors warn, the new law threatens their constitutional right to dissent by imposing fines of up to $20,000 a day for public protest.
In 2018, one of the CAQ's main election promises was that all Quebecers would have access to a doctor. Seven years later About 1.5 million Quebecers still do not have a family doctor. Premier Legault now believes he can ensure every Quebecer has access to a health care professional by 2026 (coincidentally, a provincial election year), although access to a general practitioner remains difficult. waiting lists for appointments with specialists have almost doubled over the past five years, and waiting lists for surgery remain high, almost 30 percent of operating rooms The province's public network closed in 2024 due to staff shortages.
Doctors say Bill 2's repressive demands punish them for the government's own mistakes. “They introduced a bill that affects our remuneration without even consulting us while we are negotiating,” Véronique Godbu. said back in Junewhen I interviewed her for Cult of MTL. A practicing orthopedic surgeon and president of the Quebec Orthopedic Association, she calls the government's actions “disrespectful and humiliating.”
She's not the only doctor who's furious. Andre Vincent, a leading physician at a network of family doctors in Montreal called Groupe de médecine de famille (GMF), is a French-Albertan who fell in love with Quebec during her medical residency at McGill and decided to stay. Now she's considering moving back out west. She says the government is pushing legislation based on false premises. “The facts were wrong from the beginning,” she says. “The bill works if there are enough doctors and resources, but they aren't. We can no longer meet the demand, and many of us are already working more than forty hours a week. It's still not enough.”
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé insists the reforms will improve access to health care by encouraging doctors to see more patients. Francine Goldberg, owner of GMF Multispecialty Clinic, says the move will do the exact opposite. “Minister Dube has little understanding of what is happening on the ground and on the front line.” Vincent denies accusations of privilege made by Dube and Legault. “They accuse us of being lazy and not wanting to work,” she says. In reality, Goldberg explains, doctors feel trapped in a system that strips them of professional autonomy. She points to specific criteria set by the new centralized agency Santé Québec, such as the number of patients treated, availability of appointments, level of follow-up and performance measures, which she says trumps doctors' ability to decide how best to treat patients and manage their workload.
The result, she said, will be predictable. They'll just leave. “Clinics will lose doctors, so patients will lose access to specialists, and family doctors won't be able to keep up with everything. I'll spend my days fielding angry phone calls from sick patients who can't get care, and won't be able to do a single thing to help them.”
The response was unprecedented. Two Quebec federations representing medical specialists and family doctors in the province, filed a lawsuit challenging the legislation. A fifth of doctors at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Family Medicine Group plan to leave Quebec. according to Montreal Gazette. Three chief doctors of the health department of western Quebec in Otaouai have already resigned.
Many doctors suspended clinical work last month, further limiting patient access, while students at all four medical schools voted for the strike. Montreal Gazette reports that nearly 400 doctors have already applied for licenses in other provinces, with Ontario and New Brunswick seeing significant increases in applications.
The social fallout has not escaped the ranks of the CAQ. After the daughter of Human Services Secretary Lionel Carman, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, published an open letter to… DutyStating that she could move elsewhere in Canada if the government “would not allow her to practice freely,” Carmant resigned. explanation he “chose his family.” He now sits as an independent MP.
A few days later, CAQ National Assembly member Isabelle Poulet would be expelled from the party caucus by Prime Minister Legault after she openly criticized Bill 2 and was about to cross the hall and join the Liberal Party of Quebec.
While internal conflict erupts within the CAQ, other provinces are actively trying to poach Quebec doctors. Ontario Premier Doug Ford even encouraged an exodus of doctors from Quebec. jokingly inviting Those interested can call 1-800-Doug-Ford and be reached by cell phone during the press conference. “We will make you work very quickly,” he said. “Come on in. We'll roll out the red carpet for you.” The move angered Legault, who called Ford's statement “completely unacceptable“
A province with a rapidly aging population and a growing physician shortage cannot afford to lose more doctors. The new legislation could also deter medical students, residents and aspiring doctors from choosing Quebec as a place to study or practice as the province's reputation suffers from what critics say is excessive scrutiny and oversight. Doctors are already angry about micromanagement, especially in such a stressful environment and a growing administrative burden that has left many feeling stretched thin.
Many questions remain regarding legislation. Performance indicators are determined at the discretion of the government and may vary by region. There is not yet a transparent, standardized system for calculating and communicating these goals. “Who decides whether a doctor is doing enough? Bureaucrats who have never treated a patient?” says Goldberg. “The metrics aren't defined. Would you sign a contract that doesn't have the clauses defined? That's what they do to doctors.”
Ultimately, Goldberg says, the bill penalizes Quebecers the most. “Highly desirable professionals can—if necessary—leave,” she says. “They can leave and hang their shingles elsewhere. The government is punishing the public.”
Although Prime Minister Legault continues to pursue a tough policy, there are signs that he may be succumbing to public pressure. The CAQ suspended two key parts of Bill 2 that would have eliminated bonuses for doctors and invited them to return to negotiations. Vincent isn't sure the move will be enough to reassure the medical community. “At this stage it will be consultation, not negotiation,” she says. “Because the law has already been written.”
Beneath the anger and frustration lies deep concern about the future of Quebec's health-care system and what it could mean for a population already struggling to access health services. “If this actually happened,” Vincent says, citing the law, “I wouldn’t want to be sick here next year.”
