(Quebec) The civil service has “reached a breaking point,” says official opposition leader Marc Tanguay. Prime Minister François Legault replies that this reading is “exaggerated”.
Posted at 3:41pm Updated at 4:11pm
Stephane Rolland The Canadian Press
These initial talks marked the start of the National Assembly’s resumption of its work on Tuesday.
Mr. Tanguay devoted his first question to access to public services. “Government is in its fifth year and across Quebec citizens are not getting the essential services they are entitled to, particularly in healthcare where the network is at a breaking point in several places,” said the Interim Liberal leader’s leader Party at from Quebec (PLQ). Nurses in hospitals are exhausted and have sounded the alarm. »
The Prime Minister replies that the opposition leader is “exaggerating”. “When the leader of the opposition says that all services are bad everywhere, I think he is exaggerating a bit. There is a crisis in the healthcare network, like everywhere else in the world, but if we look at the results, for example in education, we see that Quebec is still among the best in the PISA tests. [Programme international pour le suivi des acquis des élèves] International. »
Mr Legault invited Mr Tanguay to “read a little bit about what is happening in the international press to see what is happening in other provinces, in other countries. He will find that the situation here is no worse than anywhere else. »
The leader of the official opposition quipped by asking the prime minister if nurses who criticize the situation on the ground “should subscribe to the international publications to which the prime minister refers”.
Mr Legault acknowledged that the situation was unacceptable and that “much work still needs to be done” to improve access to health services. However, the lack of manpower is making the task more difficult, he argues.
For the next question, the official opposition health spokesman, André Fortin, has been hounding Health Minister Christian Dubé about waiting times for cancer patients’ surgeries. “The problem is that it’s not getting better. »
Rather, Mr. Dubé reiterates that the situation is “stabilizing” and that the emergency response is forced to postpone operations. He reiterated his strategy of using the private sector to facilitate access to operations. “We are conducting tenders with private clinics to renew our entire portfolio of private clinics. It’s certain that when it’s ready, we’ll have even more responsiveness to our late-night operations. »