Taylor Clark

LJI Reporter

The contingency plan announced by the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais has generated sharp reactions from Outaouais elected officials.

“No government in Canada must accept the state of things in the Outaouais region of Quebec,” Gatineau MP Steven MacKinnon said in a video posted to his X account. “People are going to die. People will suffer.”

Wanting to give its limited staff a break this summer, CISSSO chief executive officer Marc Bilodeau announced reductions to services like non-urgent operations and medical imaging, along with a contingency plan which he hoped not to put into action.

“My number one priority is that the contingency plan remains only a plan that will never be implemented,” said Bilodeau.

The contingency plan considered the closure of certain operating lines. Some partial, others total. The same was said for medical imaging.

“I am confident that we have the resources in place to be able to respond to (the needs of the public) during the summer. The plan, ultimately, is just a workaround or a spare tire,” said Bilodeau.

Following the release of the plan, MacKinnon posted a video to his X account, demanding an end to all the excuses.

“This is a situation that must concern the highest levels of the Government of Quebec … Professionals go out of their way to keep this system propped up, but the health situation is a catastrophe,” said MacKinnon.

Hours later, MNA Mathieu Lacombe, the Minister responsible for the Outaouais region, reposted the video, criticizing MacKinnon for making irresponsible comments.

“We must work together, not scare citizens by taking shortcuts. If the federal government wants to help us, rather than lecturing us, it could write us a cheque to increase health transfers, as Quebec and all the provinces have been demanding for several years. It would be more productive,” wrote Lacombe.

MacKinnon was not the only MP sharing concerns at the slash of summer services. The same day, Pontiac MP Sophie Chatel sent a letter to Lacombe and Quebec Minister of Health Christian Dubé calling for “urgent action to avoid a breakdown in health-care services in our region.”

“It is therefore essential that Quebec establish sustainable solutions to ensure the continuity of health services in the Outaouais, including the creation of an action plan for all health personnel in the Outaouais,” read the letter.

The MP went on to highlight solutions put forward by constituents and regional health experts, such as increasing the salary premium and improving working conditions as well as prioritizing interregional equity in the allocation of health resources and funding.

“Health mainly falls under the jurisdiction of Quebec, and this is why Outaouais needs your immediate support to establish an urgent action plan. When a crisis occurs in a region, it is imperative that all levels of government work together to find effective solutions,” wrote Chatel.

Pontiac MNA André Fortin was able to put his questions to the Minister of Health face-to-face during Assembly Proceedings on May 23.

“People in Outaouais are already afraid. The patients are afraid. The doctors are afraid. Madam Speaker, as a resident, I am afraid of the services that we will provide in Outaouais this summer,” he said. “What are you waiting for?”

Similar to what was done in Côte-Nord or Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Dubé said solutions would be found. “We couldn’t be doing more work to find solutions.”

Prior to the proceedings, Fortin held a press scrum alongside Conseil des médecins, dentistes et pharmaciens president Dr. Peter Bonneville to share their concerns about the current contingency plan that Bonneville said would endanger the Outaouais population.

“We are doing what we can with what we have, and it is very difficult,” said the Gatineau emergency room doctor. “I am ashamed of the care we are giving in the Outaouais at the moment … I am ashamed to be in a province where there is inaction regarding what is happening in the Outaouais.”

Bonneville reiterated the demand laid out in the Change.org petition he started in late April, calling on Dubé to implement differentiated compensation “to stop the hemorrhage of departures.”

Later that evening, Lacombe took to Facebook to say he had met with Bonneville and assured the more than 23,000 signatories that they could count on their regional caucus to assert their right to quality health care.

“We will not let the population down. It is our responsibility,” wrote Lacombe.

Photo caption: Pontiac MNA André Fortin is joined by Dr. Peter Bonneville in a press scrum to share their concerns about the CISSSO’s contingency plan that Bonneville believes will endanger the Outaouais population.

Photo credit: Screenshot from André Fortin press scrum at the National Assembly of Quebec on May 23