social services

Public Services in Quebec Under Scrutiny: Ombudsperson’s 2023-2024 Report Highlights Systemic Failures and Calls for Change

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

Dylan Adams Lemaçon LJI Reporter

Last month, the Protecteur du citoyen, Marc-André Dowd, released his highly anticipated 2023-2024 Annual Report, shedding light on widespread challenges in Quebec’s public services. The report emphasizes systemic failures in various sectors, ranging from public health and social services to corrections and public integrity, calling on government bodies to prioritize citizen needs and restore accountability.

Long Waits and Service Disruptions Plague Government Agencies

The report reveals that government departments and agencies often fail to prioritize citizens, leading to delayed services and long wait times. Problems with reaching the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL), and delays in issuing crucial civil documents, such as birth and death certificates, have been flagged. The Protecteur also raised concerns about the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), where the transition to a new platform led to issues like wrongful license suspensions. While labor shortages were acknowledged, Dowd stressed that they should not serve as an excuse for consistent service disruptions. The Ombudsperson called for an urgent reevaluation of how public services manage their responsibilities, putting citizens’ needs at the forefront. 

Indigenous Communities Still Waiting for Action on Viens Commission Recommendations

The report also included the first progress update on the Viens Commission, which investigates the treatment of Indigenous peoples by public services. While some improvements were noted, such as safety initiatives for Indigenous women, the Ombudsperson criticized the pace of reform, including the failure to integrate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Quebec’s legal framework. 

Depersonalization in Healthcare: A Call for Humanized Services

Health and social services are struggling with a lack of resources, leading to what Dowd describes as “depersonalization.” Staff shortages and high turnover have forced many care providers to focus solely on essential services, often reducing patients to their clinical profiles rather than treating them as individuals. The Protecteur du citoyen’s investigations revealed inadequately trained staff in care facilities, leading to improper use of control measures and insufficient care for vulnerable populations, including the elderly and those in youth protection. As Quebec introduces new health reforms, the Ombudsperson warned that real progress would only be made if these initiatives ensure more personalized and accessible care. Concerns remain, particularly regarding the treatment of those in long-term care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Serious Failures in Correctional Facilities

Dowd’s report uncovered alarming issues within Quebec’s detention centers, where chronic staff shortages have compromised basic human rights. Incarcerated individuals have faced extended periods of confinement, lacked access to clean clothing, and been subjected to restrictive measures, such as the unnecessary use of handcuffs, due to infrastructure inadequacies. Despite a new training center for correctional officers, 20.5% of regular positions remain vacant. The report also highlighted procedural failures during disciplinary hearings, which risked denying prisoners a fair process, and flagged ongoing problems with the transition of healthcare management from public security to health authorities. 

Public Integrity: Ending Corruption and Irregularities

Investigations into public integrity revealed numerous cases of favoritism, cost overruns, and misuse of public funds. Examples include a school director bypassing hiring protocols to appoint an ex-colleague, and private expenses being wrongly charged to public funds in CHSLDs (long-term care homes). Dowd noted that while exposing misconduct is crucial, the priority is to end these practices and prevent recurrence. With new legislative changes set to expand the Protecteur du citoyen’s role in managing ethics within government bodies, Dowd expressed his commitment to promoting transparency and ethical governance. 

Record Number of Complaints Filed 

The Protecteur du citoyen processed a record 24,867 requests this year, an increase from 2022-2023. The agency found nearly 45% of complaints about health and social services to be justified, with the rate rising to 61% for long-term care facilities and 50.3% for hospitals. Complaints also surged in correctional services and public integrity, reflecting growing public dissatisfaction with government oversight.

A Call for Change

Despite the significant challenges, Dowd concluded that public services are generally cooperative in addressing their shortcomings. However, he emphasized the need for sustained efforts to ensure that citizens, particularly the most vulnerable, are not left behind. The full 2023-2024 report is available on the Protecteur du citoyen’s website.

Public Services in Quebec Under Scrutiny: Ombudsperson’s 2023-2024 Report Highlights Systemic Failures and Calls for Change Read More »

Three municipalities join network to help victims of domestic violence

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

Sarah Rennie – LJI reporter

The municipalities of Dundee, Howick and Très-Saint-Sacrement are taking a stand against domestic violence.

All three have partnered with Commerces-Secours to join the network of local businesses and organizations offering a welcoming haven where victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or abuse can go to access support.

Dundee’s mayor, Linda Gagnon, says the initiative started with a suggestion by director general Marc Michot that the municipality do something about violence against women. “We were looking for something that was already organized and structured,” she explains. Fortunately, the two soon found themselves in a meeting that included a presentation on the Commerces-Secours program. “We jumped at the chance!” she exclaims.

A Commerces-Secours sticker is now displayed in the front window of the town hall, and all municipal employees have received awareness training so they can welcome and reassure victims while directing them to a designated space in the building equipped with a telephone and appropriate resources. Those working in the post office housed in the same building have received the same training.

“It is important,” says the mayor, who notes the municipality has previously dealt with incidences related to domestic violence. “We are very isolated,” she admits, while suggesting that because the town hall, post office, and municipal park are all located in the same space, victims will be able to come without raising suspicion. “Citizens have been reacting very, very positively,” she confirms.

Sonia Viau, a support worker with Résidence-Elle du Haut-Saint-Laurent, which is a partner organization with Commerces-Secours, says their goal is to have an affiliated location in each municipality. She says strategic locations such as the town hall in Dundee, as well as those in Howick and Très-Saint-Sacrement, are very important. “If a victim goes to ask for help and is turned away, she won’t seek help again,” she explains, highlighting the importance of the awareness training provided by Commerce-Secours partner organizations.

The network now includes at least nine businesses and organizations across the Vaudreuil-Soulages region, as well as Beauharnois-Salaberry, and the Haut-Saint-Laurent. According to Viau, Commerces-Secours has seen a spike in new member organizations following the March 14 launch of its new website and branding. She says they have received around ten new requests from businesses and organizations in the Vaudreuil area, and at least five located in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.

Gagnon says she is hopeful that more municipalities in the Haut-Saint-Laurent will follow Dundee’s lead and join the network.

For more information on the Commerces-Secours network, contact Sonia Viau at rellesensibilisation@hotmail.com.

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Q&A with new CISSSO CEO

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

Sophie Kuijper Dickson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Former Armed Forces Surgeon-General now<br>leading Outaouais health and social services<br>Former Armed Forces Surgeon-General now<br>leading Outaouais health and social services

The organization responsible for delivering healthcare services in the Outaouais has new leadership.
Marc Bilodeau was hired as president and chief executive officer of the Centre intégré de santé et des services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSSO) last fall, and began his official four-year term in the position in January.

He was previously Major-General with the Canadian Armed Forces, serving as Surgeon-General.
Bilodeau said he had never been past Luskville, but will be making his first visit to the region in early March to meet with healthcare teams as well as elected officials and community partners.
THE EQUITY accepted CISSSO’s invitation for a 15-minute interview with Bilodeau to ask a few pressing questions ahead of this visit.
Questions and answers have been edited for clarity.

What is your general sense of the healthcare
challenges in the Pontiac region?

There are some challenges that are common to many of our rural areas in the Outaouais region. Obviously proximity to services, the long distances to drive to obtain access to care, a pre-hospital care service is always a challenge as well in remote areas because of the fact that we just don’t have enough ambulances to cover every single village.

Specifically for the Pontiac, there’s obviously a proximity to Ontario. I’m fully aware that many of our Quebecers have just decided to cross the river to receive care on the other side. I’m aware, obviously, that we’ve cut some services in the recent past, including the obstetrics, and
that has created some challenges locally. I’m still learning though. It’s my fifth week on the job and I’m still learning about trying to build a picture of what it looks like and how I can influence it more positively in order to keep providing the care that our citizens of the Pontiac deserve.

Does CISSSO have any plans to make it easier for senior and
low-income community members to access basic services locally,
including gynecology, urology and dermatology appointments?

This is definitely one of my objectives, to assess the needs of the population and make sure that I’m doing my best to support those needs, with the level of resources as close as possible to where they live.

Having said that, human resources in healthcare is a challenge and finding the right professionals that are willing to go to the Pontiac or to relocate there is not as easy as it sounds. We need to manage that scarcity of resources in order to make sure that we do the best we can to support residents of our remote or rural communities.

We need also to be creative in the solutions we are putting in place. You mentioned dermatology. That’s a very good example of services that are proven to be delivered very well virtually. So figuring out ways to make it easy for people, even for older people that are not familiar with technology, needs to be one of our objectives. That would avoid people traveling to the city, but also specialists from the city traveling to the Pontiac if it’s not required.

We lose a lot of our nurses to Ontario. What do you suggest should be done to retain these nurses in our own healthcare system?

As you know, there are some collective agreements being negotiated now at the government level, and there might be new tools in that collective agreement that would facilitate us keeping our nurses and other healthcare professionals on this side of the border.

And if not, then it’s my role to make sure that I’m making sure that the Minister of Health is fully aware of the unique context of the Outaouais region [so we can] work together trying to find solutions
Having said that, it’s not only about compensation, it’s also about work conditions. And for that, we have some levers internally to make sure that we’re making the work conditions as safe and as respectful and as enjoyable as possible, so that at least we can retain the people we have. We have many professionals that are passionate about what they do. All they want is to provide the best care possible to their patients. I think we have a pretty good base to build on with that energy that I’ve seen in our teams already.
All we need to do is be more creative in recruiting more, trying to work with our academic institutions in order to produce more locally as well, and ultimately be able to retain those people through the best work conditions possible.

Some Pontiac residents are worried we will continue to lose critical local services as Quebec’s new healthcare agency, Santé Québec, is rolled out. There are some specific concerns around the fate of the Fort Coulonge/Mansfield CLSC. Is there anything you can say to put these fears to rest?

I’m not tracking any specific challenges to that CLSC. Honestly, I’m new in the job and perhaps it hasn’t reached my level yet. Regarding the new reform, all I have to say is I don’t think it’s going to change significantly, the structure locally or regionally, in terms of how we provide care. There’s going to be even more focus on trying to have more local leadership like what Ms. Nicole Boucher-Larivière is providing to the Pontiac. She reports directly to me as the CEO here and she is my eyes, my ears and my hands on the ground, if you will, trying to make sure that I’m keeping my fingers on the pulse of the Pontiac region and not losing track of the challenges there. So the new reform would just reinforce that proximity of leadership that we’ve established in the last year here in the Outaouais. I think every change is an opportunity and I see that opportunity as an opportunity for us to do better. One of the big focuses of the new law is to improve access, quality and better coordination of services.

Last fall Pontiac saw the creation of a new CISSSO user committee, after six years without one. Some people involved are concerned the work they are doing to represent the healthcare needs on the ground in the region will be rendered useless under Quebec’s new healthcare agency, Santé Québec. Can you address these concerns?

I don’t think they’re going to be less important. I think, perhaps, the role will change a bit, and they are going to be given perhaps more importance. As you know, the current board of directors that we have to help me manage the CISSS de l’Outaouais is going to be transforming to a user committee instead, an institution committee if you will. There’s going to be one board of directors at the provincial level, and all of ours will be more local, to help us improve the quality of the care and make sure that we’re responding to the needs of the population. So I honestly see more opportunities for those committees to contribute, and I look forward to engaging with the users committee of the Pontiac, especially when I visit there in two weeks.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with
readers of THE EQUITY?

I’m here to do my best to improve the access and the quality of the care and social services that are being delivered to the Pontiac population, and ultimately do my best to improve the overall health of the population. We are facing many challenges from a demographic perspective that is making it very challenging to do, but at the same time this is my responsibility, and I sincerely hope that I can make a difference.

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