Quebec doctors prepare legal challenge against province’s special law as backlash grows

About 25 family doctors have already said they will be leaving Quebec's public health-care system in response to Health Minister Christian Dubé's special law, the federation representing the doctors told Radio-Canada Tuesday.

Whether they're leaving the province or the profession entirely is unclear, but what is clear is the growing frustration the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s Bill 2 continues to spark among health-care professionals.

"Doctors are angry, they don't know how else to say it to the government. It's tragic what's happening in Quebec currently," said the president of the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ), Dr. Marc-André Amyot.

Now, the federation representing medical specialists in Quebec is filing a lawsuit Wednesday to challenge the law, its president, Dr. Vincent Oliva, announced Tuesday morning. The Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ) will also request a stay of execution, adding that the "violation of individual liberties" will be at the heart of its arguments.

Last week, the FMOQ said it was considering doing the same.

The bill, adopted early Saturday morning less than 24 hours after it was tabled, forces a new remuneration system on doctors, where a portion of their compensation will now be linked to performance targets relating to the number of patients, particularly vulnerable ones, they care for.

"There is really great distress," said Oliva, speaking at a news conference in Quebec City. "I'm ready to take responsibility for things that are under my control. I don't control the organization of care.... What we're saying is we need resources."

Dubé, for his part, is refusing to back down in the face of growing criticism, saying that his job is to "protect the patient."

“These are big changes that we're asking them," he said, referring to medical specialists. "I understand their reaction and that's their right to [take] this legal procedure."

Globe and Mail health columnist André Picard says he's not sure angering doctors will serve patients overall. He says the government should have sought co-operation rather than holding "a gun to people's heads."

"Quebec has failed its negotiation. You know, there's been four offers, they've all been very similar. The doctors have rejected them so you get back to the table and you have to figure it out," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, a group of medical specialists staged a protest outside the National Assembly, standing with tape over their mouths to symbolize the "gag" imposed on them by the government, as one protester described it.

The CAQ invoked closure to rush the adoption of Bill 2, which allows it to end debate and force a vote. But the FMSQ argues the gag metaphor goes even further, saying the law creates a surveillance system where doctors can be reported if there's a disruption in service.

The law also forbids doctors from taking "concerted actions" that negatively affect access to and quality of services — such as the pressure tactics adopted by medical specialists during their contract negotiations with the government last month.