#bill 2

Over 250 Quebec doctors are applying to be able to work in Ontario, according to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. The surge of applications is happening in the wake of a controversial bill reforming doctors’ pay, which was passed on Oct. 25 in Quebec. In just over two weeks, the CPSO saw over 13 times more applicants than the 19 total received from June 1 to Oct. 22 this year, according to data provided in a statement to CBC Toronto. As of Monday morning, 263 Quebec doctors had applied to be licensed in Ontario since Oct. 23, according to the statement. Of those 263 applicants, 35 have been approved for certificates, the CPSO said.

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Clinique L’Agora, a vital health care hub for Montreal’s most vulnerable populations, says it will be forced to close on April 1 due to Quebec’s new Bill 2. Critics warn the law threatens to make it financially impossible for clinics serving patients with complex needs to operate. Under the legislation, doctors could see up to 15 per cent of their pay cut based on criteria yet to be defined, potentially impacting clinics that care for LGBTQ2 patients, sex workers, and people experiencing homelessness or patients who often require longer, more intensive care. Founded in 2019, Clinique L’Agora serves roughly 6,000 patients, many living with addiction, HIV, hepatitis, or serious mental health challenges. Some patients don’t even have a RAMQ card, yet the clinic’s philosophy has always been to make them feel safe, welcomed, and cared for.

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More than 10,000 demonstrators descended on Montreal’s Bell Centre on Sunday to demand the suspension of a new law that changes how doctors in the province are paid. Organized by a quartet of medical federations, the protest took aim at legislation known as Bill 2 that Premier François Legault forced through the national assembly late last month. “This is a united message from the four medical federations, from all the experts in Quebec, telling François Legault and (Health Minister) Christian Dubé to put Bill 2 on hold,” said Dr. Marc-André Amyot, president of the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec, shortly before the event kicked off.

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Western Quebec's health authority says it is concerned that 15,000 people there are in the process of losing their family doctor. However, fewer doctors are leaving and fewer patients are affected than previously thought. As of mid-December, when the Coalition Avenir Québec backed down and overhauled its controversial Bill 2, the group representing western Quebec's family doctors said 41 of them were leaving. Health authority CISSSO told Radio-Canada Monday that 24 family doctors and nine specialists have finalized their departures since Bill 2 was passed at the end of October.

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With his signature legislation to modernize doctor compensation diluted, Christian Dubé announced on Thursday he would resign as health minister and quit the Coalition Avenir Québec party altogether. In a letter published on social media, Dubé said he is not the right person to continue negotiations with family doctors over changes to a controversial doctor-payment law that he had championed.

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