Former health minister Gaétan Barrette will not seek re-election in 2022

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Liberal MNA Gaétan Barrette announced on Sunday that he will not seek re-election in 2022.

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Saying he felt serene about his decision, the former health minister did not completely rule out a return to politics at a press conference with Quebec Liberal leader Dominique Anglade at the party’s Montreal headquarters. But he said all the positions he’s held in life, aside from being a doctor, were the result of someone else looking for him, rather than him getting ahead of himself.

“I went into this for you, the citizens. The decisions I made were decisions in his interest, ”said Barrette, 65, describing the proudest achievements in his seven-year political career, particularly former Prime Minister Philippe Couillard’s Health Minister from 2014 to 2018.

He got into trouble with Anglade late last month by getting into the debate over the Quebec government’s efforts to solve the family doctor shortage.

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Barrette, who was not the liberal health critic, stepped on the toes of former liberal health critic Marie Montpetit by tweeting Quebecers “should not believe” the president of the Federation of Omnipratic Doctors du Québec, Louis Godin, when he said that doctors were already working as hard as they could.

Montpetit responded on Twitter that Barrette’s comment was “just as unproductive and displayed the same authoritarian attitude” as Prime Minister François Legault’s threats to doctors, and called for a change of tone in the discussion.

As a result of the public dispute, Anglade left both from his shadow cabinet two weeks ago.

Later, Anglade expelled Montpetit from the caucus following complaints of psychological harassment.

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At Sunday’s press conference, Barrette said the recent controversy was not the reason he planned to leave politics in a year. He already intended to announce before Christmas that he would not run again, but he pushed forward the announcement because of that, he said.

In turn, excited and jovial, he made a strong defense of his record as Minister of Health, while acknowledging that he should have rejected some of the liberals’ most controversial austerity measures.

He also admitted that his reorganization of the health care system, which merged regional health and social services agencies and drastically reduced middle managers, went too far in some cases and some positions should be restored.

But Barrette took credit for bringing the healthcare system into the digital age by creating the Rendez-vous Santé Québec system for making medical appointments and the Carnet Santé, which tracks patients’ medical history and prescriptions. As Minister of Health, he noted, he also oversaw the creation of 72 family health clinics and 49 super health clinics and reduced stays in emergency rooms.

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“The reality is that we literally set up the system that allows front-line care to work,” he said.

Despite controversy over his Bill 20, which threatened GPs with a 30 percent pay cut unless they enrolled more patients, it resulted in one million more Quebecers getting family doctors, he said.

Anglade commended Barrette for improving healthcare and always being available to colleagues seeking information or guidance.

First elected in 2014 as an MNA representing La Pinière en Longueuil, he unsuccessfully ran for the Avenir Québec Coalition in 2012.

While Barrette had professed that returning to the post of health minister was her “deepest wish,” Anglade said in September that she would not fill that role in any government she leads.

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The reaction to Barrette’s decision caused a sensation in political circles even before he announced it publicly.

Gathered for a two-day Avenir Québec Coalition general council in Trois-Rivières, the ministers ducked when asked about Barrette or chose their words carefully.

“I would say he was a formidable adversary, but I will let him make his announcement,” said Ian Lafrenière, minister responsible for Indigenous Affairs. “I hope the best for him in the future.”

“He was a good contributor,” was the highest praise offered by the Minister of Economic Development, Pierre Fitzgibbon. “I have nothing else to say.”

“It’s a great job,” was all former Health Minister Danielle McCann said.

“I think it was an MNA who, to some extent, was a polarizer during his time in the National Assembly,” said Transport Minister François Bonnardel. “He did good things, but some bad things as a minister. His time is up. “

Health Minister Lionel Carmant argued that the health reforms Barrette tried to implement when he was minister were too broad.

“It was tough, especially when it came to human resources,” Carmant said.

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