Opposition parties have stated they will not run in the by-elections this week, before the Quebec National Assembly convenes next Tuesday. The number one priority for all political parties is the restoration of a health care system destroyed by COVID-19.
During his last few COVID-19 press conferences, Quebec Premier François Legault often returned to the same analogy: there was light at the end of the tunnel. At its last press conference, he announced, Quebec, on the other hand, came to the fore.
However, he said the health care train along the road was badly damaged.
Read more:
Quebec announces slow reopening of COVID-19 restrictions, gyms, bars not included
“Our health network needs an overhaul and the overhaul needs to be built around people who work in the health care network,” Legault said.
Legault said scholarships were created in nursing for anyone looking for a new career. Health Minister Christian Dubé will present a reconstruction plan next month.
Opposition parties in Quebec are also working on their own plans, something that could become a ballot box issue during the fall election.
Read more:
Quebec surpasses 13,000 COVID-19 deaths, the highest in Canada
“The train was already in a very bad state when the pandemic started,” Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-spokesman for Quebec Solidaire, told a national conference in a press conference on Wednesday ahead of a two-day pre-session caucus.
Quebec and Canada have one of the lowest hospital capacities in the world. France, for example, has more than double the number of beds available per capita.
Mehdi Ammi, an associate professor at Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration, said this is something the Quebec government will need to address.
“I’m not saying we should have a number of beds that should be there for a crisis situation, because these beds are expensive,” he explained.
“It’s more that I say we’re too low.”
Read more:
Quebec lays foundation for modernizing health data systems
Ammi said the government would need to equip the health network to deal with future waves without endangering other treatments or delaying surgeries. Opposition parties have stated they will not run in the by-elections, which will see the National Assembly convening for a new session next week.
“What we need to do now is get the train ready,” Nadeau-Dubois said, using Legault’s analogy.
“Punishing unvaccinated Quebecers will not fix the train,” he added, referring to the government’s proposed health tax for the unvaccinated.
Quebec Solidaire and the Quebec Liberal Party say it is a distraction and an attempt to find a scapegoat.
“Not only did we have measures that were restrictive, including two curfew rules, but the results are not there,” Liberal leader Dominique Anglade said.
“They have to take some of the responsibility and instead of doing it, they came up with this idea.”
Read more:
How would Quebec’s taxes affect the unvaccinated vulnerable communities?
This is an idea, Nadeau-Dubois added, which is punitive and will do nothing to create more hospital beds.
Instead, Quebec Solidaire wants the National Assembly to focus the debate on this session on the distribution of N95 masks in the health network and to the general population. It also wants a real debate on ventilation in schools.
“Why are we in January 2022 and we still have the same problem in our schools?” said Manon Massé, QS MNA.
View link »
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Reference-globalnews.ca