Press release

Minister Bachand Recognizes the Need to Invest in Health, But Chooses to Tax Quebecers

Montreal, March 30, 2010 – The budget brought down by Quebec Minister of Finance, Raymond Bachand, stands out from those of his predecessors because he undertakes a needed clean-up of public finances by dealing with government expenses. “This budget is not a lightweight and it will have an enormous impact on the health system,” said Dr. Gaétan Barrette, President of the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ), in his initial reaction to the budget. “Taxation measures revealed by the Minister forecast a new stage in the evolution of our public health system,” he added.

The FMSQ believes that, unfortunately, Minister Bachand is heading the wrong way when it comes to limiting the growth of healthcare expenses to 3.7%. “Even if we include the healthcare user fee which, according to forecasts, would bring the overall margin for increased costs to 5%, we can only come to the conclusion that the government has announced a freeze, or even a reduction, in health services in Quebec,” indicated Dr. Barrette.

Referring to past years when the average increase in healthcare costs stood around 5.8%, the President of the FMSQ predicts difficult times ahead for the Health and Social Services network. “It is impossible to reconcile this goal of rationing the increase to 3.7% with the natural growth in healthcare needs, in particular because of an aging population. This is true even if we add in revenues expected from a deductible or a contribution to the healthcare system which are to bring in some $1.4 billion by 2013-2014. The government will evidently have to turn to additional sources of funding, or else the results will be devastating,” added Dr. Barrette.

The President of the Federation was pleased that the Minister of Finance chose to apply some of the measures the FMSQ had suggested in its ad campaign Expertise Has a Price, specifically royalties on water used as an input or in manufacturing processes as well as a review of mining rights. “The government could have gone much further than it did since our suggestions taken together would have brought in recurrent revenues in excess of 2 billion dollars per year,” concluded Dr. Barrette.

The Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec numbers close to 8,500 members in Quebec, representing 35 medical specialties. It is the sole organization recognized by government with respect to negotiating medical specialists' collective agreements, and is also consulted on all aspects of the organization of medical care in Quebec.