CALEB NICKERSON
CAMPBELL’S BAY Feb. 26, 2020
The MRC Pontiac council of mayors held a special meeting on Feb. 26 to discuss the six month closure of the obstetrics unit at . . .
the Pontiac Community Hospital that was announced on Feb. 21.
The council had an hour-long, closed-door meeting with a delegation from the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSSO) prior to the public meeting. The group included CISSSO Director General Josée Filion, Assistant DG Stephane Lance, as well as representatives of different departments.
The only item on the public meeting’s agenda was the resolution requesting that the Quebec government address the interprovincial wage gap for nurses (estimated at roughly $20,000 per year), which passed unanimously. The resolution also mandates the creations of a working group with members from the MRC and CISSSO. The members from the MRC will be Warden Jane Toller, Mansfield Mayor Gilles Dionne, Shawville Mayor Sandra Murray and Campbell’s Bay Mayor
The resolution, which was read aloud in both English and French, points out several salient facts, such as the previous resolution that the council passed at their regular monthly meeting on Feb. 19, asking the province to declare a “special status” for the Outaouais. It mentions the report released by Santé Outaouais in 2017 that discussed the repercussions of the “Barette reforms” passed by the previous Liberal government that amalgamated health services across the province.
Another point raised was the passing of a motion in October 2019 by CAQ Minister for Families and the Outaouais, Mathieu Lacombe, which outlined the underfunding of Outaouais health care facilities.
Warden Jane Toller, speaking in a media scrum after the meeting, said that the discussion with the CISSSO delegation was positive and productive. She said the wage gap with Ontario was the most important issue to address, and noted the importance of taking swift action.
“What is urgent here today, on March 10 the provincial government is voting on their budget, so we have a window of opportunity to secure the $20,000 per position,” she said. “The goal tonight was to open the discussion with the CISSSO. The CISSSO are not political, they’re not the Liberals, they’re not Le CAQ, they need our support.”
“I’m very satisfied, because with a short time frame, the most urgent thing, in our opinion, is the salary equality and to ask for it before they put their budget to rest,” she added.
Toller said the CISSSO delegation also pointed out that the Pontiac region is the least healthy in all Quebec, with heightened rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease. She said this would be a good reason for the province to invest in the region’s health care facilities.
She concluded the scrum by saying that the MRC would be looking at ways to make Pontiac an attractive place for nurses and other health care workers to live.
“Sometimes it takes a crisis to have a much greater opportunity to improve things,” she said. “Ever since the Barette reform, it’s been difficult for the people in that hospital, who have had things one way and then a big change. I think that overall, what we’re interested in is, yes fixing the obstetrics issue, but overall it’s a much bigger picture. We want to bring the Pontiac hospital back to the place where it was. Everyone in the Pontiac is proud of that hospital, but we want the people who work there to know how much they’re appreciated and we want them to feel good about working there.”
