This week, as a part of our ongoing election series, THE EQUITY canvassed the candidates of all the parties running in the riding on their policy positions on healthcare and climate change.

Starting with healthcare, the candidates offered different perspectives on what was causing the healthcare crisis locally.

Quebec solidaire (QS) candidate Mike Owen Sebagenzi stated the broader healthcare crisis in the . . .

province was rooted in past budget cuts.

“In Quebec [the crisis] is mainly due to the QLP measures regarding centralization of health care, hospitals and doctors and the budgetary cuts that were done into our public health system,” said Sebagenzi.

CAQ candidate Corrine Canuel-Jolicœur also blamed the QLP, though from a different angle, writing: “What is specific to our region is the negligence of the five Liberal MNAs out of five who represented the Outaouais for more than 40 years. They took the region for granted and the consequences are still being felt today.”

QLP incumbent MNA André Fortin, pointed out the previous reduction of services in the last few years, particularly the obstetrics units at the Pontiac Community Hospital, as being the responsibility of the CAQ government as it was the party that ultimately in power when it happened.

Green Party of Quebec (GPQ) candidate Pierre Cyr blamed past political leadership in general, writing: “The current health crises are the result of lack of vision, planning and leadership of our political leaders over the last 20 years. The GPQ is for a major decentralization of the health system but, first and foremost, we need to assess the situation as a whole and then make appropriate decisions to adapt and improve the efficiency of the health care services.”

The CaPQ candidate Will Twolan offered a detailed list of causes of the crisis, dating back to the 1990s. Briefly, Twolan listed he introduction of privatized services in to the health system over the past 35 years, the laying off nurses during the Lucien Bouchard government, Bill 10 passed by the Liberals in 2015 which centralized healthcare in the province, inflexible distribution of doctors across the province and the over bureaucratization and over regulation of the healthcare system.

Despite their differing ideological stances, all of the candidates focused on common explanations for the crisis centring on the nationwide lack of healthcare workers and the Outaouais’ and the Pontiac’s proximity to Ontario, meaning that healthcare workers have somewhere else to go close by that offered better pay and working conditions.

Proposed Solutions

In terms of what they would do about it, the candidates each offered novel solutions.

Fortin of the QLP called for higher wages and better conditions. “We need to pay [nurses] the exact same amount as an Ontario,” said Fortin. “If we don’t do that, we are going to keep digging our hole. We’re going to keep losing nurses, we’re going to keep losing services. We’re going to keep losing health care professionals.”

Fortin also advocated for dedicated daycare spots reserved for health care workers, which he said would help attract and retain medical professionals that require reliable childcare in order to go to work. He also advocated for ending forced overtime in Quebec hospitals, which he says drives nurses away.

The CAQ focused much on solutions outlined in their health plan which was passed last spring and include specific investment amounts.

“The next CAQ government will invest an additional $400 million to implement several possible solutions identified in the Health Plan,” wrote Canuel-Jolicœur. “These investments will be used to train and recruit an additional 660 doctors and 5,000 health professionals. They will be granted more autonomy and powers so that they can provide more care.”

Canuel-Jolicœur also said the CAQ will introduce a Your Health platform for Quebecers to easily book medical appointments, an improved province wide medical transport system, invest $900 million over four years in expanding homecare for seniors and introducing competitive wages working conditions for nurses and other medical professionals in the Pontiac.

Sebagenzi said the QS proposes to spend $500 million to expand the number of CLSCs in Quebec which would help make so that services are geographically dispersed and therefore more accessible.

Sebagenzi also promised to improve the conditions of medical professionals by “humanizing and valorizing” the profession, which would in turn attract more people to the sector.

“We need to better treat people who are studying healthcare. When we look at nursing, they need better pay during their internships. We have to have internships that are accessible in the region students are studying in so healthcares becomes a more attractive course of study,” said Sebagenzi.

The CaPQ proposed 30 recommendations and proposals in its 27-page Health & Social Services Package, but five of them Twolan chose to highlight include: “Eliminating to the furthest extent possible the contracting out of healthcare services to private concerns as a means of improving accessibility guarantees and health outcomes”; dramatically improving wages, benefits and working conditions to public sector nurses; passing a Patients’ Bill of Rights for all Quebecers which would clearly define what every Quebec resident is entitled to when dealing with all aspects of the healthcare system; introducing new criteria governing the distribution of nurses across the province, which special provisions mandating bilingual doctors are sent to areas with a high population of English speakers; and a medical intervention outreach system which could be sent to underserved local area as a stopgap for regional understaffing.

Cyr said an overhaul of the health system that would rely on professionals within the system, user associations and community organizations was necessary. He also added that much of the problem with the health system was not not simply a lack of staff, but also a lack of political will.

Privatization

One of the more controversial proposals comes from the Conserative Party of Quebec (CPQ). Pontiac candidate Terrance Watters wrote that: “The PCQ proposes to multiply the service offer by allowing the arrival of the private sector for health care. Concrete measures would be to allow a private insurer while retaining the public insurer, the RAMQ, as well as to allow physicians to work in both systems. A possible example would be that the Shawville Hospital would become private and still serve all Pontiac citizens through the public system. In addition, it would be able to serve citizens from the rest of Quebec and Canada through a private insurer.”

The idea of privatizing healthcare has been attacked by other candidates.

“When you’re talking about privatizing the hospital like that, you might as well talk about closing it, ‘’ said Fortin while attacking the idea. “Because a hospital in a rural setting doesn’t make money. So, if you privatize that hospital, you might as well close it. And that is probably the last thing that we need to hear in this region.”

“There’s talk around privatizing our health services, and that’s quite dangerous because it’s going to put forward not only a two tier but a three-tier health system that’s very dangerous for Quebec,” said Sebagenzi.

The CaPQ, GPQ and CAQ also cautioned that privatization would be a mistake.

All the candidates added that resolving the healthcare crisis wouldn’t be immediate but a years long process due the labour shortage and systemic nature of much of the problems.

Climate change

The candidates also answered questions concerning their policies on climate change.

“The CAQ government takes the fight against climate change very seriously”, wrote Canuel-Jolicœur. “Quebec is the place in North America where we emit the least greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, we should be proud of that. We are the government that closed the door to oil exploitation in Quebec. Our GHG reduction plan is ambitious and credible.”

In terms of targets and policies the CAQ government has set itself a reduction target of 37.5 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 according to Canuel-Jolicœur. The CAQ also pledged to ban the sale of gas powered vehicles by 2030.

Twolan promises that the CaPQ would be a strong voice in the national assembly that w ould push for GHG emission reductions and views the current government’s plan as timid.

Should it have voice in the national assembly, Twolan wrote that the CaPQ would push for the following policies: “enshrining environmental protection in Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms; introducing levies on Hydro-Québec’s annual earnings to fund climate research; the integration of the UN definition of sustainable consumption into major policy initiatives covering all aspects of life; and the adoption of a plan to completely decarbonize Quebec’s economy by the year 2050.”

Fortin said the QLP is responding to peoples concerns about climate change.

“To me and to a lot of people, climate change is the issue of this generation and the next one,” said Fortin. “We’re seeing what is happening in terms of drastic changes to our environment.”

Fortin advocated for further investment aimed at the electrification of vehicles and the funding of green hydrogen as another alternate fuel to gasoline. Fortin said he would like to see Pontiac utilize its hydro and solar potential to make green hydrogen here rather than it be produced through coal or nuclear power in other jurisdictions.

The CPQ approach involves using Quebec’s resources to reduce GHG emissions at a worldwide level. Watters wrote: “Planet Earth is a system on its own and not an amalgam of distinct territories. Therefore, we must not consider GHG emissions locally and nationally but at a global level. Quebec and Canada, thanks to its many natural resources, can contribute greatly to the reduction of GHGs at the global level. Two major elements at the resource level are hydropower and natural gas for a transition in the next 50 years. The important thing is not only in the exploitation of resources but much more in the development of technologies. If Tesla wasn’t with us today, the electric car wouldn’t be where it is right now. Green change comes through technology, and I dream of a Quebec, in Canada, being a world leader in green technology.”

QS took a far more urgent approach to the matter.

“Climate change is the 21st century issue. We need to tackle it. We just put forward our climate plan: 2030 Vision that proposes a reduction of emissions of 55 per cent going forward to 2030 carbon neutrality in 2050,” said Sebagenzi.

Specifically, QS’ plan focused on changing the transportation sector by funding regional public transportation networks, according to Sebagenzi.

“We’re going to have bus services that are going to go all the way to Fort-Coulonge, so people can have an alternative and stop using their cars if they don’t want to, ‘’ said Sebagenzi.

GPQ candidate Cyr also advocated for massive investment public transit, writing: “One of my top priorities is to have a free public transit system in the Gatineau area and to create a special committee to enhance the efficiency of the system in order to attract new users. We believe that trying to have 100 per cent electric anytime soon is more a fantasy than a reality, especially outside of big, populated areas. Establishing good public transportation between cities as well as investing into a high-speed electric train system (TGV) would be more useful to help us reduce greenhouse gases emissions.”

The candidates were also given the opportunity to list their other environmental priorities.

In terms of conservation, the CAQ pointed to their recent decision to create the protected areas around the Coulonge and Noire rivers as a part of their border environmental program.

Fortin highlighted that the government needs to work with famers in order to ensure that they can transition to more environmentally friendly practices through their own initiative.

Cyr advocated a local waste facility, which would reduce the negative cost of transporting waste outside the Pontiac.

Watters was the only candidate to mention concerns of the Chalk River near surface dump site, writing: “The nuclear deposit in Chalk River, Ontario, must be more than safe. I think this is the main concern at the environmental level for the Pontiac, or even for the entire Outaouais due to its proximity to the region. We understand that despite our opposition, the decision is made, we must now ensure rigorous, constant, and professional monitoring of the systems in place.”

Twolan listed priorities for the forestry industry that included banning or heavily taxing the cutting of forests and using tax revenue to fund tree-planting and the modification of all new forestry permits to require replanting.

Sebagenzi concluded his remarks by emphasising why he views climate action as so necessary for the Pontiac.

“We have a microclimate that causes flooding, that causes tempests and that causes a lot of climate events that are dangerous and that will be exacerbated during the coming years. It’s a priority in the Pontiac.”

PQ candidate Jolaine Paradis-Châteauneuf’s campaign did not respond to the questions before press time, however THE EQUITY plans to interview her this week and hopes to give her the opportunity to state her policy positions.

Next week’s topic will be language policy, identity and federalism vs. sovereignty vs. nationalism in Quebec.

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