Political campaign Archives

Can we afford a strong health and social service system? – Part 2

17 April 2023 |

When it comes to investing in public services, the political class is quick to dish up the same old phony pragmatism: there’s no money in the coffers (apart from the occasional band-aid measure) and money doesn’t grow on trees. In the first article in our series “Can we afford a strong health and social service system?” we looked at the state of public finances to rebut the first claim. This time we consider the revenue sources our government could draw upon to ensure better funding of the public health and social service system.

Can we afford a strong health and social service system? Part 1

3 April 2023 |

When it comes to investing in public services, the political class is quick to dish up the same old phony pragmatism: there’s no money in the coffers (apart from the occasional band-aid measure) and money doesn’t grow on trees. In this first article in our series “Can we afford a strong health and social service system?” we assess the first of these claims by looking at Québec’s current financial situation as outlined in the 2023-2024 budget. And as for the question of whether money grows on trees, stay tuned for our next article on the sources of revenue available to the government.

The secret to a strong health and social service system

4 March 2023 |

The discontent with the current state of the health and social service system is palpable. Given all the broken promises to Quebecers – to put an end to waiting lists and give everyone access to a family doctor – it’s little wonder government pledges to fix the problems with the health-care system are greeted with suspicion. In contrast to the threadbare solutions contained in the Legault government’s health-care reform plan (cost control, phony decentralization, expanding the role of the private sector, etc.), the APTS has a distinctly different vision for the health care and social service system. Our vision is outlined in our political platform and we’ll be promoting it with a campaign under the theme “A strong union for a strong public system.” It lays out the kind of health-care system Quebecers deserve and the principles that should guide any government that’s serious about making it better.

Why Québec needs a universal public drug insurance plan

1 March 2023 |

A number of union organizations, including the APTS, are calling loudly and clearly for universal pharmacare that would give the entire Canadian population access to public prescription drug insurance. The question that arises is how this demand is relevant to Québec.

The private sector in health care: panacea or bad idea?

26 October 2022 |

The private sector’s role in health care was on everyone’s lips during the election campaign, but given the widely diverging opinions, there was no clear understanding of how that might be interpreted. François Legault said he wanted to accelerate the “migration” of primary care services to family medicine groups (GMFs) and give private clinics more latitude in specialized care. Dominique Anglade wanted a major push to clear the surgery backlog, through agreements with the private sector. Eric Duhaime bluntly questioned the basic principle of keeping public and private health care separate. And Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois tersely commented that if private health care worked, we’d know about it.