2023-10-25 23:47:37
Former Quebec Prime Minister Lucien Bouchard visited TVA Nouvelles to defend the open letter he signed with five other former Quebec prime ministers to express their concerns to Minister Dubé, and which was criticized by the former Minister of Health, Gaétan Barrette.
• Read also: Letter from the six ex-prime ministers: Quebec does not flinch in the face of pressure from ex-PMs
• Read also: Letter from 6 former prime ministers of Quebec concerned about the effects of the Dubé health reform
In interview on the show The JoustMr. Barrette described this outing as “a diplomatic ballet of the powerful […] who defend the preserves.
Mr. Bouchard says he is “troubled” by this description which he refutes across the board.
“That once in my post-career, in 21, 22, 23 years, I express an opinion, does that make me a powerful person who wants to manipulate the levers of public power? No, he says. The powerful are those who are imposing on us the reforms which will go down our throats and who will do so against the will and the interest of the patients who are treated by these university hospitals and these institutes which are excellence.”
“In our system there are businesses that work and others that don’t. Those that work, we must not demolish them, we must not hinder them, he adds. To attribute such petty motives to people who do this on a purely voluntary basis to serve, they have many other things to do and so do the rest of us. I’m not happy to hear things like that.”
In their letter, the prime ministers notably criticized the pooling of university institutes and hospital centers under a single new state corporation which would have “a significant negative impact on these institutions which play an essential role in Quebec society”.
They also say they fear a drop in donations, because “individuals are not looking to finance a system, but an object, an institution”.
“It is the will of the donors that is in question,” says the man who was Prime Minister of Quebec between 1996 and 2001. “It is not the government that will decide who gives and who does not.”
“Someone who finds that it is not necessary to give to one place because it will be a huge legal patent controlled by civil servants, I am not interested in giving my money, I want to give elsewhere: That is the decision of an individual, he adds. It’s not the minister who will decide.”
François Legault’s decision on Wednesday to take a position in favor of the reform of his Minister of Health did not surprise Mr. Bouchard.
“I expected it,” he admits. It is the government which is keeping its line and as much as it can hold it, it will hold it.”
The former prime minister nevertheless defends his point of view and that of other former Quebec heads of state.
“What troubles me is to say that people who want to maintain the level of excellence of these institutions are using small powers to defend their private preserves. Does that mean that the goal of the reform is to prevent people from continuing to give and volunteer? Is that the goal? It looks like it’s starting to look like that.”
Watch the full interview in the video above
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