Business leaders criticize Legault government over delays on Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital reconstruction

Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital on Tuesday Sept. 17, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

At a summit on economic development in the east end of Montreal, the Legault government came under fire for postponing the reconstruction of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital.

“Considering the dilapidated state of Maisonneuve-Rosemont and considering that this project has been announced three times by two governments, we are officially asking the Quebec government today to find the necessary solutions to launch the work this spring,” said Jean-Denis Charest, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Montreal East, on Monday at the East Summit.

The statement was met with applause. The subject was on many people’s minds at the event, which was attended by 1,000 people, including elected representatives and members of the region’s socio-economic community.

For Charest, the dilapidated hospital is “something of a symbol” of the under-investment in the region over the past 40 years.

Christine Fréchette, the minister responsible for Greater Montreal and the Montreal region, said that the government was trying to move as quickly as possible on this issue but would not say whether it would be possible to start work as early as this spring.

“We’re going to turn over all the stones to see what can be done,” she told a press scrum.

The minister was at the summit to announce investments of $8 million in the region.

She told reporters, who only had questions about the hospital, that other projects were moving forward, whether in the economic, cultural or housing sectors.

She referred in particular to the fact that her government had allocated an overall budget of $200 million to decontaminate land in the east.

“There are other elements too that would be of interest for the population to know about.”

Luc Rabouin, who is responsible for economic development in the Plante administration, is at a loss to explain why the project has not yet been launched.

“There’s no doubt that it can generate a certain amount of cynicism, because in the end, there are all the projects that we’re announcing, that we’re proud of, that contribute to the development of the east, but the most important one is the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital,” he said during a press scrum.

“If we can’t treat the people who live in the east, it doesn’t really make sense to plan development,” added Rabouin.

Parti Québécois (PQ) Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon criticized the Legault government’s record in east-end Montreal.

“It’s easy to give speeches and make announcements to the tune of $700,000 here and $2 million there, but there are people who need care in absolutely unacceptable conditions,” he said.

St-Pierre Plamondon fears that human lives are at risk because of the hospital’s dilapidated state. Hospital staff have already voiced similar concerns.

“When I visited the hospital, one of the lifts was still blocked,” said the PQ leader. “Recently, an employee was caught in the lift and the fire department had to be sent in to get that person out. It could be a patient being transferred to an operating room.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French April 7, 2025.