Medical specialists accuse health minister of lying

Quebec's Federation of Medical Specialists says Health Minister Gaetan Barrette is making false accusations against the group to score political points.

Negotiations over salary increases for doctors are becoming increasingly tense and the FMSQ wants Premier Couillard to get involved.

The organization's president says doctors are not getting the respect they deserve in the negotiating room, which they find appalling since Barrette used to lead the FMSQ.

"He gave his word, he said he wouldn't re-open the agreement and here we are," said Diane Francoeur, FMSQ president.

Francoeur said it was wrong for Barrette to pretend doctors were not willing to make concessions, and to blur the lines between demands from specialists and those of family doctors.

At a news conference Wednesday, two dozen doctors in white lab coats stood behind Francoeur – a symbol of solidarity.

“Yesterday in every newspaper, the debate was, ‘It's a problem with Diane Francoeur and Gaetan Barrette.’ It's not my problem. It's our problem, because we are all together in that and the issue is very important for us,” she said.

One key argument is how quickly the salaries of medical specialists would be increased, and Barrette has said the provincial government is too strapped for cash to provide the raises immediately, and so much spread it out over several years.

He, for one, is upset with the tone being used by his fellow doctors.

“It's quite unfortunate that they are taking that direction as we speak, I will let them answer those questions,” said Barrette. "They will be judged by the population and at a time where we are asking everyone in our society to take measures, make decisions that are difficult, to come out and say something like that. It's quite unacceptable."

Francoeur said that is not right and that doctors simply want what was promised to them.

"For us it's really important that we're able to speak out and say what is going on during the negotiations," said Barrette.

Barrette accused the federation of trying to be dogmatic, trying to take more money at the expense of public finances.

What’s more, Barrette claims the FMSQ threatened pressure tactics if they don’t get their way.

“At a time where we're asking everyone in our society to take measures and make decisions that are difficult to come out and say something like that is quite unacceptable,” he said.

Barrette also says the federation isn't willing to budge.

“They have not come to the table with a concrete, definitive and numbered proposal,” he said.

The federation claims Barrette is making false statements.

Francoeur says specialists offered to make concessions, including accepting a salary freeze this year, and taking just half of their expected raise the following year.

“Dr. Barrette went a bit too far in saying that we were not open for discussion, that we were not giving any money that we didn't want to open the timeline of the negotiation. We're not there, not at all,” she said.

The federation is calling on Premier Philippe Couillard to step in.

“We ask the (premier) to ask Dr. Barrette to be respectful,” she said.

Francoeur also accused Barrette of hypocrisy, since he was the president of the federation who negotiated the original deal for specialists.

“He left from here to go there. He has to deal with this situation. When you speak out on something and you change your mind a few years later, you're stuck with that,” she said.

Barrette has warned if there's no compromise within a couple of weeks, the government will pass a special law to settle the dispute.

The federation said it's nothing more than a calculated political move.