All five Quebec political parties are scrambling to fix the province’s broken health-care system with wide-ranging promises. However, patients and advocates are wary that it will actually work. “It’s very busy,” said family physician Dr. Paul Saba. “I work Monday through Friday. I do take calls on weekends.” Family doctors are overworked, and 1.5 million Quebecers are still on the waiting list. The CAQ says if re-elected, it would allow doctors to practice in the private and public sectors. The party, along with the Conservatives, would both rely on the private sector to reduce health-care wait times. Whereas Quebec Solidaire (QS) would halt the privatization of the health-care system, something Saba agrees with. “So the solution isn’t private health care,” he said. “The solution is to strengthen and bolster our publicly funded health-care system.” QS, the Liberals and Parti Québécois (PQ) would all invest more in CLSCs, making them gateways or a point of access to the system. Patients’ rights advocate Paul Brunet says this is the biggest priority. “A lot of them are not talking to patients,” said Brunet. “We’re talking to patients. What they need is a strong action towards having access to primary care.” Saba says more family doctors are needed to fix the system. The CAQ says it would train more doctors in regional areas, and the PQ would increase the number of doctors by expanding medical school cohorts. “We need to increase the remuneration to make it more attractive for people to go into family medicine, because right now, lots of the residency positions aren’t filled,” said Saba.
