Quebec doctors once again pressuring the CAQ to abandon Dubé’s health bill

Elementary and high school students in Quebec will no longer be required to get a doctor's note for short absences from school. (Pexels)

The Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) is reiterating its desire for the CAQ to abandon Bill 106, which aims, among other things, to link up to 25 per cent of family doctors’ remuneration to performance indicators.

In an open letter published Wednesday, FMOQ said it listened carefully to Premier François Legault’s speech following the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ)’s defeat in the Arthabaska by-election.

“The fresh start the premier wants should be an opportunity to abandon this bill and make the right diagnosis. The plain truth is that Quebec is short 2,000 family doctors,” wrote FMOQ president and CEO Dr. Marc-André Amyot in the letter.

He deplores the government’s desire to force doctors to practice “fast food medicine” by linking the performance of general practitioners “not to the quality and relevance of consultations, but solely to volume.”

Upon entering the cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning, Health Minister Christian Dubé defended Bill 106.

“I, too, met with several doctors over the summer. I met many Quebecers who do not have family doctors and who are not receiving care. So I think our bill is justified,” he told reporters.

Negotiations for a new framework agreement began in August 2024 between the government and family doctors. The two sides have several points of contention.

The FMOQ says it is prepared to go to arbitration as a means of resolution. Dubé responded that he has been hearing this for a long time and that his priority remains providing access to Quebecers.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 13, 2025.