6 CAQ promises broken or delayed (by the pandemic, or other)
The Premier of Quebec, François Legault
The electoral sprint is launched. While François Legault's term in office, his government has so far fulfilled 81% of its 251 election promises made in 2018. But some CAQ promises have been delayed or even broken, among other things because of the COVID pandemic -19. Here are six commitments that have yet to be fulfilled.
A doctor for all
When he was elected, the CAQ promised a family doctor for all Quebecers. Citizens “will be able to consult him or a specialized nurse practitioner within a maximum period of 36 hours, within 4 years”, it was indicated in 2018. The pandemic certainly affects the government's record. Legault. Nevertheless, the findings remain the same as before the party came to power, when one in five people still do not have a doctor.
Under the circumstances, the target has been revised: under the strategic plan of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Quebec wants 85% of the population to have access to a general practitioner by 2023. In this sense, a draft law was passed in November, making it easier for network managers to obtain data on physicians' hours of practice. They must take care of more patients, it is estimated.
But this bill is only a “working framework”: Quebec must always come to an agreement with the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) to apply it. The remuneration of these doctors must also be reviewed.
CPE: the process engaged
The CAQ prided itself on being the party proposing the most measures to ensure the & rsquo; family access to childcare centers. Today, 50,000 children are on the waiting lists of childcare centers, a number which, by Quebec & rsquo; own confession, is very likely to be undervalued. François Legault's bet is now to guarantee a place for all in childcare centers by 2025.
Concretely, 3 billion dollars have been invested to achieve this. To create these places, new installations will open their doors. Under an ongoing call for projects, 17,000 places will be created. Others will be provided by the conversion of non-subsidized places to subsidized places, and by the maximum number of children allowed per establishment, which will be reduced from 80 to 100 for private daycares. Childcare centers will now be able to accommodate up to 500 children in different facilities.
Quebec's biggest challenge will be in human resources. The creation of these places will require the hiring of 17,800 additional educators.
Electoral reform discarded
Here, we can already talk about a broken promise from François Legault and the CAQ. The party has confirmed that it will not recall its Bill 39 on the reform of the voting system before the next election. We must even forget the long-term idea: such a reform will be excluded from the next electoral platform of the CAQ, according to the magazine L & rsquo; Actualité . With the pandemic, François Legault would have realized that the issue no longer interested Quebecers.
This is not without frustrating the opposition parties. In 2018, Québec solidaire and the Parti Québécois rallied behind the CAQ for this issue. “We will not do like Justin Trudeau”, then said François Legault, criticizing his federal counterpart who had also paraded on a reform.
Credit to artists
The laws surrounding the status of artists have remained the same since 1988. A change is necessary, estimated the CAQ in 2018, in particular to offer cultural workers more adequate social protection and help the community to face the precariousness of the sector. The pandemic will have demonstrated this: culture was one of the first environments to be shaken by the closures.
But since the election of the CAQ, no concrete action has been taken for reform. According to La Presse , the Minister of Culture Nathalie Roy will meet with associations from the arts community here in mid-January.
Protect whistleblowers
The CAQ and François Legault had made the promise to institute measures to protect whistleblowers, but here again we have a promise that has been delayed or broken until now. A report was tabled to this effect in June 2020, and a parliamentary committee is due to be held on the subject. But his work has still not started, almost a year and a half later.
The & nbsp; An Act to facilitate the disclosure of wrongdoing with regard to public bodies must be adopted. According to the filed report, several business owners handle complaints from whistleblowers themselves. Necessarily, such a process keeps internal complaints mute.
Overtime for nurses
When the CAQ of François Legault made the promise of & rsquo; Eliminating mandatory overtime (OST) for health care workers before his election, the party had no idea it would have to contend with a pandemic once in power. The network is currently stuck in a vicious circle: with a shortage of nurses, they have to work long shifts. But, exhausted in front of the required workload, they left their functions.
The Legault government's solution is therefore to bring several nurses back into the network. To achieve this, $ 1 billion was invested in the granting of various bonuses. Until then, the TSO remains in place.
