A new bill aimed at ending the public health state of emergency in Quebec is being greeted with skepticism, with some seeing it as a form of "charade" and even "trickery."
When presenting Bill 28 on Wednesday, Health Minister Christian Dubé confirmed that the government would retain extraordinary powers until Dec. 31, 2022.
He explained that in the event of a sixth wave, he wanted to be able to continue to use different vaccinators, as well as have access to certain data and maintain contracts that were signed during the pandemic.
"We need the bill to ensure a transition that I would call prudent and responsible," Dubé said at a press conference, while outside, critics were starting to come from all sides.
For Liberal leader Dominique Anglade, Bill 28 is a "charade," while Quebec Conservative leader Eric Duhaime calls it a "sham."
"This bill is a sham," said Quebec solidaire health critic Vincent Marissal. "There is nothing that changes. The government has the same powers in its hands."
The state of health emergency, declared on March 13, 2020, has given full powers to the Legault government, which has bypassed the collective agreements in health and awarded contracts without a call for tenders, among other things.
This way of managing Quebec has been repeatedly criticized over the past two years by the opposition parties and many experts as a form of abuse of power and a denial of democracy.
They point to the awarding of $13 billion in contracts by mutual agreement since March 2020, according to data compiled by Le Journal de Montréal.
'MORAL INSURANCE'
Nothing in the bill would prevent the government from continuing to award contracts without a call for tenders, although Dubé gave a "moral assurance" on Wednesday that it would not do so.
"We won't use it," he said. "The greatest assurance I can give to Quebecers is ... a moral assurance. We don't want to do it anymore, we don't need it."
This moral assurance did not seem to reassure the leader of the Parti Québécois: "Obviously, it is a great concern and it is not acceptable," said Paul St-Pierre Plamondon in a press conference.
"The real end of the health emergency will be when the government agrees to give up the extraordinary powers it took during the pandemic, including awarding contracts to whomever it wants," he said.
UNIONS OUTRAGED
On the other hand, many unions came out Wednesday to denounce what they perceive as authoritarianism.
"The government wants to keep all its powers to decree the working conditions of the personnel as it sees fit," said the representatives of the FSSS-CSN, the FSQ-CSQ, the FIQ and the FIQP, the SQEES-FTQ, the SCFP, the APTS, the FP-CSN and the SPGQ.
The Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) was also disappointed, calling Bill 28 a "marketing operation."
"We thought we were witnessing the long-awaited return of several rights that had been suppressed, but what we see is an extension of a mode of governance by decree," said its president, Éric Gingras.
The president of the Quebec Federation of Labour (QFL), Daniel Boyer, accused the government of talking "out of both sides of its mouth," that is, announcing the end of the health emergency while maintaining the measures until Dec. 31.
A union representing Quebec teachers is also concerned about the bill. In a news release issued on Wednesday, the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) said the emergency powers allow the government to "unilaterally modify or suspend provisions of duly negotiated collective agreements.
"Over the past two years, public sector employees, including teachers, have had their work contracts unilaterally changed. After class closures and openings with too little notice, distance learning, contingency plans and ever-changing health measures in schools, there is an urgent need to ensure stability in the work environments for teachers and students, wrote FAE President Sylvain Mallette.
"We are well aware that the pandemic is not over, which is why we believe that measures are needed that will ensure the health and safety of teachers, but without granting broad exceptional powers to the Quebec government."
WHAT THE BILL SAYS
Bill 28 -- which has only eight sections -- provides that measures that have been made by order in council and are in force will remain in force until Dec. 31, 2022.
It would, however, authorize the government to amend or repeal an order in council to allow for the gradual reduction of the measures.
The bill would also allow the government to order any department or agency to provide immediate access to information necessary for the protection of the health of the public, "even if the information is personal or confidential."
In addition, it provides that the duration of certain contracts that were entered into during the state of health emergency may be extended until Dec. 31, 2022.
These contracts must be necessary "to ensure the proper operation of screening or vaccination clinics," the bill states.
The duration or value of any contract related to the storage or transportation of goods acquired during the COVID-19 pandemic may also be extended or increased "until supplies are exhausted."
However, the bill specifies that the duration of these contracts cannot exceed a period of five years following the end of the health emergency.
Any person who contravenes a measure that continues to apply, or refuses to provide information that the health minister is entitled to require, would be liable to a fine between $1,000 and $6,000.
Bill 28 would require a detailed review by a parliamentary committee before it is passed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 16, 2022, with reporting from CTV News.
