Far from calming things down, the tabling of Bill 28, which is supposed to put an end to the state of health emergency, has sown a wedge between the Legault government and the opposition parties.
Confusion reigned in the National Assembly on Thursday -- the day after Health Minister Christian Dubé introduced the legislation -- as to the nature of the document and the government's real intentions. Support from opposition parties seems far from certain.
According to the opposition parties, contrary to what the government claims, Bill 28 will not put an end to the health state of emergency, nor will it limit the government's power to enter into direct contracts. Moreover, the government is being accused of lacking transparency, being dishonest, and seeking to take advantage of the electoral deadline, given that the end of the state of emergency has been postponed until Dec. 31, well after the Oct. 3 general election date.
As he had done the day before, Dubé was on the defensive in a press briefing, seeking to be reassuring, saying that a technical briefing for the opposition would be scheduled next week, probably on Monday, to clarify matters. He maintained that his bill, which has only eight articles, should be passed in its current form.
LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: Why are Quebec opposition parties angry about Bill 28? Political analyst Tom Mulcair weighs in
But "this bill is deliberately vague, to ensure that everything that is in place continues to be in place," said Official Opposition leader Dominique Anglade on Thursday, who said she believes the government can’t justify why it intends to maintain the health emergency for the next nine months "for specific reasons that are not specified in the bill.”
There is "an element of dishonesty in this bill, because it aims to extend the state of emergency, versus lifting the state of emergency," said Anglade, adding that the Legault government was acting in a "partisan manner" to gain electoral advantage.
According to Québec Solidaire, the place for Bill 28 “is in the shredder,” said MNA Vincent Marissal, who rejected the document as a whole, as well as the government's approach.
Bill 28 is "flawed" at its core, said PQ opposition leader Joël Arseneau, "because Premier Legault says he wants to end the health emergency, while still wanting to govern by decree.
"What we were asking for is an end to governance by decree. What Bill 28 does is consolidate a number of decrees. We don't know exactly which ones yet. We had hoped, and still hope, that the state of emergency and governance by decree will end," he said, adding that he’s convinced that what the government is really trying to do is to avoid being accountable to the opposition.
To justify maintaining the state of emergency until Dec. 31, Dubé said that in the event of a sixth wave at the end of the summer, 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.
He believes that the opposition is being "inconsiderate" in rejecting his bill so outright, given that the COVID-19 virus was still present.
Thanks to the health emergency decree, adopted in March 2020, the Legault government has granted itself exceptional powers. Since then, it has been able to bypass collective agreements for health-care workers and carry out contracts by mutual agreement, without calls for tender. Nothing in the bill would prevent the government from continuing to award contracts without a call for tenders.
