Quebec house leader Jolin-Barrette makes a counter-offer to the opposition parties on health-care bill

Quebec Government House Leader Simon Jolin-Barrette has made a counter-offer to the opposition parties to extend the detailed study of Bill 15 by four days next week.

His last offer, which was rejected by the Parti Québécois (PQ), was to add three days of committee study on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with a view to passing the bill on Thursday, Dec. 14.

This time, Jolin-Barrette is proposing to conclude the work and adopt the voluminous piece of legislation on Friday, Dec. 15.

These are exceptional negotiations, as the parliamentary session ends on Friday.

Earlier in the morning, opposition parties pointed out that a great deal of work remained to be done to improve Bill 15, which would create the Santé Québec agency and merge union accreditations.

Bundles of amendments have been tabled by the government in recent days.

If elected representatives rush Bill 15 through, it could be riddled with errors, warned Québec Solidaire (QS) MNA Guillaume Cliche-Rivard at a press briefing on Thursday.

PQ health spokesman Joël Arseneau suggested that MNAs did not have to accommodate a health minister in a hurry to pass his reform because he was "tired."

If the opposition rejects Jolin-Barrette's new scenario, the government could invole closure as early as Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 7, 2023.