Quebec optometrists planning legal action against order to stay in public system

An eye chart is seen through a phoropter, which is used to determine a person's vision correction needs, at an optometrist's office on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Jenny Kane / The Associated Press)

The Quebec Optometrists Association (AOQ) plans to challenge Quebec’s order, forcing the medical practitioners to participate in the public system.

The AOQ said in a news release on Wednesday that it will take legal steps to challenge the Health Ministry’s order preventing optometrists from opting out of the public plan.

“The [Health] Act recognizes the right of every professional not to participate in the public plan, and we deeply deplore the government's attitude,” said AOQ president Dr. Guillaume Fortin. “Negotiations have been dragging on for nearly five years. We are disturbed by this heavy-handed approach, even though we have been waiting for a reasonable offer for years. We will immediately take the appropriate legal steps to challenge the merits of the ministerial order.”

Health Minister Christian Dube said in a statement that "children and the elderly must not bear the brunt of the negotiations."

"The ministerial decree will protect vulnerable customers from union pressure tactics: services must be offered to vulnerable patients during the negotiations," he said. "Negotiations must now take place at the table. The priority is to offer quality services to the public."

The AOQ said in October that the majority in the profession would withdraw from the public health-care insurance program (RAMQ) because of an impasse in negotiations over Quebec’s compensation to them.

The negotiations are for the renewal of the five-year agreement on fees, which expired in 2020, between the AOQ and the Health Ministry. The agreement covers those under 18 and over 65 years old, as well as those in lower income brackets.

The withdrawal was set for Thursday.

“Our operating costs have risen three times faster than the government's fee-for-service rates, so that our remuneration per RAMQ patient visit is now only $3.50,” said Fortin. “The clienteles affected represent 55 per cent of optometrists' patients, and this proportion is growing.”

Make doctors do the same

The order for optometrists to work within the public sector, prompted the CSN union to call for Health Minister Christian Dube to force doctors in the private system to work within the public system.

“Now is not the time for small measures; we need a structural solution to stem the exodus of doctors to the private sector,” said CSN (Confédération des syndicats nationaux) president Caroline Senneville. “As the government demonstrated this morning, all we need is political will and sustained action.”

The CSN has been calling on Quebec to halt the exodus of doctors to the private system.

“When a doctor leaves for the private sector, he's not leaving alone: he's taking a whole team of workers with him,” said Senneville. “This desertion weakens our network, amplifies the vicious circle of lack of resources and lengthens waiting lists.”

On Saturday, the CSN will hold a protest rally against private health care in Trois-Rivieres, which, the union says, will be attended by Quebec solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Parti Quebecois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.