The Liberals put forth their health program

At the heart of Liberal Party plans is the hiring of 1500 doctors and 2000 nurses.

Emphasizing that human resources constitute the first challenge to resolve in the health sector, the premier noted that 67% of all new expenditures authorized by his government went to improvement in health services, measures which included the adding of 500 physicians to the human resources pool.

“The hiring of doctors and nurses is central to the offering of more and faster services,” Mr. Charest stated. He projects that during his second mandate every family, senior citizen and people with special needs will have benefit of a family doctor.

The price tag for adding these human resources is estimated at $700 million. Notably, the new health plan calls for measures to retain professionals above and beyond the age of 50. At the Cité de la Santé press conference, the premier revealed that his government will bring in more measures to train more nurses more broadly so that physicians can concentrate on the more serious cases requiring their specialized attention.

A few minutes later, Health and Social Services Minister Philippe Couillard, added that Laval was one of the regions that suffered from “budgetary under-funding” under the Parti québécois administration (1994-2003).

Philippe Couillard, for his part, took on the Parti québécois. “When the PQ talks about health care, one gets the impression that the pyromaniac is telling the firefighters where to aim the water hose,” he stated.

The health minister noted that the PQ program does nothing to cast doubt on the Liberal Party’s policies and measures in health and social services.

(Photo: Martin Alarie)