Bill 2 fallout reaches Outaouais
Tashi Farmilo
A wave of physician resignations in the Outaouais region has raised alarm about the future of local health care. The departures follow the adoption of Bill 2, a health‑care reform law passed by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government on October 25. The law ties part of doctors’ compensation to access‑to‑care targets and gives the government broader authority over physicians’ work. It also imposes penalties for collective actions, such as mass resignations or refusal to supervise trainees.
Because Bill 2 imposes sanctions on coordinated resignations, many doctors are now reluctant to speak publicly about their intentions. According to Jean Pigeon, spokesperson for SOS Outaouais, “Doctors are afraid to speak.” As a result, the full number of departures and transfers remains unknown.
As far as he knows, Pigeon said that at least five physicians at the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSSO) have stepped down from leadership roles. These include Dr. Éric Bégin (Chief of Surgery), Dr. Trevor Hennessey (Chief of Anesthesiology, stepping down from both clinical and administrative duties and plans to relocate to Ontario), Dr. Shelly Sud (Chief of Oncology), Dr. Lionel Ange Poungui (Chief of Obstetrics‑Gynecology, resigning administrative duties but continuing clinical practice), and Dr. Mustapha Chelfi, Radiation Oncologist and one of the founders of the Gatineau Cancer Centre, who has chosen early retirement citing exhaustion and frustration with government policy.
These resignations come while the region is already under stress. Nine of the region’s 12 operating rooms are reportedly closed due to a shortage of nurses. In the Aylmer sector, Pigeon said it is rumoured that about half of the home‑care physician team has left since the law’s adoption, raising concerns about delays in urgent and end‑of‑life care.
The local health authority, CISSSO, declined to comment on posts about specific resignations. Communications advisor Camille Brochu‑Lafrance stated that the situation is being managed in coordination with Santé Québec, the province’s new health operations agency. In a public statement, the agency acknowledged that the law had generated “a lot of anxiety and a work climate that has been altered” while thanking health‑care professionals for carrying on during a period of change.
Health Minister Christian Dubé, who sponsored Bill 2, said the government will suspend two of the law’s provisions that altered physician compensation in an attempt to restart dialogue with the medical community. While he described the move as addressing major concerns, no full revisions to the law have been tabled.
Pigeon criticized the government’s approach, saying it has framed physicians as opponents rather than partners in reform. “They’ve turned it into a political game,” he said. He warned that what is being played out is less about physician behaviour and more about how decades of under‑funding and staffing shortages are being ignored.
Political consequences are mounting. On November 5, CAQ MNA Isabelle Poulet was expelled from caucus after publicly criticizing the law and the government’s handling of it. Her removal followed the resignation of Minister Lionel Carmant, the only physician in cabinet, who also stepped down over similar concerns.
André Fortin, MNA for Pontiac and Official Opposition Critic for the Outaouais Region, said the law is counterproductive and demoralizing for doctors already under strain. He said the CAQ government is unfairly shifting blame to medical professionals for broader system failures. “This law does nothing to improve access to care; in fact, it does the opposite,” he said. “Doctors are so demotivated by the law, and by the dismissive attitude of the premier and the health minister, that they’re leaving their practice. Every time we lose a family doctor, more than 1,000 patients lose access. Every time we lose a specialist, surgeries are delayed. It will take decades to rebuild what the CAQ is destroying in the Outaouais.”
