Passing through Baie-Comeau today, Prime Minister François Legault assured that permanent measures to address the health crisis will be announced “soon.”
The leader of the Coalition avenir Québec addressed the media after his four afternoon meetings. He received at Baie-Comeau city hall the CISSS de la Côte-Nord, Mayor Michel Desbiens, the Coalition Union 138 and the leader of Pessamit, René Simon.
Mr. Legault first spoke about the situation affecting the region’s health care facilities since the adoption of measures to end the use of private agencies. According to him, the flying team “is a temporary solution.” But it is too early to make announcements of lasting solutions.
“It’s not ideal to have people coming here temporarily,” the Prime Minister agrees. “We’re looking at different solutions. We need to find permanent solutions.”
Regarding incentives that would attract more health care workers to the territory, Mr. Legault noted a “legal problem.” “The Pay Equity Act does not allow us to have different salaries from one region to another. We will have to see how we get out of this law and see how we are able to offer different remuneration from one region to another,” he commented.
In his eyes, the problem is not simple. “We started with bonuses, but the unions’ response is to tell us that bonuses have no impact on pension plans, whereas if they work at Alcoa, they have better salaries and better pension plans. It’s a complex problem, but we’re working on it.”
Agreement with Pessamit
His “most important” meeting was with the chief of Pessamit. He especially wanted to ensure that the framework agreement signed with the former chief in February still held. René Simon arrived with a series of requests, reports the Prime Minister, who says he is “open to all of these requests.”
“We had a great meeting and we promised to meet again and follow up on the work that needs to be done so that we can move forward in a partnership together in the coming months,” says François Legault.
“The project that excites me the most is that we currently have an extraordinary opportunity to produce more electricity and sell more to businesses, including businesses here that want to set up on the Côte-Nord, in all sorts of new sectors,” he said.
Two major projects are also in the politician’s sights in collaboration with the Innu community of Pessamit. The first consists of increasing the performance capacity of the turbines at the Manic and Outardes power plants, which would allow for a large amount of electricity to be added, according to Mr. Legault.
As for the second, it concerns wind energy. “What I told them is that we have two great opportunities. First, to save the planet by replacing oil and gas with either wind or hydroelectricity, which is clean energy,” continued the Premier of Quebec.
The second opportunity he refers to is the enrichment of Quebecers and also the Innu. “We are partners in these projects,” says the political leader.
As for the bridge over the Saguenay, it’s always the same speech. “The study will arrive this fall, by the end of the year. From there, we will be able to continue to move forward with this project,” testified Mr. Legault.
The Manic got an exclusive interview with the Prime Minister. Read it in the September 25 print edition.
