Family doctors: Legault expects several more months of tough negotiations with union

Coalition Avenir Quebec Leader and Prime Minister Francois Legault presents the Government’s end of session results, Friday, June 7, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Karoline Boucher

Quebec City — Quebecers will have to be patient: the government's negotiations with family doctors could take several months.

That's what Premier François Legault suggested on Friday.

At a press conference to sum up the parliamentary session, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) leader said that his government would stand up to the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ).

An agreement granting $120 for the management of each new patient expired on May 31, and since then, the number of appointment slots available through the Guichet d'accès à la première ligne (GAP) has fallen dramatically.

Legault said he hoped family doctors would still be held accountable.

He said that negotiations were very difficult and that an agreement was still a long way off.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 7, 2024.