Today, during Question Period, the MNA representing Pontiac and Official Opposition Critic for Health, Public Health and Regional Vitality, André Fortin, questioned the Minister of Health, Ms. Danielle McCann, about why Sherbrooke’s Centre Mère-Enfant project had been postponed. Despite the project being very much underway, with the first patients expected for 2021, the Coalition Avenir Québec is now talking about delaying until 2024- a three-and-a-half-year delay.
In an effort to justify postponing a project that is already in progress, the CAQ government is talking about redoing calls for tender, and while we understand this situation, nothing justifies such a significant delay. How can the Minister and the CAQ officials from the region justify postponing the project by 3 or 4 years when it has been authorized, budgeted and the work has already begun?
Local stakeholders, the CISSS, health sector employees, citizens, parents and patients who need pediatric, maternity and neonatal services all agree that we must move ahead with the Centre Mère-Enfant project. If the Health Minister doesn’t intend to take action and refuses to move forward with a project that is already well underway, will the MNAs from the Eastern Townships stand together to defend the interests of people who need these services, people who voted for them?
—André Fortin, MNA representing Pontiac and Official Opposition Critic for Health, Public Health and Regional Vitality