I stand by the professional “rationing” of doctors in Quebec. Yes, regions of the provice are bureaucratically permitted a certain number of doctors, but that’s because those are the numbers the region requires.

If the open market were permitted to prevail, imagine what would happen to northern communities or sectors of Quebec after the pulp and paper collapse. Doctors would slowly leave the area as there sources of revenue dwindle. The population would only grow more unhealthy as employment rates drop, and there would be less doctors to care for them.

The fundamental principle of Medicare is that health is a basic right and everyone be treated equally. Communities in northern Quebec are facing equally acute shortages to the region I live in, but the income disparity is too stark to ignore. It’s pretty obvious where a young doctor would go if he or she were given the choice.

Not only do I stand by the PREMs, I’m also against public private partnerships. An article in a local paper read: “Unions are already fighting public private partnerships; you may have heard the radio spots promoting fear of change. The heavy unionization of our governments handcuffs the government in power to tiptoe around any such staff reduction initiatives…”

Unions are fighting against P3s to retain their jobs, that I agree with. But the buck doesn’t stop there in my opinion–these are medical workers on the front line that know what’s best for the people they serve. The growing number of P3 projects in Quebec will corrode those fundamental principles of equality and care for all.

One recent P3 project gaining loads of attention in the French press, namely Le Devoir, is in our administrative region of Monteregie. The project will see CHSLDs or long-term care facilities go under private control after 25 years of public private partnership. The government says they will still pay for patients using the service, but will they have any control over the prices they’ll have to pay? I’d personally rather see my taxes go toward government-led health care than paid into a company.

Matthew Brett is the Canadian Dimension weblog editor and a Montreal-based journalist at a weekly newspaper. Read other posts by Canadian Dimension.