PQ dismisses health minister's claim that Santé Québec dismantling is unrealistic

Quebec Health Minister Sonia Bélanger is pushing back against the Parti Québécois pledge to dismantle Santé Québec if the party takes office October 5, calling the promise "not realistic at all."

PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon committed Wednesday to abolishing the agency to reduce the size of government, noting that in less than two years Santé Québec has increased its civil service count by 70 per cent and added $40 million annually to provincial costs. Plamondon said he plans to unveil full policy details later this week.

Bélanger countered that dismantling the agency would undo complex negotiations already completed and disrupt ongoing healthcare improvements. "There was a transfer of employees from the ministry to Santé Québec. All of that has already been done. Those were significant negotiations. We won't go back to that," she said. She pointed to reductions in surgical waiting lists, expanded home care services, and improved access to family doctors as evidence the agency is delivering results.

Santé Québec was created in 2024 to separate broad ministerial policy from day-to-day healthcare operations. Liberal Leader Charles Milliard accused St-Pierre Plamondon of wanting to drag Quebecers into another "structuralist drama," saying he would instead work to better decentralize decision-making within the health sector. Santé Québec's own spokesperson warned that abolition would "once again disrupt the network's operations and the ongoing transformation."