MNA André Fortin talks to Aylmer:

“85% of Aylmerites will have family doctors by the end of 2017!”

To detail his government’s accomplishments in 2016, Pontiac MNA André Fortin starts with commitments made in 2014. Health care and education are the key areas with a direct impact on the population of both Quebec and his own riding of Pontiac (which includes all of Aylmer).

In health care, the provincial Liberal government came to an agreement with Quebec doctors, explained Mr Fortin. “The doctors agreed to increase their patient loads so as to raise the number of Quebecers with family doctors to 85%. At the end of 2015, only 65% had family doctors, but by November, the rate was up to 71%,” said Fortin, “and I’m confident the goal will be met.”

The target was set at 85% because that is the percentage of reachable Quebecers; the others have not requested a family doctor. Mr Fortin added that waiting lists for doctors have been “restructured”,  “so now I hope people who have been on the waiting list for several years will call their CLSC to ensure their contact information is correct.”

Besides family medicine, long-term care and home-care services are to receive particular attention. Mr Fortin said that about 1,150 new jobs are opening up in long-term care facilities across the province. “These care-providers work hard and are exhausted,” added Mr Fortin.

In terms of home-care, Fortin mentioned that this is an area of focus for the Liberals, all to help Quebec’s elderly stay in their family homes longer and more comfortably. In the Outaouais, a major project will be completed in 2017; the Super-Clinic at the Hull hospital is, according to Fortin, a place where people needing non-emergency health care can go rather than to emergency rooms.

End of Health Care special tax

MNA Fortin emphasized that at tax time, Quebecers will notice the extra health tax has been scrapped. Based on a sliding scale, this will represent a reduction of between $400 and $1,000 per person, according to Fortin. Another change is covering the costs of certain private health-care fees, such as for ultrasounds. RAMQ will now reimburse the costs. “These were previously not reimbursable, but the inequality in access to care was unacceptable,” said Fortin.

Education: growing Aylmer needs more schools

“With the population growth in Aylmer, the schools are full,” Fortin told the Bulletin. “All those kids now in grades five and six wouldn’t fit in Grand Rivière High School. It is already at capacity.”  Two new high schools are being built, as are two synthetic playing fields for Aylmer’s high schools – a big plus for motivating students to stay in school, Mr Fortin noted.

Food Bank aid

The Aylmer Food Bank has been facing a crisis for some time, as its rent was prohibitive. With the guidance of Mr Fortin, the food bank’s board of directors applied for funding to a new Quebec program to help community organizations, securing $200,000 to help purchase the building used by the Aylmer Health Co-op, which closed its doors last year because of a shortage of doctors.

Quebec ministers visit Pontiac

Last September, eight provincial ministers visited the Pontiac with Mr Fortin, which included several meetings in Aylmer. “These are the decision-makers, and when they understand the people and places I represent, my job is much easier. I am more effective when colleagues already know the needs I lobby for,” Fortin pointed out. The new Faculty of Medicine in Gatineau was announced around that time, a project that Fortin says will make a huge difference, and which took a monumental effort to conclude. “The Outaouais Caucus is working very well together; our meetings do make a difference—as this project demonstrates,” concluded the MNA.