Crowd of protesters calls for Barrette’s resignation
More than a thousand people on Saturday attended what Québec solidaire called a citizens’ march to demand the “urgent” resignation of Health Minister Gaétan Barrette.
“I find it regrettable that he hasn’t already gone,” said Marielle Cormier, who said she was protesting for her daughter, a general practitioner. “Mr. Couillard, please, look at what the citizens have been telling you for a long time.”
Daïsha Saliba, a nursing student, said she hopes the protest will force Premier Philippe Couillard to give think about Barrette’s future.
“I’m not demanding that Barrette be fired exactly,” she said, “but just this action, it might make him realize that there’s a problem in society and he must do something.”
Protesters chanted slogans like “Dehors Barrette” (Barrette out) and “Solidaires pour la santé, pour une vraie égalité” (in solidarity for health, for true equality). They jokingly invited the minister to “find a job up north”, referring to a joke former premier Jean Charest made during the 2012 student protests.
The marchers made their way through the Quartier latin, to Couillard’s office downtown, where they symbolically handed over a petition with 54,000 signatures demanding Barrette’s resignation. QS MNA Amir Khadir said it’s “urgent” that Barrette step down, and that Couillard has six months (until the next election) to “make corrections.”
“We can’t put the blame on Barrette alone,” Khadir said, but he suggested the minister has “lost all credibility.”
Khadir has said the signs of failure in the health care system have been multiplying in recent weeks and Barrette should accept responsibility. He added that the working conditions for hospital workers have deteriorated and so has the quality of care, calling Barrette’s reforms a “major failure.”
Asked recently about his health minister, Couillard seemed to maintain confidence in him. Presse Canadienne
Just this action, it might make him realize that there’s a problem in society and he must do something.