Doctors gather to protest physician payment bill at Bell Centre

MONTREAL — More than 10,000 demonstrators descended on Montreal’s Bell Centre on Sunday to demand the suspension of a new law that changes how doctors in the province are paid.

Organized by a quartet of medical federations, the protest took aim at legislation known as Bill 2 that Premier François Legault forced through the national assembly late last month.

“This is a united message from the four medical federations, from all the experts in Quebec, telling François Legault and (Health Minister) Christian Dubé to put Bill 2 on hold,” said Dr. Marc-André Amyot, president of the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec, shortly before the event kicked off.

“Imposing measures as they are currently doing will lead to disasters and abuses, and these disasters have already begun: 550 doctors have already announced that they are leaving Quebec.”

Passed on Oct. 25, the law ties part of physicians’ remuneration to performance targets and threatens steep fines for those who use pressure tactics to boycott the changes.

Doctors argue it muzzles them and could drive physicians out of Quebec, with medical associations opting to challenge it in court.

“This new law won’t help anything in our health system. It won’t help our patients, and it won’t make any sense for us,” said Juliet Kemp, an emergency physician in the Laurentians region who attended the downtown rally.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to keep our medical clinics open,” added Marie-Ève Landry, a family physician who joined the event. “We want to work as a team, but right now my clinic is short a social worker and a clinical nurse. I want to delegate, but I have no one to delegate to.”

Doctors, medical students and their families streamed in from across the province Sunday, with 17 buses bringing demonstrators from as far afield as Rimouski and Trois-Rivières. More than 12,500 people crowded into the Montreal Canadiens’ arena, according to the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec.

It launched with a band named The Doc Show — a dozen physicians singing and riffing on electric guitars and a saxophone — and featured the heads of associations representing nearly 30,000 family doctors, resident physicians, medical specialists and medical students. A doctor mascot bobbed through the crowd for selfies amid the roving arena lights and signs reading, “I love my doctor.”

Between songs and speakers, videos played of doctors and students from across the province offering their take on the bill, with descriptions ranging from “deplorable” and “cruel” to “shocking” and “fast-food” care — a reference to the portion of physicians’ pay now tied to the number of patients they serve. Opponents argue that change incentivizes quantity over quality.

In response to the discontent, Health Minister Dubé announced Tuesday he was suspending a pair of provisions in the bill.

The new law has caused turmoil in the ranks of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec as well as the medical profession.

One of Legault’s ministers, Lionel Carmant, quit the caucus after expressing doubts about the bill.

Another legislator, Isabelle Poulet, said last week — a day after being expelled from the CAQ caucus — that she was “profoundly disappointed” by how the party has handled the law.

The legislation links 10 per cent of physicians’ pay to performance benchmarks such as appointment and surgery numbers, with the intent of encouraging physicians to see more patients. Legault says it will benefit the 1.5 million Quebecers who don’t have a family doctor.

According to the legislation, physicians could face fines of up to $20,000 a day if they take “concerted actions” to boycott the bill, such as refusing to teach students. Doctors say the penalties are unconstitutional.

On Tuesday, Legault said he wants to restart talks with the province’s doctors about the terms of the bill.

Sitting in the front row of the rally, former premier Lucien Bouchard — a negotiator for the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec — told The Canadian Press that Legault’s “government must understand that doctors won’t accept this law.”

Araz Kouyoumdjian, a resident completing a sub-specialization in general surgery, denounced its impact on patients.

“Ultimately, it’s not us who will suffer the most, but our population, and we really don’t want that.”

Sunday’s protest came on the heels of a rally in Quebec City last weekend.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2025.

— With files from Coralie Laplante

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press