OttawaThree head physicians in the Outaouais have resigned in response to controversial new legislation that will change their pay, Radio-Canada has learned.’We have been ignored time and time again,’ says Dr. Trevor HennesseyCBC News · Posted: Nov 03, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesQuebec Health Minister Christian Dubé has said that Bill 2 is designed to ‘ensure the population has access to the services it needs.’ Three chief physicians with western Quebec’s health authority have chosen to resign in the wake of the bill, which — among other things — ties doctors’ remuneration to achieving certain health-care targets. (Sylvain Roy Roussel/CBC/Radio-Canada)Three head physicians with western Quebec’s health authority have resigned their posts in response to controversial new legislation that will change doctors’ pay, Radio-Canada has learned.”I hope to be able to continue providing public health care to the people of Quebec, but for now … it seems I will have to look to Ontario and other regions,” wrote Dr. Trevor Hennessey, one of the three who’ve resigned.Bill 2 links some of Quebec doctors’ compensation to the number of patients they care for, among other changes. Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé told CBC last week that the goal is to “ensure the population has access to the services it needs.” But some experts say it won’t actually help patients see a doctor faster, and backlash over the changes has been swift. Twenty-five Quebec family doctors have already said they will leave public care, according to a federation representing medical specialists which is filing a lawsuit against the government. Now, these three head doctors at the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSSO) have told Radio-Canada they’ve resigned:Hennessey, the head of the anesthesiology department, resigned on Nov. 1.Dr. Éric Bégin, head of the surgery department, resigned in late October.Dr. Lionel Ange Poungui, head of the obstetrics and gynecology department, resigned on Oct. 24. WATCH | Fear of mass exodus of doctors in the Outaouais:Fear in Outaouais medical community as controversial bill passesThere’s growing concern in western Quebec’s medical community that its doctors could flee for Ontario in the wake of a controversial bill recently passed in Quebec.In a letter signed by Bégin and obtained by Radio-Canada, Bégin wrote that Bill 2 goes “directly against [his] personal, professional and political values.” He also wrote that he was concerned new recruits expected in the summer will not want to practice medicine in the Outaouais because of Bill 2.”It is extremely unfortunate because with the core of my resilient, competent, professional colleagues … I was confident of turning around the situation in surgery at the CISSSO,” he wrote.The CISSSO told Radio-Canada that the resignation would not cause any disruption to surgeries or services.Dr. Lionel Ange Poungui said that ‘for anyone seeking mental well-being, the door isn’t closed’ to working in Ontario or New Brunswick. (Daniel Bouchard/Radio-Canada)Law is ‘disrespectful’Pongui told Radio-Canada that the new law is “disrespectful” to doctors and he could not work under it.”Currently, doctors bear the brunt of the dysfunctional system we have,” Poungui said in a French-language interview. “When there’s no respect at the table, you have to leave the table.”He added that he is concerned that leaving his post will have consequences for western Quebec patients as department heads are the “interface between the administration and the public service.” While Poungui will still remain on staff as a specialist physician, he said he’s considering leaving that role as well. ‘I did not resign in protest of [the new law]. Instead I resigned as a consequence of [it],’ wrote Dr. Trevor Hennessey. (Radio-Canada/Evans Murray)Government has ‘finally won’For Hennessey, Bill 2 — and the health minister’s responses to his questions about it — was the final straw in a long career, as he explained in his resignation letter and a short public statement posted online. “For 16 years I have been working in the CISSSO and trying to improve the situation,” he wrote. “[We’ve been] struggling time and time again to have the government listen to us and our needs so we can provide the care to the population that they deserve. We have been ignored time and time again.”On some days, the health authority’s trauma hospital has been reduced to using just one of its five operating rooms due to a shortage of nurses, according to Hennessey. The provincial government should put up a full-time representative to help resolve issues like that, he added in his resignation letter. “They’ve broken me,” Hennessey told CBC. “For my personal health and my family’s health, I need to just move on to the next phase of my career.” His last day of work will be Dec. 31, one day before the law takes affect. Dozens of doctors, health professionals and medical students protested outside the Gatineau Hospital on Sunday over the recent adoption of Bill 2. (Maxence Bahaban/Radio-Canada)With files from Gabrielle Huston and Radio-Canada’s Antoine Fontaine, André Boisjoli, Isabelle Gobeil, Simon Deschamps and Maxence Bahaban
3 Outaouais health authority doctors resign over new legislation
