The leader of the Green Party of Quebec, Alex Tyrrell, spoke on Friday, August 4, in the municipality of Saint-Clet, to introduce the candidacy of Kristian Solarik, official candidate of the Green Party for the 2022 provincial election, in the riding of Soulanges. Together, they took a public stand on a major issue in the riding, namely the worrisome situation regarding access to health care, including the question of the construction of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital and access to mental health care and services. The crying needs in the riding demonstrate that it is time to act to concretely remedy this problem, and the Green Party of Quebec proposes several measures to drastically improve the current situation in Montérégie-Ouest, but also province-wide.
« The Green Party of Quebec wants to quickly build the new hospital in Vaudreuil-Soulanges that we have been waiting for for a very long time, but that the CAQ has failed to build. The citizens of the region are constantly crossing into Ontario to receive care because of the lack of provincial services here in the region. This is a problem for us, the Green Party of Quebec. All Quebecers should have access to the Quebec health care system. Also, in terms of access to mental health services, the PVQ proposes universality of mental health care. To date, there are too many individuals who are not able to consult psychologists, who are not able to receive mental health care because of their income level. »
« Mental health care should not be a luxury. It should be something that is accessible to everyone and it should be something that you can get with your Quebec health insurance card. For the Green Party of Quebec, health is something very important. We have seen with the pandemic all the problems in our health system. It is absolutely necessary to increase the capacity of the system. We must train and hire more doctors, more nurses and give them working conditions that encourage them to stay here in Quebec and work for Quebecers. The CAQ has not succeeded in correcting the problems in the public health system and it is absolutely necessary to give a major boost, including building the hospital in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, but also improve services throughout Quebec. » Declares Alex Tyrrell, leader of the Green Party.
« It’s been more than 8 years now that the issue of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital is on the table of political discussions. It’s been more than 20 years that citizens of our region prefer and must go to hospitals in Ontario and in Montérégie-Sud in order to receive adequate care and have access to doctors and specialists. On a daily basis, citizens like you and me prefer to cross the border to our Ontario neighbors in order to have access to care and services that are essential to their health. There is a glaring problem in accessing an on-call physician or in accessing a family physician. Last October, there were more than 40,000 citizens consulting a family physician outside the region. Already, in 2014, the residents of the region said they were the great forgotten by governments. Unfortunately, the situation has remained unchanged for too long. The needs in the riding of Soulanges are glaring. The region has experienced an unprecedented demographic boom, but the services are not keeping up. It is high time to demand real change and that the population of Soulanges is finally listened to! » Affirms Kristian Solarik, candidate in the riding of Soulanges.
