logo
A 17.4% pay increase 'accessible' to paramedics, says Quebec

A 17.4% pay increase 'accessible' to paramedics, says Quebec

CTV News2 days ago
More than 3,000 paramedics in Quebec are on strike as a collective agreement remains unsigned in July 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Quebec says that a 17.4 per cent pay increase is 'accessible in exchange for concessions' for paramedics who have been without a collective agreement for two years.
Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel responded the day after some 3,300 paramedics, who are members of unions affiliated with the CSN, went on strike.
The strike is primarily in the form of administrative pressure tactics, such as forms submitted to the employer, and will have little impact on the population.
Thirty-five notices of indefinite strike action have been issued in several cities across Quebec by unions affiliated with the CSN's health and social services federation (FSSS).
They hope to put pressure on the Treasury Board to reach an agreement on a new collective agreement. Salary is one of the main issues in dispute.
In a news release on Sunday, FSSS-CSN Vice-President Lucie Longchamp questioned why, two years after the agreements expired, the government 'is still unable to bring to the bargaining table the same wage increases it negotiated with all its other employee groups.'
On Monday morning, LeBel stated that 'having a bargaining mandate does not mean that the government has to accept all union demands.'
'It was clearly stated at the table that 17.4 per cent was achievable in exchange for concessions — as was the case for all the other unions that settled,' she said on social media platform X.
The minister's office clarified that 'ambulance workers' unions will be treated fairly in line with what 99 per cent of public and parapublic sector employees have accepted so far.'
'The agreements reached, which provide for a 17.4 per cent wage increase, were made in exchange for concessions that will improve services to the public,' LeBel's office said in a statement sent to The Canadian Press.
It mentioned that several negotiation dates are scheduled in the coming weeks and invited the unions 'to continue discussions at the table.'
'It is possible to reach a quick settlement,' it said.
Other issues in dispute include compliance with work schedules and improvements to the pension plan, according to the CSN.
Paramedics will also go on a rotating strike, with management personnel replacing them at their posts.
The paramedics' pressure tactics are particularly affecting the regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, metropolitan Montreal, the Laurentians, Lanaudière, Montérégie, Estrie, Mauricie, the greater Quebec City area (including Charlevoix), Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, North Shore, and Lower St. Lawrence.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 7, 2025.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Ontario doctors warn of increase in DIY medicine
Ontario doctors warn of increase in DIY medicine

CTV News

timean hour ago

  • CTV News

Ontario doctors warn of increase in DIY medicine

The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) is sounding the alarm on what it says is a concerning increase in the number of patients turning to do-it-yourself medical solutions rather than getting expert advice from doctors. 'We know people are going online,' Dr. David D'Souza said. 'The aspect of looking is not necessarily a problem; it's the interpretation of it.' D'Souza, a radiation oncologist in London, Ont., said patients are often drawn to ideas that seem 'all natural' or that seem to offer 'miraculous' results or options with no unpleasant side effects. He cited a study which found that about a third of the most popular social media posts about cancer from 2018-2019 contained factually incorrect information. 'You might say, well, what's the big deal? What's the problem with it? Well, most of them are potentially harmful,' he said. D'Souza was one of several doctors who took part in a news conference hosted by the OMA Wednesday, calling attention to the rising trend of do-it-yourself medical solutions. Doctors on the panel said they are increasingly encountering self-diagnoses based on internet research or having to answer questions from patients about viral videos suggesting that fast food can cure migraines or that CBD oil can shrink tumours. Some are even trying to treat themselves. 'I had a patient who had a tube going into their kidney because it was blocked – it's called a nephrostomy tube – due to their cancer. And they actually tried to put the twine from a weed whacker in to get out the sludge that was in there,' D'Souza recalled. 'They were asking about actually putting in a little bit of Lysol to clear it out.' While he managed to dissuade them, other patients have chosen to go with alternate treatments based on their own research, sometimes with devastating effects. One young woman, D'Souza recalled, came to him with a diagnosis of cervical cancer. 'She was not ready to accept conventional treatment and decided she was going to pursue other remedies that she had heard about,' D'Souza said. 'She came back two years later, unfortunately, with her disease having progressed and spread, and in a lot of pain, and unfortunately, our ability to control her cancer and give her a long-term good outcome was severely compromised.' Patients making diagnoses with online quizzes Dr. Valerie Primeau, a psychiatrist from North Bay, Ont., said she's seeing more and more people using quick online tools to diagnose themselves with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, and other problems. 'The first concern, obviously, is misdiagnosis,' Primeau said. 'And there's certain disorders that are higher risk of misdiagnosis, specifically bipolar disorder.' She noted that if you think you have an illness, that could increase anxiety about having an illness, which could itself have negative health impacts. Best practices around treatment can also change dramatically in just the space of a couple of years, she said, information that medical experts are more likely to be appraised of than online resources. 'So that can be dangerous, as well as being given unfiltered advice about how to manage the illness, which is not likely to be evidence-based,' Primeau said. She estimated around a third of the patients she sees come to her with self-diagnoses and estimates that proportion will increase. 'It's happening more right now, and I foresee it continuing to happen more and more, especially with AI technology getting more and more available and more and more sophisticated,' Primeau said. 'I have patients now that talk to ChatGPT to get advice.' Social media a source of medical misinformation Dr. Alyse Goldberg, a Toronto endocrinologist who focuses on fertility and treating hormonal conditions, said existing technologies, particularly social media, are already driving people to health information that may not be reliable. She showed examples of posts, presented to her by social media accounts she doesn't even follow, which described 'invisible signs of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)' and 'tips' about other disorders she regularly discusses. 'You get targeted in terms of what therapeutic options your physician may be giving you, but then reasons to avoid some evidence-based treatment,' Goldberg said. While some of the solutions presented by the posts might sound amazing, they may not be tested or evidence-based. Nevertheless, seeing the posts could 'fracture the relationship with the physician,' Goldberg said, especially if the patient feels that good options have been 'withheld.' Some of the posts might also push users toward products that aren't effective or appropriate and Goldberg said it's important to think about 'who's trying to make money off of us and use our symptoms of medical experiences in order to self promote.' OMA President Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman said the organization is particularly concerned about the rise in diagnosis and self-treatment among young people, who tend to lean heavily on information from the Internet. 'When you break it down by generations, we're also seeing a higher uptake, especially in some of our very young populations, who are still in their teens and early 20s, who are looking more at social media and in terms of how they quantify how reliable or credible a source is versus other generations,' Abdurrahman said. She also pointed out that combatting misinformation is a wider problem society is grappling with right now. 'We want to come and address and talk about this, and talk about how to get credible information, because we know misinformation and disinformation is something that, as a society we are managing, and health-care is not immune to this.' While there are many pitfalls and problems with self-diagnosis and treatment, doctors point out that it can be beneficial to do some research from legitimate sources if it leads you to consult a physician who can more accurately diagnose a problem. The doctors also stress that it's important for medical professionals to be communicative with their patients rather than judgmental, recognizing that sometimes a prescribed course of treatment can leave patients feeling like they don't have control. 'Rather than coming back with a judgmental tone, I embrace the fact that they are communicating,' D'Souza said. They also acknowledge that access to family doctors, and financial barriers to certain kinds of medical tests and assessments could also be driving people into the arms of Dr. Google, where quick answers are easy to come by. 'Our phones now are intelligent. They listen to us and they look at our trends,' Primeau points out. 'And if we talk about something that we're concerned about, they will show us posts that relate to that. So the answers seem more immediate, and people want that. People are looking for answers, and they get that validation from that access on social media.'

U of M research finds wildfire ash contributing to phosphate levels in Lake Winnipeg
U of M research finds wildfire ash contributing to phosphate levels in Lake Winnipeg

CTV News

time5 hours ago

  • CTV News

U of M research finds wildfire ash contributing to phosphate levels in Lake Winnipeg

Dave Konefall sits on the beach with his wife Korey Williams and their two dogs Quinn and Bruce outside their Lake Winnipeg home in Dunnottar on Tuesday July 9, 2025. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg) Dave Konefall and Korey Williams live on Lake Winnipeg. The permanent residents of Dunnottar walk their dogs on the beach every day. They want future generations to be able to enjoy it as well. 'It makes me concerned for the tipping point for this lake,' Konefall said. 'It's a massive giant lake. It might be a different story for the next generation. A worse story.' News of a new threat to the health of the lake is not welcome. 'If now the wildfires could be considered a detriment as well, it's really sad,' Williams said. 'This lake needs some more friends and fewer enemies.' Dunnottar beach and dogs Konefall and Williams walk their two dogs on the beach every day outside their Dunnottar home. Here they are on Tuesday July 9, 2025. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg) New research from the University of Manitoba finds the phosphorus fallout from climate change may be impacting Lake Winnipeg. 'We estimated that we should have different sources of phosphorus, including dust from agricultural land or pollen from trees around the lake and another component would be wildfire,' said Dr. Masoud Goharrhoki, a research associate from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba. Goharrhoki has been working with the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium for the past year. The Namao ship brings teams out on the lake three times a year. This spring they studied the impact of wildfire ash on the lake as a busy wildfire season unfolded. Early findings indicate particulates from the ash contribute to phosphate levels, which increase algal blooms. 'We haven't collected that before, and as far as I know, that aspect of (wildfire ash) as a source (of phosphorus) was not fully understood even in other water bodies, specifically in large water bodies,' Goharrhoki said. U of M Ash Samples At the University of Manitoba, the filter sample on the left was collected during wildfire smoke present over Lake Winnipeg near Gimli this spring. The sample filter on the right was collected before wildfires began. Here are the two samples shown on Tuesday July 9, 2025. (Scott Andersson/CTV News Winnipeg) Williams said she and her husband won't swim in the lake anymore. She worries about her dogs swimming there too. 'Especially with the dogs, you can't really train them not to drink the water,' Williams said. 'That's really unfortunate, seeing as we see this as a lake playground.'

Lethbridge man's cardiac arrest experience motivation behind golf tournament fundraiser
Lethbridge man's cardiac arrest experience motivation behind golf tournament fundraiser

CTV News

time5 hours ago

  • CTV News

Lethbridge man's cardiac arrest experience motivation behind golf tournament fundraiser

A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation. A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation. On April 15, 2020, Amin Iqbal suddenly collapsed outside one of his downtown properties. 'Back when COVID started, some of my properties had gotten broken into, and a week later I had gotten the doors kind of fixed, and then that's when the big event happened,' he said. The then-28-year-old went into cardiac arrest outside that property. He says two men that were near him at the time called 911, and paramedics rushed him to the Chinook Regional Hospital (CRH). 'An embolism from one of my lungs broke off and went to my brain, and as soon as we entered into the emergency, that's kind of when I flatlined,' said Iqbal. 'I went out with a total of four minutes—a little bit more, actually, than four minutes—without a heartbeat.' Iqbal says he was placed into an induced coma for several days before beginning the recovery process. A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation. A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation. He spent time in the emergency room, intensive care unit and unit 4B at the hospital throughout his two weeks there. 'I couldn't have asked for a better support staff,' he said. 'I still remember my nurses in ICU; they were caring, compassionate—it's just stuck with me to this day.' He began to brainstorm ways to give back to the community. That's when he picked up the game of golf. Iqbal is organizing the first-ever Chinook Charity Open golf tournament to raise money for a cardiac care centre in the city. A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation. A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation. 'We don't realize how important something like this, especially like a cardiac department, is in Lethbridge until it impacts somebody we're close to or ourselves,' said Iqbal. About 100 golfers will tee off on Saturday afternoon at Henderson Lake Golf Club, hoping to raise $25,000 toward the CRH Foundation's Bringing Hearts Home campaign. 'These funds are forwarded on to some of the greatest needs for health care in our region,' said Oliver Twizell, director of development with the CRH Foundation. The Bringing Hearts Home campaign is aiming to raise $30 million in 30 months to build a cardiac care centre in Lethbridge to serve all of southern Alberta. The tournament follows the closing of the foundation's Val Matteotti Italian Open last year, which raised nearly $2 million in its 30-year history. 'Those acts of generosity really do make the difference between life and death or better health care for the community, so what the community gives, they get back,' said Twizell. While it's the first year for the tournament, Iqbal hopes to make it an annual event—even after the cardiac care centre is built. He says it's his way of giving back to the community that saved his life. 'I like to think of myself as a healthy individual—I used to be in the fitness industry prior to the event,' he said. 'When this happened, it came as a shock not only to me but my family and friends. Nobody expected a healthy individual to go through something like this. 'It was kind of an eye-opener for a lot of people close to me that if this can happen to Amin, this could potentially happen to us or somebody else we love.' Registration for the tournament is still open, but spots are limited. More information can be found at

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store