Millions more for private consultants, this time at Santé-Québec

Since the creation of the Santé-Québec health agency, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) provincial government has been imposing service cuts to eliminate a $1.7 billion deficit in the public health network. Yet the cuts don't seem to be affecting private consultants, who have received contracts totalling nearly $2 million.

Denounced by several unions, these contracts, worth $1.7 million in public funds, are being used to pay multinationals for “external professional and strategic advisory services”. For example, at a cost of $115,000, Santé-Québec hired an external consultant to provide “strategic” support to healthcare establishments in their integration process.

It's worth remembering that this isn't the first time the CAQ has used public funds to pay for private consultations: in 2020, François Legault's government secretly gave over $6 million during the pandemic to the consulting firm McKinsey to be told how to manage the vaccination campaign, as well as to be told how to revive the economy in the years to come. 

The CAQ refused to reveal the extent of McKinsey's role in the Quebec economy during the pandemic on several occasions, but journalist Thomas Gerbet was able to access around 200 e-mails with McKinsey. These reveal that McKinsey had its hands at the heart of the decision-making process.

The consulting firm not only organized strategic meetings, but also led committees and assigned roles to working groups, as if it were at the head of the structure. One e-mail even shows a McKinsey partner addressing Yves Ouellet, Quebec's most senior civil servant and Secretary General, on a first-name basis, proof of their privileged relationship. Worse still, the firm had access to confidential government information.

Despite the growing number of scandals, the government has not stopped using these firms. Consultants don't seem to be disappearing, but rather continuing to homogenize the Quebec state structure with that of other Western states and private companies.