Quebec government, medical specialists resume talks

Negotiators for the Quebec government andmedical specialists have returned totalks before a mediator in hopes of resolving their escalating dispute over wages and work conditions.

The closed-door hearing before the Essential Services Council got off to a slow start Wednesday Quebec rejected the specialists' counter-offer of a 20-per-cent wage increase over three years, much higher than the province's offer of 15 per cent over a decade.

The counter-offerismore than the government can afford, Health Minister Philippe Couillard said.

"What we are receiving today is a demand to put more money on the table, in a shorter period of time, only to have the right to begin talking. I've never seen something like this," the minister said.

The impasse won't be easy to surmount because of the government's position, warned Gatan Barrette, president of Quebec's Federation of Medical Specialists.

"In my mind we aren't very far; in their mind we are worlds apart."

The counter-offer was nearly 50-per-cent lower than specialists said they wanted at the outset of the dispute.

Quebec just doesn't have that kind of money, said Monique Jrome-Forget, president of Quebec's Treasury Board: "I mean, this is totally unreasonable. I would have to ask Minister Couillard to cut dramatically were we to go in the direction Mr. Barrette is proposing."

The Essential Services Council will also rule on the legality of pressure tactics by medical specialists. The council will review those tactics Thursday during a meeting open to the public.