Committee told CHUM is breaking the law

QUEBEC CITY – As the province deals with corruption and collusion in the construction industry, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) is honing in on the CHUM and its director-general, Christian Paire.

“They didn’t respect Bill 100 so we have to ask questions about it,” said CAQ Health Critic Hélène Daneault.

Bill 100 on the budget became law in 2010. It asks that public organizations rein in their expenses and more specifically, that hospitals slash their administrative costs by 10 per cent.

“It’s not a question of addressing any blame,” said committee member and Liberal MNA Stéphanie Vallée. “It’s looking into how public funds are being handled.”

Paire was recruited from France in 2009 and negotiated a $350,000 annual salary. He also obtained an extra $80,000 from the Université de Montréal, a portion of which illegally came from the CHUM foundation, according to the Health ministry. Under Paire, the number of senior managers at the hospital jumped from 335 to 359, violating Bill 100. On Monday, a group of doctors, dentists and pharmacists testified that bad management was hurting patient care. According to the CAQ, the CHUM is one of the worst in Quebec for wait times.

Paire is also being criticized for living in a house owned by a former SNC-Lavallin manager suspected of corruption.

His ties to the company Dalkia has Québec Solidaire asking the province’s anti-collusion unit to get involved.

“What we see when we scrutinize the process of the contract given for the CHUM makes it full of irregularities, as much as the MUHC with the scandal-ridden process with Mr. Arthur Porter,” said Québec Solidaire MNA Amir Khadir.

Paire will get the chance to respond to critics when he testifies before the health and safety committee on Tuesday.