Right Of Participating And Non-Participating Physicians To Associate

In a unanimous decision rendered on June 1, 2017, the Quebec Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (the "FMSQ") of a decision of the Quebec Superior Court rendered on June 16, 2015 denying the FMSQ's motion for a declaratory judgment to the effect that section 333.3 of Quebec's Act Respecting Health Services and Social Services (the "HSSSA") and certain related provisions are null and of no force or effect. The impugned provisions prevent physicians participating in the provincial health insurance plan and non-participating physicians from practising medicine together in a specialized medical centre ("SMC")¹.

The FMSQ argued that the impugned provisions infringe the right to freedom of association protected by section 3 of Quebec's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (the "Quebec Charter") and subsection 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the "Canadian Charter").