Quebec must enter into very expensive emergency contracts to ensure minimal service in terms of air medical evacuations, while there is a severe shortage of pilots.
The Government Air Service (SAG) paid $47,000 to a private company last August to ensure the availability of an ambulance plane for seven hours, even if the aircraft in question was not didn’t even have to take off. The month before, he paid $47,500 for the same operation, this time for 11 1/2 hours. Again, “no mission took place. The aircraft remained on the ground.”
Each time, the same explanation: “the minimum level of service required by EVAQ […] could not be ensured exclusively by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility [MTMD]”, indicated public relations specialist Émilie Lord, in an email . “Considering the lack of drivers, it was not possible to replace an absent driver. »
The SAG, a division of the Ministry, first turned to the four air carriers which obtained a contract specifically to alleviate this type of problem: Propair, Air Médic, Skyjet and Air Inuit.
“However, all four providers responded negatively to the request,” Ms Lord continued. Consequently, the MTMD was obliged to urgently charter an aircraft with Air Charter Service to maintain the minimum level of service required by EVAQ. » The service is mainly used to evacuate patients in serious condition from isolated regions to advanced hospital centers in Montreal and Quebec.
Contracts awarded urgently to protect human life are not subject to the same award criteria as others.
Last October, La Presse already reported that the SAG was experiencing an exodus of its pilots to the private sector, a problem which added to the obsolescence of the fleet to increase the use of subcontracting.
At that time, the service was preparing to pay up to 7 million to the four companies hired to take over in the event of a problem.
“The Ministry is facing significant challenges in terms of workforce and the aging of its aircraft fleet,” its spokesperson acknowledged at the time. The Ministry is currently working on replacement scenarios to ensure the sustainability of services. »
The SAG is responsible for air medical transport, fighting forest fires (with its air tankers) and other aerial activities, such as collaboration with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) thanks to its helicopters. The question of subcontracting seems to mainly concern the medical air transport niche.
“Morale is not strong,” said this fall the general president of the Quebec Public and Parapublic Service Union, Christian Daigle. “Our turnover rate was 30% in 2022. You need about 40 pilots to keep things running smoothly. »
“If we offered good conditions and invested in new devices, we would stop paying millions in subcontracting,” he continued. It should not be seen as an expense, but as a longer-term saving. »