Health Minister Gaétan Barrette has announced an end to auxiliary fees patients pay at the doctor's office. The Pointe–Saint-Charles Community Clinic has been pressuring the government for years to end extra fees, and its spokesman, Stéphane Defoy, is calling today's announcement "not a big win, but good news." "They have the power to end fees now, and don't." Paul Brunet from the Council for the Protection of Patients said that extra fees were a clear obstacle to free and universal access to healthcare. "People shouldn't think that once this is put through, you can show up with your health card and not pay," Defoy said.

Source: CBC News September 14, 2016 19:13 UTC