Bill seeks to improve transparency into Manitoba doctor misconduct

Manitoba’s NDP government is taking steps to improve transparency surrounding doctor wrongdoing by amending a law that governs the physician watchdog.

The move comes in the wake of extensive Free Press reporting on this issue.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara introduced Bill 36, the Regulated Health Professions Amendment Act, in the legislature. If passed, it would force bodies like the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba to hold public cancellation hearings for physicians convicted of crimes related to suitability to practise. Currently, the hearings are held in private.

The Free Press first brought the issue to light in January after learning the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba was holding the cancellation hearing for a physician convicted of sexual assault behind closed doors. The revelation was one in a long line of transparency and public accountability issues involving the self-regulating college the Free Press has been investigating since 2022.

In January, Asagwara said the province was “open” to improving transparency.

In the legislature Wednesday, the health minister said the amendments “reflect the importance of ensuring the public can observe how the college responds to these situations.”

Observers say it’s a good first step, but the province needs to go further.

Brandon Trask, an assistant professor of law at the University of Manitoba, called the bill a “very positive sign” that the province is committed to improving transparency. However, “I would be concerned if this ends here,” he said.

“Ultimately, it is a step in the right direction,” said Paul Harte, a Toronto-based medical malpractice lawyer. But, he adds, “the legislation does leave a significant amount of discretion in the college’s hands.”

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Specifically, there are exemptions that still allow oversight bodies to hold hearings in private. The exemptions include: matters involving public security; when “financial, personal or other matters” are disclosed and the desirability of keeping this private outweighs the public’s right to know; a criminal or civil case might be prejudiced; and a person’s safety might be at risk.

If the hearing is held in private, the college must say why.

Currently, when the college cancels a doctor’s licence, they post the name and the reasons for the decision online, as required by the Regulated Health Professions Act.

In January, Manitoba’s physician watchdog revoked the licence of Arcel Bissonnette, a former Ste. Anne doctor who was convicted in November 2023 of five counts of sexual assault for offences involving female patients that took place between 2001 and 2017. He is scheduled to be sentenced this summer.

“We’ve heard from survivors that transparency helps to rebuild trust.”–Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara

The college learned of a sexual assault allegation against him in 2018 and placed conditions on his licence, requiring he have a female chaperone present during sensitive exams on female patients. The college eventually suspended his licence in 2020 when he was criminally charged. He ultimately faced 22 counts of sexual assault but was convicted of five. Survivors in the case who the Free Press has interviewed say the college failed them.

Asagwara told reporters the government has been listening to survivors and working with regulatory bodies, noting they, too, want transparency when trust has been broken.

“We’ve heard from survivors that transparency helps to rebuild trust,” Asagwara said. “The public has seen stories in recent years that have at times shaken the trust that folks have in accessing health care and it’s important, as a government, that we listen to survivors.”

Asagwara said government is open to further conversations about improving transparency.

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The proposed change applies to all health professions included in the Regulated Health Professions Act, including audiologists and speech language pathologists, registered nurses, physicians, physician assistants and clinical assistants, paramedics and registered psychiatric nurses.

The Free Press requested comment from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba late Wednesday but did not hear back.

Asagwara said they have spoken with the college and is confident “they are doing their own work to improve processes on their end.”

The minister was asked why the bill doesn’t make all cancellation hearings public — just those for health-care professionals who’ve been convicted of certain crimes — but did not elaborate.

katrina.clarke@freepress.mb.ca

Katrina Clarke
Investigative reporter

Katrina Clarke is an investigative reporter with the Winnipeg Free Press.

   Read full biography