# Gaétan Barrette

Gaétan Barrette (born July 5, 1956) is a Canadian politician in Quebec, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2014 election. He represented the electoral district of La Pinière as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party until retiring from politics at the 2022 Quebec general election.
Prior to his election to the legislature, he was a radiologist at Montreal's Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont. He ran in the 2012 election as a candidate of the Coalition Avenir Québec in Terrebonne, but ran as a Liberal in 2014. He was named Minister of Health and Social Services on April 24, 2014. His tenure as heath minister was considered so controversial that leader Philippe Couillard instead tapped Getrude Bourdon, who resigned from her role as the CEO of the Laval University hospital to run as a candidate in the riding of Jean-Lesage if the party won the 2018 election.

## Indigenous Health

As Health Minister of Quebec, in 2018 Dr. Barrette opposed the families and physicians who were fighting against Quebec's practise of not allowing Indigenous families to accompany their critically ill children on flight transportation for urgent care. He was recorded making the comment "I guarantee you that there will be at least one instance in the next six months where someone will not be allowed to get on the plane. Why? Because no one — agitated, drugged, under whatever influence — would get on the plane at any cost. That will not happen. And that happens all the time." Indigenous leaders called for his immediate resignation, and did not accept his delayed, eventual apology. The ministry did later change regulations to allow for caregivers or parents to accompany their ill children on urgent medical air transfers, after years of discussions.

## Electoral record

2018 Quebec general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Gaétan Barrette | 15,476 | 47.07 | -11.22 |
| | Coalition Avenir Québec | Sylvia Baronian | 9,480 | 28.83 | +16.25 |
| | Québec solidaire | Marie Pagès | 3,300 | 10.04 | +6.16 |
| | Parti Québécois | Suzanne Gagnon | 2,921 | 8.88 | -15.6 |
| | Green | Aziza Dini | 585 | 1.78 | -0.13 |
| | Conservative | Anwar El Youbi | 435 | 1.32 | +0.66 |
| | New Democratic | Djaouida Sellah | 354 | 1.08 | New |
| | Independent | Patrick Hayes | 168 | 0.51 | - |
| | Independent | Fang Hu | 161 | 0.49 | - |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 32,869 | 98.69 | -0.16 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 390 | 1.31 | +0.16 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,304 | 61.07 | -13.7 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 54,534 | - | - |
2014 Quebec general election: La Pinière :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Gaétan Barrette | 25,955 | 58.29 | +9.04 |
| | Independent | Fatima Houda-Pepin | 10,452 | 23.47 | -25.78 |
| | Coalition Avenir Québec | Jin Kim | 5,600 | 12.58 | -11.91 |
| | Québec solidaire | Johane Beaupré | 1,728 | 3.88 | -0.51 |
| | Option nationale | François Létourneau-Prézeau | 534 | 1.20 | +0.16 |
| | Conservative | Sebastian Fernandez | 256 | 0.57 | -0.07 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 44,525 | 98.85 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 520 | 1.15 | – |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 45,045 | 74.77 | +2.64 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 60,247 | – | – |
2012 Quebec general election: Terrebonne :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Parti Québécois | Mathieu Traversy | 19,077 | 44.53 | -0.69 |
| | Coalition Avenir Québec | Gaétan Barrette | 15,429 | 36.02 | +14.45* |
| | Liberal | Josée Gingras | 5,646 | 13.18 | -14.33 |
| | Québec solidaire | Yan Smith | 1,380 | 3.22 | +0.61 |
| | Green | Benoit Carignan | 635 | 1.48 | -1.61 |
| | Option nationale | Marc-André Dénommée | 510 | 1.19 | – |
| | Coalition pour la constituante | Patrick Dubé | 160 | 0.37 | – |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 42,837 | 98.72 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 554 | 1.28 | – |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,391 | 80.21 | +19.74 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 54,100 | – | – |
* Result compared to Action démocratique