Julie Bouchard
Julie Bouchard is the first licensed practical nurse to serve as president at the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec–FIQ. Determined to see working conditions and care in the public health network become more humane, Ms. Bouchard was involved in the Syndicat des professionnelles en soins du Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean for over 15 years. Her strong desire to ensure her colleagues’ rights were respected rapidly led her to accept the position of grievance agent, then vice-president in charge of the labour relations sector. Strong in her convictions, she ran for president in her local union in 2017 and was successful.
First-hand witness to the devastating effects of the many reforms in the health network, which degraded working conditions, her major battles have been over professional recognition for her members, workload, team stability, care quality, and the right to work-family-personal life balance. These priorities are still fundamental to her today.
Ms. Bouchard has worked in several centres of activity, such as CHSLDs with seniors, hospital centres, and CLSCs in home care.
