Canadian Healthcare Manager honours Dr. Jacques Chaoulli

Montreal, October 14, 2005 – The Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) is pleased to announce that Canadian Healthcare Manager magazine (Rogers Media) named Dr. Jacques Chaoulli the winner of its annual “Who’s Who in Healthcare” prize in the Healthcare Provider category.

Given today in Toronto, the award honours “an individual practitioner or manager whose efforts promote excellence in healthcare delivery and place the highest priority on patients’ welfare.”

Last June, Dr. Jacques Chaoulli won a long legal battle that resulted in a historic decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to remove restrictions on paying directly for hospital services and purchasing private health insurance for medical services offered by the public health system.

Since the Court’s decision, Dr. Chaoulli has addressed the public on several occasions as an Senior Fellow of the Montreal Economic Institute.

“Thanks to Dr. Chaoulli’s heroic work, the Quebec healthcare system is at the dawn of promising reform, and the MEI is pleased to be able to draw on Dr. Chaoulli’s experience and expertise in health policy,” said Maxime Bernier, Executive Vice-President of the MEI.

– 30 –

Information and interview requests: Patrick Leblanc, Director of Communications, MEI, Tel.: (514) 273-0969.