By dint of intransigence on the terms and rather vague principles, the CAQ government is creating a real crisis of confidence with the English-speaking community of Quebec. It is time to take care of it.
This affects access to health services in English, now marked out by the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French (Law 96). But it is above all the culmination of a series of frustrations which has become a dull anger.
The problem comes from the regulations that implement the principles of this law. And, let’s say it right away: we are in a case of a glass half full or half empty.
The guidelines governing the application of the law were published at the beginning of the summer and have the particularity of saying one thing and its opposite regarding access to care in English — or, as the bureaucratic jargon would have it, “in a language other than French.”1 “.
On the one hand, this text establishes that another language can be used “when health, public safety or the principles of natural justice require it.” Which is very clear. And it is to this principle that the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, refers when he meets with representatives of the English-speaking community.
Except that a little further on in the document, this access is marked out by granting it to people “eligible to receive instruction in English” and who have requested and received a Declaration of Eligibility to Receive Instruction in English from the Quebec Ministry of Education.
This is a reference to Bill 101, which guaranteed access to English schools to those whose parents had received their education in English. These are what have come to be called “historical English speakers”.
There are two problems. First – even allowing for the fact that care can still be given in English – it is odd to require proof that the patient or their parents attended English school in order for them to be treated in English in an English-speaking hospital.
And there is the bureaucratic aspect: the Ministry of Education normally only issues this document when English-speaking students enroll or graduate. If, for example, you attended a high school 20, 30 or 40 years ago, the Office of English Language Education Eligibility is not able to provide this document.
In the English-speaking community, it has become a symbol of a fussy government when it comes to providing services in English, even in health establishments that, historically, were founded and supported by this community.
It is also seen as a break on a promise made by Premier Lucien Bouchard shortly after he came to power when, in a famous speech at the Centaur Theatre – another institution of the English-speaking community – he said: “When you go to the hospital and you’re in pain, you may need a blood test. You certainly don’t need a language test.”
From now on, to be treated in English, you would need a document proving that you are a “historical Anglo”. And even if we know that, in reality, we will never ask for such a certificate in the emergency room, it is unnecessarily annoying.
Especially since Mr. Roberge insists on saying that there is no question of modifying or clarifying the law or the regulation, even if they say one thing and its opposite.
Of course, we are here in the symbols. But for any minority community, symbols are important. Especially since the English-speaking see clearly that their political weight is no longer what it was.
The CAQ government is in its second majority mandate even though it has virtually no support among “historical anglophones” and is not even trying to get any. Even under Parti Québécois governments, anglophones were more listened to.
There is indeed a “Minister responsible for Relations with English-speaking Quebecers” in the organizational chart, but when we know that he is also Minister of Finance, we understand that this is not necessarily his priority.
The health care issue comes after other initiatives by the CAQ government that have also been seen as hostile by many members of the English-speaking community. Starting with the increase in tuition fees for foreign students at McGill and Concordia universities, which was subtly justified by Minister Roberge by saying that “we would hear less English in downtown Montreal.”
In fact, many English speakers are wondering whether the CAQ government’s policy is not to accumulate nationalist points on their backs, by applying the principle of “if the English don’t like it, it must be good for the French.”
So, before so many misunderstandings become a real problem, it is time for this file to be put on the Prime Minister’s desk. If he deigns to deal with it.
1. Consult the MSSS directive
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