(Montreal) Quebec assures that there will be no hindrance whatsoever to the provision of health care or social services in English to members of the English-speaking community.
Three ministers in the Legault government set the record straight on Friday by publishing a letter in English and intended for English-speaking media in which they reaffirmed the right of all English-speaking people to receive health care and social services in English.
“This right is clear”
The letter, signed by the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge and his colleagues Christian Dubé at Health and Éric Girard, responsible for Relations with English-speaking Quebecers, states that “this right is clear and is in no way called into question.”
While in Halifax, where he is participating in the Council of Ministers on the Canadian Francophonie, Minister Roberge declared that the directive emanating from Bill 96, which has caused great concern and led to alarmist statements from certain leading figures in the English-speaking community, “specifies how administrative questions can be handled precisely in English by the English-speaking community.”
No discount question
“The Quebec government has not taken any action and will not take any action that calls into question the right of English-speakers in Quebec to be welcomed and to be treated in the language of their choice, that is to say in English,” Minister Roberge stated forcefully.
The letter recalls that both the Health and Social Services Act that the Charter of the French language are guarantors of this right and that, in addition, the government has approved the regional access plans requested by the English-speaking community.
False suggestions
The directive that has raised fears within the community does not in any way limit access and “any suggestion to the contrary is false,” it was decided, adding that no documents or other proof demonstrating the right to access care are required to obtain care in the network.
“We understand that many people are concerned about the directive,” wrote the three ministers, who promised to meet with representatives of the English-speaking community to reassure them. They said they were open to clarifying the directive so that there would be no doubt “that there will never be language requirements in Quebec to treat a patient.”
Ottawa reassured
Alongside Mr. Roberge, the federal Minister of Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault, explained that he had previously discussed this issue with his Quebec counterpart and he welcomed these clarifications: “People are vulnerable when they go to a doctor or a nurse and to be served in their mother tongue is very important and I think that the clarification that the minister and his colleagues have provided is a very promising step.”
“I know there are concerns among the English-speaking community in Quebec, the anglophones, and it is very important that the minister and his colleagues have had this opportunity to clarify things.”
Holland: same thing for French speakers outside Quebec
For his part, federal Health Minister Mark Holland said he was “absolutely” reassured by the Quebec ministers’ letter. Visiting a dental clinic in Quebec City with his colleague, Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, Mark Holland welcomed the clarification: “It’s clear to me that the Quebec government’s intention is to ensure that the service is available in both languages,” he said.
“It is essential that people can access services [de santé] in their mother tongue. It’s a question of safety for someone, if there’s an emergency,” he argued, adding that this issue is just as relevant for francophones who live outside Quebec. “There are many places, for example in northern Ontario, where people speak French and need services in French there. So the opposite is absolutely the case outside Quebec. It’s essential that people can obtain services in the language of their choice,” the federal minister recalled.