(Montreal) Dozens of protesters gathered Saturday outside Santa Cabrini Hospital in Montreal to protest Quebec’s French language laws. English-language rights groups say the government is making it harder for Quebecers to access health care services in English.
Mario Napolitano, one of the protesters, said he came into contact with staff who felt harassed by Quebec language supervisors about their use of English during his visit to the hospital earlier this week.
The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) issued a statement Friday saying the visit was part of a routine procedure to ensure health-care facilities are complying with the province’s Charter of the French Language and will not hinder patients’ ability to access care in languages other than French.
But groups defending the rights of Quebec’s English-speaking people are not comforted by the OQLF’s explanation, which comes as the province continues to adopt the provisions of Bill 96.
Their concerns grew last week after the provincial health ministry issued a directive outlining the exceptional circumstances in which health workers are allowed to communicate in English.
Sylvia Martin-Laforge, executive director of the Quebec Community Groups Network, said the new guidelines amplify concerns about the types of services English speakers will be able to receive and put the onus on health-care workers to determine who should be eligible for care in their language of choice.
Eric Maldoff, a lawyer and founder of the Coalition for Quality Health and Social Services, says the directive states that Quebecers are only entitled to health care in English in emergencies. He argues that the new rules harm the quality of care that anglophones will be able to receive.