English-speaking Quebecers

By Trevor Greenway

Despite a unanimous vote in the National Assembly affirming that English-speaking Quebecers will not need an eligibility requirement to receive healthcare in their mother tongue, Liberal health critic André Fortin still has concerns that the CAQ government will continue to erode English health rights. 

The MNA for Pontiac put forward the motion on Sept. 12, and while he was happy it was adopted unanimously, he said he didn’t trust that the province’s French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge will actually adhere to it.

“I don’t trust the guy as far as I can throw them, so we really don’t know how the government will react,” Fortin told the Low Down. “They’ve got a pretty poor track record when it comes to protecting English-speaking Quebecers’ rights, and in this case it is a clear case of protecting or ensuring that rights are respected when accessing healthcare in English,” he added. 

“This is a very direct motion, a very clear motion that was voted on unanimously, but the minister still has to do his job and apply the will of the National Assembly,” said Fortin.

Fortin’s motion stems from outcry from the anglophone community after the province’s health ministry unveiled a directive on July 18 outlining when English could be used in health and social service departments. The directive also states that only “recognized anglophones” – defined as English speakers who are eligible to send their children to English school – are permitted to communicate in English. 

Quebec’s Minister of the French Language Jean-François Roberge pledged in August to rewrite the directive. However, until he does, the original directive will remain in force. 

Eva Ludvig, president of the English rights advocacy group, the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), is now calling on the province’s Health Minister Christian Dubé to provide clarity to anglophones in the province. 

“It is now time for Minister Roberge and Health Minister Christian Dubé to either scale back or eliminate these directives altogether, or, at the very least, suspend the existing measures until a full and far-reaching consultation can be held with representatives of the English-speaking community of Quebec prior to their redrafting and reintroduction,” Ludvig added.

While the QCGN said it still has concerns about the directive in force, she said the unanimous motion by the National Assembly speaks volumes. 

“This is a significant step,” said Ludvig. “It may have little force in law, and I’m told the minister could theoretically choose to largely ignore it, but this full expression of the Assembly’s view is an important statement.”

Roberge has not said when the new directive will be released. Fortin said he doesn’t have high hopes for the new directive, as it shouldn’t take over a month to rewrite the “complicated, convoluted” document. 

“If the directive today is to say, ‘Give services to everybody in French or in English, in the language they ask,’ that doesn’t require a 31-page paper. It just requires a very simple directive,” said Fortin.