Thetford Mines

CHSSN celebrates quarter-century of working toward health access

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Representatives of Community Health and Social Services Network (CHSSN) member organizations raised a glass to 25 years of working to improve access to health and social services in English in Quebec, at a rousing anniversary celebration on Sept. 16 at the Morrin Centre.

Former CBC host turned language-rights activist Royal Orr hosted the event, opening the evening with a nod to the “many English-speaking First Nations communities that have influenced our work” and to the appropriateness of holding the celebrations in a “former British redoubt” that is now “at the centre of English-speaking life in Quebec City.” He then passed the mic to CHSSN executive director Jennifer Johnson, who took attendees on a trip through the network’s history.

What would become CHSSN was founded during a chance meeting in 2000 in Quebec City by community members who had been active in building the Holland Centre – later Jeffery Hale Community Partners – into a thriving multi-service centre for English-speaking families. “That spontaneous gathering turned into something extraordinary,” Johnson recalled. “We were challenged to take the knowledge and expertise that we developed around what’s been successful in Quebec [City] and create a provincial organization that would support English-speaking communities across Quebec. It’s a powerful reminder that it takes a diverse group of passionate, visionary people to build something that lasts. CHSSN has thrived based on the belief that communities can be part of the solution – that with the right support, they can create better access to services.”

Acting on the belief that many anglophones around the province were unable to access the services they were entitled to, the founders worked with local community members and Canadian Heritage to help establish the Megantic Community Development Corporation (MCDC), which is now a community centre and service access hub for anglophones in Thetford Mines and Lévis. Johnson estimated that 10 regions that lacked a community service hub for anglophones in 2000 now have one, thanks in large part to CHSSN.

Now made up of more than 30 organizations serving nearly every region of the province, CHSSN administers programs, compiles and publishes health data and acts as a knowledge-sharing network for health and social services organizations. They also coordinate the patient navigator program, which supports patients from anglophone communities in Eastern Quebec who need to travel to Quebec City, Lévis, Rimouski or Gaspé for health care. In New Carlisle in the Gaspé, the network helped the Coalition for Anglophone Social Action (CASA) get funding for a day program for anglophone seniors that became a network of day centres. Johnson has also spoken up in the media to explain the impacts of various regulatory changes on access to English services.

“We started on the belief that when communities are organized, they can influence if not change the systems that affect their lives,” James Carter, a CHSSN cofounder, told attendees in a mini- documentary broadcast at the gala. “So we built CHSSN with a single purpose, of improving access to services.”

“We said, don’t think of what you think is going to happen, think of what you want to happen,” said fellow cofounder Richard Walling in the same film. “Instead of being observers of your own decline, become participants in your future and help define that future.”

John McMahon, head of the Secretariat for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, pledged the agency’s continued support for the network. After an open-mic story-sharing session, Carter and MCDC co- founder Peter Whitcomb were honoured with community builder awards.

“You inspired us to look to the future and we were smart enough to listen,” said Whitcomb, the former principal of A.S. Johnson High School in Thetford Mines, who accepted the award from his former student, MCDC director Brian Gignac. “I once believed the school was the heart of the community, but now I believe organizations like MCDC are the heart of their communities, and the heart beats strong in Thetford Mines. For the next 25 years, I wish [CHSSN] the support and love they brought to us when we needed it so badly.”

On that note, at Johnson’s invitation, attendees raised their glasses to the network’s next 25 years.