'Guardian angels' who stepped up to help Quebec during pandemic now feel left behind
At the beginning of the pandemic, there were foreign-trained medical doctors who worked with the promise of a job.
They were called "Guardian angels" but now they are merely doctors who feel they've been cast aside and forgotten.
Two of them spoke to CTV News but didn't want their full names published because it could hurt their chances to find work in their field.
Dr. Irene and Dr. Jole are medical doctors who moved to Canada from halfway around the world to find a better life. Getting a licence to practice in Canada is a long and complex battle so they were more than happy to raise their hands when local health boards began recruiting the so-called Guardian angels.
Dr. Jole got a job as a clinical technician. The work was humbling for a medical doctor. But it came with a promise that once the pandemic was over, they would be offered full-time permanent jobs.
"[They] never called me and so after 10 months, never. No call, no job, no nothing," said Dr. Irene.
Dr. Jole didn't fare much better.
"It's hard to say, but I feel we got used somehow … because we did all our best. But nobody really cared about us. Nobody really cared about the work that we are doing during this pandemic," he said.
The union representing the Ciusss De L'ouest De L'île De Montréal says these workers have reasons to be angry. The promise of jobs was absolutely clear.
"Of course, they even sent them a letter saying that we are working on ensuring that you get regular hours so you could come in as permanent workers. We'll be posting positions for you," said Alexandra Boisrond, a union representative.
A spokesperson for the CIUSSS could not be reached for comment before publication time on Thursday.
Dr. Jole says he's not giving up hope, but Dr. Irene says she's willing to pack up and leave.
"They don't appreciate. They don't recognize us. So I have a licence to go back to work in Europe, or in South America," she said.
Quebec's loss will once again be another country's win.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
What we've learned so far in the Trump hush money trial and what to watch for as it wraps up
Testimony in the hush money trial of Donald Trump is set to conclude in the coming days, putting the landmark case on track for jury deliberations that will determine whether it ends in a mistrial, an acquittal — or the first-ever felony conviction of a former American president.
Sentencing trial set to begin for Florida man who executed 5 women at a bank in 2019
Zephen Xaver walked into a central Florida bank in 2019, fatally shot five women and then called police to tell them what he did. Now 12 jurors will decide whether the 27-year-old former prison guard trainee is sentenced to death or life without parole.
'How do you get hypothermia in a prison?' Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates
The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: "unbearable" conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia.
Helicopter carrying Iran's president suffers a 'hard landing,' state TV says without further details
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a "hard landing" on Sunday, Iranian state television reported, without immediately elaborating.
Canadian immigration asks medical worker fleeing Gaza if he treated Hamas fighters
Lawyers are questioning Canada’s approach to screening visa applications for people in Gaza with extended family in Canada after one applicant, a medical worker, was asked whether he had treated members of Hamas.
The secret Italian lakes that most tourists don't know about
Italy has dozens of secret smaller lakes that boast superb scenery, unknown to mass tourism, where locals get together on day trips and enjoy picnics.
Flammable kids' sleepwear, salmonella-contaminated chips: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued recalls for various items this week, including kids' bassinets, chips, and stoves. Here's what to watch out for.
Walmart, Costco refusing to sign grocery code of conduct 'untenable': industry minister
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says it's 'untenable' for 'smaller players' like Walmart and Costco to delay signing on to the government- and industry-led grocery code of conduct, now that industry giant Loblaw has agreed to do so.