Montreal woman says RAMQ hung up on her because she spoke English

A Montreal woman is speaking out about her recent experience with Quebec's health insurance board after she said a public servant hung up on her because she spoke to him in English.

"I was so angry. So humiliated, frustrated and angry that it took me a couple of days to digest it," said 75-year-old Susan Starkey, who believes Quebec's new language law, Bill 96, is the reason why he ended the call.

Starkey spoke to CTV News on the condition of using her maiden name to protect her husband's privacy.

Her 82-year-old husband has had several health complications in recent years and now must use a feeding tube connected to his stomach.

When she called the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) in early July she was inquiring about the ISO-Pro formula, her spouse's only source of nourishment.

The first time she bought the formula, it was "very expensive," she said. However, the second time she went to buy it for him, it was covered by RAMQ. The third time, according to Starkey, it was not and her pharmacist couldn't explain why.

When she went home to call RAMQ to inquire, she said the person who answered the phone refused to help her.

"He told me to speak French, and I said, 'I'm sorry, my French isn't good enough for you to understand [me] or for me to understand you because this is complicated.' And he said, 'I don't have to speak to you in English.' I said, 'I'm afraid I can't do it in French,' and he said, 'Go and find somebody,'" she recalled, adding that she told him there was no one around who could do so.

"I understood from the CAQ that in situations to do with hospitalization or illness or whatever, we were allowed to be served in English. At that point, I said, 'If you can't talk to me, can you put me onto somebody who can speak English?' And he hung up on me."

"I couldn't believe it. I just sat there on the phone for quite a while and I just was stunned," said Starkey, who is originally from Alberta but has lived in Quebec for most of the past 50 years and is now a Pointe-Claire resident. 

She said the public servant "spoke English perfectly" and that she was perplexed by the whole interaction.

"It was only meanness. If he thought I was insulting Quebec or whatever, I don't know, but I wasn't. I love Quebec. I love the Quebec people. But this man just said, 'I don't have to do this. Bye!' But he didn't say bye, he just went 'click,'" she said.

The experience appears to be one of the many wrinkles in the application of Bill 96 — a sweeping piece of legislation that limits the use of English in certain situations. The law, a revamp of the French-language Charter, was meant to protect the use of French in Quebec, which was declared the official and common language in the province when the law was given royal assent in June 2022.

• 5 changes in Quebec's Bill 96 that come into effect June 1

However, there are exceptions to the law, one of them being health services for Quebecers.

Amid the confusion created by Bill 96 as to what changes and what doesn't, Premier François Legault sought to assure anglophones that health-care services would still be provided in English if they prefer. 

"I want to be very clear, there is no change at all in the actual situation of services given to anglophones and immigrants in English in our health-care system — that's clear," Legault told reporters in the weeks before the law was passed.

RAMQ NOT CONSIDERED PART OF HEALTH NETWORK

RAMQ could not be immediately reached for comment Friday evening.

However, according to an article in the Montreal Gazette, which first reported Starkey's call with the government, a RAMQ spokesperson is quoted as saying, "The services of RAMQ are not considered as part of the services offered by the health network. We must conform with the dispositions of Bill 96. In keeping with the new articles of the Charte de la langue française, ministries and government organizations, including the RAMQ, must demonstrate the exemplary use of French."

The statement adds to the confusion around the French-language law and, now, what is and isn't considered health care in the eyes of the government.

Bill 96 applies to several government ministries and municipal organizations with exceptions for some people: those who previously received English services, Indigenous people and immigrants who have been living in Quebec for less than six months, for example.

But over the past year, a number of Quebec ministers have publicly said the realm of health care would not change for anglophones.

For Starkey, the early July call came at an already stressful time in her life, since she is trying to manage her own health challenges while caring for her spouse. 

"When this happened, this really made me mad because everybody has been so kind and so helpful until this person was just flexing his muscles," she said.

'UNACCEPTABLE': QUEBEC LIBERAL MNA

Some opposition MNAs denounced the way she was treated. Greg Kelly, the Quebec Liberal critic for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, called it "unacceptable" in a post on Twitter.

"[François Legault] promised that health care services wouldn’t be impacted by Bill 96. @RAMQuebec is an essential part of our health care system. What will be done to correct the situation and make sure it is clear to the civil service?" he tweeted.

His colleague, Madwa-Nika Cadet, the Liberal critic for the French language, directed pointed remarks to Quebec Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge. In a tweet, she wrote, "The principle of linguistic exemplarity is important. However, it does not imply such a lack of civic-mindedness, especially towards a citizen who has the right to be served in English."

"@jfrobergeQc, is this how you intend to apply the State's language policy?"

The Quebec Community Groups Network, a group that represents English-speaking Quebecers, also condemned the RAMQ.

"[Anglophones] were promised that #Bill96 would not impact their access to health services in English. A West Island woman found out the hard way that this promise did not extend to the @RAMQuebec," the group said in a tweet.

For Starkey, she said she wants the government to realize that certain situations require "a little empathy and understanding."

"They have said that we have the right to have these services in English [but] then to discredit you so bluntly is terrible."