Patients committee getting complaints about French-only meetings at bilingual Montreal hospital
The patients committee at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) says its members are upset over French-only board meetings, adding that some anglophones are being excluded from the institutions that are supposed to serve them.
Though most of the MUHC's board is anglophone, their public meetings are conducted entirely in French.
Some patients are upset with this.
"We have received many, many complaints over the past few months about patients, caregivers, family members who are unable to understand the public portions of the board meetings," said MUHC chair Ingrid Kovitch. "We know many have stopped attending entirely. For the users of the institution, it's not only critical that they be able to understand but to participate in the governance of their institution."
Kovitch said Quebec's new language law, known as Bill 96, is to blame.
"The board of directors, and the MUHC in general, is under fairly intense pressure and scrutiny to abide by Bill 96," she said. "But of course, it's the patients who pay the price."
The MUHC declined an interview request but said as a designated bilingual health institution, it offers care and services to users in French or English, depending on the language preference expressed by the user.
During MUHC board meetings, any questions from the public that are asked in English are answered in English, the MUHC said.
The English-language advocacy group, the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), questions the policy.
"They have the bilingual status, so let's use it," said QCGN's president Eva Ludvig. "You know the saying, if you don't use, it you lose it."
The QCGN said the MUHC should push back like the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) did.
"Our institutions should respect the rights of the English-speaking community, the community that built it and should make sure the community gets the information it requires, including board meetings in English," said Ludvig.
The MUHC patients committee said it is already meeting with lawyers to see to which extent they can add more English to public board meetings without violating the French-language law.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Loblaw leaders call criticism 'misguided,' say they aren't to blame for high food prices
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston and the company's new CEO are pushing back against critics who blame the grocery giant for soaring food prices, as a month-long boycott of the retailer gets underway.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
'Giant-killer' Kazushi Kimura to race in Kentucky Derby this weekend: 'I'm representing Canada and Japan'
Six years ago, at age 18, Kazushi Kimura left his home and family behind in Hokkaido, Japan to chase a dream. This weekend, he'll ride in the Kentucky Derby.
Quebec premier asks police to dismantle camp at McGill University
Quebec Premier Francois Legault has called on the police to dismantle the pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the lower field of McGill University's downtown campus in Montreal.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
TD Bank hit with $9.2M penalty after failing to report suspicious transactions
Canada’s financial-crime watchdog has levied a $9.2-million penalty against The Toronto-Dominion Bank for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures as the bank also faces compliance investigations in the U.S.
Doctors concerned about potential spread of bird flu in Canada
H5N1 or avian flu has been detected at dozens of U.S. dairy farms and Canadian experts are urging surveillance on our side of the border too.