Protesters, advocates worry Quebec is complicating access to healthcare in English

Several dozen protesters gathered in front of a Montreal hospital on Saturday to protest Quebec’s French language laws, while advocacy groups representing anglophones warn the government is making it harder for Quebecers to access health-care services in English.

Mario Napolitano, one of the protesters who demonstrated in front of Santa Cabrini Hospital, said he has been in touch with staff who feel they were pestered about the use of English by Quebec language watchdog staff when they visited the hospital earlier this week.

The Office québécois de la langue française issued a statement on Friday saying the visit was part of routine procedure to ensure health-care establishments are complying with the province’s French language charter and that they do not impede the ability of patients to access care in languages other than French.

But community groups advocating for the rights of Quebec anglophones are not consoled by the OQLF’s explanation, which comes as the province continues adopting provisions of Quebec’s sweeping language law reform known as Bill 96. And their concerns grew last week after the provincial health ministry published a directive spelling out the exceptional circumstances in which health-care workers are allowed to communicate in English.

Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of Quebec Community Groups Network, said the new directives are amplifying anxieties about the kinds of service anglophones will be able to receive and putting the onus on health-care workers to determine who should be eligible for care in their language of choice.

Eric Maldoff, a lawyer and founder of the Coalition for Quality Health and Social Services, says the directive states Quebecers only have the right to access health-care in English during emergency situations. He argues the new rules undermine the quality of care anglophones will be able to receive.

-This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.