Quebec vows to clarify new health-care directive after meeting with anglophone groups

Days after Quebec's French language minister said a new directive for health-care workers was "clear," his office says the government will clarify the policy after meeting with groups representing the English-speaking community.

Jean-François Roberge met with the groups Tuesday after mounting criticism about the directive, which laid out when health-care workers are allowed to communicate in a language other than French.

His press secretary, Marie-Joëlle Dorval-Robitaille, told CTV News that the government will "add clarifications" and produce a new document in the coming days.

In an interview with CTV News on Aug. 9, Roberge said, "I think it's pretty clear when you read the directive well," adding that the directive is meant for administrative matters and does not affect health-care services.

According to the 31-page directive released on July 18, all communications must be in French, though there is an exception for English speakers stating that "historic anglophones" can provide an eligibility certificate if they want to receive communications exclusively in English with health-care workers.

There are other exceptions that would also allow someone to receive care in a language other than French, including emergency situations, when a patient has to consent to treatment, or when they need to make decisions affecting their health and well-being, among others.

However, the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), which represents the English-speaking minority in Quebec, federal MPs, and a legal expert raised concerns about the document, pointing to the confusion it has created and the burden placed on health-care workers to decide who can and cannot be eligible for care in the language of their choice.

Directive should be withdrawn until corrections made: QCGN

According to Roberge's office, the minister met with representatives from several groups, including the Comité provincial pour la prestation des services de santé et services sociaux aux personnes issues des communautés ethnoculturelles, the Comité provincial pour la prestation des services de santé et des services sociaux en langue anglaise, Senior Action Quebec, the Cummings Centre, 211 Grand Montreal, and the Jeffery Hale Hospital.

The QCGN said Roberge's office offered a "last minute" meeting with him this morning but declined because Health Minister Christian Dubé would not be available.

The group said in a statement Tuesday that it has been waiting to meet with Dubé since July 29.

"This is not really about language, this is about health," the group's director general, Sylvia Martin-Laforge, told CTV News.

Even though Roberge tried to clarify the new policy in the media, there is still confusion about what would be considered an "administrative" matter, she said.

"The definition of administrative procedure — it can be as wide as one wants it or as narrow as it should be. And that's not clear in those 31 pages of directives," she said in an interview Tuesday.

In the meantime, the group said the directive should not be applied.

"We are hopeful that we will meet with the minister of health soon and in the meantime, given what Minister Roberge has said today after meeting these groups, that he will withdraw the directives until further work is done," Martin-Laforge said.

With files from CTV Montreal's Matt Grillo