“The OQLF’s intrusion into our health-care system, when it is already in such disarray, endangers the lives of patients.”
A number of years ago, my daughter, who is not very proficient in French, went to the hospital in a Laurentian town for severe nausea. The ER doctor examining her asked her if she had “mal au coeur” (nausea). Thinking he was asking her if her heart was in pain, she replied “no,” which led to an incorrect diagnosis of her problem.
Here we are years later, and the Office québécois de la langue française is still putting its nose in where it doesn’t belong, and impeding the already severely impaired medical system. How can we move forward in this province, and keep up with the rest of the modern world, if we still have to deal with the petty whims of this useless and outmoded bureaucratic relic?
Dr. Martin Wise, Hudson
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OQLF needs to find a different battleground
The OQLF’s intrusion into our health-care system, when it is already in such disarray, endangers the lives of patients. Our government not only seeks to make French dominant in the workplace, but almost exclusive. At a time when we desperately need more doctors and nurses, this will only lead to anglophone and allophone medical professionals leaving the province, creating more delays and wait times in every area of medical care. It also means that when you have medical staff whose first language is English, the use of unilingual French trumps quality health care and the well-being of patients.
Requiring hospitals to spend time and resources converting old plaques and signage into French is nonsensical and petty. Hospitals exist to save lives, not to become a language battleground.
Natalie Turko-Slack, Pierrefonds
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French-first operating room won’t solve health-care crisis
This said, I wonder why the government and the OQLF insisting that French be spoken in the operating rooms of our hospitals is going to solve these sadly growing problems. Obviously, it won’t, and it is high time the government started to focus on the real problems facing our health-care system, rather than trying to divert our attention away from the issues.
Allen Rubin, Westmount
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Pastagate a quaint memory
There are no words to describe the OQLF. This makes Pastagate very trivial in terms of importance. The health of the population is being placed at risk, not to mention we are headed for an exodus of even more of our wonderful doctors and nurses.
It is for everyone’s sake, French and English speaking alike, that our hospitals and schools be the best they can be. Easy access to French-language courses for everyone to enjoy, yes. Forced communication and signage, no.
No one thrives and remains healthy living or working under stress. Our health depends on the dismantling of the OQLF.
Sandra Sterling, Snowdon