“If Mr. Roberge has to clarify the directive, it proves that there is a problem here, because this should be absolutely crystal clear.”
Facing an outcry from Quebec anglophones, French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge announced Wednesday he will hold a meeting with representatives of the English-speaking community to listen to their concerns about a controversial linguistic directive regulating the use of English and other mother tongues in health care.
Hubert Laprise suggested that the clause in the directive applying to historic anglophones is “even more permissive” than for non-francophone Quebecers like allophones or English-speakers who have moved to the province from other jurisdictions. The latter groups do not have the right to exclusive communication in English under the directive, he noted.
“This expands their rights,” Laprise said of Quebec anglophones who have received the eligibility certificate to attend English schools.
Roberge’s office did not respond to a query by The Gazette later Wednesday asking why the Coalition Avenir Québec government is now imposing the bureaucratic burden on historic anglophones to obtain the eligibility certificate for exclusive English communications in health care. Until the directive was issued by the Health Ministry on July 18, no non-francophone Quebecer was required to produce an eligibility certificate to seek and receive medical services in English.
Bill 96 mandates that all government workers, including those in hospitals and nursing homes, use French “systematically” in written and oral communications with their clients, with certain exceptions, like emergencies.
“One of the greatest excesses of Bill 96 was the establishment of a general rule that access to government services in English depended on school eligibility,” Housefather posted on X. “The government then said this did not apply to health services. I call upon (Health Minister Christian Dubé) to clarify this ASAP.”
Julie Drolet, Dubé’s press attaché, did not directly address Housefather’s request. Instead, she said: “From our side (at the Health Ministry), our priority is to treat people, no matter their language. We’ll stick to that.”
“A meeting will be held shortly with representatives of the English-speaking community to hear their concerns and provide any necessary clarifications,” Roberge announced on X.
In a lengthy post on X, Roberge appeared to add more confusion to the directive when he stated that “with the exception of members of the historic English-speaking community, the directive provides that communications of an administrative nature or that do not compromise the health of a user must be in French.”
In fact, nowhere in the 31-page directive are there the words “communications of an administrative nature.”
“If Mr. Roberge has to clarify the directive, it proves that there is a problem here, because this should be absolutely crystal clear,” Maldoff said, who is also chair of the Coalition for Quality Health and Social Services.
In any case, Maldoff added, “there is no right by the government to use health and social services as a battlefield for language.”