West Island health authority launches awareness campaign with language-rights message

Article content

Montreal’s West Island health authority — home to some of Quebec’s oldest anglophone institutions like the Batshaw Youth and Family Centres —  appears to be striking back against the provincial government’s controversial language directive regulating health and social services in English.

In the lobbies of some of its hospitals and other facilities, the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal has started posting the following message on electronic billboards intended for the public: “It’s your right! Tell the staff which language to speak with you.” The message includes a quote bubble with the declaration: “Service in French or in English…”

Article content

The same message is posted in French, highlighting the bilingual status of four hospitals — St. Mary’s in Côte-des-Neiges, the Lakeshore General in Pointe-Claire, the Douglas psychiatric facility in Verdun and the Saint-Anne geriatric centre in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. In addition to the Batshaw network, the messages are being displayed at the Pierrefonds and Lac-Saint-Louis CLSC clinics as well as the Denis-Benjamin-Viger long-term care centre in L’Île-Bizard.

The emphasis on framing the issue as one of rights is in sharp contrast to the July 18 health ministry language directive, which requires of “historic anglophones” an eligibility certificate from the education ministry to obtain health and social services exclusively in English. Last week, the National Assembly unanimously adopted a motion by Liberal health critic André Fortin affirming that the certificate is not needed in order to access such services in English.

“It is great to see this initiative. The (West Island) CIUSSS is honouring its bilingual status,” said Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director-general of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN).

Article content

Article content

Martin-Laforge added that she was glad that some anglophone institutions are “finally paying attention” to sensitizing the public to their rights when it comes to medical services in English.

However, not every Montreal-area health and social services facility that has bilingual status under the French Language Charter is promoting the same message. Nonetheless, The Gazette has learned several bilingual institutions have banded together to stake out a position with the Quebec government as French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge prepares a new directive to replace the July 18 one.

Hélène Bergeron-Gamache, a spokesperson for the West Island health authority, described the new messaging as part of an awareness campaign it launched on Sept. 2.

“In our CIUSSS, certain facilities are designated by the (health ministry) to offer all their services in French and English for people who prefer to express themselves in (either) language,” Bergeron-Gamache said in an email.

“This campaign aims to inform users of their rights regarding the language in which they communicate to receive services. Our aim is to promote a personalized approach to our (patients). We believe that to provide quality health and social services, mutual understanding is essential. The health and social services professional must fully understand the needs of the person being served, and it is essential that the person and his or her (professional) fully understand the information provided.”

Article content

However, a health manager at another CIUSSS told The Gazette that the new messaging may be in violation of the July 18 directive.

“They’re saying the right things, but what they’re doing flies in the face of the directive from the ministry,” explained the manager, who declined to have their name published so that they could discuss the issue candidly.

“There is no recognition in the directive of the rights of the user. The directive specifically says that communicating in a language other than French is at the purview of the care provider.”

Indeed, nowhere in the 31-page directive are there any references to the rights of patients. Rather, the directive stipulates the conditions in which staff in institutions can speak to patients in a language other than French, notably in emergencies. In response to an outcry from the anglophone community, Roberge has pledged to produce a new directive, but the current rules will stay in force until a new version is released, whenever that may be.

aderfel@postmedia.com

twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel

Article content

Article content