Anglophone Quebecers won’t need eligibility certificate to obtain English-language health services: National Assembly unanimous motion

As Quebec’s National Assembly resumed this week, it unanimously passed a motion on Thursday highlighting that English-speaking Quebecers do not need a certificate of eligibility for English-language education in order to access health and social services in English.

French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge is revising Quebec’s new French-language directives for the health-care network after facing criticism and confusion from English-speaking Quebecers.

However, a timeline for when the updated directive will be released has not yet been published.

“This is a significant step,” says Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) president Eva Ludvig. “It may have little force in law and I’m told the minister could theoretically choose to largely ignore it, but this full expression of the Assembly’s view is an important statement.”

On July 18, the Health Ministry issued a directive explaining when health care providers can communicate with clients in a language other than French.

This move is part of Quebec’s updated Charter of the French Language, known as Bill 96.

The 31-page directive states that health care services can only be provided in languages other than French in special cases — specifically, when a patient can show they cannot communicate or fully understand French, or if they have documentation proving they have the right to be served in English due to their historical anglophone background.

According to the directive, anglophones who have a certificate proving their right to English education can also receive health care in English. This certificate is granted to those who can prove their family’s anglophone roots in Quebec.

However, this has caused confusion and concern among the English-speaking community in the province.

At least three Quebec Liberal MPs have expressed concerns to federal ministers, arguing that the new provincial rule could limit access to health care for non-French speakers in the province.

“A big thank-you is owed to Liberal MNA André Fortin, QS MNA Vincent Marissal and Independent Marie-Claude Nichols, who spearheaded this effort to bring some sanity to the process of trying to manage language in the critical area of our health-care system,” said Ludvig.

In response, Roberge along with Finance Minister Eric Girard and Health Minister Christian Dubé published an open letter in the Montreal Gazette on Aug. 9, aiming to reassure Quebecers that those seeking health care in English will still be able to access it.

They emphasized that the directive does not limit the right to receive health services in English, dismissing any claims to the contrary as false.

In an interview with CityNews on Aug. 9, Roberge clarified that the directive pertains to the administration of the hospital and the health-care system stating, “You don’t have to show a document you don’t have to answer any question. If you go to an hospital and you need some help, you don’t feel well, you’ll be served English.”

Roberge called the confusion a “misunderstanding.”

However, Ludvig says there shouldn’t even be a directive like this in the first place.

“We don’t want anybody to have to look over their shoulder and see who’s watching us, who’s listening to us. Are we implementing a directive?”

She says Roberge and Dubé should either scale back or eliminate these directives altogether, or, at the very least suspend the existing measures until a full and far-reaching consultation can be held with representatives of the English-speaking community of Quebec prior to their redrafting.

“English-speaking Quebecers have a right to services in health and social services in English, period.”