We were not surprised to be left off the list of hand-picked invitees for a meeting about language directives in the health-care system by French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge’s office. We have made it clear from the outset the importance of meeting with Christian Dubé, the minister of Health and Social Services. This is a … Read more
QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge speaks with CBC Radio Noon’s Shawn Appel about the government health-care directives on the circumstances under which English may be used in health care. Lawyer and QCGN board member Eric Maldoff is also in the studio. Listen here
The new directives issued by the Coalition Avenir Québec on accessing health care in English in Quebec “signals that the government is not listening to our concerns,” QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge tells Nil Köksal and Talia Schlanger of CBC’s “As It Happens” (interview begins at 9:25). Listen here
QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge speaks with CTV Montreal’s Maya Johnson about the recent controversy around Quebec government directives, outlining when those seeking health services are eligible to be assisted in English. “Care is the first priority” in health and social services, she says, “language acquisition is not.” Watch here
A Quebec government directive suggests that those seeking health services in English must provide an English eligibility certificate first. QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge calls this measure “a new, major and scary wrinkle” in access to health and social services for English-speaking Quebecers. Read more
Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of Quebec Community Groups Network, says the new government directives for offering services in English for health care patients are amplifying anxieties about the kinds of service anglophones will be able to receive, putting the onus on health-care workers to determine who should be eligible for care in their language of … Read more
Two Quebec agencies have provided opposing guidance on the bilingual status of Santa Cabrini Hospital, an institution founded in 1960 to better serve Montreal’s Italian community. The OQLF has once again caused another “pasta-gate” when it visited Hospital Santa Cabrini earlier this week to check whether some of the U.S.-made medical equipment and instruction manuals … Read more
A list of directives outlining the “exceptional” circumstances in which health care professionals may use a language other than French with their patients can have potentially dangerous consequences, says Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of the Quebec Community Groups Network. “No one — no one — should have to stop to think in any medical situation: … Read more
New directives are in place in Quebec hospitals and long-term care homes that outline when a language other than French can be used by healthcare workers in emergency situations. “We thought former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard had had the last word on language and health care,” said QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge in a press … Read more
QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge was responding to a Montreal Gazette article today about an OQLF inspection scheduled for Montreal’s Santa Cabrini hospital. “We thought former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard had had the last word on language and health care in Quebec when he said in 1996: ‘when you go to the hospital and you’re … Read more
The recent study by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages challenges some of the persistent myths about Quebec’s English-speaking community and its relationship with the French language. The study indicates that a majority of Quebec Anglophones are bilingual, and that a vast majority believe it is important that youth across Canada be functionally … Read more
Katherine Korakakis is entering the race to become the next chair of the English Montreal School Board. Among her many roles, Korakakis serves as vice-president of the Quebec Community Groups Network. Read more