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
The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) is pleased with two Court of Appeal rulings last month which allows English-language school boards to continue communicating in English. “We agree with the (English Montreal School Board) that it makes no sense to require English-language school boards to communicate with each other or with the English Parents’ Committee … Read more
The Quebec government is proceeding with its new rules for French predominance on commercial signage, with a deadline for businesses to meet this new requirement by June 2025. However, the new rules concerning French on appliances have been stayed due to manufacturing issues. “As government agencies and a host of media studies have shown in … Read more
In focusing on finding common cause with Quebec’s francophone majority population, the Quebec Community Groups Network is on the right track, the organization’s annual general meeting heard today. Read more
There is a lot of good news in a new report from the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) that confirms two key things about the English-speaking community of Quebec (ESCQ), Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) President Eva Ludvig said today. “First, the report shows clearly that on an individual basis, English- and … Read more