Urgently hospitalized at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, my colleague Sophie Durocher wrote: “I am at the Jewish hospital awaiting surgery and the two surgeons and the resident are unilingual English! Unable to seek treatment in Quebec in French in 2021 !!! […] “Your government hired me”, told me the surgeon! ” The beneficiary attendant who went to Sophie’s room on her return after the operation does not speak French either. Someone has to explain to her in English that Sophie is thirsty: “She’s thirsty, she needs a straw.»
I experienced the same insolent linguistic outrages 25 years ago, in 1996, when I was hospitalized urgently at Jewish following my first heart attack. Speaking in French to the nurse who was taking care of me as she entered my room, she replied sharply in a peremptory tone: “Speak to me in English. This is an English hospital.»
Decidedly, nothing changes in the land of Quebec, to use the prophetic phrase of Louis Hémon in his novel Maria Chapdelaine.
I asked the College of Physicians how it is possible that unilingual English people practice the medical profession in Quebec.
Leslie Labranche, of the College’s media relations, replied by email that the Office of the Syndic is investigating if it is pointed out that a doctor’s lack of knowledge of French prevents communication with the patient. The syndic intervenes to ensure that the doctor masters the French language and that he takes the means to communicate in French with his patient if the latter so requests. Otherwise, a disciplinary complaint can be filed against him.
Mme Labranche assures me that the Collège des médecins du Québec does not tolerate a doctor registered with the Order speaking only in English with a patient who wishes to exchange with him in French. It seems that this ground of complaint is infrequent. We do not have any figures on this subject. As good colonized people, most patients who jabber a little English are probably proud to switch to Shakespeare’s language to speak to the doctor, with all the dangers of misunderstanding that this entails.
You have experienced a similar humiliation on the part of English-speaking doctors at the Jewish General Hospital or in another health establishment, you can file a complaint with the Syndic’s Office of the College of Physicians.
All foreign physicians who apply for a license to practice in Quebec must demonstrate that they meet the requirements of the Charter of the French language and take the OQLF French examination. They can obtain a temporary one-year permit to learn French.
The spokesperson for the Collège des médecins also recalls that health establishments in Quebec are obliged to provide documents in French, without translation costs, to anyone who has access to them and requests them.
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