It’s good to have screaming rights, but it’s better to have suing rights, lawyer Eric Maldoff joked following an announcement Monday that the government will create an official English-language committee responsible for maintaining access to health and social services.
Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette and Kathleen Weil, the minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, announced new regulations creating a provincial access committee.
Barrette said problems for English speakers in health care existed long before he enacted Bill 10, which abolished local boards at various institutions.
“I’m announcing a solution to a problem that already existed,” he said. “I understood that the community wanted to have a voice in one, clearly established way, through a provincial committee on access.”
How much money will be set aside for the committee will be made public at a later date, Barrette said.
Maldoff, who heads the Quebec Community Groups Network health and social services committee, praised Barrette for following through on a commitment.
Maldoff said the rights of English speakers cannot depend on the good will of the government.
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