[align=center]The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Friday, February 24, 2006

Cornwall clinic bars anglophone patients
Woman turned away because she can't speak French
Dave Rogers
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An English-speaking Cornwall-area woman intends to complain to the Ontario Human Rights Commission after being refused treatment at a Cornwall francophone health centre.
Earlier this month, Shirley Ravary, 59, a teacher's aide from St. Andrews West, north of Cornwall, went to see her family doctor at the Centre de sante communautaire de l'Estrie to get treatment for a cold she couldn't shake. But when she went into the clinic, the receptionist told her she couldn't see her regular doctor because she can't speak French.

As far as Mrs. Ravary is concerned, that kind of non-treatment violates her rights. "When I walked into the clinic to see my doctor, the receptionist started talking French and told me I shouldn't be there because I was speaking English," she said yesterday.

It wasn't enough that Mrs. Ravary was having trouble breathing because of a bad cough that had plagued her for weeks, or that her family doctor had recently moved to the clinic.

In telling her to go elsewhere, the receptionist denied she was being discriminated against despite the fact she was refused treatment on the basis of language.

"I said that was discrimination," said Mrs. Ravary, "but she declared it wasn't and I could see my doctor at his (other) office. But he is there only on Thursday nights and Friday and I was at the clinic on a Tuesday. The director, Marc Bisson, told me that the clinic was there so francophones could get the best health treatment possible."

The Estrie community health centre is not a walk-in clinic. Like others in Ontario, it provides primary health care to a "target population" the government considers to be underserved.

Such centres typically offer nutrition advice, prenatal care, weight, stress and "foot" management, abortion counselling, mental health treatment and medical care to recent immigrants, homeless people and minorities who have trouble getting health care.

Mrs. Ravary said Mr. Bisson, the clinic director, insisted that the health centre's refusal to treat her was a matter of policy, not discrimination.

That view was echoed by Health Minister George Smitherman, who said this week there was nothing wrong with the way Mrs. Ravary was treated because her case wasn't urgent.

Mrs. Ravary questioned how the minister would know what was wrong with her.

"Mr. Smitherman doesn't even know what condition I was in because nobody looked at me. I didn't walk in to cause trouble -- I was there because my doctor was there."

She also said her rejection could not be based on any claim the clinic was too busy, since there were only five people in the waiting room when she arrived. In any case, the only reason she was given was her inability to speak French.

Marcel Ravary, Mrs. Ravary's husband, said Mr. Bisson at first told him he couldn't use the clinic because his wife is English-speaking, but Mr. Bisson later relented.

Mr. Bisson said this week that Mrs. Ravary could have received treatment if she had attended the clinic with her husband.

That's not good enough as far as Mrs. Ravary is concerned.

"We all pay taxes for this clinic so everybody should have access to it," she said. "I want this clinic changed so everybody can see a doctor, no matter what language they speak."

She emphasized that her remarks should not be viewed as anti-francophone. "My husband is French, so I have nothing against French-speaking people. I just object to the discrimination because I can't speak French. Why should an elite group of people have access to health care while others are denied?"

After she was turned away from the francophone community health centre, Mrs. Ravary went to a walk-in clinic and was prescribed a puffer so she could breathe more easily.

Her experience isn't unique. Veronika Pelletier, a Cornwall resident, said she had a similar experience when she took her 14-year-old son to the health centre several years ago.

Ms. Pelletier said she spoke French to a nurse at the clinic, but when staff noticed that she was speaking English to her son, they told her not to return.

"I lived in Rouyn-Noranda for years and I speak French, but I knew nothing about the politics here," Ms. Pelletier said. "The doctor spoke English to us and the service was good, but when I tried to go back again, they told me the health centre was for French-speaking people only.

"No one said anything to me the first time I was there, but I guess they noticed I was speaking English to my son. Then they sent me a letter saying they were going to close my file."

Mrs. Pelletier said she later found a doctor who comes from Quebec, speaks French and English, and "doesn't discriminate against people because of their language."

In Ontario, human rights legislation stipulates that every person has a right to equal treatment without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status or handicap.

But Jeff Poirier, a spokesman for the Ontario Human Rights Commission, said language alone is not grounds for a human rights complaint.

However, he said that everyone has the right to make a complaint and the commission considers each complainant's circumstances.

Meanwhile, David Spencer, a spokesman for Mr. Smitherman, said the clinic's refusal to see Mrs. Ravary was justified because it is a community health centre.

"This is not a typical clinic or doctor's office," Mr. Spencer said. "It is a community organization that offers health care to a specific population that has had difficulty receiving health services.

"This centre is focused on the francophone population. Without it, access to primary health care in French would be extremely difficult for most francophones in Cornwall.

"It is not discrimination where you set up a community health centre to serve the needs of the homeless, and I don't see this case as discrimination, but this is something lawyers will have to settle."

Cornwall Councillor Mark MacDonald questioned that position. He said he went to the health centre in May 2004 and when he identified himself as a city politician, centre employees told him they treat English-speaking patients.

He said he visited the centre because the group that runs it wanted a city grant for a study into the need for a proposed anglophone clinic.

Mr. MacDonald said he now suspects that the answers he received were not the truth, and he wants an investigation.

"I think the Ministry of Health should look into this and there should be a federal government investigation to see whether there was a violation of our basic human rights.

"Thirty per cent of the population here is French-speaking, but that doesn't mean that somebody who is English should not be served."

On its website, the Association of Ontario Health Centres, of which the Cornwall clinic is a member, says: "Our care model is highly effective for all Ontarians. At the same time, it is a resource for people who encounter a diverse range of access barriers such as language, literacy, poverty and geography.

"It also works for those with other social-cultural barriers and who are at high risk for developing health problems."

© The Ottawa Citizen 2006

"It is not discrimination where you set up a community health centre to serve the needs of the homeless, and I don't see this case as discrimination, but this is something lawyers will have to settle."

Funny how when francophones complain when they can't get services in french it's automatic discrimination but when english speakers do....."sorry chump, thats Canada".

Is this the fault of all the francophones, or just the fault of one person?

I agree with you guys, but there's already a thread about this. It's under the title "Get sick and die eeenglish" on the Improve Canada thread.

It's up to about 9 pages now, and there's only one head case whose defended the French clinic's decision.

The article in the other thread made it seem like the clinic had done something wrong.......

Ms. Pelletier said she spoke French to a nurse at the clinic, but when staff noticed that she was speaking English to her son, they told her not to return.

"I lived in Rouyn-Noranda for years and I speak French, but I knew nothing about the politics here," Ms. Pelletier said. "The doctor spoke English to us and the service was good, but when I tried to go back again, they told me the health centre was for French-speaking people only.

"No one said anything to me the first time I was there, but I guess they noticed I was speaking English to my son. Then they sent me a letter saying they were going to close my file."

Mrs. Pelletier said she later found a doctor who comes from Quebec, speaks French and English, and "doesn't discriminate against people because of their language."