Allison Hanes: Sorry, you're too old to be a historic anglophone

A 77-year-old Montrealer was denied an English eligibility certificate because he’s “no longer of school age.” He took matters into his own hands.

Article content

Amid all the confusion about whether anglophone Quebecers need an eligibility certificate for schooling in English to obtain health care in English, 77-year-old Montreal resident Gary Bernstein decided to apply for a document parents typically seek when they register their children for kindergarten.

Bernstein has never had one of the papers, which were introduced after Bill 101 restricted access to English education in Quebec in the 1970s. But he would qualify as a “historic anglophone” — a vague term the government of Premier François Legault coined as it tightened language laws over the last few years — under almost any definition.

Advertisement 2

Article content

He went to elementary school in English in the 1950s, high school in the 1960s and graduated from McGill University in the early 1970s. His daughter attended English school and so did his granddaughter (although she has since switched to French school).

So when the Health Ministry published new directives about who may obtain services in “a language other than French” under Bill 96, repeatedly mentioning eligibility certificates, Bernstein made some inquiries (regardless of Minister of the French Language Jean-François Roberge insisting that the 31-page policy doesn’t change anything).

“I wrote to them, not even expecting an answer,” said Bernstein of the brief email he sent to the Bureau de l’admissibilité à l’enseignement en anglais requesting his document.

But an answer he got.

“The mandate of the Bureau is to ensure the application of Division I of Chapter VIII of the Charter of the French Language concerning the language of instruction in kindergarten classes and in elementary and secondary schools,” read the polite return email, written in both French and English. “Under Section 76 of the Charter of the French Language, a person designated by the minister of education is tasked with verifying the eligibility for instruction in English of children who are covered by Division I of Chapter VIII and who are currently, or will soon be, attending school.”

Advertisement 3

Article content

He was not surprised by the ultimate decision of the body that grants these increasingly important documents:

“Since you are no longer of school age for the purposes of the application of Division I of Chapter VIII of the Charter of the French Language, no positive decision can be rendered with regard to any request you make at this time concerning your eligibility for instruction in English.”

A woman looks at a sticker in her hand while a man stands next to her talking to her
Gary Bernstein gives a Historic Anglo sticker to Angie Dellis outside the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal Tuesday Aug. 20, 2024. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

Bernstein is not the only anglophone senior to have his inquiry dismissed because he is “no longer of school age.” Other readers have told The Gazette they’ve gotten similar explanations when they have contacted the Education Ministry.

“I kind of expected it,” Bernstein said. “It just illustrates that the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.”

It also exposes the conundrum facing many English-speaking Quebecers, not to mention the major flaw in this linguistic triage process.

Health Ministry directives that came into effect July 18 state that “recognized” anglophones can use their eligibility certificates for English education to prove they qualify for health care. But this edict fails to take into account that many so-called historic anglophones don’t have these documents — and never have.

Advertisement 4

Article content

Besides seniors who graduated before Bill 101 came into effect, others who could fall through the cracks include English speakers from other Canadian provinces; babies and toddlers who haven’t started school yet; many Inuit and Indigenous people who were schooled in their native tongues, even if their communities gravitate toward English as a second language; and CEGEP students who attended French school who would have qualified before they graduated but are now being told they forfeited their rights.

The new health guidelines obviously failed to take into consideration that the Bureau de l’admissibilité à l’enseignement en anglais has no mandate to issue eligibility certificates to English-speaking Quebecers who have completed their studies — even if their rights are supposed to be legacied. Whoever drafted the health regulations may have been ignorant of this reality. But even if it wasn’t outside the body’s jurisdiction, why should the education department be in charge of vetting who qualifies for health care in English, anyway? It’s a crude mechanism that doesn’t make any sense.

Advertisement 5

Article content

It’s worth noting here that according to the office that issues the documents, eligibility certificates are not needed to obtain English health care.

“We would like to draw your attention to the fact that, in an open letter published in The Montreal Gazette on Aug. 9, 2024, the government of Quebec reaffirmed that there will be no restriction on the provision of health and social services in English for members of the English-speaking community,” the organization told Bernstein in its correspondence.

This echoes the comments Roberge made on the social media platform X and in the aforementioned letter co-signed by Health Minister Christian Dubé and Minister Responsible for Relations with the English-speaking community Eric Girard. It would be a lot more reassuring if those statements weren’t at odds with the text of the 31 pages of health directives. Maybe someone in the Education Ministry should have a little chat with their counterparts in the health department.

After a meeting last week with select organizations providing English-language health and social services organizations, Roberge finally admitted these regulations require more than the clarification he promised. He said they need to be rewritten. (How about rescinded?) In the meantime, the problematic rules remain in effect, which means more anglophones may hit this bureaucratic wall trying to secure their rights.

Advertisement 6

Article content

Even if there’s the slightest chance this whole Kafkaesque fiasco could soon be moot, Bernstein said this is about more than an absurd and unworkable policy.

On the one hand, he’s uneasy about the whole idea of any subset of society needing special identification papers.

“I’m Jewish, so I’m very sensitive to government intervention on things like education and social services,” Bernstein said. “Even though I didn’t live it, I lived it through my family. It brings me back to prewar Germany, where you had to have something that showed you belonged to a group, otherwise you could be excluded.”

On the other hand, he feels it’s an insult to the English-speaking (and Jewish and Italian and Chinese) communities, who built and nurtured many of Quebec’s health institutions, that people would be refused documentation that is supposedly needed to guarantee access to services in their language.

“It’s kind of another slap in the face that the Legault government doesn’t recognize this contribution,” Bernstein said. “We treat the French community with respect but we don’t get it back. That really bothers me.”

In protest, Bernstein had a bunch of stickers printed up that read: “I am/Je suis an historic anglo. Protect our health care rights.” He handed them out in front of the Jewish General Hospital on Tuesday.

A sheet of stickers reads 'I am/je suis AN HISTORIC ANGLO / Protect our healthcare language rights' with Canadian and Quebec flags
Historic Anglo stickers that Gary Bernstein gave out outside the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal Tuesday Aug. 20, 2024. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

“If people accept them, I’ll branch out to other hospitals,” Bernstein said. “I printed up a small quantity to start.”

So if you’re an English-speaking Quebecer who is no longer of school age and doesn’t have an eligibility certificate, how about a sticker?

[email protected]

Recommended from Editorial

Advertisement 7

Article content

Article content