WATCH: QCGN wins hard fought Bill 10 concessions
MONTREAL — The Quebec Community Groups Network said that months of pressure on the Quebec government over Bill 10 has paid off for the English-speaking community.
“It’s a huge battle won.”
The controversial healthcare reform was pushed through when the Liberals invoked closure over the weekend.
READ MORE: Liberals recall House, invoke closure to pass Bill 10
With the bill came some hard won compromises to protect the rights of English institutions.
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“I think we have a net gain here,” former MNA Clifford Lincoln told reporters Monday.
“We’ve made a very positive step forward from the point of view of the legislation first tabled.”
Some of those compromises include:
- granting bilingual status to two of the new integrated health centres in the Montreal area
- English representation on every social-services centre in the province
- two seats on university hospital boards
- compulsory advisory boards for all bilingual institutions
There were also protections and veto powers when it comes to changing an institution’s mission or liquidating assets.
The government also said it would make sure that there are enough English speakers on staff to ensure the government can deliver on what its promised.
“Words on paper are nice, but if we don’t have people in place capable of delivering nothing happens,” lawyer and negotiator for the QCGN, Eric Maldoff, told reporters Monday.
“That’s huge, because we have access committees that can be looking at the human resources plans to ensure that they are actually able to carry them out.”
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