Vers une Amélioration de la Prestation de Services de Santé pour les Franco-Ontariens

Abstract

Despite Canada’s linguistic duality status, the francophone community continues to be neglected by the country's authorities. More specifically, the limited scope and access to health services offered to francophones in Ontario pose a serious threat to this population. Facilities providing health services continue to ignore existing health care policies. This situation imposes several actions at the federal, legislative and community levels necessary to ensure the bilingual guarantee promised to the Canadian population. Among these, we must increase the Francophone presence in decision-making groups to ensure the design and establishment of health programs and services focused on the unique and distinct needs of Franco-Ontarians. Moreover, federal financial commitment to Francophone community organizations is essential in order to provide more health services in French, especially in northern and rural communities in the province. Finally, government funding for future research on the health of Francophones is necessary since this will serve as a solid basis for determining how to better serve this population. To achieve this, we would have to consider lobbying, encouraging institutions that provide health services to obtain their bilingual designation, and updating the French Language Services Act. However, by continuing inaction, Franco-Ontarians risk becoming assimilated into the rest of the population, wasting away and seeing their health deteriorating. This article seeks in particular to point out the need to improve the delivery of health services in French in Ontario.