Local veterinarian, Dr. Mel Jowett, is unable to serve clients outside of the clinic she works at because her temporary license to practice in Quebec was revoked because she did not fulfill the language requirements. The Quebec office of the French language (OQLF) has strict guidelines on temporary licenses in Quebec. To obtain the license, one must pass a French language test to be eligible. People are given four years in which to pass the language test, if this is not possible, the temporary license is revoked.
Jowett is not the only one who has been restricted from . . .
working in Quebec because of this. “Unfortunately, languages are not my forte, and although I get by relatively well due to the anglophone/bilingual nature of the Pontiac and La Peche regions, this does not alter the rules of the OQLF,” said Jowett in a letter she shared with
THE EQUITY.
Language laws in Quebec have long been around since Bill 101 was first introduced in the 70s which made French the official language of Quebec. It was created out of fear that the rights of the francophone minorities were being threatened. Over the years the law has had major changes applied to it and today, those changes are being made through Bill 96 – which is still under revision by the Coalition Avenir Québec government.
Such bills have created language barriers that have impacted residents’ ability to run their businesses in English in the province of Quebec.
On April 26 Chantal Chretien, a farm owner, started a petition to drum up support for Jowett to reverse the Order to allow her to practice in the region.
Chretien noted that the region can not afford to lose a specialized horse veterinarian in the area as they are facing a huge shortage of vets who deal with big animals.
“We’re not asking every francophone to be fluent in English to work, so why are we asking the anglophones to be fluent in French to work in Quebec?” Chretien said.
The goal of drawing up the petition was to reverse the decision made by the OQLF to deny de Jowett a license to run her practice because she does not speak fluent French. She has reached out to Pontiac MNA Andre Fortin, she has also reached out to different media outlets to shine a light on the matter.
The petition has been signed by 3,075 people as of May 2.
Not having a veterinarian specialized in horses in town, and constantly having to switch between clinics to get the service they need, makes it hard to follow the health of their animal and puts owners in precarious situations when there are emergencies, pointed out Andrea Goffart, local horse owner. “It’s an erosion of the healthcare system.”
Living in Quyon and being bilingual, Goffart understands the laws that currently are in place but added that when it comes to the health of her animal she doesn’t care if the person speaks French or English. “We just want our horses to be treated properly to have healthcare when they need it. That’s something we often cannot access,” she said.
Goffart pointed out that the one other veterinarian in town is specialized in cows but usually can assist locals when there are emergencies, but her other options is looking for vets in Ontario.
For Goffart it was refreshing to see a young vet settle in the Pontiac and plant roots, as the area is in much need of it, but said its a shame she isn’t able to work here due to the language barriers. “There’s a negative connotation that happens when you fail something often rather than having supports put in place. That creates an insecurity, it just becomes harder and harder,” she said.
Jowett is currently in conversation with the Ordre des médecins vétérinaires du Québec to see if the Order is able to push through an exemption, for the sake of the shortage of vets in the area. “There really is nothing further to be done, other than to wait and see if the OQLF will accept it,” she said.
Although the decision to stop her own equine work in the Pontiac has been hindered by the language law, Jowett has found it tough to serve horses in both preventative as well as emergency cases while also working as a vet with small animals and covering the farm animal service. “After 3 years of this, I was finding myself dangerously close to burnout. Although I have thoroughly enjoyed doing the equine work, I felt that taking a break from it at this time was essential for my mental and physical health,” said Jowett.
“I truly hope that the rules are able to be changed in order to encourage vets to work in an area that is grossly under covered by veterinarians,” said Jowett.
“I think a little bit more flexibility from the Quebec government and the Quebec office of the French language would be a good start to help professionals. We are lacking resources here in the Pontiac to have professionals establish themselves in an area where it is 57 per cent anglophone,” said Chretien.
Zainab Al-Mehdar
Pontiac April 26, 2022
