Closing the Hôpital Montfort: Never!
In Ontario, the election of the Progressive Conservatives led by Mike Harris in 1995 marked the accession to power of a political party that embraced a neo-conservative conception of the role of the state in society. Echoing its election slogan “The Common Sense Revolution,” the Harris government embarked on deregulation, administrative reengineering and major budget cuts, notably in education, social services, and health care. As part of this Common Sense Revolution, he appointed the Ontario Health Services Restructuring Commission. On February 24, 1997, the Commission recommended the closure of the Hôpital Montfort, a French-language health care establishment in Ottawa.
This recommendation triggered one of the largest mobilizations in the history of Franco-Ontarians. Under the leadership of Gisèle Lalonde, the former mayor of Vanier in the National Capital region, the S.O.S. Montfort committee launched a vast campaign to prevent the closure of the Hôpital Montfort. Several thousand people signed petitions, such as the one published in the newspaper Le Droit on March 13, 1997. The text of this petition insisted on the role of the hospital as a key institution for the francophone community, but also as a place for French-language training of healthcare personnel in Ontario. Many Franco-Ontarians took part in several demonstrations and attended a rally at the Ottawa Civic Centre.
On August 13, 1997, the Commission recommended the partial reopening of the Hôpital Montfort by offering only psychiatric services, as well as ambulatory, obstetric and long-term care. The leaders of S.O.S. Montfort denounced this solution as a half-measure. The legal challenge launched by S.O.S. Montfort was more successful. The Ontario Divisional Court, on November 29, 1999, and the Court of Appeal for Ontario, on December 7, 2001, both ruled that the closure of the Hôpital Montfort was contrary to the principle of protecting the rights of linguistic minority communities in Canada. Not only did the Hôpital Montfort remain open, but the provincial Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty, elected in 2003, and the federal government invested in an expansion project for the establishment.
Title of the document : Changeons la décision. Sauvons Montfort? 1 p.
Date : March 13, 1980
Reference : Reprinted with permission from the newspaper Le Droit.
To learn more about this topic:
Online
Bonenfant, Angie. « Il était une fois S.O.S. Monfort » (récit numérique), Radio-Canada.
Gagnon, Marc-André. « SOS Montfort », L’Encyclopédie canadienne.
« SOS Montfort (1997) », mON400, Musées Ontario.
« SOS Montfort ». Exposition. CRCCF, Université d’Ottawa.
Printed sources
Bernard, Roger. À la défense de Montfort, Ottawa, Le Nordir, 2000.
Deevey, Roxanne. Montfort et le Droit : même combat? Ottawa, Le Nordir, 2003.
Gratton, Michel. Montfort. La lutte d’un peuple, Ottawa, Centre franco-ontarien de ressources pédagogiques, 2003.
Lebel, Marie. « Montfort, de l’affaire à la cause. Un moment charnière dans les stratégies de défense des droits des francophones », dans Martin Pâquet (dir.), Faute et réparation au Canada et au Québec contemporains. Études historiques, Québec, Éditions Nota bene, 2006, p. 289-318.
Martel, Marcel. « Usage du passé et mémoire collective franco-ontarienne : le souvenir du Règlement 17 dans la bataille pour sauver l’hôpital Montfort », Mens, Revue d’histoire intellectuelle de l’Amérique française, vol. 6, no 1 (automne 2005), p. 69-94.
Miville, Serge. « Montfort fermé : jamais? Le discours nationalitaire de SOS Montfort dans les journaux franco-ontariens », Recherches sociographiques, vol. 61, no 2-3 (mai-décembre 2020), p. 319-346.
Paquet, Gilles. « Montfort et les nouveaux Éléates », Francophonies d’Amérique, vol. 13 (2002), p. 139-155.
Perron Roach, Danielle. « Hôpital Montfort : reflets de la francophonie en évolution », Reflets : Revue d’intervention sociale et communautaire, vol. 21, no 2 (automne 2015), p. 217-228.
