We won’t apply burka ban in emergency situations: CHUM
A day after the provincial Liberal government released guidelines on how its controversial facecovering law will be enforced, the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal has signalled that it’s prepared to defy the legislation — at least when it comes to patients in an emergency.
The CHUM is staking out a more detailed position on Bill 62, the socalled burka ban, than most Montreal hospitals that have chosen to remain silent on the matter. Among the hospitals that have preferred not to comment is the Jewish General, whose former executive director had spoken out publicly against an earlier prohibition on all religious headgear by the Parti Québécois government in its ill-fated charter of values three years ago.
Meanwhile, a prominent medical lawyer is arguing that there’s a fundamental incompatibility between Bill 62 — which requires that government employees and members of the public keep their faces uncovered — and the stipulations of the Health and Social Services Act. It appears that the CHUM is relying on the Health Act and the Quebec Charter of Rights to support its position, lawyer Jean-Pierre Ménard said.
The new guidelines on Bill 62, unveiled by Justice Minster Stéphanie Vallée, state that “for identification purposes, a person who comes to a health-network establishment to obtain a service from a staff member must have his or her face uncovered when receiving a service that requires meeting the identification objectives.”
“When there is no interaction with a staff member,” the guideline adds, “someone in the waiting room, for example, does not have to uncover their face. It is the same with a person who accompanies another person who requires care.”
Although the legislation adopted by the National Assembly last week makes no mention of a specific religion, it will no doubt affect a small number of Muslim women who choose to wear the full-length burka or the niqab veil. It’s estimated that up to 100 women wear such garments in Quebec, or 0.0012 per cent of the province’s population.
Lucie Dufresne, a spokesperson for the CHUM, suggested that the French-language hospital network won’t be rushing to demand that people uncover their faces if they show up in the ER in a dire emergency.
“The CHUM is aware of the principles of application of the act to promote respect for the religious neutrality of the state,” Dufresne said in a statement.
“Remember, however, that despite these (guidelines), and as indicated last week, the CHUM maintains the responsibility to assist anyone who arrives in an emergency situation and whose life is in danger. This is the CHUM’s current position on the subject.”
Under the Health Act, every hospital “shall adopt adequate operating standards for its emergency services and apply standards consistent with the principle of an adequate distribution of emergency cases.” What’s more, Ménard noted, Article 7 of the same act ensures that “every person whose life or bodily integrity is endangered is entitled to receive the care required by his condition.”
“It is the Health and Social Services Act that will take precedence (over Bill 62),” Ménard said, adding that the Quebec Charter of Rights also applies. He pointed to Article 2 of the charter, which stipulates that “every human being whose life is in peril has a right to assistance.”
Julia Asselstine, assistant director of communications and engagement at the McGill University Health Centre, declined to comment on the Bill 62 guidelines, referring all questions to the Health Ministry. Previously, Asselstine emphasized that the MUHC “will co-ordinate the rollout of this new bill in collaboration with the government.”
On the day that Bill 62 was adopted, a spokesperson for the Jewish General told the Montreal Gazette that “we have not read the final version of the law that was passed and we will not comment until we have done so. On Tuesday, after the guidelines were made public, Carl Thériault said by email that “for all questions concerning Bill 62, we have to refer you to the office of the Ministry of Justice.”
The Jewish General’s reticence over Bill 62 is in stark contrast to its staunch opposition to Bill 60, the charter of values, which would have banned Muslim religious headdress, Sikh turbans and the Jewish kippa or skullcap. Amid the debate over the PQ’s proposed legislation, the Côte-des-Neiges hospital cooperated in the release of a video that showed in its very first images a Muslim doctor wearing a hijab.
It is the Health and Social Services Act that will take precedence (over Bill 62).