OTTAWA: Francophone MONTFORT HOSPITAL

Founding of the Hospital
In 1953, the Francophone community of Eastview (Vanier), the Monfortain Fathers, the religious order of the Daughters of Wisdom and leaders of the Association canadienne-française d’éducation de l’Ontario joined forces to create Hôpital Montfort.

In adopting a community-based approach with an emphasis on family medicine, Montfort quickly became the hospital of choice for Francophones throughout the region. Though Montfort has always been an active participant in various teaching endeavours, the official agreement with the University of Ottawa relating to clinical teaching in French was actually signed in 1992.

This agreement transformed Montfort into a true teaching hospital and led to the creation of the Deneault-Beaulieu Training Unit in Family Medicine in 1994. This Unit was named in honour of Dr. Jocelyn Deneault, Montfort’s Chief of Staff, and Dr. Maurice Beaulieu, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa at the time, both of whom played a crucial role in establishing a partnership between these two institutions.

The Montfort Crisis
On February 24, 1997, like a bolt out of the blue, Montfort was hit by the worst possible news. With no justification whatsoever, the Ontario Health Services Restructuring Commission, established by Mike Harris, premier of Ontario and his Conservative government, recommended closing Montfort, the only Francophone teaching hospital in Ontario and the only one in the entire country west of Quebec.

The reaction of the Francophone community was instant. The historic battle was on, spearheaded by Gérald Savoie, President and CEO of the hospital, Michelle de Courville Nicol, then Chair of its Board of Trustees and Gisèle Lalonde, former mayor of the City of Vanier who became President of the newly-minted SOS Montfort movement. Its battle cry: "Close Montfort? Never!" stunned Ontarians and rallied the Francophone population like never before.

After a series of massive demonstrations and extensive news coverage, the case was first heard in the Ontario Divisional Court where Montfort won on the basis of the fundamental unwritten principle guaranteed in the Constitution, the protection of linguistic minorities. Montfort’s victory is due, in large measure, to the argument presented by the sociologist Roger Bernard, who maintained that closing the hospital would promote the assimilation of Franco-Ontarians.

The legal implications of this ruling were monumental. Though the government appealed the decision, the Court of Appeal of Ontario not only ruled in Montfort’s favour but reinforced this historic ruling. ((10.1.2)). On December 7, 2001, Montfort’s stunning victory was complete.

A New Era
In July 2005, the Liberal government of Ontario, led by Dalton McGuinty, announced that Montfort would receive more than $171.5 million for a major expansion project New Montfort. Thanks to this investment, Montfort would become a world-class facility offering the best practices and the most advanced technology in the field of healthcare.

The CANADIAN FORCES USE FOUR FLOORS.