New Brunswick government loosens requirement for bilingual paramedics
FREDERICTON — New Brunswick’s minority Tory government is eliminating the requirement that it provide bilingual paramedics in every part of Canada’s only officially bilingual province.
The province’s efforts to address a shortage of bilingual paramedics became a heated issue during the recent provincial election campaign, and critics have said any move to change the requirement could violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the province’s Official Languages Act to provide equal services in both English and French.
“I consider today’s actions to be in the best interests of New Brunswickers because I am putting their lives and their safety first. To me, there is no other path available,” Health Minister Ted Flemming said Tuesday.
He said the changes would only be made in areas of the province that are primarily unilingual.