Bilingual ambulance service dominates 1st question period of new legislature

The Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives have waded into the legal complexities of bilingual ambulance service as they continue their struggle to govern New Brunswick.

The issue of paramedic shortages — and a Liberal promise to send it to an all-party committee of MLAs for recommendations — was front and centre during the first question period of the new legislature on Wednesday.

PC Leader Blaine Higgs told reporters that if he forms a minority government in the coming weeks, he would abandon a court case filed by the province to clarify its legal obligation to have at least one bilingual paramedic on each ambulance crew.

He said it would be faster to simply consult paramedics and others in the system to find a solution.

"If I can deal directly with the people that are impacted, and the people that can solve the problem, that is always my first solution, rather than spending time in court."

Conflicting orders

Earlier this year, the Liberals applied for a judicial review of a labour arbitration ruling that contradicts an earlier court order on bilingual ambulance services.

The 2017 court order, which resolved a lawsuit against the province and which the province agreed to, said the province must provide ambulance services "of equal quality" in all areas of the province.

The order by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Zoel Dionne was based in part on Section 20 (2) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It says any New Brunswicker "has the right to communicate with, and to receive available services from" any provincial institution in English and French."

But an April 2018 ruling by labour arbitrator John McEvoy said the requirement of at least one bilingual paramedic in every two-person crew had led to staffing shortages.

Ambulance New Brunswick's interim fix of temporary hirings was interfering with seniority rights, he said.

McEvoy suggested Ambulance New Brunswick could reduce bilingual service in areas of the province where there were fewer minority-language speakers, and could use a so-called "language line" linked to a dispatch office to provide translation.

Most vacancies require both languages

Premier Brian Gallant said Wednesday that government lawyers had concluded following McEvoy's recommendations would violate the court order and put the government in contempt of court.

Even so, Gallant's throne speech on Tuesday proposed an all-party committee of MLAs study the issue and report by Dec. 15. The Liberals said the fragmented election results made it clear the issue has to be addressed.

The Liberals released a discussion paper Wednesday on the issue, and the document makes it clear the language requirement is a factor in staff shortages.

It said 51 out of 61 vacant full-time paramedic positions are bilingual jobs, as are 31 of 40 part-time vacancies.

The document also warned that many of the proposed solutions, such as the "language line," changes to hiring requirements, and reducing bilingual services in some regions, would spark court challenges, and some would probably violate Dionne's court order.

Health Minister Benoî​t Bourque acknowledged that with the legal review of the McEvoy decision scheduled for Jan. 24, a committee that has to wrap up its work by Dec. 15 would not be able to get much done on the language issue.

"Yes. In essence, yes," Bourque told reporters.

Higgs would consult paramedics

While Higgs said he would seek a "legal opinion" on Dionne's order if he becomes premier, he said a quick consultation with "the people who are actually in the field, doing the job" would be the best way to find a solution.

"If you resolve the problem, the court issue becomes irrelevant because the problem has been resolved," he said.

It's not a question of bilingual service. It's a question of how we implement bilingual service in a reasonable, common-sense way.- People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin

He would not say what he'd do if government lawyers advised him that his proposed solution would face a court challenge.

"I'm not going to go down a hypothetical trail," he told reporters. "It seems like repeatedly when I give an opinion, I get burned on that, so I'm not going to give an opinion."

But he said he doesn't plan to challenge existing legal requirements, and after repeated questions from reporters said if proposed solutions didn't meet legal requirements, "then there must be other solutions, so we would have to look for those."

Higgs proposed earlier this year to hire unilingual paramedics for bilingual positions and then train them once they're on the job. He hasn't said how that would meet the court order's requirements.

Alliance fears prolonged review

People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin, who has been raising the ambulance issue for years and has blamed bilingual hiring requirements, said he did not like the idea of a committee to study the issue.

"My concern is when we talk about reviews and studies is that things get delayed," he said. "There's lots of information out there about what's got to be done."

He said he didn't think the proposed solutions would violate Dionne's court order.

"We're not talking about denying anybody their linguistic rights," he said. "It's not a question of bilingual service. It's a question of how we implement bilingual service in a reasonable, common-sense way."