Just over fifteen years ago, I gave birth to my second child… in English. At that time, late at night, it had been impossible for me to receive care in French on the day of my delivery. Is my son any worse off for it today? Certainly not. Having started his life in English, he has become bilingual with disarming ease. But this happy outcome does not make the lack of French-language services acceptable at a time as intimate, vulnerable and important as a birth.
Fifteen years on, however, the problem is likely to take an even more worrying turn. It is no longer simply a matter of being able to receive treatment in one’s own language. It is access to healthcare itself that is becoming precarious. In the Pontiac, the debate should therefore not pit French-language services against English-language services: it should unite us around a requirement that is just as fundamental, but takes precedence – that of having essential, accessible and sustainable healthcare in our region. On September 17, the mayors of the Pontiac Municipal Regional Council (MRC) reiterated this by unanimously adopting a resolution calling on Quebec City to take action to address the obstetric
crisis that is undermining small rural hospitals, including the one in Shawville.
In September 2025, the Pontiac MRC adopted an action plan aimed at attracting, welcoming and integrating more newcomers, in particular to meet local labour needs. However, a region that can no longer guarantee its families access to essential services jeopardises its very ability to welcome new ones. For families to choose to settle here, they must be able to rely on housing and high-quality education and healthcare services. It is difficult to encourage them to envisage and build their future in the Pontiac when a service as vital as obstetrics remains precarious or out of reach. Now that election promises have given way to the elected government, it will take more than just a willingness to listen: what is the timeframe for turning these promises into services?
During the campaign, all the parties sought to reassure the regions that their voices would be heard. In the Pontiac, the candidates themselves made the reopening of the obstetrics department at the Pontiac Hospital a priority. It would therefore be difficult to accept that this consensus should simply vanish once the campaign posters have been taken down. The Pontiac does not require special treatment.
It is calling for the rights and essential services of the Pontiac community to be safeguarded in the same way as in larger towns.
Its vitality must not depend on the announcements that have been made there, but rather on the concrete measures that will be put in place: the return of a stable obstetrics service
to Shawville would be a first step in the right direction.
