French-language health planning entities ready to play their role

Yesterday, at Queen’s Park, the Ontario Government announced the creation of four more French Language Planning Entities in addition to the two that were announced in June. This is truly important news for Francophones across the province. Essentially the six planning entities will give French-speaking Ontarians — for the first time — a direct say in the decisions that are being made to improve the quality of their health care.

It also means that the government has paid heed to the recommendations contained in my Special Report on French Language Health Services Planning, released in May 2009. This is great news!

I expect all of these entities to be operational by the end of this fiscal year and I’m confident that they will be.