N.B. COVID-19 roundup: Acadian group files language complaint over COVID briefing
CBC
The Acadian Society of New Brunswick has filed a complaint with the official languages commissioner following the government's COVID-19 briefing Tuesday, during which Health Minister Dorothy Shephard spoke in English only.
She "never uttered a single word in French concerning very important information for the population of the province," Alexandre Cédric Doucet, president of the society, wrote in his complaint in French.
Instead, Acadians and francophones "only had the right to simultaneous interpretation," he said in a statement in French.
During the news conference, Shephard announced COVID-19 hospitalizations are expected to increase by six per cent over the next week.
She also explained the "red alert" protocols introduced at Vitalité Health Network hospitals Tuesday and Horizon Health Network hospitals and health-care centres Wednesday.
Under a red alert designation, hospitals are able to postpone elective surgeries and non-urgent medical procedures and outpatient appointments, such as X-rays, scans and tests.
This allows the hospitals to redeploy staff to maintain emergency services and intensive care units to care for COVID-19 patients and others who are critically ill, Shephard said.