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Lakeshore General's decision to move Canada Day holiday sparks criticism

Doctor says move is disrespectful

Karen Seidman
The Gazette
Thursday, June 12, 2008

Has the Lakeshore General Hospital done its employees a
favour or a disservice by moving the Canada Day holiday to Monday,
June 30, rather than July 1 to benefit from a long weekend?

At least one doctor is fuming about the decision by the Centre de
Santé et de Service Sociaux de l'Ouest de l'Île for having moved the
national holiday.

"Where does the CSSS de l'Ouest de l'Île derive its authority to
change the date of our Canadian holiday and tradition?" asked John
Bray, a gynecologist who used to be chief of obstetrics/gynecology
at the Lakeshore General, but resigned in 2006 after a dispute with
the hospital.

When Bray recently received a copy of the hospital's list of
statutory holidays for 2008-09, he was incensed to see Canada Day
had been moved after he had fought similar moves years ago and had
convinced hospital administrators at the time to restore the holiday
to its true date as a sign of respect.

Hospital spokesperson Louis-Pascal Cyr said that changing the date
was "in no way meant as disrespectful to Canadians. It's just to
offer a longer weekend to employees."

He said the calendar is generally agreed upon with the hospital's
unions and although there was no particular request to have Canada
Day celebrated on June 30, nor was there opposition to the change,
Cyr said.

He said the hospital would probably do the same for St. Jean
Baptiste Day if the law didn't specify that Quebec's national
holiday must be celebrated on June 24.

He said the hospital has moved Canada Day in the past and it has
never caused an uproar.

Bray believes that the hospital, built in an anglophone area, is
ignoring the community's tradition and history.

In a letter to executive director Suzanne Turmel, he wrote: "Do you
not realize that at least the anglophone members of the hospital
staff and anglophone patients who seek and receive care at the LGH
must now work and attend appointments at the hospital on the July 1
holiday when other members of their family or circle of friends are
celebrating as they should?"

He chastised hospital officials for choosing the convenience of a
three-day weekend.