Municipal

The water treatment plant project is moving forward on Anticosti Island. Anticosti Islanders will have access to drinking water within a year, if the work goes as planned.

The mayor of Anticosti Island, Hélène Boulanger, is delighted with the news she has been waiting for a long time.

It’s still a lot of work that will have to be done for the rest of things. People will work for a year for this, mentions Hélène Boulanger.

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Hélène Boulanger has been waiting for more than a decade for the boil water advisory to be lifted on Anticosti Island. (Archive photo)

Photo: Courtesy of Hélène Boulanger

The $8 million project will end a boil water advisory that has been in effect for several years on Anticosti Island.

The old factory was obsolete, according to the mayor. It could not correspond [aux normes] even with water treatment and all the application of standards. It’s not with a little bit of chlorine that it can be fixed. The complexity of all that meant that [l’avis d’ébullition] was permanent, explains Hélène Boulanger.

Although the project involves the construction of a new factory, the mayor adds that the building of the old factory could be put to good use.

Hélène Boulanger maintains that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MAMH) will finance the majority of the new plant. The MAMH has not confirmed its share of funding at this time.

According to information from Alban Normandin

The New Brunswick Court of Appeal heard the case of forced deliveries at the Moncton Hospital on Thursday in Fredericton. Lawyers for the plaintiffs tried to convince the judges to save their class action.

In November 2023, King’s Bench Chief Justice Tracey K. DeWare dismissed a class action certification application on behalf of women who allegedly received hormones without their consent during childbirth.

The application targeted Horizon Health Network and former nurse Nicole Ruest. It was filed by a woman who alleged she underwent an emergency C-section in March 2019 after being given oxytocin without her knowledge.

In her decision, Judge DeWare ruled that a class action was not the way to resolve the case. She determined that the plaintiffs should instead pursue civil suits individually.

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Three judges from the New Brunswick Court of Appeal considered the case Thursday in Fredericton. (File photo)

Photo: Radio-Canada / Michel Corriveau

On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the province’s highest court heard an appeal of that decision.

They first spoke with the plaintiffs’ lawyer, John McKiggan, who tried to convince them that Judge DeWare made legal errors and that the Court of Appeal should approve the request for authorization of a class action.

McKiggan said her team has been contacted by more than 200 women who believe they could be part of the action.

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L’avocat John McKiggan

Photo : Radio-Canada / CBC / (Jon Collicott

He said telling them that they must file civil lawsuits if they want financial compensation, instead of settling the case in one fell swoop, is completely insane.

It’s… I was going to use a stronger word… it’s not practical. It makes no sense. The cost of this enormous number of lawsuits, to the members of the class and to the courts, would make absolutely no sense. It would be completely contrary to the principle of judicial efficiency, he said.

Class action may make sense, judge says

Comments that seemed to score points with Judge Ernest Drapeau, who was by far the magistrate who asked the most questions during the hearing.

The magistrate thought out loud and pushed the lawyers into a corner, as he usually does.

He asked what would happen if 100 women, half of those who contacted John McKiggan’s office, filed civil suits.

This would result in the filing of 100 defence briefs by the Horizon Health Network and 100 defence briefs by Nicole Ruest, he noted.

Don’t you think that the judge of the Court of King’s Bench, or someone on the hospital board, would say, “Can’t you combine lawsuits so we don’t have to spend a fortune?” And in the end, isn’t that why a class action, while imperfect, might make sense? he asked.

Lawyers for Horizon Health Network and Nicole Ruest presented several arguments to convince the Court of Appeal that Judge DeWare made the right decision in rejecting the application for authorization of a class action.

They said, among other things, that the definition of class action proposed by the plaintiffs’ lawyer is too vague and would open the door to claims from people who did not even give birth at the Moncton Hospital.

They further argued that filing individual lawsuits is imperfect, but it is the best way to handle claims, given the complexity of the cases and the fact that not all plaintiffs have had identical experiences.

The judges said they would make their decision later.

John Rustad, the leader of the British Columbia Conservative Party, says he supports involuntary treatment for drug addicts. If elected in the provincial election, he promises to put measures in place to make that happen.

In a statement, John Rustad cited the urgent need to protect vulnerable British Columbians from the devastating effects of addiction, saying the current system has failed not only youth, but adults struggling without adequate support.

To achieve this, the Conservative Party is proposing three avenues: the introduction of laws authorizing involuntary treatment for those seriously threatened by drug addiction, the construction of low-security facilities for treatment in a secure environment and the creation of crisis response and stabilization units in order to reduce pressure in emergency rooms.

The NDP’s refusal to act has cost lives and left families devastated, Rustad said. It’s about compassionate intervention rather than doing nothing, he continued.

The NDP has not confirmed its position.

For his part, Premier David Eby said in 2022 that involuntary hospitalizations could be a compassionate option because they prevent people from being released back onto the streets after being hospitalized for an overdose. He has not since confirmed whether he still supports the measure in serious drug addiction cases.

Provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix said the premier will have more to say soon. Dix also noted that the government launched a task force in June, led by psychiatrist Daniel Vigo. The goal is to provide solutions to address the most difficult addiction cases.

The important thing is the treatment, explains Minister Dix. So to hear Mr. Rustad, who is against public health and was against treatment when he was in government, proposing this now, is hard to believe, he concluded.

A proposal that does not meet with unanimous approval

For Louis Letellier de St-Just, a lawyer specializing in health law, this proposal is not new. He describes it as a rather easy, extremely brutal response to the crisis that we are experiencing across the country.

He adds that particularly in addiction, studies have never provided conclusive evidence that involuntary treatment works.

Instead of addressing the individual, who is the victim in all of this, there are a lot of underlying issues, [comme] the lack of housing, the question [économique]support in the environment.

A quote from Louis Letellier de St-Just, lawyer specializing in health law

The Surrey Union of Drug Users (SUDU), a social movement of drug users in Surrey, agrees that we need to focus on the root causes of the problem. Involuntary treatment is not only unnecessary, it is traumatic and discourages people from seeking treatment, SUDU says in a written statement.

The organization is disappointed to see what it considers political opportunism, with leaders wanting to impose treatments when our hospital services and treatment sites are already full.

This is an electoral madness built on the corpses of our friends, she concluded.

With information from Wildinette Paul