New Brunswick government loosens requirement for bilingual paramedics
Posted December 18, 2018 1:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
FREDERICTON — New Brunswick’s minority Tory government is eliminating the requirement for bilingual paramedics in some primarily unilingual areas of the province.
The change is being made despite a judicial review of language requirements for ambulances, slated to begin next month.
Health Minister Ted Flemming says ambulances should not be sitting idle just because fully bilingual paramedics can’t be found.
People’s Alliance Leader Kris Austin had been opposed to the review but says he’s agreed to support it, in exchange for the hiring of more full-time paramedics.
A court ruling last year said bilingual paramedic services must be provided, but a labour adjudicator said there may be ways to lessen the language requirements.
Flemming says the court ruling holds no weight because it was simply a consent order signed by two lawyers.
The Canadian Press
