INEQUALITIES IN ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE IN QUÉBEC
In Québec, some Canadian children have no access to the public health insurance plan. Children’s right to health is enshrined in the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Canada is a party and by which Québec has declared itself bound. Yet thousands of Canadian children face discrimination because today their access to care in Québec depends on their parents’ immigration status. Eligibility for Québec’s health insurance plan for a child born in Canada to parents with precarious status is not supposed to be tied to the parents’ migratory status. In practice, however, the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) requires such proof; failing that, these children can only become eligible when they turn 18. This situation deprives young Canadians of health care and worsens the vulnerability of their families, who may have to bear excessive costs. Amnesty International supports the work of Médecins du Monde, the only organization in Québec offering health care to these children and helping defend their rights. Québec must act. It is its role to protect all Canadian children without any discrimination. To guarantee the health of all Canadian children in Québec, we ask the relevant ministers — including the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion, and the Minister of Health and Social Services of Québec — to take the necessary measures to end all discrimination between Canadian children by guaranteeing all of them access to Québec’s health insurance plan, regardless of their parents’ migratory status. Note that the petition is no longer online. Site features: — Built with WordPress — Petition. Web development credits: Erick Frappier.
