Debbie Popien is best described as the person who is always smiling and goes out of her way to see how others are doing.  She’s a Francophone Student Records and Electives Officer at NOSM at Lakehead University.

She speaks English with such clarity and ease that you’d never know her first language is French. Born in Timmins, her mom is from a small town in Quebec and her dad is from a small community outside of Kapuskasing called Moonbeam.

“When I was a year old, we moved to Thunder Bay for my dad’s business in the forestry industry, and I spoke only French until I was about four. Then I had to start school,” she recalls.

At the time, there were no French schools in Thunder Bay. Debbie recalls befriending another little girl who only spoke Italian. It was not until years later that a fully French elementary school would open in Thunder Bay called École Catholique Franco-Superieur, and high school École Secondaire Catholique De La Verendrye.

“I think it was more difficult for me back then. Now there are way more accessible services in French.”

She says for a long time she didn’t use her French aside from visiting with family in Thunder Bay. It wasn’t until she had her daughter and was encouraged to enroll her into the French school system in Thunder Bay that she reconnected with the Francophone community.

“I fell away from my culture for many years. I really didn’t have the Francophone influences in my life and I found that I missed it. I missed the traditions, it’s hard to explain culture.”

When her daughter started grade one, she debated whether to enroll her into French school. It was friends at a Francophone playgroup who convinced her to try it.  I thought, she’s not getting the Francophone experience anywhere else, and I want her to have the same Francophone experience that I had. She didn’t speak French when I enrolled her and by the end of the year she was bilingual. That’s when I started to reconnect.”

Debbie says she now uses her French all the time in her work at NOSM. She says the Francophone medical students appreciate having a Francophone to communicate with.

“You know, the French-lived experience is a big part of NOSM and the fact that we have French staff who can relate to the French students really matters because it’s more comfortable for them to have service in their preferred language. I’m able to provide them with Active Offer in French,” she says.

For Popien, it’s been personally rewarding to work with fellow Francophones.

“I feel like I’m re-immersed in the Francophone culture, rediscovering and reconnecting. I enjoy communicating with the Francophone Affairs staff at NOSM. Also, I help our French students feel connected and there’s a degree of comfort with that. It reduces a little bit of their stress.”

She says she values the Francophone inclusiveness within the social accountability mandate at NOSM; reflecting the diversity of the region and Francophone communities that NOSM serves.

“Encouraging Active Offer in French and having Francophone physicians is huge. In my own experience, when my mother was unwell and trying to explain her symptoms to the physician, I remember the difficulty she was having. She couldn’t express it in her own language.”

“It is so important for people to be able to speak to their physicians in their preferred language. That is when the barriers drop and there is a comfort level. And, there’s a huge Francophone community here; it just makes it all the more relatable.”

 

“When I hurt, I hurt in French.”

It is hard to imagine receiving health-care services in a foreign language. Dr. Crystal Boulianne, Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) alumna, is committed to eliminating linguistic barriers that affect the quality of health care for the Francophone population of Kapuskasing. Her efforts are so formidable, that she was awarded the 2019 Family Medicine Resident Award for the Study of Communities Impacted by Health Disparities granted by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) through the Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine. Boulianne will receive the award in November, during the CFPC’s 2019 Family Medicine Forum in Vancouver.

Born in Kapuskasing, Boulianne was raised in an Anglophone household and attended elementary and high school in the French immersion program. At a young age, she recognized the value of bilingualism in her community. While living and working in the region, she was inspired to learn more about the French language. Driven to grasp the vocabulary, she quickly mastered the language.

For Boulianne, speaking French gives her another outlet to express herself⁠—through the art of communication. To her, the language is both personal and professional.

In fact, Boulianne got so comfortable with the language that during her third year at NOSM, she chose to complete her entire eight-month Comprehensive Community Clerkship (CCC) placement in the town of Hearst, a predominantly Francophone community. While there, Boulianne undertook a research project focused on the health-care services for Francophones who are transferred to larger, predominantly Anglophone center, for specialized treatment. The results highlighted a significant obstacle.

“I heard horror stories of elderly patients being redirected to cities like Sudbury for health care, that arrive by ambulance, and are unable to communicate in their own language,” explains Boulianne. “They would come back to Kapuskasing without an understanding of the instructions they had received. Are the services considered available, really available,” questions Boulianne. She noted that when follow-up appointments are required, and the patient is steered towards a larger urban centre⁠—like Sudbury, Timmins or Thunder Bay⁠—there is no guarantee that the service the patient will receive will actually be available in French.

Boulianne, who hopes to establish her medical practice following the summer of 2019, remains passionate in her efforts to offer equal medical services for all her patients. Her ultimate goal is to change the way the physicians in smaller Francophone communities transfer their patients to larger medical centers. She says she hopes that someday patients will have the right to demand access to Francophone specialists. To Boulianne, “Active Offer” means ensuring that services in French are obvious, easily available, and accessible for all her patients.

According to the French Language Services Commissioner’s Office (now part of the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario), Active Offer is “the guarantee of the quality of government services offered to the public. For the patients navigating the health care system, active offer is synonymous with safety.”

“My husband and I, and even my supervisors, find it funny that I am an Anglophone, and it is me who is fighting to ensure the rights for Francophones,” says Boulianne.

From her perspective, Boulianne feels that the nuances of medical care for Francophones do not differ widely from Anglophone care. However, what does differ is how care is planned. By providing Francophone patients with access to Francophone health-care professionals, the linguistic barrier is eliminated.

Boulianne says that although it is difficult to find a concrete solution to ensure equal access to health care, the first step is to normalize the concept of the Active Offer for physicians⁠—to make it commonplace. In order to ensure equal and safe medical services, Boulianne believes Francophones should be informed of their right to receive health care in French and feel empowered to request care in their preferred language.

In the meantime, Boulianne says she is dedicated to blazing the trail.