Former prime minister Brian Mulroney wants to encourage Quebecers to donate more to French-speaking hospitals by publicly announcing a family donation of $1.5 million to three Montreal institutions.
Brian and Mila Mulroney are making three $500,000 donations to the foundations of the University of Montreal Hospital Center (CHUM), the Montreal Heart Institute and the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM).
Mr. Mulroney therefore wants to “invite” and “send a signal” to other French-speaking Quebecers, especially members of the business community, to donate more to foundations. “The Jewish community had a huge contribution to the founding of the Jewish community [General] “Hospital that of the English-speaking community is also very good, but we, the French-speakers, are falling behind,” confided the former Canadian prime minister on Thursday.
Weakened by illness
Mr. Mulroney, 84, knows what he’s talking about. He says he has spent much of the past year in hospitals, first for cancer, now for heart problems. He returned to the Montreal Heart Institute on Thursday afternoon.
In recent years, former Prime Minister Mulroney was trained in oncology at CHUM by Dr. Paul Perrotte and Cynthia Ménard, at the Montreal Heart Institute by Dr. Jean-Lucien Rouleau, Shaun Selcer and Philippe Lavoie-L’Allier and in the IRCM clinic Dr. Remi Rabasa-Lhoret.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in these hospitals,” he said, “and they need money and larger amounts for research. “Quebecians are not doing enough, we have to get involved.”
In recent years, Mr. Mulroney has demonstrated his commitment to Quebec institutions that have an impact on society, including Laval University, to which he also donated $1 million last year.
WHAT YOU SAID
“This major donation will be dedicated to one of the foundation’s five priority development areas: cancer. This allows us to continue to provide the CHUM teams with the means to continue their projects in research, advanced care and teaching.”
–Pascale BouchardPresident and General Director of the Fondation du CHUM
“With 9 in 10 people over the age of 20 in Canada having at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease, this announcement from Mr. Brian Mulroney and Ms. Mila Mulroney gives us hope.”
–Alain GignacPresident of the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation
“On behalf of our teams and people with diabetes, we sincerely thank Brian and Mila Mulroney for their generous support and trust.”
–Marie-Bénédicte HübschDirector General of the IRCM Foundation