Veteran's "Preference"

There were three contenders for the post of chief surgeon at the new Hotel-Dieu in Sorel. One, a native of Quebec, was licensed long ago by the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons, had served overseas in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. The second, Dr. Georges Montel, a native of France, got a quickie license from the college only last September. He also had a war record: he served the Vichy government. The third, a local doctor pinch-hitting as head surgeon, was brushed aside. Last month the Sorel hospital turned down the veteran, hired Collaborator Montel.

Dr. Montel had entered Canada illegally two years ago, had escaped deportation through pull in high places (TIME, Oct. 18). Only last week did Quebec doctors and the Canadian Legion hear that he had won his new job at a veteran's expense.

Fearful of reprisals from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the doctors squawked only to each other, shunned public protest. But the Legion pulled no punches. "Rash injustice and discrimination," said William V. G. Neish, president of the Quebec command. The Quebec City branch protested against "the manner in which an R.C.A.M.C. war veteran was set aside to place a French refugee." "Under what circumstances," it asked, "was he granted a special license?"

A partial answer could be given. Quebec law forbids the licensing of doctors convicted of a felony, and Montel was convicted of treason, in absentia, by French courts. But he was recommended for a license by Msgr. Ferdinand Vandry, Rector of Laval University, where he teaches surgery. And it was Msgr. Vandry who recommended him to the nuns who operate Sorel's Hotel-Dieu.

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