On 1 February 2002, SOS Montfort, after a four-year battle to defeat the attempts of the Harris government to close down the Montfort hospital in Ottawa, won an important battle. Health Minister Tony Clement announced that the government would not appeal a ruling of the Ontario Courtof Appeal demanding that the hospital be maintained as a full-fledged community teaching hospital.

Clement publicly admitted that the government had been wrong in seeking the closing of Montfort, saying that "it’s even more embarrassing and shameful if you don’t admit you’re wrong, quite frankly." He said that his government would not go ahead with the appeal it had considered launching in the Supreme Court.

This victory was a result of a tenacious struggle.

SOS Montfort based itself on the principle that Franco-Ontarians have rights by virtue of being a minority and that these rights have to be provided with a guarantee. It went all out to mobilize people across Canada to support this just cause, mobilizing everyone it could irrespective of language, of their national origin, political affiliation or ideological belief. It also explained that a victory for one minority would be a victory for all minorities.

Health care is a right. SOS Montfort also took the stand to remain active, to make sure that the hospital will receive the funding it needs to remain a community teaching hospital and to provide the necessary health care services to the people of the area.

Gisele Lalonde, president of SOS Montfort, when asked as the reasons why the Harris government did not to go ahead with an appeal to the Supreme Court, said:

"The main reason is the mobilization of the Franco-Ontarian community and the support we have received from all across Canada and even from abroad. We also had a strong legal case. We also know that the Cabinet of the Ontario government was divided over the appeal to the Supreme Court and it seems that other provincial governments who also have Francophone minorities in their province have put pressure on the Ontario government not to go to the Supreme Court. A victory for us at the Supreme Court would have had a stronger impact all across Canada than the ruling of the Ontario Court of Appeal.

When asked as to the lessons drawn from the struggle, she commented:

"The main lesson as far as I am concerned is that we are fighting for our rights as a minority. Rights are not something that you beg for or that you negotiate. You fight for them and you demand that they are recognized. I am going to tour a number of schools and to speak to students. I am going to tell them that the only way to go is to stand up for your rights and to have the courage of your convictions and principles. Because this is what we did, we have received support from all kinds of people, including a large number of Anglophones. One of the things we also appreciate very much is that we now feel much closer to the Quebecers than we did before. We have made many links in Quebec and we are very happy about that.

In 1997, the Ontario government, via the Health Services Restructuring Commission, ordered the closing of Montfort Hospital. A few months later, in the face of a massive mobilization of the Franco-Ontarian community to save the hospital, the Commission ordered a drastic reduction of services at the hospital which would have transformed it into a large-scale walk-in clinic.

As part of the struggle of the people to save the hospital, which is the only hospital in the Ottawa area to offer health care services in French on a full-time basis and to train French-speaking health-care professionals, the Montfort Hospital and sos Montfort appealed the decisions of the Commission to the Ontario Divisional Court. The Divisional Court struck down the decisions of the Commission and the Ontario government retaliated by launching an appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal. On 7 December2001 the Court of Appeal maintained the ruling of the Divisional Court and ordered the Ontario government to abide by it.