It is estimated that almost 10,000 people, mostly elderly, died during an oppressive heat wave which swept across France the first two weeks of August.
The heatwave put health care centres under pressure. With many people, including Jacques Chirac, the President of France, on their annual vacation, and health care workers restricted to a mandatory 35 hour work week, nursing homes and hospitals were left severely understaffed.
Coincidentally, Jean Chrétien, Canada’s Prime Minister, also continued his summer vacation in Northern Québec. This meant he escaped the power outage that was affecting fifty million in Canada and the U.S (the province of Québec was not affected by the black-out).
