People gathered in downtown Montreal Saturday evening┬аon the fourth anniversary of Joyce Echaquan’s death┬аfor a rally calling on Quebec to take more action against discrimination in health care.
Ghisliain Picard, the Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, was in the┬аcrowd wearing, like most of the attendees, a purple shirt with a photo of Echaquan┬аprinted on the front.
“The community is still waiting for some kind of movement, action, that will provide some closure especially for the close relatives of Joyce Echaquan, for [her]┬аcommunity of Manawan,” he said.
“All of that lies in the hands of government.”
Four years ago,┬аEchaquan, an┬аAtikamekw┬аwoman,┬аlivestreamed a video showing how┬аstaff at a Joliette, Que.,┬аhospital were treating her while she lay dying.┬а
In the video,┬аthe 37-year-old could be heard screaming in distress, as well as┬аemployees insulting and hurling racist remarks at her.
Since then people have been┬аcalling for the Quebec government to adopt Joyce’s Principle, which is aimed at┬аensuring that┬аIndigenous people┬аreceive the highest standard of medical care free of racism and bias.
Quebec’s Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafreni├иre┬аtold CBC News Saturday he can’t adopt the principle because it would entail recognizing the existence of systemic racism in the province.
“We presented two weeks ago a bill, Bill 32, that┬аincludes most of the elements of the Joyce’s┬аPrinciple but systemic racism, and we stand on the same position. So people can be disappointed, but they can’t be surprised,” he said┬аwhile at a CAQ political conference in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que.┬а┬а
Bill 32 requires health-care workers to adopt a “cultural safety approach” and be more inclusive when interacting with Indigenous patients. Introduced last year by Lafreni├иre, the bill is currently being studied by a committee at the National Assembly.
Jennifer Petiquay-Dufresne, the executive director of the Office of Joyce’s Principle, said that Lafreni├иre’s position on systemic racism puts off any concrete actions that would actually help the community.┬а
“It’s difficult to move forward with a government that doesn’t recognize our reality,” said┬аPetiquay-Dufresne, who was at Saturday’s rally.
Premier Fran├зois Legault┬аmentioned Echaquan┬аin his speech to party faithful at Saturday’s conference.┬а
“We should all keep her in our thoughts,” he said, adding that National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is also only two days away.┬а
“This is an opportunity to remember that there’s still work to be done toward, one, reconciliation, and two, to work more and more hand in hand,” he said.┬а
Picard says there’s a broad social consensus on the existence of systemic racism and that the government has chosen to isolate┬аitself in that conversation.┬а
“We know there is┬аsystemic racism because our people live through it,” he said. “We’re hoping that we can find a way to turn the page and move on to another chapter.”
