Family of Indigenous woman subjected to slurs in Quebec hospital announces lawsuit

JOLIETTE, Que. – The family of an Indigenous woman subjected to insults as she lay dying in hospital said Friday it will hit back hard against a racist system it accuses of killing her.

Members of Joyce Echaquan’s family, community members and lawyer Jean-Francois Bertrand announced a series of legal actions at the native friendship centre in Joliette, Que., northeast of Montreal.

The family said it will launch a lawsuit against the Joliette hospital and file complaints with the province’s human rights commission and with the police. They said they hope criminal charges will follow.

Echaquan’s partner, Carol Dube, appeared overcome with emotion and struggled to get through his speech at times. He said he wanted justice for Echaquan as well as for her seven children.
“I’m convinced my partner is dead because systemic racism contaminated the Joliette hospital,” Dube said. “It killed my partner.”

He said he wanted to ensure that what happened would never happen again to other Indigenous people, especially women, who he said receive unfair treatment when seeking medical care. “Justice for Joyce! Justice for my children! Justice for my Atikamekw Nation and for other First Nations!”

Before her death, the 37-year-old Atikamekw mother filmed herself from her hospital bed Monday while she was in clear distress and pleading for help. Two female hospital staff can be seen entering the room and are heard insulting Echaquan, who had been admitted with stomach pain.

The video circulated widely on social media and prompted widespread indignation across the country.

WATCH: Family members of Joyce Echaquan to speak to media

On Thursday, the regional health authority for the Joliette region confirmed that a second health-care worker had been fired in connection with the treatment of Echaquan, a mother of seven.
Quebec’s coroner’s office is investigating Echaquan’s death as is the regional health authority.

Bertrand, a Quebec City-based lawyer, said the family intended to “take all — and I mean all — the recourse the law puts at our disposal” to ensure that all the light is shed on the matter.

“We’re going to hit hard because we want to give the example that it has to stop.”

The family, he said, is also filing a complaint with the province’s nurses order so that the nurse in the video loses her licence. Family members are calling for a wider public inquiry into the treatment of the Atikamekw people at the Joliette hospital.

Paul-Emile Ottawa, chief of the Atikamekw council in Manawan, Que., called Friday for Premier Francois Legault to take immediate measures to make sure what happened to Echaquan doesn’t occur again. He said on Friday he wants a nation-to-nation meeting with the premier.

Ghislain Picard, chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, cancelled a Friday morning meeting he had scheduled with Legault.

The premier confirmed the cancellation on Twitter, calling Picard’s decision unfortunate.

“I am also available to meet with the chiefs of the Atikamekw Nation,” he tweeted. “The door to my office remains open.”

At the news conference, Bertrand challenged Legault to “stop making promises” and commit to taking concrete actions to address the situation “as of tomorrow.”

Bertrand also asked Legault to recognize the existence of systemic racism in Quebec, something the premier has repeatedly refused to do.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2020.