Thousands march in ‘Justice for Joyce’ rally
Posted October 3, 2020 3:58 pm.
Last Updated October 3, 2020 5:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL (CITYNEWS) – Thousands of Montrealers gathered in peaceful protest Saturday afternoon to mourn the death of Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman who was subjected to insults as she lay dying in a Quebec hospital earlier this week.
Organizers planned the “Justice for Joyce” rally to raise awareness of the mistreatment and systemic racism they say led to Echaquan’s death.
Echaquan, who was in the hospital complaining of stomach pains, recorded hospital staff in Joliette, Que. making insulting comments in a video she posted online before her death. A nurse and an orderly have since been fired.
Activists in Montreal are marching today in support and mourning of Joyce Echaquan – an Indigenous women who died at Joliette hospital as a result of racism and neglect by the nurses. They demand an end to systemic racism and are calling for justice. #JusticeforJoyce pic.twitter.com/pds8SwNTWw
— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) October 3, 2020
Saturday’s demonstration began at Montreal’s Place Emilie-Gamelin, where organizers and activists made speeches to a sea of protesters wearing face masks.
The crowd banged traditional Indigenous drums and chanted “Justice for Joyce” while holding homemade signs and placards reading “Native Lives Matter” and “Systemic racism is real, Legault.”
Earlier this week, Quebec Premier Francois Legault admitted racism exists in the province, though he would not qualify Echaquan’s death as an example of systemic racism.
That comment did not sit right with some protesters.
“What I find deplorable is that this government refuses to use the terms ‘systemic racism,’ when it so clearly exists,” an activist shouted to the crowd.
The demonstrators then marched down René Lévesque Boulevard before dispersing late in the afternoon.
Janis Qavavauq-Bibeau, one of the event’s organizers, said the outrage in Quebec following Echaquan’s death can be linked to a similar feeling of shock and indignation in the United States.
#JUSTICEFORJOYCE peaceful protest in Montreal today to demand an end to systemic racism after an Indigenous women died at a Quebec hospital due to neglect and racism from staff. pic.twitter.com/RG7MTQ5YOr
— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) October 3, 2020
“This is kind of our George Floyd situation,” said Qavavauq-Bibeau. “These are people who were vulnerable, and they were in the care of people who are serving or protecting or giving care. And they abused of their powers. Instead of being a knee on a neck, it was medication and being tied up.”
À la suite du décès tragique de Mme Joyce Echaquan, qui a secoué tout le Québec, j'ai demandé à @CoronerQuebec d'ordonner la tenue d'une enquête publique afin d'en éclaircir les causes et les circonstances. Nous devons tout faire pour éviter que de tels drames se reproduisent.
— Geneviève Guilbault (@GGuilbaultCAQ) October 3, 2020
Meanwhile Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault tweeted Saturday afternoon that she has asked the Quebec coroner’s office to order a public inquiry into the death of Echaquan.
“We must do all we can so that a tragedy like this does not happen again,” she wrote.
–with files from The Canadian Press
