Province moving forward on Viens Commission recommendations

MONTREAL (CityNews) – The provincial government says it is committed to fulfilling the recommendations of the Viens commission report – tabled almost two years ago.

The Quebec inquiry focused on the public service’s mistreatment of Indigenous people. Offering 142 recommendations for the government to address what it calls undeniable systemic discrimination. Since then, the province says 68 recommendations have been implemented or are in progress, with more work ahead.

“Those priorities are, first of all, education, which is extremely important … talking about youth protection and also the wellbeing of Indigenous women. This is what’s going to be done in the following months,” explained Ian Lafreniere, Indigenous Affairs Minister.

The inquiry was launched in December 2016, after allegations of police misconduct against Indigenous women in Val-d’Or, 500 kilometers northwest of Montreal.

At the end of September 2020, 37-year-old Atikamekw woman Joyce Echaquan died in a Joliette hospital – 50 kilometers northeast of Montreal – hours after live streaming staff hurling racist insults at her.

Many blaming the numerous failings in the treatment Echaquan had on systemic racism in the healthcare system and the lack of implementation of what the Viens report recommended a year before her death.

“I know that there was training done at the hospital where she passed away. I think that we have to do this training differently. Because a lot of times you could be looking at your phone and not absorbing anything,” explained Nakuset with the native women’s shelter of Montreal.

The Atikamekw nation created Joyce’s principle, which “demands that all Indigenous people have an equal right to the highest standard of physical and mental health. And some say overall progress is slow.

“I don’t feel like there’s been a big shift yet. I think that there is an enormous amount of work to do,” added Nakuset.

“We see couple things like the appointment of Atikamekw person at CIUSSS Lanudiere. Things like that, it’s alright, it helps the relations, it helps the government image that’s the work he has to do,” explained Constant Awashish, Grand Chief, Atikamekw nation.

“I think that people in Quebec are certain groups that are applying Joyce principle. I don’t feel as if it is still safe to walk into a hospital,” said Nakuset.

The Quebec government says they’re still working on implementing more concrete action by Spring 2022.

“There’s $125 million that was invested. We still got 75 for the following months. This is what we’re going to with First Nation, what we’re going to prioritize,” said Lafreniere.