If Joyce Echaquan were white, she would still be alive, Quebec coroner says

The Quebec coroner who presided over a three-week inquiry into the death of Joyce Echaquan said she believes the Atikamekw woman would still be alive today if she were white.

Echaquan, amother of seven, died on Sept. 28, 2020, shortly after recording herself as health-care staff in a hospital north of Montreal hurled racist remarks at her.

Her death and the footage leading up to it sparked outrage and protests, as well ascalls for the province to acknowledge systemic racism.

After her report intoEchaquan's death was released on Friday, coroner Ghane Kamel met with reporters in Trois-Rivires, Que.,to explain her findings.

She concluded that racism played a role in Echaquan's deathandthat her death was not from natural causes but "accidental" because she did not receive the care she was entitled to.

Asked by a reporter in French if she thought Echaquan would still be alive today if she were white, Kamel replied: "Je pense que oui," or"I think so."

Echaquan'sloved ones, who held a news conference of their own on Tuesday, agree.

"Joyce died," her husband Carol Dub said before pausing for several seconds, "because she was Indigenous."

Dub was accompanied by his children, Echaquan's parents, the family's lawyer, and Constant Awashish, the grand chief of the Atikamekw Nation.

Dubthanked the coroner for her work, adding that there were several lies and contradictions during some of the inquiry's testimony, making it difficult for the family.

"Our healing will come through truth," he said. "And today, a small [part] of that truth finally sees the light of day."

The family's lawyer said they will soon file a lawsuit, with the details to come over the next few days.

They also planto file complaints with the province's college of physicians, order of nurses and the human rights commission.

WATCH| Echaquan died because she was Indigenous, husband says:

Joyce Echaquan died because she was Indigenous, husband says

3 years ago

Duration 3:49

Joyce Echaquan's husband, Carol Dub, said Tuesday he believes his wife died because she was Indigenous. His comments echoed those made by Quebec coroner Ghane Kamel, who said at a Tuesday news conference in Trois-Rivires, Que., that she believed Echaquan would still be alive today if she were white.

'System imprinted with prejudice'

In her report, Kamel concluded Echaquan's death could have been prevented with better care from staff at the hospital in Joliette, Que.

"Although this may be difficult to hear, it is a system imprinted with prejudice and biases that contributed to [health-care staff] not taking the situation seriously," Kamel said Tuesday.

She also said thatEchaquanwas "infantilized" and labelled as a manipulative drug abuser, despitethere being no evidence of this.

Kamel said the inquiry was a "difficult but necessary" process, and some of the testimony "shook her on a human level."

"Through her death, Joyce left us an extremely important legacy," Kamel said while fighting back tears. "It would be extremely sad if we learned nothing from her death."

Echaquan died of pulmonary edema.

Kamel's report notes that Echaquan's care was affected because medical staff assumed she was suffering from withdrawal, which turned out to be untrue.

Premier continues denial of systemic racism

Kamelalso issued several recommendations,the top one being that the Quebec government must recognize the existence of systemic racism within its institutions.

"Systemic racism doesn't imply that each individual that is part of this system is racist. It implies that the systemeither through prejudices that are tolerated, reprehensible acts or its inaction contributes to trivializing and marginalizing Indigenous communities," Kamel said during the news conference.

"Once my observations are made and my recommendations are sent to the different [provincial] ministries and organizations, it is up to them to decide if they'll seize this opportunity for a dialogue."

On Tuesday, Premier FranoisLegaultonce again denied the existence of systemic racism, reiteratinga position he has heldfor more than a year.

Legaultsaid the definition of systemic racism that he agrees with is different than the one used by Kamel.

The premier said as far as he's concerned, systemic racism would have to be organizational, in the form of directives coming from people in positions of authority that support racist policies.

Using the province's health-care system as an example, Legault said the behaviour of staff or people in management doesn'tmean there is a system in place to discriminate against Indigenous people.

"For me, a system is coming from upstairs, coming from the top people, and I don't see this in the health-care network," he said.

Legaultalso said that systemic racism existed in Quebec when residential schools were in placebut that he doesn'tsee any evidence of it now.

He once again urged Quebecers not to get bogged down with definitionsand to agree that racism systemic or not exists in Quebec and must be dealt with.

"Yes, there is is prejudiceand discrimination and racism, and we need all Quebecers to work together to fight it," the premiersaid.

Within the regional health board that oversees the hospitalwhere Echaquan died, 12,000 employees have received at least three hours of cultural safety training,Legault said.

He also highlighted as proof the province wants to improve the health care Indigenous patients receive that some members of the Atikamekw community have been given prominent roles on the health board.

In the wake of Echaquan's death, Atikamekw leaders in Quebec drafted Joyce's Principle,a set of recommendations meantto guarantee health care forIndigenous people, free of discrimination, by having it enshrined in provincial law.

But the province has refused to draft legislation that included tenets from Joyce's Principle because they also referencedsystemic racism.