Authorities in Quebec are investigating what may be a reprise of an incident that drew attention around the world last September when an Indigenous woman was mocked as she was dying in a provincial hospital.
Two nurses have now been suspended without pay following an incident that is alleged to have taken place last Friday at a public clinic in the city of Joliette, the same city where Joyce Echaquan, an Atikamekw woman, died in a local hospital after she filmed staff making derogatory comments about her.
Joyce Echaquan, and her husband, Carol Dubé, are pictured in an undated Facebook photo. The couple had seven children. (Facebook)
Her video was seen around he world and sent shock shockwaves across Quebec and Canada.
Now, it is alleged, another Atikamekw woman has been mocked as she sought help.
According to Picard’s post, the woman, who was an outpatient of at a health clinic, known as CLSCs in Quebec, was the “subject of intimidation, mockery and harassment,” as staff members “saw her name and told her ‘I think we’ll just call you Joyce,’” an apparent reference to Echaquan.
Ghislain Picard, chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, speaks to the media at a news conference Wednesday, August 12, 2020 in Montreal. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Picard wrote of an Indigenious woman being mocked at a health clinic in Joliette, QC last Friday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)
In a statement released late Monday, the regional health authority, CISSS de Lanaudière, said it had launched an investigation even though the alleged victim did not file an official complaint.
The interim president and CEO of the regional health authority, Caroline Barbir, said she was “shaken” and “deeply shocked” when she found out about the incident on Monday, adding that the two employees were quickly identified and suspended without pay.
Both face dismissal from their jobs.
Ian Lafreniere, left, Quebec minister responsible for Indigenous Affairs, speaks at a vigil marking the violence against native women, on February 14 at the legislature in Quebec City. Carol Dubé, right, husband of late Joyce Echaquan, looks on. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot)
Barbir said she understands that members of the Atikamekw community of Manawan do not trust the system but said she hopes the actions taken since the death of Echaquan will help build confidence.
Radio-Canada reports Barbir saying than 4,200 CISSS employees attended a cultural safety awareness session, an approach put in place in November. She did not know whether the two nurses in question attended the sessions.
As well, Barbir said more sophisticated training has been developed in collaboration with the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue to educate more than 14,000 staff members about the realities Indigenous people face.
Quebec’s minister responsible for Indigenous affairs, Ian Lafreniere, told Radio-Canada in an email he had been made aware of the incident over the weekend, that he is working to verify it, and that “the alleged statements are unacceptable.”
With files from The Canadian Press, Radio-Canada
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.