Echaquan video puts a real face to anti-Indigenous racism: lawyer

MONTREAL — The lawyer for Joyce Echaquan’s family says he hopes the video of her suffering will help the public appreciate the discrimination faced by Indigenous people and lead to change.

The video of Echaquan dying in hospital and being insulted by staff brings anti-Indigenous racism out of the shadows, Jean-Francois Bertrand said in an interview Monday.

Bertrand said he’s heard from non-Indigenous people who told him they knew members of First Nation communities suffer discrimination, but that it remained a vague concept.

For those people, he said, seeing the video the mother of seven made as she lay dying in a hospital bed while staff insulted her was a wake-up call.

Bertrand said he supports the recent decision by Deputy Premier Genevieve Guilbault to open a public inquiry into Echaquan’s death. “It’s a very important step.”

The lawyer said he plans to ensure the family obtains “interested party” status during the inquiry, which he said will enable it to call witnesses and introduce evidence.

On Friday, Bertrand said he would sue the hospital on behalf of the family and file complaints with the police, the order of nurses, and with the human rights commission.

Bertrand said Monday he also wants to see an investigation into the Joliette hospital, where Echaquan was admitted and where she died.

The regional health authority that runs the hospital said it will conduct an internal investigation and that it fired the nurse and the patient-care attendant heard insulting Echaquan in the video.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault was scheduled to meet with Atikamekw chiefs on Monday.

A private funeral is scheduled for Echaquan today in the Atikamekw community of Manawan, located about 250 kilometres north of Montreal.