INQUEST TO BE HELD INTO DEATH OF INDIGENOUS PATIENT

A public inquest into the death of an Indigenous woman who filmed herself being insulted by Quebec hospital staff hours before she died will be launched as soon as possible, the province's chief coroner announced. Pascale Descary said the late-Saturday decision came as the result of a formal request filed hours earlier from Quebec's Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault. Descary's office pledged to launch the inquiry soon, but offered no specific dates. Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw mother of seven, died shortly after she filmed herself from her hospital bed in Joliette, Que., last Monday while she was in clear distress and pleading for help. Hospital staff can be heard in the video making disparaging comments about Echaquan, including calling her stupid and saying she'd be better off dead.