![Atikamekw community 'shocked' by François Legault comments on Joyce Echaquan's death](https://i.cbc.ca/1.5743885.1603885067!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/carol-dube-joyce-echaquan.jpg)
Atikamekw community 'shocked' by François Legault comments on Joyce Echaquan's death
CBC
Atikamekw chiefs were stunned by Premier François Legault saying the "problem that happened at the Joliette hospital with Mrs. Joyce is now resolved" during the TVA electoral debate Thursday evening, two years after Joyce Echaquan's death.
"The problem is far from settled," said the Chief of Manawan, Paul-Émile Ottawa, and the Grand Chief of the Atikamekw Nation, Constant Awashish, stressing systemic racism must be acknowledged in Quebec to move forward.
"It is a very big statement that he made," said Awashish. Legault's words, he said, shocked and irritated many.
The Atikamekw woman from Manawan and mother of seven died at a hospital in Joliette, Que in late September 2020, after posting a Facebook livestream showing staff insulting and swearing at her.
A Quebec coroner later ruled her death was not from natural causes but "accidental" because she failed to receive the care she was entitled to.
In the wake of Echaquan's death, the Atikamekw Council of Manawan and the Atikamekw Nation Council (CNA) submitted a brief to both the provincial and federal governments outlining their demands for Joyce's Principle. Its aim is to guarantee all Indigenous Peoples the right to equitable access to health and social services in the province.
Manawan and the CNA have constantly called for the implementation of the principle and recognition of systemic racism since.
Hounded by the opposition during the debate, Legault hammered that there is no systemic racism in Quebec, emphasizing he has already committed $200 million to improve how health care and other public services are provided to Indigenous people.
He accused the opposition of engaging in a "word fight."
In October 2021, Coroner Géhane Kamel made a series of recommendations in her inquest report into Echaquan's death. The first was that the province recognize the existence of systemic racism within its institutions.
Since then the premier has refused to do so.
Chief Sipi Flamand said as long as the government refuses to recognize the existence of systemic racism communities will struggle to build confidence in the public health care system.
To justify his remarks, François Legault invited his opponents to go to the Joliette hospital.
In June 2021, Guy Niquay, an Atikamekw from Manawan, became assistant to the chief executive officer of the regional health authority that oversees the hospital that Echaquan died in.