Quebec Indigenous groups collecting stories of forced sterilization
CBC
Tired of waiting for Quebec to acknowledge reports of forced sterilization, a group of Indigenous researchers, women's groups, health-care providers and others are collecting testimonies from First Nations and Inuit women to document the practice in the province.
And they are hoping to encourage more people to come forward between now and mid-October.
What's known as forced or imposed sterilization has been documented in some other provinces, such as British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, but there is a "glaring lack of relevant data" in Quebec, according to the group.
"When you want to change something and you want to make it right … you have to first acknowledge the wrong that has been done," said Marjolaine Sioui, director general of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission, one of the groups involved in the research.
The group has been collecting stories from victims, families and health-care workers since May.
"These medical procedures were aimed at a slowdown in the First Nations birth rate and these decisions, sadly irrevocable, were imposed against the values of these women," said Sioui in a news statement.
The term "forced sterilization" refers to the practice of sterilizing someone without their proper or informed consent, and sometimes without them ever being told, according to Stella Masty Bearskin, the former chairperson of the Cree Women of Eeyou Istchee Association, another partner in the research project.