Racism contributed to Indigenous woman’s death in Canada: Coroner
Al Jazeera
Joyce Echaquan’s death in Quebec hospital last year after staff hurled insults at her sparked nationwide outcry.
Racism and prejudice contributed to the death of Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous mother of seven who died at a hospital in the Canadian province of Quebec after filming staff hurling insults at her, a coroner’s report has found.
The Atikamekw woman had posted a video on social media showing hospital staff verbally abusing her before her death, sparking nationwide outrage and protests demanding an end to abuses and mistreatment of Indigenous people in government services.
The Quebec coroner’s report released on Friday concluded that Echaquan died of pulmonary edema, ruling the death accidental. But it called on the provincial government to recognise and eliminate “systemic racism” from its institutions.
