Mistreatment of Indigenous Communities is Present in Canada's Healthcare System

Footage showing hospital staff insulting a dying Indigenous woman has sparked outrage and renewed demands for racial justice across Canada.

Joyce Echaquan, 37, died on Monday after being admitted to a Joliette, Quebec hospital because of stomach cramps. The mother of seven died shortly after sharing a Facebook livestream in which hospital staff can be heard uttering racist slurs against her, Global News reported.

In the footage, Echaquan expressed distress and cried for help from her hospital bed, while two nurses called her stupid and stated that she was "only good for sex."

"Are you done messing around? You’re dumb as hell," one nurse asked in French. "You made some bad choices, my dear. What do think your children would think, seeing you like this?" another added.

One of Echaquan’s relatives, Pamela Dubé Ketish, told Radio-Canada her cousin had expressed concerns about being drugged during her stay at the hospital.

"Joyce had heart problems," she stated. "She said she had been given a lot of morphine."

The mistreatment of Echaquan has sent shockwaves throughout the province and the country, with Indigenous leaders and activists highlighting that this was far from an isolated incident.

Research also shows that Indigenous people are dying unnecessarily in Canada because of systemic racism in health care systems. Experts recently found that decolonizing public health has helped Indigenous communities in Canada get COVID-19 under control; but much more remains to be done to ensure equality of treatment across all levels of society.