Montreal rally honours Joyce Echaquan on 4th anniversary of her death

A picture of Joyce Echaquan is seen during a vigil in front of the hospital where she died in Joliette, Que. on Tuesday, September 29, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

More than a hundred people gathered in Montreal on Saturday afternoon to mark the fourth anniversary of Joyce Echaquan's death.

Echaquan, a mother of seven from the Atikamekw community of Manawan, died on Sept. 28, 2020, shortly after livestreaming racist remarks made by healthcare workers at a Joliette hospital.

The footage sparked outrage across the country, leading to the firing of two healthcare workers – an orderly and a nurse – following her death.

The rally, organized by the Caring for Social Justice Collective at Place du Canada, paid tribute to Echaquan and acknowledged her "collective legacy" in bringing to light the harsh realities Indigenous people face, according to the group.

"The rally not only denounced the injustice and inequalities still suffered by Indigenous peoples to this day, but also demonstrated the ostensible societal solidarity that continues to grow," the collective said in a press release.

A 2021 coroner report by Géhane Kamel found that the racism and prejudice Echaquan faced contributed to her death, which was declared accidental.

In response to her death, Indigenous groups introduced Joyce's Principle, which aims to guarantee all Indigenous people the right to equitable treatment in the province's health care system.

Several organizations and professional orders, including the College of Physicians, have since adopted the principle.  

However, the government of Quebec has not, nor does it recognize systemic racism.

"For the fourth year in a row, several Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations and individuals united their voices to demand that the Quebec government adopt Joyce's Principle and finally acknowledge the existence of systemic racism and discrimination in Quebec," the group added.

The rally began with an opening prayer by Mohawk activist Ellen Gabriel, followed by a musical performance by the Pow Wow Rangers.

Some of the speakers included Sipi Flamand, the Chief of the Atikamekw Council in Manawan and Ghislain Picard, the Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador. The event ended with a text by poet and activist Maya Cousineau Mollen.

"One of the new projects we are proud to have announced at the Joyce Memorial Rally is the establishment of our ambassadors, who will be able to promote Joyce's Principle by offering support to various health and social service organizations in their work to adopt and, above all, implement Joyce's Principle," said Jennifer Petiquay-Dufresne, the Executive Director of Joyce's Principle Office.

With files from The Canadian Press.