MONTREAL -- As we tiptoe into 2021, we've rounded up the top five most-viewed videos of 2020 on the CTV Montreal website, many of which sum up this bizarre, reflective, and difficult year.
5: WARNING: Nurse insults dying patient
In September, an Atikamekw woman named Joyce Echaquan filmed herself while in distress at a Joliette hospital. The video depicts hospital staff making racist comments towards her minutes before she died.
Echaquan's treatment -- shared widely on social media -- resulted in calls for the Quebec government to make health-care more accessible for Indigenous people, as similar cases have been documented both at the Joliette Hospital and in other Quebec institutions.
Her treatment sparked massive protests across the country.
Premier Francois Legault acknowledged that what happened to Echaquan wasn't an isolated occurrence. Soon after, he replaced Indigenous Affairs Minister Sylvie D'Amours with former police officer Ian Lafreniere.
He refused, however, to acknowledge that systemic racism exists in the province and was criticized for this position.
4: Small plane makes emergency landing on highway
In April, a plane had to make an emergency landing on Quebec's Highway 40 due to mechanical issues. The pilot managed to safely land the plane between cars, and drive among them for a while before eventually being escorted off on a trailer.
3: Black man claims discrimination following arrest
In June, a Black man from Montreal hired a lawyer following an arrest by Montreal police officers who showed up at his home for a noise complaint about a party.
Lloys Chatel-Elie invited the officers into his apartment to show he was willing to cooperate and to prove that he was there with just his girlfriend. When they began asking him questions, he asked them to leave, and things got heated.
"They didn't have a warrant, he doesn't have to say yes," said lawyer Virginie Dufresne-Lemire. "He wanted to show that he was willing to collaborate with police officers, but when you give your consent, you're allowed to take it back."
2: Vermont backyard cam shows men sneaking across border
Back in October, a man who lives on the Canada-U.S. border captured a van heading southward -- through his driveway.
1: Cooper sings ‘I Will Survive’ isolation rendition
In this video from April -- the #1 most watched of 2020 -- Cooper the puppy belts out a rendition of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" in the age of COVID-19.
"But now you're home, and it's pretty fun, we played fetch for seven hours in the backyard in the sun."
