Quebec unveils $15M to improve health-care services for Indigenous patients

Quebec is putting forth $15 million to widen access to health-care services for Indigenous patients and provide cultural training to employees in the province’s medical network following the troubling death of an Atikamekw woman in a Joliette hospital.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière and Health Minister Christian Dubé unveiled the funding Friday as part of a larger initiative to address the recommendations outlined in the report from the Viens Commission, an inquiry that examined Quebec’s relations with Indigenous Peoples.

The report issued in September 2019 specifically outlines how members of Indigenous communities feel unsafe seeking medical treatment in the province’s health-care system. It proposed legislative changes to incorporate cultural safeguard principles.

“This isn’t going to change 150 years of history…and we are not telling you (rebuilding trust) won’t happen in a few weeks,” Lafrenière said. “But this is how we regain trust.”

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The plan comes after the death of Joyce Echaquan, an Atikamekw woman who was subjected to slurs by staff as she lay dying in the Joliette hospital in late September.

The mother of seven recorded the racist insults in a video posted on Facebook before her death, sparking widespread indignation across the country.

Echaquan’s death has led to several investigations and has raised questions about how Indigenous patients are treated in the province’s health-care network.

Aside from providing training to staff, the funding will also go toward hiring liaison officers, within hospitals and other health-care institutions, to strengthen the relations with Indigenous communities.

Dubé said the initiative announced Friday shows that the province is devoted to change and “concrete action” in wake of Echaquan’s death.

“I think that I said clearly that it was in our court to get the confidence back from those communities. I accept that there was an issue of trust, and what happened to Joyce Echaquan was an example of that,” Dubé said.

“But what we said from the five or six conversations we’ve had with Indigenous communities are that we will prove to you that we will have change.”

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The Council of the Atikamekw Nation applauded the measures, staying it’s a step in the right direction.

“There is still a lot of work to be done to address inequities and systemic racism,” said Grand Chief Constant Awashish in a statement. “Building trust between Indigenous people and the health system will not happen overnight.

“At the very least, this announcement shows the government’s willingness to act, and that is why we are reaching out to work together.”

With files from Global News’ Benson Cook and The Canadian Press

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