During protests in support of Black Lives Matter in Quebec last summer, Premier François Legault denied that systemic racism existed in the province. Last week the coroner’s report into Joyce Echaquan’s death, a 37-year-old Atikamekw mother of seven, who died in September 2020 in Centre hospitalier régional de Lanaudière in Joliette, a hospital in the north of Montreal, identified that minutes before her death she was treated in a racist, prejudiced way. Her death and the footage filmed by Joyce herself highlighting the racism and mistreatment towards her by nurses led to outrage and protests, and for the province to acknowledge systemic racism. Legault is still denying systemic racism, saying it was an isolated circumstance of racism and prejudice. Samer Majzoub, president of the Canadian Muslim Forum and Elijah Olise of the Racial Justice Collective join Local 514 to discuss systemic racism in Quebec, and within specific sectors, including healthcare, law and justice.
