Truth, Reconciliation And Professional Orders: Recent Developments

• Published date: 18 October 2021
• Subject Matter: Government, Public Sector, Indigenous Peoples
• Law Firm: Langlois lawyers, LLP
• Author: Ms Caroline Briand and Marie-Laure Saliah-Linteau

September 30, 2021, marked the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada and the second anniversary of the publication of the report of the Public Inquiry Commission on relations between Indigenous Peoples and certain public services in Québec: listening, reconciliation and progress (the "Viens Inquiry"), which issued several calls to action directed at professional orders in relation to health and social services.

In its decision rendered on September 27, the Disciplinary Council of the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec ("OIIQ")¹ sentenced one of its members to a one-year striking off the roll, as well as a six-month striking off the roll, to be served concurrently, in connection with the tragic death of Ms. Joyce Echaquan.² This long-awaited decision, and the publication of the inquest report by coroner Mtre Géhane Kamel the following day, underscored the urgent need for the professional community to focus on implementing these calls to action as part of their mandate to protect the public.

Summary of the facts

On September 28, 2020, Ms. Joyce Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw woman, died of heart failure while hospitalized at the Lanaudière regional hospital in Joliette. A video, captured by Ms. Echaquan and posted live on a social network shortly before her death, showed some of the nursing staff making shockingly racist remarks about the patient.

Although the coroner determined that Ms. Echaquan's death was accidental, she also concluded that it was directly related to the care she received during her hospitalization and that her death could have been prevented. For example, due to prejudice, nursing staff quickly labelled the patient as dependent on narcotics, and trivialized her cries for help and the verbalization of her pain. Contrary to institutional policies, Ms. Echaquan was placed in physical restraints and sedated, and then isolated without constant monitoring.

Discrimination and disciplinary law

Following the death of Ms. Echaquan, the OIIQ filed a disciplinary complaint against nurse Paule Rocray, who could be heard making racist comments at the patient's bedside. The complaint alleges that she verbally abused Ms. Echaquan, contrary to section 37 of the Code de déontologie des infirmières et infirmiers (the "Code of ethics")³ and that she was negligent in failing to perform the required assessment following a patient's fall, contrary to section 44 of the Code of ethics. The nurse pleaded guilty to both counts...