Fired Quebec nurse tells Echaquan inquiry she’s sorry for comments caught on film

MONTREAL — A Quebec nurse who was fired for insulting Joyce Echaquan as she lay dying in hospital has apologized for the comments she admits were cruel.

She was the latest to take the stand today at a Quebec coroner’s inquiry examining the circumstances of Echaquan’s death last September at the hospital in Joliette, Que., northeast of Montreal.

The 37-year-old Atikamekw mother of seven filmed herself at the hospital as a nurse and an orderly were heard insulting and mocking her not long before she died.

The nurse, who is currently unemployed, was heard in the video saying Echaquan was stupid, only good for sex and better off dead.

She says she was overworked and stressed when she made the comments toward Echaquan, insisting it wasn’t because the patient was Indigenous.

In a teary apology, the nurse sought forgiveness from Echaquan’s family, saying when she heard her own comments, she couldn’t believe she had uttered them.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2021.

The Canadian Press