Joyce Echaquan was a 37-year-old Atikamekw woman who died on September 28, 2020, in the Centre Hospitalier de Lanaudière in Saint-Charles-Borromée, Quebec.

Before her death, she recorded a Facebook Live video that showed her screaming in pain while healthcare workers abused her and made derogatory comments about her, assuming her to be a drug addict experiencing withdrawal symptoms, in what has been widely described as a racist incident.

[2] A petition was launched to promote recognition of racism and systemic discrimination towards Indigenous peoples in public institutions in Quebec following Echaquan's death.

[3] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognized the role of systemic racism in Echaquan's death in a speech before the House of Commons.

[5] Due to her distrusting medical staff and not being fluent in French, Echaquan would record Facebook Live videos during her hospital visits and have a cousin translate.

33-year-old Jennifer MacDonald, a patient attendant at a local Alzheimer's centre who was at the hospital to support her father, overheard Echaquan screaming in a nearby cubicle and expressing concerns about her treatment.

MacDonald described Echaquan's medical attendants as "indifferent and verbally aggressive", she said they were ignoring her pleas, and she also overheard a nurse ask: "Will she ever shut up?"

[15] Marc Miller, the Canadian federal Minister of Indigenous Services, met Echaquan's son, Thomas-James, and apologized to her family for the incident.

[17] The new CEO of the health board since April 2021, Maryse Poupart, said she was a "person of action" and gave condolences to Echaquan's family while promising to prioritize relations with Indigenous patients.

The coroner's official cause of death was pulmonary edema, also stating that the medical staff had incorrectly assumed she was suffering from drug withdrawal.