QuebecThe alleged abusive treatment of an Atikamev indigenous woman in a hospital in the Canadian province of Quebec sparked a debate about systemic racism there. The 37-year-old woman from the Atikamev tribal group came to Montreal’s Joliet Hospital on Saturday with severe abdominal pain and died two days later. Canadian news broadcaster CBC The incident was made public.

In the video filmed on her own cell phone by Joyce Iquan, the mother of seven is seen lying on a hospital bed, apparently crying for help in pain. Staff comments can be read in the subtitles. A nurse told the woman, among other things, that she was “very stupid”. According to the report, a nurse involved has already been released.

Cabeck’s Premier Legault described the comments made by staff as “unacceptable and racist”, reports Canadian broadcaster CBC. When asked at a press conference, however, he denied that the case was a sign of systemic racism in Quebec.

“I don’t think we have this type of First Nation People treatment in our Quebec hospitals,” he said in a video clip posted on the CBC website. However, he acknowledged that there was some racism in Quebec. “We’re working on it,” he said.

In the summer he formed an anti-racism committee. The British broadcaster BBC reported that the case was the latest in a series that raised questions about systemic racism against Canada’s indigenous people.