2023-06-09 15:10:30
(Quebec) Even if he does not have the support of Chief Ghislain Picard, Minister Ian Lafrenière is tabling his bill to introduce the “approach” to cultural security in the health network, a commitment made following the death of Joyce Echaquan.
On the very last day of the parliamentary session, the Minister responsible for First Nations and Inuit tabled Bill 32, which will “implement the cultural security approach within the health and social services network”. Cultural safety refers to care that is offered with respect for the patient’s cultural identity, in particular.
The legislative text provides that each health establishment must adopt a cultural safety approach towards Aboriginal people, and take into account their cultural and historical realities in their interaction with them. Institutions will also have to promote partnership with Aboriginal communities and adapt the service offer “when possible” by means such as:
- Hiring Indigenous staff
- Access to support resources for Aboriginal people, including within the framework of any complaint examination regime
- Mandatory training for all employees on the cultural and historical realities of Aboriginal peoples
- Taking into account the specific realities of Indigenous women and girls
The bill also provides for an accountability mechanism, whereby institutions must, within three months of the end of their fiscal year, inform the Minister of the reassuring practices they have implemented within their walls. The results of these practices will be available online.
“He will continue to have accountability and the fact of broadcasting precisely what is done, it will put the press on the authorities in places where there is not much,” said Mr. Lafrenière in interview.
Contrary to the recommendation of the Commission of Inquiry on Relations between Aboriginal Peoples and Certain Public Services (the Viens Commission), the government is not modifying the Health and Social Services Act (LSSS) to embed the notion of cultural security. Minister Christian Dubé is carrying out a vast health reform which modifies the law.
If Bill 32 is passed before Minister Dubé’s Bill 15 this fall, he might make an amendment to enshrine cultural safety in law.
In a new showdown with Quebec, the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) recently asked the Legault government to abandon the tabling of its bills on Indigenous languages and cultural security. The one on languages might come in the fall.
Mr. Picard affirms that the “government does not have the competence to legislate on subjects which belong only to the First Nations, including their languages and other cultural specificities”.
” I received a [message texte] of the Minister a few minutes before the tabling of the bill, it lacks courtesy,” laments Chief Picard in an interview. “We too in terms of cultural security, we have principles that we want to see protected, but once once more, we will be caught in the usual straightjacket of a bill, of going to a parliamentary committee”, lists M Picard.
We’re going to take the time, we’re going to expend energy that we don’t have too much of and in the end, there’s not nothing we’re going to put forward that’s going to be considered.
Ghislain Picard, Chief of the AFNQL
Minister Lafrenière retorts: “I met 14 people who had different opinions, the Viens commission recommended it […] we are continuing to move forward and there will be consultations in the fall. It will be appropriate for him to come and explain to us what he thinks,” said Mr. Lafrenière on Friday.
“Missing Elements”
Quebec Native Women and the Office of Joyce’s Principle of the community of Manawan approve “all the principles of cultural safety contained” in the bill, but deplore that certain “missing elements” while Joyce’s Principle requires the recognition of systemic racism, which the Legault government refuses to do.
“The current bill cannot act as a replacement for the adoption of Joyce’s Principle as such. The government is ignoring our recommendations and showing inconsistency, on the one hand by drawing inspiration from Joyce’s Principle, but on the other, by refusing once once more to adopt it,” writes the director general of the Bureau. of Joyce’s Principle, Jennifer Petiquay-Dufresne.
Change to the Professional Code
The bill contains a surprise, as the government also wants to take the opportunity to amend the Professional Code to allow flexibility for certain professional activities carried out by Aboriginal people. This is “for the purpose of promoting access by Aboriginal people to professional services in the field of mental health and human relations”, indicates the legislative text.
The government wishes to proceed by regulation and following consultation with the Aboriginal communities to “determine the conditions and procedures according to which Aboriginal people who do not meet the conditions for issuing a permit from one of the professional orders, may practice, on a territory”” certain reserved professional activities such as:
- Evaluate a person within the framework of a decision of the director of youth protection or of the court in application of the Youth Protection Act.
- Assessing a young person as part of a court decision under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
- Determine the intervention plan for a person suffering from a mental disorder or presenting a suicidal risk who is housed in a facility of an establishment that operates a rehabilitation center for young people with adjustment difficulties.
It was in the wake of the tragic death of Joyce Echaquan, in September 2021, that the Legault government undertook to legislate on cultural security. Quebec had backed down on its commitment during the last legislature and had promised to do so if it obtained a second mandate. The AFNQL also deplored this first setback.
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