Quebec Court of Appeal allows Atikamekw women’s class action against health board for forced sterilizations

The Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled that the Lanaudière regional health board can also be included in a class action lawsuit filed by Atikamekw women.

Quebec’s Court of Appeal ruled that the Lanaudière regional health board can also be included in a class action lawsuit filed by Atikamekw women from Manawan who claim that they were sterilized without free and informed consent.

In her ruling, Justice Christine Baudouin found that the health board, le Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de Lanaudière, could be held liable for faults committed by the board and some of its employees, including nurses.

“I therefore consider that the representatives have satisfied their burden of demonstrating the existence of a possibility of winning the case on the merits against the CISSS for the direct faults alleged against it,” Baudouin wrote.

The judge further stated that “the existence of racism, the CISSS’s failure to take measures to prevent or stop these abuses – especially given its positive obligations incumbent on it to ensure the well-being and safety of patients, as alleged – can form the basis of an arguable case that is neither frivolous nor manifestly unfounded.”

In August 2023, Quebec Superior Court Justice Lukasz Granosik authorized a class action lawsuit against three doctors who worked at the CISSS and were accused of sterilizing Atikamekw women against their will.

However, Granosik refused to include the Lanaudière regional health board in the lawsuit – Baudouin’s judgment overturns that decision.

The plaintiffs first requested the class action in November 2021.

In the complaint, the women, who are only identified as U.T. and M.X, state that they went to the CISSS for pregnancy follow-ups and allege that they were sterilized without their consent following births at the Joliette hospital, the same hospital where Joyce Echaquan died in 2020.

Moreover, they argue that the doctors and the regional health board committed wrongful actions that made them legally responsible and infringed on their rights, which were protected by the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

“The CISSS failed in its duties and obligations to provide Indigenous patients with an adequate and safe care environment,” Baudouin wrote.

“Even if the practice of imposed sterilizations is poorly documented in Quebec, its systemic nature in the province, as well as its knowledge by the CISSS, can be considered proven at the authorization stage.”

The judge also found that certain employees of the Lanaudière regional health board could have committed faults and be held liable.

“Finally, the failure of nurses and other hospital staff to report the accident, despite the alleged knowledge of the doctors' actions, could serve as a basis for other misconduct against CISSS employees.”

In a statement, the Lanaudière regional health board said that given the legal proceedings and its ongoing analysis, it would not be making any comment.

Recognizing systemic racism

Quebec Native Women Inc., an organization that received intervener status in the appeal case, welcomed the ruling.

“This decision overturns part of the trial judgment and represents an essential step towards justice for the survivors and their families,” the organization said in a press release.

“This ruling recognizes the importance of ensuring that victims have a voice and that institutions are held accountable for their actions.”

President Marjolaine Etienne said that targeting not only the individual doctors but the CISSS itself shows the issue is also institutional.

She pointed to a 2022 report by Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue researcher Sylvie Basil that included 30 testimonies from Indigenous women who had been sterilized without their knowledge, consent or knowledge between 1980 and 2019. The report made prevention recommendations, including that Quebec officially recognize systemic racism and discrimination.

“It’s a larger problem and we have to get to the source of the issue and make sure concrete measures are taken so Indigenous women won’t be subjected to further unacceptable acts … in our institutions, namely in hospitals,” said Etienne in an interview.

She added that the women are seeking justice as their right to carry life was infringed on, affecting not only the individual women but their entire communities.

“This touches many other nations, as per Sylvie Basil’s report,” she said, adding that she admired the Atikamekw women’s strength and courage as they navigate the legal system.

“It’s important that the institutional violence that touches women from different nations … stops,” she added. “Women want justice, and with reason.”

The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for what they claim they suffered.

The allegations included in the class action have not been proven in court.