Racism Infecting Canada’s Health Care System By Emilee Kopeck

Racism Infecting Canada’s Health Care System 
By Emilee Kopeck | For Ms. Walling’s blogspot | Posted: May 16, 2019 


Photo taken by artist, Ferwho on flikr to represent how our infected health care system is leaving indigenous individuals in the shadows.

Health care is something Canada prides itself on, but should it be? The Canadian Health Act’s primary health care policy is “to protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health care without financial or other barriers.”  Unfortunately, Canada is failing to uphold this promise. Many barriers like race and stereotypes are hindering the well-being and treatment of individuals on a daily basis. In Canada, countless indigenous individuals can attest to that.  

Most Canadians take health care for granted. However, for Michelle Labrecque and countless other indigenous individuals, that is not the case. Michelle Labrecque has encountered racism while seeking medical care in many instances.  After fracturing her pelvis, she had to visit the hospital three times before even receiving treatment or a diagnosis. Once she did get a diagnosis, no one helped her to get a wheelchair or made sure she was alright on her own. Another instance of racism Labrecque experienced took place when she went to the doctor to discuss stomach pain. After discussing her symptoms with her doctor, she was sent home with a prescription paper. Seems pretty normal right? Well, this prescription didn’t have the name of a single pain medication, but instead a crude drawing of a beer bottle with a slash through it. Believe it or not though, these are just minor examples of racism in our health care system. 

For indigenous man Brian Sinclair, he wasn’t so lucky. In 2008, Sinclair went to Winnipeg Health Science’s emergency room to receive treatment for his blocked catheter. Once he arrived, he spoke to a triage aide, but was never actually entered into the hospital’s triage system.  Due to this, he was forced to sit in the waiting room for hours as his condition ate away at him. During this time not a single nurse asked him if he had been helped or if he was okay despite concerned reports from others in the waiting room. After 34 hours of sitting in the waiting room, Sinclair was discovered dead. Perhaps the most devastating part of it all is that many nurses reported seeing him, however when asked why they didn’t check on him, their answer was because they believed he was intoxicated and/or homeless with nowhere to go. This is a perfect example of how inherent biases and racial stereotypes are leading to the lack of access and mistreatment towards indigenous individuals in our health care system. In Brian Sinclair’s case, it cost him his life.                                                                                    

In order to see any sort of change, we need to spread awareness and hold ourselves accountable as Canadians. This needs to happen in more ways than one. First, as citizens we need to stop being so quick to judge and realize that by making assumptions based on someone's race, we are spreading and passing on racist behaviors and inherent biases that are hindering the well-being and treatment of individuals. Second, I believe we need to incorporate additional mandatory training for all health care providers that focuses solely on equal treatment for indigenous individuals. A huge part of why an indigenous person might suffer in our health care system is because our nurses and doctors often don’t even realize their own racist behavior. I believe if we educate them and force them to be aware of this pressing issue it will help them to perhaps think twice before making assumptions that could drastically impact someone's life.  

Photo citation: 

Ferwho. “Silhouette.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 23 Mar. 2011, www.flickr.com/photos/ferwho/5552361440/in/photolist-9sDiBE-63KBQ5-e144mH-Gwejt-5KxUNR-b38VDx-4Gemt9-9VBN9X-REPDHV-23MHiJQ-9pbA45-5hWGMH-45kghX-5wwMex-5Fnrsb-XDKCmG-6rhiAm-64j2Tx-nmJFSw-5ieDJa-65zTEG-2axBfsX-bNX8x8-9PaVKb-nYYfF-GMm2o-68v8LS-8FFLyt-4nrp9t-5HUBSF-eJX7Bi-6ZfYwZ-5DF2ff-4aRA6J-8fbJvE-o9dShC-YbfQ44-9zPbqT-2mJb51-9i6L25-5sZBVC-7QeRDj-7SgYM3-SiiEKK-e78DzM-7Xid3U-2WYEex-bdkWK4-JnH9F-7H4boD. 

Work cited: 

“'Unconscious, pro-White Bias' a Major Factor in Poor Aboriginal Health Care | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 4 Feb. 2015, www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/racism-against-aboriginal-people-in-health-care-system-pervasive-study-1.2942644?cmp=fbtl&utm_content=buffer9c90a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR1C-qp5CxuHAs5XFTllca4CHO99Pv943X2dWbJQm5VGo93B-ZtVU0Esyds. 

“Brian Sinclair Ignored by Winnipeg ER: Report | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 6 Sept. 2013, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/brian-sinclair-ignored-by-winnipeg-er-report-1.1385107. 

“Man 'Did Not Have to Die' in ER Wait Room, Says Inquest Report in Ruling out Homicide | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 13 Dec. 2014, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/brian-sinclair-s-death-preventable-but-not-homicide-says-inquest-report-1.2871025.