Evidence of racism against Indigenous patients is growing: Is a reckoning in Canadian health care overdue? – Global News
January 19, 2022
Pamela Beebe has spent much of her professional life advocating for the rights of indigenous people.
“A lot of the work that I do is, whenever anyone asks me to talk about truth and reconciliation, I readily agree,” the Kainai First Nation member said from her home in Calgary.
In her private life, however, Beebe has had to spend a great deal of time advocating for family members who need medical care.
“I guess in our family we call it the racial tension that exists. When somebody has to go to the emergency room and gets sent home right away, nobody is surprised in my family,” said Beebe. “We get asked immediately: ‘Are you on drugs?’ ‘Are you high?’ ‘Why are your eyes red?’ All these questions that are just not appropriate, rather than: ‘What’s going on?’ and ‘What do you need help with?’
