Today the Canadian Medical Association has taken further steps towards its journey of apology for harms caused to Indigenous people by the medical profession. I am honoured to be able to participate in today’s events on behalf of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC).
As a physician who has spent my career working in Inuit Nunangat, as well as in Mi’kma’ki, I have seen the profound effects of colonialism, medical experimentation, and ongoing racism. Along with current President, Dr. Gavin Parker, we are here to represent all rural physicians. We offer our apology for the role we have played, either actively or by being passive onlookers, as harm has been committed by the medical profession to First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals and communities.
My desire to be involved in this day is also deeply personal. For many years, I worked as a tuberculosis (TB) physician in Nunavut. The history of TB in Inuit Nunangat is a shameful one. Boats such as the C.D. Howe would travel the Arctic in the summers, testing individuals who, if found to have evidence of TB, would be forcibly removed from their communities, and brought to a TB sanitorium for treatment in southern Canada. Many were never seen again. Adults died of the disease and were buried without their family’s knowledge, while young children were sent from one hospital to the next without records or documentation of their whereabouts. If they did return to the north, sometimes years later, many had lost their language, or were returned to the wrong community. It took until the 1980’s for TB treatment to become effective enough that treatment in a sanitorium was no longer needed.
It was not only these historical harms that impacted the trust, care, and treatment our TB team tried to provide in Nunavut. My colleagues included those of Inuit, Indigenous, and settler backgrounds, and were some of the most caring, compassionate, committed, and passionate individuals I have worked with, but still, trust and caregiving were not always easy. The work was challenging for us all, as racist policies, colonial structures, and lack of willingness of governments to provide adequate resources to eliminate TB continue to perpetuate harms to the clients we served. I personally felt powerless and voiceless in the face of these structures, and wish I could have done more to speak out both in support of both our team, the clients, and communities. Given my position of privilege, I am sorry that I did not, and commit to doing more as I move forward in my journey as a leader, clinician, and educator.
On learning about this apology ceremony, I approached one of my colleagues, Tina Campbell who is a member of Mosakahiken Cree Nation who currently works as a TB Advisor with the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority, and who has spoken at the United Nations at a multi-stakeholder meeting on TB, as well as being involved as an advocate for TB elimination as Co-Chair of Stop TB Canada. I wished to find a way to respectfully demonstrate my acknowledgement of this history, and my commitment to this apology process from a personal as well as organizational level. I am so incredibly humbled and honoured that Tina created and gifted me this ribbon skirt to wear, and designed this beautiful medallion that was beaded by her cousin Valene Hardes, who is also a member of Mosakahiken Cree nation. In wearing these today, I feel the responsibility to ensure this is not just a passing statement, but leads to meaningful action, that starts to repair the harms caused by the medical profession.
Mamianaq, Mesgei’,
Sarah Lespérance
MD, CCFP, FCFP, FRRMS
Immediate Past President, SRPC
Dr. Gavin G. Parker President, SRPC & Dr. Sarah Lespérance Immediate Past President, SRPC
Ref: Link to YouTube CMA Apology to Indigenous Peoples - https://www.youtube.com/live/L-0v3sbwEpI
