President's Message

Greetings to our Indigenous families from across the Pacific and welcome to our homelands! The Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada is grateful to you for all your support over the years, your advice, good thoughts and prayers that lay the basis for our ability to host this event. We anticipate an excellent gathering with a variety of themes and events to strengthen our commitment to the health and healing of our communities.

As current President, I wish to express my gratitude and respect for my brothers and sisters here in Canada for their courage, hard work and belief in our collective ability to advance the issues important to our communities. Further, I wish to acknowledge and express my respect for the ancestors who led the way, whose faith in Indigenous knowledge and ways of being transcended the centuries of challenges we continue to face.

As well and on behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to acknowledge Ms. Kandice Léonard (Métis) and her staff for bringing this event to fruition.

Finally, IPAC recognizes the contributions of First Nations & Inuit Health Branch - BC Region, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, & McMaster University for their support of PRIDoC 2010.

Barry Lavallee, MD
President