In partnership with CBC Ideas and moderated by Nahlah Ayed, Kathy Loon will explore the innovative ways in which Indigenous health leaders are now working to embed Indigenous cultures in Canadian health care – both for the benefit of their patients and to heal a broader health care system in crisis.

Ms. Loon, from Slate Falls First Nation, is Vice President of Indigenous Services, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre (SLMHC), in Sioux Lookout, Ontario. She has gained national prominence for implementing a rich program of Anishinaabe practices in the Sioux Lookout region’s health care system –including Wiichi’iwewin (patient/client supports), Odabiidamagewin (governance and leadership), Andaaw’iwewin (traditional and ceremonial practices), Mashkiki (traditional medicines) and Miichim (traditional foods). She is fluent in Ojibway, is an avid hunter and loves to net fish.

About the Boehm Public Lecture

The Boehm Lecture was established at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health in 2018 by Professor Leslie Boehm, a pioneer in the study of Canadian health policy. Its goal is to present Canadians with a fresh look at a “wicked problem” affecting Canada and the global health system, so that we can imagine new solutions through shared consideration. In order to include the widest number of Canadians, the 2024 Boehm Lecture is being produced in partnership with CBC Radio One’s national program of contemporary thought: Ideas.