Keynote speakers
PLENARY I: The Changing Face of Public Health
Change can’t be avoided, but it can be prepared for and managed. With an understanding of demographics, there is a strong foundation upon which to build and prepare for future needs and trends. Changing demographics, especially the aging of the massive Boomer generation and the coming into the marketplace of their children, the Echo generation, will redefine society’s needs from a public policy-making perspective. This opening session will address the theme of the conference: From Politics to the People, examining the current status of public health, both globally and locally, and its contributory role in policy decisions.
Allan Gregg
Allan Gregg is one of Canada’s most recognized and respected senior research professionals and social commentators. From 1979 thorugh 1993 Gregg was known as the official pollster of the Progessive Conservative Party and participated in over 50 central election campaigns on three continents. In 1995, he co-founded The Strategic Counsel, a partnership specializing in research-based consulting and communications advice. Throughout this time, he has also been consulted widely by the business community on issues ranging from corporate image and reputation to communications and marketing challenges.
Allan was a pioneer in the integration of consulting, public-opinion research, public affairs and communications. He not only has an intimate knowledge of the dynamics of policy-making but also a deep understanding of cultural change and the communications processes necessary to forge a public consensus around government initiatives. Much sought after for his analysis, he is widely published and quoted. He appears regularly on CTV programming, is the host of two popular and respected talk shows - Gregg and Company and Allan Gregg In Conversation With – and is a frequent contributor to newspapers and magazines.
Allan is also an entrepreneur with diverse interests. He was one of the founding shareholders of Canada’s children’s network, YTV, the Chairman of Toronto Film Festival and has executive produced documentary television as well as recordings by Canadian artists such as The Tragically Hip, The Watchmen and Big Wreck.
PLENARY II: The Current Pulse of Public Health in Canada
Especially since the Naylor Report, public health system renewal has unfolded at federal, provincial/territorial, regional and local levels. But much more must be done and governments need input and direction from Canadians and public health experts to ensure that they continue to build the best system for Canada.
Unlike the acute care system, which focuses on individual health problems, public health is concerned with the policies and actions that can improve the health of whole communities and populations.
This session will feature a conversation with public health leaders and policy-makers on the work and progress of public health reform in Canada. It will further our understanding of the factors that influence public health policy and what actions must be taken to improve the health of Canadians.
Dr. David Butler-Jones
Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada's first Chief Public Health Officer, heads the Public Health Agency of Canada, providing leadership on the government's efforts to protect and promote the health and safety of Canadians.
He has worked in many parts of Canada in both Public Health and Clinical Medicine, as well as consulting in a number of other countries.
He has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, and is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Saskatchewan. He has also been involved as a researcher in a broad range of public health issues.
From 1995 to 2002, Dr. Butler-Jones was Chief Medical Health Officer for the Province of Saskatchewan and Executive Director of the Population Health and Primary Health Services Branches for the province.
Dr. Butler-Jones has served with a number of organizations including as: President of the Canadian Public Health Association; Vice President of the American Public Health Association; Chair of the Canadian Roundtable on Health and Climate Change; International Regent on the board of the American College of Preventive Medicine; Member of the Governing Council for the Canadian Population Health Initiative; Chair of the National Coalition on Enhancing Preventive Practices of Health Professionals; and Co-Chair of the Canadian Coalition for Public Health in the 21st Century.
Dr. David Salisbury
Dr. David Salisbury has recently been appointed Medical Officer of Health for the City of Ottawa.
Dave was born and raised in Ottawa. He enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1975 under the auspices of the MOTP program. Dr. Salisbury graduated from Queen’s University Medical School in 1978. After internship at McMaster University he was posted as the Base Medical Officer at CFB Portage la Prairie. In 1982 he was selected for the flight surgeon pilot program and commenced pilot training. He received his pilot wings in 1983 and stayed on at CFB Moose Jaw as the Base Surgeon where he was the pilot/physician in charge of the CF Motion Sickness treatment program and he was the flight surgeon for the Snowbirds. In 1986 he was selected for post-graduate training in aerospace medicine. He obtained his Master’s in Occupational Health from UBC in 1987. In 1988 he attended the USAF Residency in Aerospace Medicine at USAFSAM, Brooks AFB, San Antonio TX and earned his USAF Senior Flight Surgeon Wings. He is Board certified in Aerospace Medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine and has his Royal College Fellowship in Community Medicine.
During his time in the military Dave spent time in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Texas, Croatia and Ontario. His last position was as head of public health for the Canadian Forces at NDHQ in Ottawa.
Dr. Salisbury joined Ottawa Public Health in 2004 as an Associate Medical Officer of Health and Manager of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Division.
He has published numerous papers in occupational, aerospace and community medicine. His research interests concern aircrew selection and the use of computerized databases in the study of occupational epidemiology. He spent a four year term as the executive secretary of the clinical reasoning skills test committee of the Medical Council of Canada. He is a past president of the Canadian Aerospace Medicine and Aeromedical Transport Association (CAMATA), a past-president of the International Association of Military Flight Surgeon Pilots and he has been honoured as a Fellow of the Aerospace Medicine Association . He, his wife Els, and their two children (Jenny and Shelagh) live in Ottawa.
PLENARY III: Using Geographic Technology to Integrate Person, Place and Time
Person, place and time are three main components of epidemiology, a scientific discipline that underlies public health practice. The importance of these three components for public health has been known for centuries. Health geomatics allows public health personnel to go beyond the simple listing of these three components, and enables the integration of all three in public health practice and research via advanced information technology.
This plenary will highlight health geomatics and illustrate through compelling and entertaining examples how health geomatics can improve traditional approaches to public health practice and research.
PLENARY IV: What Shapes the Public Policy Discourse? The Role of People and Politics
This session explores the role(s) of government in creating policy that influences the health of our population. How major government policy decisions are made which influence health from an upstream perspective and the various factors that shape policy decisions, including health information, will be examined.
Glenda Yeates, MPA
Glenda Yeates is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Previously, she served as the Deputy Minister of Health in Saskatchewan for five years (1999 to 2004), and as Deputy Minister of Social Services. She was an assistant deputy minister of Health in Saskatchewan for seven years and held a number of senior posts in the Saskatchewan Department of Finance.
Glenda has served in the past as chair of the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Advisory Committee on Health Services; co-chair of the National Children's Agenda; and as a member of the Health Council of Canada and the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation. She is currently a member of the Board of Governors of Carleton University.
PLENARY V: Future of Public Health through the Lens of the Next Generation
Public health in Canada is in a time of renewal. An integral part of the future success of public health will be capacity building among the next generation of public health leaders. This session will include remarks from an inspirational global spokesperson as well a research trainee and a young public health advocate. They will discuss how they came to enter the public health field and will discuss the challenges and rewards that a career focused on important population and public health issues can hold. Come and be inspired about what the future of public health can look like!
Dr. James Orbinski
Humanitarian Advocate and Past President of Doctors Without Borders
Dr. James Orbinski is a veteran of many of the world's most disturbing and complex humanitarian emergencies. He accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in 1999.
A brilliant and mesmerizing orator, Orbinski offers a compelling look at the ravages of genocide and civil war, the role of humanitarianism, and the conflict that arises from combining humanitarian assistance with a political agenda.
Orbinski is an outspoken and passionate speaker who is deeply committed to the core principles of volunteerism and impartiality, with a belief that everyone deserves both medical assistance and the recognition of his or her humanity.