Symposium on Climate Change and the Health of our Communities

Keynote Address
Moderated by Samantha Green

Courtney Howard, Past President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

Dr. Courtney Howard is an Emergency Physician in Yellowknife. She is a globally-recognized expert on the impacts of climate change on health. Her work has spurred an increasing recognition of the need for systemic and political action on climate and health, for the health of our country, our planet, or economy, ourselves, and our children.

Panel Discussion
Making the Links - Experts examine global scientific evidence on the health effects of climate change, explore its impact on equity, and discuss opportunities to improve community health and resilience
Moderated by Toni Sappong

Deborah McGregor, Canada Research Chair, Indigenous Environmental Justice

Professor McGregor (Anishinaabe) is an Associate Professor with the Osgoode Hall Law School and Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University. Her research focuses on Indigenous knowledge systems, water and environmental governance, environmental justice, climate justice, and Indigenous food sovereignty.

Alice McGushin, Programme Manager for the Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change

Dr. Alice McGushin is the Programme Manager for the Lancet Countdown, an international, multidisciplinary collaboration of academic and UN institutions that monitor the world’s response to the health effects of climate change.

Maya Menezes, Program Director at climate justice organization, The Leap

Maya Menezes (she/her) is a climate and racial justice campaigner based in Tkaronto. She was an organizer with No One Is Illegal-Toronto. After two years of campaigning for a Green New Deal, she is now campaigning on care work as a COVID recovery model.

Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers, Chair, Québec Association of Physicians for the Environment

Dr. P-Desrosiers, PGY-3 in family medicine, is completing a master in environment as part of a clinician scholar program at Montreal University. She has worked with the WHO on issues of climate change and health; was lead author of the Lancet Countdown Canada Brief 2020; and has advised the Québec government on their climate action plan.

Panel Discussion
Knowledge to Action - Building on the evidence, our experts will propose interventions and innovations to reduce the health and environmental impact of climate change, including opportunities for education, scholarship and practice
Moderated by Edward Xie

Terry Kemple, RCGP National Representative for Sustainability, Climate Change and Green Issues

Dr. Terry Kemple is a retired General Practitioner in the UK and the Past President of the Royal College of General Practitioners. He continues to serve as the Co-Chair of the RCGP Climate Emergency Advisory Group and an Executive member of the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change.

Fiona A. Miller, Founding Director of the Centre for Sustainable Health Systems, University of Toronto

Fiona A. Miller is a Professor of Health Policy. She holds the Chair in Health Management Strategies and is the Founding Director of the Centre for Sustainable Health Systems in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Aimée Bouka, Vice-Chair of the section of residents for the College of Family Physicians of Canada

Dr. Aimée Bouka (she/her) is a second-year family medicine resident at University of Calgary. She is the chair of this year's Guide for Improvement of Family Medicine Training on Climate Change and Health and the co-chair of the Alberta chapter for the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.