April

If there are 10 asthma-related physician visits on a slightly smoky day, how many occur on a day with 10 times as much smoke?

“Without facts, you can’t have truth. Without truth, you can’t have trust. Without all three, we have no shared reality, and democracy as we know it—and all meaningful human endeavors—are dead.”
—Maria Ressa

Hundreds of years ago, Avicenna, one of the most eminent physicians and philosophers of his time, defined a physician’s key responsibility as providing hope to patients in times of distress.

I am a Dakelh (Carrier) physician who grew up in Northern BC close to my traditional territories in both rural and inner-city communities. We were always with family and community, helping one another, participating in gathering traditional foods, and sharing whatever we had. Teachings like “the pride of one is the pride of all” guided me to continuously work to be the best version of myself, as I knew that I reflected onto my family and community. In turn, I knew my culture, family, and ancestors always walked with me. Many weekends were spent at celebrations and cultural revival events.

Loyal readers of this publication will recall that in 2021 and 2022 I was Mother of the Year (MOTY). In 2023, I was the runner-up, temporarily losing my crown to Jennifer Garner when she was able to get the sugar content of her white broccoli brown sugar cookies below 1 gram while mine remained at 4 grams.