PowerPoint Presentation Slides
Keynote address
Welcoming remarks from Dr. Kwame McKenzie
Keynote address from Camille Orridge
Dr. Kwame McKenzie
Dr. Kwame McKenzie is CEO of Wellesley Institute, which works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the Greater Toronto Area. A practicing psychiatrist, he also holds positions as a full Professor at the University of Toronto and as the Director of Health Equity at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). As an international expert on the social causes of illness and the development of equitable social policy and health systems, Dr. McKenzie has advised health, housing, education and social services ministers in Canada and the U.K. and has authored more than 260 peer reviewed papers and six books. He is a member of the National Advisory Council on Poverty, and recently co-chaired Canada’s Expert Task Force on Substance Use. He has also worked as a consultant to the World Health Organization. Dr. McKenzie has been a columnist for The Guardian and The Times and a presenter for BBC Radio, and he is regularly published in the Toronto Star.
Camille Orridge
Camille Orridge is a Senior Fellow at Wellesley Institute. Previously, while at TCLHIN, Camille made health equity an increasing priority. Some of her achievements include launching Language Services Toronto, a telephone interpretation service for non-English speaking patients of Toronto’s hospitals that markedly improved aspects of access to Toronto’s hospitals. Her efforts on the Resource Matching and Referral Program and the Integrated Client Care Project that patients receive timely care, and the right care, and receive necessary supports to remain in the community.
Cross-country trailblazers
Presentations: Cross-country trailblazers in race-based data for health
Session host: Jemal Demeke
Jemal Demeke
Jemal Demeke is a researcher at Wellesley Institute. His research spans topics such as sociodemographic data, infectious disease epidemiology, implementation science, organizational change and equitable health interventions. He has worked for human rights centres, community-based organizations, Ivy League universities and hospital networks.
Black and other racialized communities have a continued presence in his professional focus. He has founded equity initiatives in large organizations, led workshops to educators, healthcare providers and policymakers, and built relationships between community stakeholders and health agencies. His work at Wellesley Institute leverages these experiences to inform policy change in data management and governance across Canada.
Speakers
Tatiana Kim, British Columbia
Presentation title: Anti-Racism Research in B.C. Government
Tatiana is an applied social researcher and a program evaluator. She holds a Master of Arts in Applied Social Psychology and a Professional Specialization Certificate in Population Health Data Analysis. In her current role as a Manager of Anti-Racism Data Projects at BC Stats, she is part of the team supporting data collection and research that aims to understand and address systemic racism in government programs and services. Through this work, she hopes to make a difference in the lives of people living in British Columbia and help build a community where researchers can exchange knowledge and ideas. Tatiana is grateful to live on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, which is known today as Nanaimo, British Columbia.
Nathalie Buissé, Manitoba
Presentation title: Race, Ethnicity and Indigenous Identity Data:
A Manitoba approach to measure the impacts of racism (not race) on health and healthcare
Nathalie Buissé (she/her) is white with settler ancestry rooted in Manitoba. She obtained her M.A. from the University of Saskatchewan and her Project Management Diploma from the University of Winnipeg. Nathalie joins us from the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation, located on the University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne Campus. As a Project Manager, she is involved in a diverse portfolio of projects supporting both academia and the health system. On behalf of Shared Health and under the leadership of Dr. Marcia Anderson, Nathalie has been involved in Manitoba’s Race, Ethnicity and Indigenous identity data initiative since 2019.
Cynthia Damba, Ontario
Cynthia Damba is the Director of the Health Analytics Team at Ontario Health Toronto with over 25 years of experience in population health surveillance, health care system planning, performance measurement and evaluation, health equity, quality, and health workforce planning. She has co-led and helped to spearhead the collection and use of standardized equity data collection in Toronto Region. Originally a physician in East Africa, she did her Masters in Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Toronto. She was awarded the Dalla Lan School of Public Health 2023 Outstanding Black Leadership in Public Health and Health Systems Award.
Colin Campbell, Nova Scotia
Presentation title: Fair Care is Equitable Care: Race-based and Linguistic identity data in healthcare
Colin is a proud public servant, with 15+ years experience working for the public good. He has a master’s degree in public administration from Dalhousie which has served him well in his career and volunteer-related experience in achieving the public good. With all that he does having an EDIRA undertone, Colin’s work and volunteer-related experience ranges from youth, to education, health and wellbeing, research/statistics, and facilitation. All in the pursuit of community development and capacity, addressing racial and societal inequalities, advocating for those without a voice and creating a hint of rebellion against the status quo. Outside of work, Colin loves all things family, friends, and travel. When he is not working, having family time, or traveling near and far, he is interested in talking real estate and watching renovation shows.
Breakout groups
Discussion: Building consensus
Host: Peter MacLeod
Share your input as we work towards a consensus statement on the collection, use and governance of race-based data for health.
Read the draft consensus statement here.
Presentation by poet Greg Frankson
Greg Frankson was raised in Scarborough, Ont. by his single mother, who taught him the value of education, hard work and perseverance. As a first-generation Canadian of Jamaican descent, Greg has experienced negative impacts of prejudice, discrimination and racism, and has learned how to endure and thrive. He is a proud Queen’s University alumnus, highly accomplished spoken word artist-organizer, award-winning social activist, and impactful entrepreneur. More importantly, he is passionate about social change, dedicated to community service and intent on leaving a positive legacy for his three children.
Initiatives at the federal level
Presentations: Game-changing initiatives at the federal level
Session host: Jemal Demeke
Ima Okonny, Employment and Social Development Canada
Presentation title: ESDC’s Data Strategy: Putting data into action by enabling the right insights at the right time
Ima, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Data Officer at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has over 23 years of experience in the field of data. As Chief Data Officer of ESDC, she works to enhance and advance Data Science, Data Management and Data Sharing to support ESDC’s policies, service delivery and results reporting. In addition to ground-breaking enhancement of the evidence base to support policy analysis and results reporting during the pandemic, Ima led the renewal of ESDC’s Enterprise Data Strategy and Enterprise Data and Analytics Policies. This involved promoting integration of data in the Departmental Policy on Information and Data Management and developing the Artificial Intelligence and Data Ethics Framework. She also led the establishment of the Data Literacy Program, the refreshed Data Inventory as well as its core instruments to better assess and manage data-related risks. Prior to ESDC, Ima held an executive role at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, where she led a team to ensure the effective collection, governance, and management of federally regulated financial institution and pension plan data collected by the Office. Ima has also worked at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, where she led the development and delivery of analytical data, research databases, data products and tools that supported performance measurement, policy development, program monitoring, results/outcome reporting and research and evaluation. Ima’s previous experience has also included positions with the Canada Revenue Agency, and Statistics Canada. She has an educational background in Mathematics, Computer Programming and Public Management and during her time with the Government of Canada, she has received several nominations and awards for her leadership and results. The Women’s Executive Network (WXN) recently announced Ima as a winner of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100™ Award. Ima also won the Insight 250 award, a global recognition of her work in data-driven insights and impactful leadership.
Evasha Rasasakaram, Canadian Institute for Health Information
Presentation title: Race-based and Indigenous identity data standards
Evasha is a Senior Analyst on the Population Health team at the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). She is committed to improving health equity by utilizing health data and research to measure and address inequalities in health care access, quality, experiences and outcomes. She was a main contributor to the development and release of CIHI’s Guidance on the Use of Standards for Race-Based and Indigenous Identity Data Collection and Health Reporting in Canada. Evasha holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Saskatchewan and a Bachelor of Science from Queen’s University.
Josée Bégin, Statistics Canada
Presentation title: Towards Health Equity in Canada: Data for Diverse Population Groups
Josée Bégin has a master’s degree in mathematics and statistics (MSc) from the University of Ottawa, Canada. She has 30 years of experience in the public service. She started her career at the Canada Revenue Agency in 1994 before joining Statistics Canada in 2002, where she served various positions and gained experience in overseeing large and complex statistical programs in the social domain. Josée became the Assistant Chief Statistician of the Social, Health and Labour Statistics Field in 2023. In her current role, she supervises the overall planning and coordination of statistical activities and such statistical domains as the Labour Force Survey, the Disaggregated Data Action Plan, Canada’s Quality of Life Framework as well as the content of the Census of population.
Panel discussion: Community governance
Panel discussion: The promise of community governance
Session host: Dr. Kwame McKenzie
Speakers
Paul Bailey, Black Health Alliance
Paul Bailey is a strategist, urban planner and Executive Director at the Black Health Alliance. He has spent the last decade designing interventions focused on improving outcomes for Black children, youth and families as it relates to: health and well-being, community violence, mental health and addictions, and the social service sector. His practice is currently focused on social planning, health equity, and addressing the causes of neighbourhood distress and inequality.
Maureen Kelly, Canadian Institute for Health Information
Maureen Kelly is the director of Data Governance at the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). She provides the vision and leadership for CIHI’s data governance initiatives and programs including data content standards, data stewardship and quality, internal and external data access, and data ethics. Ms. Kelly has had several leadership positions within CIHI. Prior to joining CIHI as a methodologist in 2003, she worked at the Office for National Statistics in the UK and Statistics Canada, focused on social and population health surveys and statistics. Ms. Kelly holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University, England and a postgraduate certification in Applied Statistics.
Sharon Davis-Murdoch, The Health Association of African Canadians
Sharon Davis-Murdoch C.M., is a social justice champion. Retired from the Nova Scotia Public Service, Sharon’s political science background and public policy experience inform her work in the community. Among her public policy accomplishments was the development of the first Provincial Guidelines for Culturally Competent Primary Health Care in Canada. Sharon was made a Paul Harris Fellow by the Halifax and Dartmouth Rotary Foundations of Rotary International in April and December 2022, recognizing her commitment to service over self. In December 2021, Sharon was named to the Order of Canada for her dedication to culturally competent care and improving the health equity and inclusion of racialized communities in Nova Scotia. Sharon received Premier’s Awards of Excellence in 2007 and 2015. Sharon works at the community level and is a founding member and the Co-President of the Health Association of African Canadians. In addition to that role, Sharon was appointed and served as Commissioner on the Independent Commission on Effective Electoral Representation of Acadian and African Nova Scotians in 2017. In 2018, Sharon received the Inspiration Award from the Dalhousie School of Public Administration awarded to public servants who have demonstrated a superior dedication and commitment to mentoring, coaching, and inspiring students and public servants over the course of their careers. She served as Co-Manager to the Association of Black Social Workers and The Health Association of African Canadians, COVID-19 Response and Impact Team, now evolved to the Advisory Committee for Black Public Health. She is also an Advisor to the Halifax Immigrant Partnership, Secretary of the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation Board, and the Health Services Working Group Chair of the African Nova Scotian, People of African Descent Coalition (ANSDPAD). She is also currently a co-lead Faculty of the East Coast Public Policy Training Institute.
Laura Ferreira-Legere, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
Laura Ferreira-Legere is the Senior Manager, Public & Community Engagement, Knowledge Translation at ICES. She has held professional roles in clinical nursing practice in Atlantic Canada and nursing guideline development in Ontario, including as a volunteer panel member contributing to best practice recommendations on equitable health care for 2SLGBTQI+ communities. Her Master’s thesis on reproductive cancer care in lesbian and bisexual communities received the York University Nursing Thesis Award. In her current role, Laura supports scientists and project teams to incorporate meaningful and equity-centered public and community engagement in research and analysis.
Consensus discussion and Q and A
Topic: Powering Equity
Host: Dr. Kwame McKenzie
Closing presentation
The following poems were created at Powering Equity: Canada’s first summit on race-based data for health on May 15, 2024 by A. Greg Frankson.
All poems © A. Gregory Frankson, 2024.
Haiku
medical “carding” –
a fear of efficacy
or race-blind nonsense.
like at a wedding
you get out what you put in
move talk to action.
anti-racism
for public institutions
an overdue Act.
measure racism
for healthy systems planning—
race to better care.
race or ethnic group
the mere tip of the iceberg.
inject intersect.
if you need to screen
a virus can knock you down
pick-ups may vary.
who aren’t we reaching
is a question important
only with the why.
tie race to health card
that makes a loud announcement
better left unsaid.
finding consensus
leads to a rough commitment.
perfect? no. but good!
five finger feelings
throw your hands up to the sky
make this moment count.
state explicit aims
stress community contexts
refine more, act strong!
lunch is a key time
participants are hungry
i think i’ll end here.
we embrace failure
for collective betterment—
lessons learned boldly.
building consensus:
a rare opportunity
to boost thought with strength.
Poems
The Summit
when you move into the space
of community—
power of reaching the summit
becomes plainly evident
once the conversations
about being there move forward ?
to admiration of the view
and the shared desire by all who
peer towards the horizon
shoulder to shoulder with their peers
to chart a path to follow
if we are to move from
this peak to touch the edge
of the possibilities the vista
illuminates with warm
beams of light.
Under Construction
inauguration
history under construction
the moment auspicious and unprecedented
a critical commencement
of a journey with proportions
both known and unknown
at the genesis there are
ingredients to the new whole
that lay about strewn like straw
underfoot—they pad the path
to forward progress and we are
informed of them from several
of the horses’ mouths
fragments like shards that stab
those who lend helping hands
make the blood flow as sharply
as pressure that rises from frustrations
that flow from the interjection of splinters
into palms that offer the chance for salves
if we take the time to work to solve
this state of vicarious engagement
to end the state of precarious
concealment that exists due to this
ease of exceptional deception
in a spirit of Sankofa
look it squarely in the face and recall
our history so we bring it forward
and learn from prairie progress to create
national systems of care, our history speaks
with a loud solidified voice that operates
in harmony, for we are not all at the same
point—resistance to the tide dissipated
in the face of the tsunami, and
an act taken passed us from the old phase
to a new paradigm
work always takes time
acknowledge this and move forward
drive through the congestion
with steely determination
to set aside those who traffic
in false narratives to obscure the
urgency in how we travel the road ahead
when key information is collated
collected and shared and housed, note that
while there is a need to keep it safe
and to ensure it is used for proper purpose
it cannot be prevented from being gathered
from the communities most affected
where the answers reside in homes
streets, centres, schools, and institutions
of the people most critically impacted
out of a fear of discovery that lo and behold
there is a race-based issue to confront
we cannot always wait for permission
to address an existing and percolating problem
the work requires energy for the grind
and filters best suited to the task at hand
our sustenance flows forth bold and strong
into a form that we are motivated to taste
sample solutions meant for us to drink in deeply
engagement in what governs actions taken
designed to protect rights in community
is fundamental to the cause of equity
rooted in the land upon which we stand
for those who first resided here and for
those who slaved to forge the foundations
slammed into the dirt of our societal soils
the vulnerable exposure of those in search
of equitable treatment provides cover for
everyone in ignorance of their status or ability
firm in support and stability for you and i
where the base is firm
and greatest vulnerabilities covered
the structure proves strong enough
to support and stabilize the whole
with the door open to offer access
to the heart that beats at the core of the matter
we sometimes take the long way to find
the proper form of progress we need to pursue
and when we find the methods that get us there
we find the sense of us reinforces in a tremendous
and transformative way
when we come together in the atrium
at the centre of our inaugurated construction
we lay a strong beam of support for the future
in a space that contains the product of our labours
momentum of material materializations
to provide principal principles
of a successful strategy
know that communities can raise up
through diversity and varied natures
reflect the challenges and customs
through respect for those we recognize
reciprocate in the lessons and new changes
that target your start to end well for everyone
in ethical treatment of subject the message sent
delivers a solution that keeps the whole intact
progress requires comfort with others’ discomfort
and the polite thing to do is put a hand on the book
make the pledge necessary to execute natural law
bind the social contract that creates the ties
to permit us all to put a bow on the foundation
smash the bottle to christen in a moment of celebration
as history takes its first bold step ahead
it’s time to break new ground.
The Laws of Skepticism
strangely, folks are skeptical
when governments gather data
based on race and ethnicity
and remain unimpressed
with plans to enshrine it in law
unless oversight proceeds
with cultural competence and sensitivity
and information is used appropriately
respectfully and with exceptional care
by trained and competent researchers
those who wish to deny the truth data shows
and spread misinformation
or should the guardians of the figures
misapply principles one project to the next
or communicate without thought
in ways that create new forms of harm
it all falls apart and change
drowns in the cynicism
falls into the pit of a polarized chasm
and vanishes into the oblivion
of political expediency.
Meaningful Mitigation
successful implementation of
considerations to mitigate
any potential harms to peoples requires
a commitment to disruption of racism
from its origins to stated sought solutions
plus meaningful engagement embedded
in support and expertise capable
of expressions of cultural competency
and ethical enactment of principles
to demonstrate ownership to community
engender trust with firm governance
and public sharing with lines that link it
with expertise rooted in human rights
and a strong commitment to social justice.
Colourful Collections
Indigenous without the Mi’kmaq
African Nova Scotian and African Descent
collectively replace “Black” and
European Descent replaces “White”
when the health data comes to reflect
these and other realities in its collection
having more variety in the basket that
more accurately represent its contents can
provide a more holistic vision on plain sight.
Policy Nirvana
without the data we don’t have the basis
and without the basis we’re stuck in stasis
if stasis is the basis then
we’ll miss ‘em with the system
if our system’s stuck in stasis
is there mystery we missed ‘em?
if the data has a bias then who believes reports
when reports upon the data may give bias to the courts
or to immigration stations, or revenue or borders
the bias in the policy is contrary to our good order
and nirvana? it would be more timely interventions
with policy for all to see the positive prevention
of erosion of our trust that’s been ethically produced
transparently explained for disarming racial tension
the data is the gateway to more modern progressions
with reports and policies that ease potential for regressions
unsticking from the stasis is the basis for creation
of solutions to the mysteries that stifle elucidation.
Accurate Context
the scourge of discontented content context
may stem from disregarded cultural competence
things get kind of tense when stakeholders make nonsense
of weighty racial matters of incredible significance
based on information that sometimes misrepresents
what actually happens within community experience
to defend statistical accuracy in its magnificence
regarding key events with a high level of prominence
the most senior political figures in the order of precedence
in concert with federal mandarins of highest eminence
use strength in quantitative and qualitative evidence
to share this raw intelligence with enlightened relevance.
Storytime
who possesses the story being told
by folks who have been traditionally disadvantaged
when there is disproportionate disenfranchisement
so when the statisticians and clinicians at the
behest of public services and elected politicians
go out to learn what the story may actually be
technical and participatory extrapolations
about the diverse groups interviewed in this nation
will draw their own conclusions with allusions
to truths, fallacies, myths, prejudices, and illusions
that play a socially constructive role in building boxes
that determine a health-slanted analysis
to plot interventions and policy directives
that define sector-wide actions and collaborations
we can never lose sight that the authors
are not at all the people who held the pens
but the source of the ink at the base of activity
who live their lives under petri dish observation
and if we decide at some level that though
the story is clearly theirs to be loudly enunciated
those who move their words forward
are accountable primarily to each of them
for the ways they proceed from there
in how the story is punctuated.
All poems © A. Gregory Frankson, 2024.
To inquire about having poet-in-residence services at an upcoming event or learn more about his previous and upcoming work, check out www.gregfrankson.com or contact Greg at 416-732-3625 or greg@voiceshareinc.com.