Indigenous Data Sovereignty with Alika Lafontaine, Canadian Medical Association

The guest this time is Alika Lafontaine, President of the Canadian Medical Association. Alika is an award-winning physician and the first Indigenous doctor listed in Medical Post’s 50 Most Powerful Doctors. He was born and raised in Treaty 4 Territory in southern Saskatchewan and has Metis, Oji-Cree, and Pacific Islander ancestry.

Questions for Alika include:

• In a recent post on LinkedIn you wrote: "I was admitted to medical school through an affirmative action program... we need to change the conversation around affirmative action and meritocracy. The current narrative presumes applicants aren’t qualified. We are. And sometimes, we’re over-qualified. Let’s also be blunt about “merit.” Its subjective. It can be gamed. Meritocracy is whatever the person in charge thinks is valuable, and as statistics show, decision-makers remain white and male. It’s human nature to value what is familiar and devalue what is not." Share more about your experiences and why we need to change the narrative around affirmative action and meritocracy. 
• You were part of a panel discussion on Indigenous data sovereignty at the recent Collision Conference in Toronto. Can you tell us about the discussion and why Indigenous data sovereignty is so important?
• How is this particularly important in the healthcare field? 
• You were in Winnipeg in July for the Premiers’ Council of the Federation meetings. Prior to these meetings, the CMA issued a series of recommendations for Premiers to consider. Can you tell us about those recommendations?
• What’s your impression of how the meeting between premiers went? Are you satisfied that they are working to improve the health systems across the country in a meaningful way?

More About Dr. Alika Lafontaine

Dr. Lafontaine has served in medical leadership positions for almost two decades. At the Alberta Medical Association, he has served on the representative forum (since 2012), the nominations committee and the Indigenous health committee, and he is a current board member. At the Canadian Medical Association, he has served as an Alberta AGM delegate, has been a member of the appointments committee and has chaired the governance council of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. 

At the Royal Colle