As a child in school, Alika Lafontaine had trouble reading and speaking. He had a stutter, was enrolled in speech therapy and eventually labelled as ‘broken.’ His parents were told he was likely never to graduate high school. It was a judgment his parents refused to accept.
Guided by his parents and the home school education they provided Alika and his siblings, he obtained his high school diploma by age 15 and was subsequently labelled a ‘genius.’ He pursued medical school, completing his MD at the University of Saskatchewan, followed by a five-year fellowship in anesthesiology.
During his fellowship, Lafontaine entered and won CBC’s “Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister” competition, riding on a platform focused on reconciling the Treaty relationship between Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and Canadians.
In this episode of Chatter That Matters, Dr. Alika Lafontaine chats with Tony Chapman about how he approaches patient care from a position of empathy, which he feels is rooted in his childhood experiences of being looked at as broken and feeling unwanted. He chats about the need to put the patient’s care first; the role bias plays in healthcare, and how the efficiency paradigm of Canada’s system has caused it to become unsustainable over time. He shares his path to becoming the president of the CMA and the relationship-based approach he believes can serve patients, doctors, nurses and the healthcare system equally and effectively.
Dr. Alika Lafontaine says it’s time to change the conversation around healthcare in Canada, and he is leading the way.
Chatter That Matters is hosted by the Marketing Hall of Legends and the Canadian Marketing and PR Hall of Fame Inductee Tony Chapman. Tony wants to counter the storm of negativity and a growing sense of impossibility by sharing true stories of possibility and positivity. Stories of people who make things happen, despite today’s challenging circumstances. In doing so, he hopes their life lessons inspire others to do more and to be more. RBC is the presenting sponsor.
Subscribe to Chatter That Matters wherever you get your podcasts or go here: https://www.chatterthatmatters.ca/podcasts
- Newstalk 1010, Toronto
- CFRA 580 Ottawa
- CJAD 800 Montreal
- CJBK 1290 London
- Newstalk 610 St. Catharine’s
- CKLW 800 Windsor
- CKFR 1150 Kelowna
- CFAX 1070 AM Victoria
- Or Fridays at 8 p.m. on BNN Bloomberg CFTE 1410 Vancouver
More from the Chatter That Matters:
This article is intended as general information only and is not to be relied upon as constituting legal, financial or other professional advice. A professional advisor should be consulted regarding your specific situation. Information presented is believed to be factual and up-to-date but we do not guarantee its accuracy and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the authors as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by Royal Bank of Canada or any of its affiliates.