Start your day off right with a wellness activity! Either activity is sure to leave you with a great sense of wellbeing and full of energy for the day.
Medicine Walk - Join Elder Della Rice Sylvester for a morning walk and learn about plants as food and their healing properties.
PowWow Workout - Join Amanda Fox, for a PowWow workout!

Keynote Speaker: Robert Skeen, Chief Executive Officer, Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of North South Wales, Australia 

Suicide rates among Indigenous populations still exceed that of the national average, and most alarming is that the younger Indigenous population between the ages of 15-29 are the most vulnerable.  YSAC’s Life is Sacred life promotion training program is a 12-unit national training program. This comprehensive community-based life promotion initiative utilizes an existing body of work (culturally based suicide fact sheets) which was developed in 2011 by a national committee of First Nations and Inuit health practitioners. This program is certified through the Indigenous Certification Board of Canada (ICBOC), and is based on the perspective, experience, and knowledge of Indigenous communities throughout Turtle Island. The 12-units include: Introduction; Myths & Facts; Decreasing Stigma; Colonization; Risk Factors; Media Guidelines; Warning Signs; Engaging Youth; Why Youth Seek Help; Protective Factors; Getting Help for Someone; and Helper Self-Care. Learning objectives include suicide is preventable, understanding what suicide is, underlying reasons for suicide, warning signs, and protective factors in preventing suicide. This training provides community-based workers with the skills and confidence to recognize suicide warning signs and how to take appropriate early intervention. Speakers will engage the participants with some condensed portions of the program to allow them to experience what the full two-day training would offer. 
Moderator: Christine Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Accreditation Council
Speakers: Elder Harry Francis, Leading Thunderbird Lodge
Karen Main Associate Director, YSAC
Melvin Taypotat, Outreach/Intake Worker, Leading Thunderbird Lodge

First Nation Health Managers are advocates for improving the wholistic wellness of people in communities. Their relationships with clinical staff, chief and council, and regional health authorities, are imperative but what are the best paths to build and foster relationships beyond their community? We are currently witnessing a growing momentum of non-Indigenous organizations seeking to work in partnership with First Nation communities and representatives from medical-related institutions, pharmaceutical companies, academia, amongst others are pursuing engagements with First Nations. This workshop will help identify positive reconciliatory actions vs self-interested capitalist conduct and outline healthy culturally grounded initiatives that focus on improving First Nations’ wellness. The speaker will provide a recent example of lessons learned from a mutually beneficial relationship that has led to expanded advocacy opportunities. This workshop will be interactive, provide effective partnership recommendations and explore potential outcomes from strengths-based associations.
Moderator: Dr. Yasmin Razack, Chief Diversity Officer, Canadian Blood Services (invited)
Speakers: Jonathan Dunn, Senior Policy Analyst, Health Department, Assembly of First Nations
Marlene Larocque, Senior Policy Advisor, Health Department, Assembly of First Nations

Successful attraction and retention in todays’ environment has become ultra-competitive in the pandemic era. Consequently, attracting and hiring qualified candidates and retaining them as committed employees, has been negatively impacted by the current environment where job seekers are able to pick and choose where they work and current employees leave to accept external jobs at organizations with working conditions and organizational cultures that best meet their personal and professional needs. Developing a robust and flexible attraction and retention process will ensure that managers select the right candidates for the right jobs, and manage those employees in a respectful and forward-looking manner. Underlying this is the need for a healthy organizational workplace culture that aligns with organizational vision, mission and values, and where employees are valued as integral to organizational success. This session will provide you with an overview of an effective attraction and retention process and how to ensure that qualified candidates are vetted appropriately throughout the interview process, are onboarded correctly to prepare them for the work their job requires, and supported throughout their employment to allow them to do their jobs to the best of their ability, which will result in long-term, satisfying and committed employment relationships.  This workshop is designed for managers who have recruitment and supervisory responsibilities, who have some human resource management experience, and who wish to learn more about attraction and retention and how, when done effectively, is critical for the attraction and retention of qualified, committed employees.
Moderator: Lisa Main, Client Engagement Lead, Indigenous Health Services, Accreditation Canada
Speaker: Robin Henry, Two Eagles HR Consulting  

Jordan’s Principle, Child First Initiative, is an important initiative of Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) in addressing the health, education and social needs of First Nations children and their families.   In the fall of 2020, ISC approached the Alberta First Nations Health Consortium (FNHC) to conduct a project to gather data on the implementation of Jordan’s Principle across Canada. A national survey accompanied by regional focus groups and interviews was conducted to gather as much information as possible, and to hear firsthand the experiences of those involved in implementing Jordan’s Principle.   This session will give an overview of the key findings on the implementation of Jordan’s Principle across Canada. We’ll explore the successes and achievements, identify some of the most promising practices in implementing Jordan’s Principle and highlight those areas that continue to need improvement. This information is intended to inform and support all First Nations health managers involved in the day-to-day administration of Jordan’s Principle and to provide insights to further the promise of Jordan’s Principle across Canada.
Moderator: Patricia Thomson, CFNHM, Secretary-Treasurer, FNHMA Board of Directors and Executive Director, Leading Thunderbird Lodge Speakers: Carol Blair, Chief Executive Officers, Carol Blair and Associates Inc. and Project Manager and Lead Consultant for the First Nations Health Consortium for the National Project on the Implementation of Jordan’s Principle across Canada
Lorinda Patterson, Enhanced Service Coordination Manager, First Nations Health Consortium

Remarks: Patrick Gushue, Business Operations, Emergent BioSolutions Inc.
Keynote Speaker: Alika Lafontaine, President, Canadian Medical Association

This workshop will provide participants with the opportunity for increased insight regarding Indigenous practices around wellbeing and healing. George Jeffrey is of Tsimshian and Gitxsan ancestry and a member of the Raven Clan. George brings a holistic and traditional perspective of health and wellness, along with a deep understanding of healing complex trauma. George carries traditional teachings around Spruce, Cedar, Hemlock, Balsam, and water; and he follows cultural protocols while carrying out his healing work. During the workshop, George will share an Indigenous perspective specific to cultural protocols regarding brushings using plant medicines. This information will be helpful for participants to enhance their wellbeing and self-care practices. Moderator: Kristina Crooks, Indigenous Consulting Services, MNP LLP
Speaker: George Jeffrey, CSP Team, Tsow Tun Le Lum Society

A discussion on the future of community-based workers. Join us as we hear from Australian successes while considering Canadian impacts. We will chat about the demands of the mainstream health system in responding to the TRC Calls to Action, First Nations Health Advocates, Patient Navigators, community perspectives and training opportunities.
Moderator: Joshua Tobias, Manager, First Nations, Inuit, & Métis Engagement and Integration, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
Panelists: David McLaren, CFNHM, President, FNHMA Board of Directors, and Health Director, Kebaowek First Nation, QC
Lorraine Muskwa, CFNHM, Vice-President, FNHMA Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, Bigstone Health Commission
Phillip Naden, Chair of the Board, Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of New South Wales, Australia
Robert Skeen, Chief Executive Officer, Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of New South Wales, Australia
Patricia Thomson, CFNHM, Secretary-Treasurer, FNHMA Board of Directors and Executive Director, Leading Thunderbird Lodge

This workshop will use interactive role play of an imminent wildfire approaching a First Nation community to build core management competencies and skills specific to culturally safe emergency preparedness and disaster response. A brief examination of colonial policies and racist practices that undermine the safety of First Nation communities in natural disasters will be followed by the role play. Participants will work in teams to build a disaster response using Indigenous knowledge and First Nations’ control. Participants will be provided leadership skills across a range of management roles (operations, planning, logistics/finance, safety/risk management, communications, and liaison). They will then practice these skills in a full management team with the task of developing their coordinated disaster response. This exercise increases interaction and interprofessional learning among participants. The objectives of the workshop are to build skills in culturally safe emergency preparedness and disaster response, and core competencies in leadership and governance, professionalism, partnerships, health services delivery, quality improvement, planning, and communication. Embedding these skills within a culturally safe approach to emergency preparedness and disaster response will ensure participants have take-away tools relevant to specific challenges First Nation communities face.
Moderator: Shelley Cardinal, Consultant, Indigenous Affairs, Canadian Red Cross
Speakers: Alana Kehoe, Research Assistant, Health Equity Action Research Team, Western University
Danielle Robinson, Senior Advisor, Indigenous Relations, Canadian Red Cross and member of the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation (Ontario)
Lloy Wylie, Associate Professor, Public Health, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University

This workshop aligns with FNHMA’s core competencies of health services delivery and advocacy through innovative practices. Dental services are not a covered benefit in Canada’s universal healthcare system and this can often result in a business-oriented approach to oral healthcare delivery. While registered First Nations’ individuals can receive benefits under the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program, the standard of care in dentistry is aimed to deliver dentistry to Canada’s dominant society. This method of delivery, in addition to Indigenous specific racism in healthcare can result in detrimental oral healthcare delivery in First Nations communities and this aligns with the theme of rise against racism! Presenters from the Indigenous Dental Association of Canada (IDAC) will share examples of their own lived experiences in dentistry, invite attendees to contribute to detrimental oral healthcare delivery practices, and lastly create an interactive session to reconsider contemporary approaches in dentistry toward culturally safe oral healthcare delivery for First Nations communities. This workshop will encourage attendees to rethink how oral healthcare is currently delivered, so that we can all participate in creating a culturally safe dental environment in First Nations communities.
Moderator: Calvin Morrisseau, CFNHM, FNHMA Board Member
Speakers: Sheri McKinstry, Indigenous Dental Association of Canada
Natacha Tanguay, Manager, Indigenous Services Canada

Drumming and Honour Song: Wayne Seward, Snuneymuxw First Nation, BC

Presentation of the Doris Bear Student Awards
Presenter: Doris Bear, CFNHM, Health Director, Peguis First Nation, MB

Presentation of the FNHMA-HEC Excellence in Health Leadership Award
Presenter: Jennifer Zelmer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Healthcare Excellence Canada

After-dinner entertainment: George Leach, Juno award winning artist from the Sta’atl’imx Nation, BC