Ep 2: Systemic Racism in Health Care with Dr Alika Lafontaine, the first Indigenous CMA PresidentEp 2: Systemic Racism in Health Care with Dr Alika Lafontaine, the first Indigenous CMA President
Mino Bimaadiziwin
Sherry Huff talks with Dr Alika Lafontaine about systemic racism in health care, Indigenous experiences of harm, and the importance of trauma-informed and culturally grounded care. They also reflect on addiction, traditional medicine and the role of people working together to change systems.
31:37•17 Dec 2021
Systemic Racism, Trauma, and Hope in Indigenous Health Care
Episode Overview
- Systemic racism is maintained by harmful norms in health care, where racist behaviour often goes unchallenged and unpunished.
- Indigenous patients frequently fear retribution if they report racist treatment or complain about their care.
- Addiction care must move away from blaming patients and instead address trauma, childhood adversity, housing, employment and mental health.
- Trauma-informed care can be as simple as seeing people as they are, assuming they have good reasons for their behaviour and not blaming them for their struggles.
- Traditional medicine is validated through community experience and reputation, offering a different but legitimate way of judging what works.
“"They looked at the camera and said, well, yeah, I know I'm being watched, but nothing's going to happen."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol if the very system meant to care for them feels unsafe? Mino Bimaadiziwin tackles that question head-on as host Sherry Huff sits down with Dr Alika Lafontaine, the first Indigenous president of the Canadian Medical Association and an anaesthesiologist practising in Alberta. This conversation zooms in on systemic racism in health care, especially for First Nations and other Indigenous peoples.
Dr Lafontaine shares how, until recently, even saying the word "racism" in medical spaces could shut down a room. He reflects on the filmed death of Joyce Echaquan, noting the chilling moment when a staff member "looked at the camera and said, well, yeah, I know I'm being watched, but nothing's going to happen." That absence of fear, he says, captures the reality of being racialised in health care.
You’ll hear why changing individual attitudes is not enough if the norms of hospitals and clinics still tolerate harm, silence and retribution. Dr Lafontaine talks about creating safe ways for people to share experiences of racism without fearing backlash, and why repeated stories of discrimination usually mean "this is never the first time" it has happened. The episode also spends time on addictions and mental health in Indigenous communities.
Dr Lafontaine challenges the habit of blaming patients for their struggles with substances, stressing that trauma, adverse childhood experiences, housing, employment and mental health all shape addiction. He frames trauma-informed care, at its core, as "really about humanising the person across from you." Traditional medicine gets respectful attention too. Dr Lafontaine contrasts Western reliance on degrees and trials with Indigenous ways of validating healers through community reputation and results.
Despite the heavy subject matter, the tone stays grounded in hope, rooted in the many people working for change. If you’re interested in how racism, trauma, culture and care all intersect, this conversation might stay with you long after it ends.
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