Speakers
Click on the photos below to read the full biographies.
Chantal LéonardLLB (Ontario)
Viren N. NaikMD, MEd, MBA, FRCPC
Simon OczkowskiMD, MSc, MHSc
Thaddeus Mason PopeJD, PhD
Chantal LéonardLLB (Ontario)
Chantal Léonard is the CEO of the Canadian Nurses Protective Society. She is also a lawyer who has represented and advised health care professionals in matters of professional liability protection, risk management, health law and related legal issues for more than 25 years, including medical assistance in dying. She has lectured at the University of Ottawa in matters of health law at the Faculty of Law and in the Masters in Health Administration program. She has been personally engaged in various consultations with the federal government on MAID when it was first introduced in 2016 and earlier this year as the ministry of justice contemplated further legislative amendments.
Willi KirenkoMN, NP-PHC, NP-Adult
Willi Kirenko is a Nurse Practitioner in independent practice focused within the Erie St. Clair region of Ontario. She has been an RN for over 40 years and is a graduate with both Primary Health Care (University of Windsor) and Adult (University of Toronto) Nurse Practitioner specialties. She continues her role as an Adjunct Lecturer in the MN/NP program at the University of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and teaches Professional Development courses for NPs with Bloomberg’s Centre for Professional Development. In June 2017 she began her role in improving access to medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in the community setting and has also taken a leadership role in training and supporting other MAiD assessors and providers. She is a NP member with the Ontario College of Family Physicians MAiD Collaborative Mentoring Network, a board member of the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers (CAMAP) and the moderator for the CAMAP Assessor Forum
Robert WeilerMD, FRCP, MPH
Clinical anesthesiologist in Saskatchewan Health Authority. An interest in community based research involving early dental carries, substance use disorders, and end of life care. Involved with Medical assistance in dying before the legislation. Contributed to the formation of the provincial MAID program and is currently the medical advisor. Working as an assessor and provider in the provincial program.
Daniel BoivinMD, FRCP, MPH
Daniel Boivin is a lawyer and partner in the Ottawa office of Gowling WLG. Daniel's practice focuses on health law and medical defence, including acting as counsel to the CMPA. Daniel has been particularly involved in the development of MAID in Canada. He has provided a significant amount of advice and education on that topic.
Daniel is a graduate of University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1993. He has appeared before all levels of courts. Daniel is also a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law.
Janice ChisholmBSc, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Janice Chisholm is a Dalhousie University Associate Professor of Anaesthesia and Critical Care. She works at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax where she practices Anaesthesia. Janice is currently the Anesthesia Site Chief at the Victoria General Hospital and is the University CBME Lead.
Her current area of academic focus is medical education, in particular competency based medical education.
Janice has participated in medical assistance in dying since its legalization in 2017 and joined the CAMAP board of directors in 2018. Janice participated in the Canadian Blood Services working group on Organ Donation in the Conscious Competent Patient.
Simon OczkowskiMD, MSc, MHSc
Dr. Oczkowski is a critical care physician and a member of Hamilton Health Sciences' Assisted Dying Resource and Assessment Service (ADRAS) in Hamilton, Ontario. He has a masters degree in bioethics at the University of Toronto and in health research methods from McMaster University. His clinical and research interests include end-of-life decision-making, including organ donation and medical assistance in dying.
James DownarMDCM, MHSc, FRCPC
James Downar is a Critical Care and Palliative Care physician in Ottawa. He completed residency training in Internal Medicine, Critical Care and Palliative Care at the University of Toronto. He has a Master’s degree in Bioethics from the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. He is currently the Head of the Division of Palliative Care at the University of Ottawa, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine. He is the co-chair of the Pan-Canadian Palliative Care Research Collaborative and the secretary of the Canadian Critical Care Society. He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, has been principal investigator on more than a dozen peer-reviewed grants, and is a former Associated Medical Services Phoenix Fellow. His research interests include communication and decision-making for seriously ill patients and their families; Palliative Care for the Critically Ill; and Palliative Care for Noncancer Illnesses.
Trudo LemmensLicJur, LLM bioethics, DCL
Trudo Lemmens research focuses on the interaction of law, governance mechanisms, and ethical norms and values in the context of health care, biomedical research, and health product development. His publications appeared in leading journals of law, science, medicine, health policy, and bioethics. He has written extensively on Medical Aid in Dying, particularly also on the developments in Belgium and the Netherlands. Professor Lemmens was a member of the Council of Canadian Academies’ expert panel on Medical Aid in Dying and an expert witness for the federal Attorney General in the Truchon case. He can be followed on twitter @TrudoLemmens
Gary RodinMD
Gary Rodin is Head of the Department of Supportive Care at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto and has been a leader in the establishment of the MAiD program at the University Health Network. He directs a clinical and research program on psychosocial dimensions of advanced disease and on the development and evaluation of novel interventions to improve the quality of life and the quality of dying and death in this population. Dr. Rodin has published widely and is recognized internationally for his efforts to improve the rigor of research and the effectiveness and availability of psychosocial and palliative interventions.
Viren N. NaikMD, MEd, MBA, FRCPC
Dr. Viren Naik is the Director of Assessment for the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada, and oversees the credentialing of specialist training and the assessment, including examinations, for all medical specialties in Canada. Between 2014 and 2017, he served as Vice President, Education for The Ottawa Hospital to provide a supportive learning environment and lead interprofessional initiatives to improve the patient experience. Dr. Naik continues his clinical leadership as the Medical Lead for the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Program across greater eastern Ontario. This program has been recognized and awarded nationally as a practice leader.
Jocelyn DownieCM, FRSC, FCAHS, SJD
Jocelyn Downie is the James Palmer Chair in Public Policy and Law at Dalhousie University. She is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She has a BA, MA, MLitt in Philosophy and an LLB, LLM, and doctorate in Law.
Jocelyn's work on end-of-life law and policy includes: Special Advisor to the Canadian Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide; author of Dying Justice: A Case for the Decriminalizing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in Canada; and member of the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on End-of-Life Decision-Making, the plaintiffs’ legal team in Carter v. Canada (Attorney General), the Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying, and the Canadian Council of Academies Expert Panel on Medical Assistance in Dying. Most recently, she brought together the “Halifax Group” - a group of experts who produced an Institute for Research in Public Policy Report on "MAiD Legislation at a Crossroads: Persons with Mental Disorders as Their Sole Underlying Medical Condition."
Jonathan RegglerMB BChir MRCGP(UK) FCFP
Jonathan Reggler is a family physician in Courtenay, B.C., on Vancouver Island. He studied medicine at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, graduating in 1984 and then spent eight years in the British Army prior to entering general practice in southern England. He immigrated to Canada in 2003.
He combines hospital with office practice. His office practice is deliberately skewed towards the care of seniors and he thus also provides a lot of palliative care.
Stefanie GreenMDCM CCFP
Based in Victoria BC, Dr. Green is the co-founder and current President of the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers (CAMAP). Trained as a family physician, she spent most of her career in newborn and maternity care but now spends 90% of her clinical time working as an assessor and provider of assisted dying. Dr. Green enjoys speaking about MAiD to the public, to health care communities and to a wide range of audiences locally, nationally and internationally.
Kim WiebeMD, FRCPC, MPH
Dr Wiebe completed medical school at the University of Manitoba in 1992 followed by residencies in Internal Medicine and Critical care. Subsequent education has included: a master’s in public health at John’s Hopkins, training in addictions medicine and certification in palliative care. Other work interests have included: organ donation, bone marrow transplant, and overseas volunteer work with Medicine Sans Frontiers + the Canadian Society for International Health. Dr Wiebe is currently working as a physician with the provincial medical assistance in dying clinical team of which she is the medical director.
Caitlin BuchelRSLP, M.Cl.Sc.
Caitlin Buchel has been a consulting SLP on the Manitoba Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) team since April 2016. She has been involved in more than 30 MAiD cases – facilitating communication between patients and the interdisciplinary MAiD team during eligibility reviews through to provision. Caitlin has developed tools to support patients with speech and language impairments through the MAID process and is active in teaching MAID related practice to SLPs nationally. Caitlin is also the owner and managing clinician of Buchel Speech and Language Group, a private speech-language pathology (SLP) practice in Manitoba.
Franziska MillerMD
Dr. Miller completed her undergraduate and medical degree at McMaster University. She is currently a trainee in the anesthesiology residency program at Dalhousie University and also completing a Master of Education at the University of Dundee.
Thaddeus Mason PopeJD, PhD
Thaddeus Mason Pope is a foremost expert on medical law and clinical ethics. He maintains a special focus on patient rights and healthcare decision-making. Pope is Director of the Health Law Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota. While he serves in a range of consulting capacities, Pope has been particularly influential through his extensive, high-impact scholarship. Ranked among the Top 20 most cited health law scholars in the United States, Professor Pope has over 220 publications in leading medical journals, bioethics journals, and law reviews.
Lilian ThorpeMD, PhD, FRCP
Dr. Thorpe is a geriatric psychiatrist and Professor of Psychiatry and Community Health and Epidemiology at the U of S. She obtained her M.D. at the U of T, and completed her residency in psychiatry and a Ph.D at the U of S. Dr. Thorpe was a member of the Saskatoon Health Region committee which developed the Saskatoon MAID policy, and has now been involved with over 300 MAID assessments/ provisions throughout the province. She had provided MAiD related teaching at multiple University and health Authority levels and is actively involved in MAiD related research.
Susan WoolhouseMD, MClSc, CCFP, FCFP
Dr. Woolhouse left her family practice of 16 years in 2018 to expand her MAID practice and recently opened a grief therapy practice for children and teens experiencing the dying and death of someone close. She has a particular interest in working with children who have lost a close person to MAID, suicide and overdose. She also works in the shelter system in Toronto and is committed to equitable health care access and equity. Dr. Woolhouse is the Co-Chair of the Ontario College of Family Physician’s Palliative Care and End of Life/MAID Collaborative Mentoring Network.
Dirk HuyerMD
In March 2014, Dr. Dirk Huyer was appointed Chief Coroner for Ontario.
Dr. Huyer received his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1986. He has served as a coroner in Ontario since 1992 and served as Regional Supervising Coroner for five years prior to becoming Chief Coroner. He has been directly involved in over 5,000 coroner’s investigations.
Dr. Huyer has specific expertise in the medical evaluation of child maltreatment, and has worked with the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Program at the Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Huyer is the Chair of the Paediatric Death Review Committee of the Office of the Chief Coroner. He is also an Assistant Professor with the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto.
Since early 2016 Dr. Huyer has been actively involved in Ontario’s response to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). He led the implementation of the reporting and oversight process provided by the Office of the Chief Coroner. Dr. Huyer has continued involvement with MAiD bringing perspective of the post death review process to policy tables and professional meetings. The approach to MAiD deaths has continued to evolve under Dr. Huyer’s leadership with successful implementation of a team of specialized nurse investigators dedicated to MAiD review and oversight.
Michel A. BureauMD
Dr. Michel Bureau, Pediatrics, Neonatology and Pneumology specialist, is an Academic Leader and a Senior Manager of Quebec’s Healthcare system. He has been Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Sherbrooke University, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec, and Associate Deputy Minister of the Medical Services and Academic Medicine Division. Besides his in-depth knowledge of Quebec’s Healthcare system, he has gained an extensive understanding of End of Life care through diversified clinical experiences. Dr. Bureau is the chair of the Commission sur les soins de fin de vie since July 2018.
Margo Kelly
In her 30 year career with CBC Radio News, Margo Kelly reported on a diverse range of subjects, including the economy, health care, politics and terrorism. She is the recipient of national and international awards for investigative journalism and social commentary. Her investigative projects include: Arming The World, a critical review of Canadian arms export controls, and exposing the Canadian tobacco industry executive who provided evidence about an extensive tobacco smuggling and tax fraud scheme.
Andrea Frolic PhD
Andrea is the Director of the Advancing Care Ecologies Program at Hamilton Health Sciences. By sparking collaboration between psycho-spiritual care, ethics, trauma-informed care and end-of-life initiatives, including Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), this innovative program aims to enhance provider resilience, teamwork, ethical practice, and quality of living and dying. Andrea is an Assistant Professor in Family Medicine at McMaster University. Her research interests include: resilience for healthcare workers; ethics integration from bedside-to-boardroom; and developing practices to enable whole person care for patients, families and providers. Her leadership in developing an Interprofessional Assisted Dying Resource and Assessment Service in Hamilton was recognized by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement in 2017.
Ellen Wiebe MD
Dr Ellen Wiebe is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia. After 30 years of full-service family practice, she now restricts her practice to women’s health and assisted death. She is the Medical Director of Willow Clinic in Vancouver and provides medical abortions and contraception. She is a board member and a research director of CAMAP.
Returning Registrant
Upcoming Events
Pre-Conference Date
Thursday April 30, 2020
Main Conference
Friday May 1 &
Saturday May 2, 2020
Sheraton Centre Toronto
123 Queen Street West,
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2M9
Post-Conference Date
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Information & Assistance
Conference Services
conferences@uhn.ca
416-597-3422 ex 3448
We do not issue letters of invitation to international delegates. Administrative fees will apply to cancelled registrations. We encourage you to finalize travel prior to registering.