DAY 1

September 27, 2023

7:30am – 8:30am

Networking Breakfast

8:30am – 8:45am

Welcome Address

Dr. Marie-France Raynault, MD FCAHS, President of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences

8:45am – 8:55am

Land Acknowledgment

Dr. Philip Berger, O.C. MD FCAHS, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, St. Michael’s Hospital – Unity Health

9:00am – 9:45am

Keynote Speaker - I was There

Ms. Alison Irons, a former RCMP Officer and mother of Lindsay Wilson, a Nipissing University student who was stalked and murdered by an ex-partner with a legal gun in Bracebridge Ontario in 2013

9:45am – 10:00am

Break

10:00am – 10:50am

Reframing Gun Violence a Public Issue

Making the case gun violence is a public health issue. A perspective from many lenses

Session Chair

Dr. Chethan Sathya, MD MSCE, Pediatric Trauma Surgeon and Journalist and Director of Gun Violence Prevention at Northwell Health

Gun violence is a public health issue

Dr. Sandro Galea, MD DrPH, Physician, epidemiologist, Dean and Robert H. Knox Professor of public Health at Boston University

Suicide, rurality and shotguns

Dr. Alan Drummond, MD, Emergency Physician at Perth Hospital and former president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians

Unshackling race and gun violence

Dr. Annette Bailey, PhD, Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Faculty of Community Services at the Toronto Metropolitan University

A perspective

Ms. Sureya Ibrahim, Supervisor of Community Connections, Centre of Community Learning & Development

Q&As led by Dr. Chethan Sathya with session participants

10:50am – 11:05am

Break

11:05am – 11:50am

The International Experience and Canada’s Place in the World

Understanding Canada’s gun violence problem from am international perspective

Session Chair

Dr. James Byrne, MD PhD, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University

Global comparisons: where Canada stands in the world

Dr. James Byrne, MD PhD, Assistant Professor at John’s Hopkins University

How changes in legal frameworks have facilitated access to guns in the US

Dr. Peter Masiakos, MS MD FACS FAAP, Director, Pediatric Trauma Service, and Co-Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Centre for Gun Violence Prevention

Lessons on firearm policy and legislation from other peer nations: the experiences of the UK, Australia and New Zealand

Dr. Anna Dare, MBChB PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto

A perspective

Dr. Adom Bondzi-Simpson, MD MSc, General Surgery Resident at the University of Toronto and author of CAMJ article: Where is the Black Doctor?

Q&As led by Dr. James Byrne with session participants

11:50am – 12:50pm

Network Luncheon

12:50pm – 1:50pm

Community Impacts of Gun Violence

Understanding how the social determinants of health mediate gun violence. Understanding the lasting impacts of gun violence in families and communities.

Session Chair

Dr. Anna Dare, MBChB PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto

Violence begets violence, how to break the cycle

Mr. Tazio Clarke, Social Worker and Policy Development Officer at the SafeTO project

The inequitable burden of firearm deaths on communities: an epidemiological perspective

Dr. Anna Dare, MBChB PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto

The stories stay with me: structural barriers and exclusion from privilege

Dr. Suzanne Shoush, MD, St’atl’imx/Sudanese Family Physician and Director of Indigenous Health for Inner City Health Associates, Indigenous Health Faculty Lead for the University of Toronto Department of Family and Community Medicine, and St. Michael’s Hospital Staff physician

Faith and community

Rev Kyle Carter, Prison Chaplain with the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services

Black mental health and gun violence

Dr. Semir Bulle, MD, Psychiatry Resident at the University of Toronto

Q&As led by Dr. Anna Dare with session participants

1:50pm – 2:05pm

Break

2:05pm – 3:15pm

Intimate Partner Violence, Domestic Homicide and Firearms

Understanding the lethality of firearms in domestic violence, coercive control, ERPOs and the link between domestic violence and mass shootings. The Mass Casualty Commission – A pragmatic approach

Session Chairs

Dr. Paola Fata, MD FRCS, Associate Professor of Surgery at McGill University

Dr. Jacinthe Lampron, MD FRCSC, Medical Director of the Trauma Program, General Surgery at the Ottawa Hospital

The gender-based and intersectional impacts of expandingcivilianuse of deadly force in self-defense

Dr. Alexa Yakubovich, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University

Guns and coercive control, link between domestic violence and mass shootings

Dr. Carmen Gill, PhD, Professor of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick and leader of the Canadian Centre for Policing Intimate Partner Violence

What we learned from the MCC about gender based violence

Ms. Pam Hrick, Executive Director and General Counsel at Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund

A pragmatic approach to domestic violence screening

Dr. Bannuya Balasubramanaiam, MD, CFPC, Women’s Health Enhanced Skills – Family Physician in Toronto

The utility of ERPOS in domestic violence situation: the why and how

Dr. Shannon Frattaroli, PhD, Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Centre for Gun Violence Solutions

Q&As led by Drs. Paola Fata and Jacinthe Lampron with Ms. Alison Irons and session participants

3:15pm – 3:30pm

Break

3:30pm – 4:15pm

Panel Discussion

Priorities in Gun Violence Research in Canada

Highlighting gaps in knowledge, research process and potential solutions for the development of evidence-informed policy

Session Chair

Dr. David Gomez, MD PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and Adjunct Scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute

Dr. Natasha Saunders, MSc MD FRCPC, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, Associate Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences, Sickkids Research Institute, Staff Pediatrician at the Hospital for Sick Children and Adjunct Scientist at ICES

Dr. Anna Dare, MBChB PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto

Dr. Annette Bailey, PhD, Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Faculty of Community Services at the Toronto Metropolitan University

Dr. Suzanne Shoush, MD, St’atl’imx/Sudanese Family Physician and Director of Indigenous Health for Inner City Health Associates,Indigenous Health Faculty Lead for the University of Toronto Department of Family and Community Medicine, and St. Michael’s Hospital Staff physician

Dr. Carmen Gill, PhD, Professor of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick and leader of the Canadian Centre for Policing Intimate Partner Violence

Q&As led by Dr. David Gomez with session participants

4:15pm – 4:30pm

Adjournment

Dr. Najma Ahmed, MD PhD FRCSC FACS, Surgeon-in-Chief at St. Michael’s Hospital - Unity Health and Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto

Dr. Philip Berger, O.C. MD FCAHS, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, St. Michael’s Hospital – Unity Health

18 h 00 – 18 h 45

Pre-dinner Cocktail Reception

19 h 00 – 21 h 30

Gala Diner and new Fellows Induction Ceremony

DAY 2

September 28, 2023

7:30am – 8:30am

Networking Breakfast

8:45am – 9:00am

Welcome to Day 2

9:00am – 9:45am

Keynote Address

The Violence Project: Stopping a mass shooting epidemic

Dr. Jillian Peterson, PhD, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Hamline University. She researches the life histories and psychological profiles of mass shooters.

9:45am – 10:00am

Break

10:00am – 11:30am

Dispelling Myths: Firearms and Mental Health

Discuss the disproportionate rates of death from firearm suicide. Discuss the mental health

impacts of gun violence on individuals, family members and communities

Session Chairs

Dr. Julie Maggi, MD FRCPC, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto

Dr. Suzanne Beno, MD FRCP, Emergency Medicine Physician at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto

A perspective

Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, PhD, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation

The nature of suicide and the role of means restriction

Dr. Mark Sinyor, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Co-lead of ASPIRE (the Alliance of Suicide Prevention and Intervention Researchers and Educators at the University of Toronto)

Firearms accessibility and suicide. The role of ERPOs/ red flag laws

Ms. Taylor Kleffel, MSW, Senior Manager, State Policy at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Washington DC

Movie viewing: Mending a crack in the sky

Mr. Roble Issa, A Somali-Canadian filmmaker, Director of documentary “Mending a Crack in the Sky”

The mental health impacts of gun violence exposure for children, families, and communities

Dr. Aditi Vasan, MD MSHP, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

The night of the Danforth Shooting

Mr. Ali Demircan, a Scarborough resident and witness to the Danforth mass shooting

Q&A’s led by Drs. Julie Maggi and Suzanne Beno with Dr. Jillian Peterson and session participants

11:30am– 12:30pm

Network Luncheon

12:30pm – 1:25pm

Prevention and Intervention

Evidence supporting preventative strategies and interventions that can reduce

firearm injuries and gun violence

Session Chair

Dr. Matt Strickland, MD MBA FRCSC, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Alberta

Policy based prevention and intervention

Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, PhD, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation

Hospital based violence intervention and firearm risk screening programs

Dr. Chethan Sathya, MD MSCE, Pediatric Trauma Surgeon and Journalist and Director of Gun Violence Prevention at Northwell Health

Who, where, why and how. The THRIVE Program

Dr. Carolyn Snider, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and academic Emergency Physician in Toronto

SafeTO – A multi-sector, community driven approach

Mr. Scott McKean, Leader, Development and implementation of SafeTO, the City of Toronto’s Community Safety and Well Being Plan

A perspective

Rev. Sky Starr, Minister, therapist and grief counselor for her community of Jane/Finch, Founder of the grass-roots community organization “Out of Bounds”

Q&As led by Dr. Matt Strickland with Discussant, Dr. Brianna Greenberg, General Surgery Resident at the University of Toronto and session participants

1:25 pm – 1:40pm

Break

1:40pm – 2:40pm

The Elephant in the Gun Control Room: Hunting,

Self-Defense, Shotguns and Saving Lives

Traditional hunting practices, historical and legal frameworks, suicide and red flag laws and wounding characteristics of assault style weapons

Session Chair

Dr. Lynn Wilson, MD CCFP FCPF, Vice Dean, Clinical Faculty Affairs, Associate Vice Provost, Relations with Health Care Institutions, Professor, Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Traditional hunting practices

Dr. Elaine Innes, MD, Chief of Staff at the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and a member of the Moose Cree First Nation

On being a coroner: a view of rural suicide

Dr. Alan Drummond, MD, Emergency Physician at Perth Hospital and former president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians

Examining the outsized influence of the gun lobby

Mr. AJ Somerset, Canadian Author of “The Culture and Credo of the Gun and Combat Camera”

Guns and Hate

Mr. Bernie Farber, Writer, commentor Chair of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and former CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Paloma Institute

A perspective

Dr. Scott Wooder, MD, Lead Physician for Hamilton Family Health Team at McMaster University and former chair of the Ontario Medical Association

Q&As led by Dr. Lynn Wilson with session participants

2:40pm– 3:00pm

Break

3:00pm – 4:10pm

Panel Discussion

Countering Mis-Information and Creating Evidence Informed Firearm Policy in Canada

Understanding how mis-information and inadequate community engagement is hindering a public health approach

Session Chair

Dr. Philip Berger, O.C. MD FCAHS, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, St. Michael’s Hospital – Unity Health

Dr. Blake Brown, LLB PhD, Professor of History at St. Mary’s University and Adjunct Professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University

Mr. Adam Vaughan, former Member of Parliament, Member of the Toronto City Council and a member of the Toronto Police Services Board and a former radio and television journalist

Mr. Frank Graves, applied social researcher and Founder and President at EKOS Research Associates and Adjunct Professor of Sociology at Carleton University

Dr. Wendy Cukier, PhD MBA, Professor, School of Business Management at Toronto Metropolitan University and Founder of the Diversity Institute

Ms. Heidi Rathjen, B.Ing., LLD (hon), Dr. h.c.(hon), M.S.C., Founder and Coordinator of PolyRemembers

Q&As led by Dr. Philip Berger with session participants

4:10pm – 4:20pm

Conference Recap and Call to Action

Dr. Najma Ahmed, MD PhD FRCSC FACS, Surgeon-in-Chief at St. Michael’s Hospital - Unity Health and Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto

Dr. Philip Berger, O.C. MD FCAHS, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, St. Michael’s Hospital – Unity Health

4:20pm – 4:35pm

Closing Remarks

Dr. Janet Smylie, MD FCFP MPH FCAHS, Strategic Lead of Indigenous Wellness, St. Michael’s Hospital – Unity Health