Two pillars of healthcare in Northern Ontario, Elder Theresa Fiddler and Maureen Lacroix, were awarded with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s (NOSM) inaugural honorary degrees last month.
Fiddler and Lacroix were recognized for the changes and connections that they have built within health-care systems in Northern Ontario.
Provost and vice-president at NOSM University, Céline Larivière, said that both women have shaped the university’s mission and strengthened connections within the community.
“(Fiddler) and her late husband helped build what we call an integrated community experience, and that’s one of the key components of our undergraduate medical education program that we offer at NOSM University,” said Larivière.
“What that does is it allows first-year medical students to experience Indigenous cultures, which we think is very important to fulfill our special mission as a university” she said.
Fiddler was awarded her honourary degree at the Thunder Bay convocation in May.
She is also known for supporting and guiding the 1988 Hunger Strike at the Sioux Lookout Indian Zone Hospital, which NOSM called “one of the most consequential acts of Indigenous resistance in Canadian health-care history.”
The strike prompted representatives at the federal level to visit Sioux Lookout and see “the breakdown of the segregated Indian hospital system,” according to the university’s news release, leading to systemic reform and eventually generating the Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre.
Fiddler has worked to challenge the “thrifty gene” myth, which claims that Indigenous peoples are genetically predisposed to type 2 diabetes.
She is an Elder for the Chiefs of Ontario, Nishnawbe Aski Nation’s Women’s Council, Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority, and the Assembly of First Nations.
One of the founding members of NOSM University’s board of directors, Lacroix was awarded her honourary degree at the Sudbury convocation on May 29.
Larivière said that Lacroix “played a significant role in establishing cancer centres in Northeast Ontario, particularly in Sudbury, and has engaged in many other governance roles in higher education.”
Lacroix was also the first woman to ever hold the chair of Laurentian Hospital’s board, and later the first woman chair of Laurentian University’s board. Later, Lacroix became chair of the Northern Cancer Research Foundation where she helped put together the partnership between Health Sciences North, Laurentian University, and the Cancer Centre when she launched the Research Chair, Cancer Solutions.
“Her advocacy helped shape an institution grounded in the belief that health care in the North must serve Northern communities first” said the university.
Larivière said that, since officially becoming a standalone university in 2022, NOSM started the process of bestowing honourary degrees about a year and a half ago. They hope to give out honourary degrees annually, if nominees meet the criteria, she said.
Larivière added that nominations for 2027 can be made on their website.
