CMA Board of Directors

Dr. Strasberg’s interests include pediatrics, adolescent medicine, gynecology and palliative care. She has worked closely with the CMA, including as a board member, co-chair of the committee on public/private interface and member of a committee dedicated to health care and education.

Dr. Ross is a family physician in Coquitlam and New Westminster, British Columbia. She is recognized for her interest in advancing technology in front-line clinical care, serving as physician lead and chair of the Pathways Patient Referral Association, serving physicians in BC and the Yukon. She is also an avid volunteer and a past president of Doctors of BC.

Dr. Reimer served as chief medical officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. Before this, she worked as medical lead and official spokesperson for Manitoba's COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Taskforce and as the medical director of public health for Winnipeg.

Dr. Lafontaine practises anesthesia in Grande Prairie and has served in medical leadership positions for almost two decades. He co-led the Indigenous Health Alliance project, helping to successfully advocate for millions in federal funding for Indigenous health transformation and in 2020, launched Safespace Networks, an online platform that empowers marginalized patients to navigate health systems.

Dr. Burnell is a medical oncologist who has served the patients of New Brunswick for over three decades. She is an associate professor of medicine at Dalhousie University and was the head of the department of oncology for eight years.

Dr. Walton practised in northern Saskatchewan and rural British Columbia before settling as a general practitioner in West Vancouver. For 18 years he was a director of the British Columbia Medical Association (now known as Doctors of BC), where he served on various committees; his roles included being a delegate to 13 General Councils of the CMA.

Dr. Brisebois has been involved in many levels of health care leadership over her career, including as medical director of the Grey Nuns Community Hospital, medical director of the Palliative Institute and associate chief medical officer, all with Covenant Health.

Dr. Chiu is a neonatologist in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is a clinician educator and clinical researcher with a focus on improving patient experiences and outcomes. He is passionate about caring for newborns and for their families. He is an advocate for medical learners, with a focus on high-quality medical education and ensuring personal finance is not a barrier to entering medical school.

Dr. Kozroski is a rural family physician practising in southwest Saskatchewan. She has worked in several provinces and was an active member of the Canadian Forces Health Services reserves for over 20 years. She has served as a Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) regional delegate since 2006, on the board of directors for eight years and as SMA president in 2013.

As a palliative care physician and health justice advocate, Dr. Dosani is dedicated to advancing equitable access to health care for people experiencing structural vulnerabilities like poverty and homelessness.

Dr. Condé practises family medicine in Val-d’Or and has been an active member of the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue since 1987, where he has worked in family medicine, emergency care and obstetrics. He served as president of the Canadian Medical Protective Association from 2016 to 2018.

Dr. Kennedy is a family physician in Perth-Andover, New Brunswick. He received his medical training in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and British Columbia.  He has worked in all aspects of comprehensive rural practice.

Having graduated from Dalhousie Medical School in 1979, Dr. MacDonald first practised rural family medicine in Cape Breton. Since the early 1990s he has been an otolaryngologist, currently located in Amherst, Nova Scotia, and he has done locums in Yellowknife. He has chaired and participated in several committees over the years and is currently on the board of Doctors Nova Scotia.

Dr. Cashin is a Mi'kmaw physician who has worked in rural Newfoundland since 2009 and is Canada's first Indigenous radiologist and nuclear medicine physician. She is an advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion in medicine and openly discusses these challenges and the systemic barriers to focus attention on changing the culture of medicine.

Dr. Pan is a radiation oncologist and head of Prince Edward Island’s provincial radiation oncology service. He served as president of the Medical Society of Prince Edward Island in 2017–18 and as chair of its board of directors in 2018–19, and has a strong interest in medical professionalism and health system innovation.

Dr. Poole is a rural and remote multidisciplinary general surgeon. He has practised general surgery in the Yukon for 18 years. His background in engineering and rural and remote surgery has fostered an interest in virtual care. He served five years on the board of the Yukon Medical Association, two as president and CEO.

Dr. Kessler is a family physician in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She has served as the deputy territorial medical director and area medical director for Stanton Territorial Hospital and Yellowknife Region, and she has been a part of the physician leadership team of the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority since its inception in 2016.

Dr. Purdy is a critical care medicine fellow at the University of Calgary. They previously served on the board of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students as an Ontario regional director then director of education from 2016 to 2018, on the board of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) from 2018 to 2021 and the Professional Association of Residents of Alberta from 2019 to 2020.

Dr. Hernandez is Dene, from the Liidlii Kue Nation and Cold Lake First Nation on her father’s side and Dutch on her maternal side. She was raised on the traditional territory of the Sto:lo Nation and spent many years as a guest on the unceded territory of the Sinixt (Lakes), Syilx (Okanagan), Ktunaxa and Secwepemc (Shuswap) nations, whom she honours for the many traditions and gifts they shared with her.

Ms. Ecker is the former president and CEO of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, a concept she turned into a growing and influential public–private partnership dedicated to building Toronto as an international financial services centre. During her political career, she served as minister of finance for Ontario, minister of education, minister of community and social services, and government house leader.