First Nation citizens recognized by Cancer Care Ontario

July 4, 2018
Anishinabek Nation health policy analyst Tony Jocko, Cancer Care Ontario Board Chair Marilyn Knox, CCO board members David Wexler, Michael Bennett, David Williams, CEO and president Michael Sherar, CCO board members Tom Keane, Malcolm Heins with family of the late Vicky Corbiere – Aaron Corbiere, Eric (1), Eunice Wilson, Britney Corbiere and Ben Wilson. Front Row: Executive Director of the Aboriginal Cancer Control Unit Alethea Kewayosh, CCO board members Patrick Madahbee, Karen Devon, Erica Zarkovicch, Catherine Caule and Christine Gan.
Alex Hebert, 12, with Michael Sherar, president and CEO of Cancer Care Ontario and Marilyn Knox, chair of the Cancer Care Ontario Board. Alex was recognized by the Cancer Care Ontario board for raising nearly $11,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation since he was seven months old.

By Marci Becking

AUNDECK OMNI KANING FIRST NATION – Cancer Care Ontario board member Patrick Madahbee invited his fellow board members to visit his home community Aundeck Omni Kaning on Manitoulin Island on June 24-25 and recognized some First Nation people in the process.

The family of the late Vicky Corbiere of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory painted their E. Corbiere & Sons excavator pink in memory of their mother who passed in 2013.

Alex Hebert, 12, citizen of Dokis First Nation, was recognized by the Cancer Care Ontario board for raising nearly $11,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation since he was seven months old.

“Most of the the donations come from friends and family around the world,” says Hebert who attends White Woods Public School in Sturgeon Falls.  “It seems that every year I am running for someone who has just been diagnosed with cancer or in memory of someone.”

Hebert gets a kick out of raising more than the entire school does.

“Everyone does what they can,” he says.  “I beat what the school collects.  This year I am aiming to collect $1,500 so that my combined total reaches $13,000.”

Alethea Kewoyash, director of the Aboriginal Cancer Control Unit says that youth like Alex are our future leaders.

The Cancer Care Ontario board was also given a tour around Manitoulin Island and was treated to learning about the traditional dance styles by dancers and drummers and  traditional food from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory.

Cancer Care Ontario is the Ontario government’s principal cancer advisor and a division of CCO. It equips health professionals, organizations and policy-makers with the most up-to-date cancer knowledge and tools to prevent cancer and deliver high-quality patient care.