Dr Denis Fortier, his
wife Annette Bazin-Fortier and their daughters St�phanie,
Brianne and Janique celebrate Louis Riel Day together
Photo: courtesy of Dr Denis
Fortier |
Happy Belated Family Day! If you
don't know what I'm talking about, your February probably
passed as usual: nasty, brutish, short — and undisturbed
by a civic holiday.
But last month two lucky provinces,
Ontario and Manitoba, joined Alberta and Saskatchewan
in adding a new February holiday, called Family Day
and Louis Riel Day, respectively, to help break up the
winter blahs.
We talked to some holiday-starved
doctors in Ontario and Manitoba to find out what they
think about the new family-friendly initiatives.
"I'm all for it," beams Dr Derek
Puddester, an Ottawa child psychiatrist and director
of U of O's faculty wellness program. "I work in a hospital,
so it was a regular holiday. I took my kid back to Newfoundland
for the long weekend — it was great."
But Dr Puddester is well aware
not all his colleagues were so lucky. "Most physicians
are self-employed so they're highly unlikely to have
had the day off," he says. "I've heard a lot of bitterness
from my colleagues about having this day called Family
Day when, because of the nature of their practice, they
can't do it."
Dr Brian Feagan, an epidemiologist
at UWO, was one of the unlucky ones. "I was with my
office family," he quips.
Dr Jon Gerrard, leader of Manitoba
Liberal Party and a pediatric hematologist/oncologist,
fared much better. "I was out and doing things. I spent
an hour cross-country skiing and spent some time at
the Festival du Voyageur."
For a fellow Manitoban, family
doc Dr Denis Fortier, the new Louis Riel Day had an
even deeper meaning. He and his family became an emblem
of the new family-friendly day when they were named
Voyageur Family at the Festival du Voyageur, celebrating
Franco-Manitoban culture. "My family has sacrificed
a lot in their life, weekends at home because dad's
on call, or busy at work, long hours, etc. It's easy
for the doctor to be recognized and given credit for
all sorts of things, but the family, often quietly in
the background, sacrifices many things, unknown or unrecognized
by many," he says. "This was an excellent opportunity
to share quality time in such a wonderful adventure
with Annette and my girls. We sang, we laughed, we danced...."
Additional reporting by Sam
Solomon and Judah Issa
|
PHYSICIAN LIFE
