‘Dreamcatcher’ of colleges

Knowledge Keeper George Muswaggon, Elder-in-residence at Ongomiizwin – Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing, remembered attending a previous event in the Brodie Atrium – the same place where he stood onstage on Jan. 26, 2026, for the official launch of the College of Community and Global Health (CCGH). 

“And in this room, there were these big balloons,” he said. “There was conversation about reconciliation ... about bringing in Indigenous knowledge into practice – into the institution.” 

Someone in the audience – a non-Indigenous person, according to Muswaggon – asked: “If we do this, where does that leave us?” 

Muswaggon, who was sitting in the audience at the time, responded, pointing at the balloons on the stage: “These balloons represent your answer. All of the balloons were the same size. The balloons represented space. We just want our space. We’re not taking anybody else’s space. We are deserving of that space.”

That spirit of equity and reconciliation is exactly what CCGH is working toward, said Dr. Josée Lavoie, the inaugural dean of the college and professor of community health sciences.  

CCGH is the sixth college to join the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. Lavoie said it works to advance equity, social justice and reconciliation through health and social system transformation.  

The college is uniquely interdisciplinary. Medical doctors, nurses, Indigenous health scholars, economists, sociologists, anthropologists, statisticians, computer scientists – among other disciplines – all work together under one academic home.  

“We want to change this province. We want to have global impact as well,” Lavoie said to guests.  

“Whether they’re community partners, patients, decision makers – we come together, we bring our knowledge together, we weave it together with the hope of improving the health of communities.” 

Leading health and social justice system transformation  

Lavoie and Muswaggon paid tribute to the late Dr. Barry Lavallee, a UM alum and advocate for better health and wellness for Indigenous people.  

“We lost a dear friend,” Lavoie said. “He was a force to reckon with but always motivated by one thing ... to improve the health of Indigenous people, to ensure that our systems were held accountable.” 

Lavoie said she wants to ensure the college continues to advance Lavallee’s vision. 

“I want to ensure that Indigenous students find in our program, in our college, that there is no hidden curriculum and that they have a safe place to learn what they have come to learn and that they feel that they see themselves reflected in the curriculum that we offer,” she said. “I want to ensure that Indigenous faculty members find themselves safe, find themselves encouraged, find themselves supported.” 

Dr. Peter Nickerson, dean of the Rady Faculty, spoke at the event and said CCGH also supports other marginalized communities, including newcomers, refugees, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and people with disabilities.  

“There's many marginalized populations in this province that need the work that you are embarking on and that you've been working on over the last several years,” he said. 

Changing for the better 

Muswaggon said the launch of CCGH demonstrates the university’s progress.  

“The college that we’ve come to celebrate ... will become the dreamcatcher of the colleges,” he said.  

“Because if you can just envision a dream catcher, it is all-encompassing, it is all interrelated – it has to capture all of those things. And every single connection in that dream catcher is interconnected. One will have an effect on the other. If you lose one, it will be felt on the other side. So, from that spirit and in the spirit of reconciliation, I acknowledge and I am thankful that we have made progress.” 

A new dawn 

CCGH stemmed from the department of community health sciences in the Max Rady College of Medicine, which was founded in 1987 by Dr. David Fish.  

Fish’s son, Ian Fish, also attended and shared a few words on behalf of his late father. 

“He devoted his career to building interdisciplinary teams focused on the social, cultural, structural factors that shape health outcomes in our society,” Fish said about his father.  

“His work illuminated the critical role of social and cultural determinants in health systems, informed policy on broad and complex health issues, and helped shape the education of physicians and all the other health professionals. This was truly visionary work ... It was in many ways the seed of what we are actually celebrating today.” 

Dr. Diane Hiebert-Murphy, provost and vice-president (academic), addressed the crowd and said the impact the department has made since its inception has grown in numbers, reach and influence. 

“Elevating from a department to a college acknowledges the strengths that you have as a department, but it creates a structure that is going to allow you to build on the potential, and expand that potential, and have further reach and have greater impact.”