Webinar: Allyship and Consent
Join us on May 26th at 12 pm EDT when Dr. Unjali Malholtra and the Honourable Senator Yvonne Boyer discuss their work on culturally respectful consent and contraception.
Dr. Unjali Malhotra, Medical Officer, Women's Health, completed her residency in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she created and completed a women's health residency program after family residency.
Dr. Malhotra is the Founder of the UBC Women's Health Residency Program (for training family doctors in advanced women's health skills for delivery in rural and remote communities). She was the Medical Director of Options for Sexual Health BC (five years) and the outgoing Chair of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada's Canadian Foundation for Women's Health (two years). She also previously served on the Board of the Federation for Medical Women. She is an author and speaker for Continuing Medical Education both provincially and nationally, and has a multidisciplinary women's health clinic in Kelowna. She is the Medical Director , Women’s Health at the First Nations Health Authority.
In her various roles, Dr. Malhotra has co-created provincial programs that are focused on antiracism, Consent, advocacy, community support, and education as much as clinical services.
The Honourable Senator Yvonne Boyer is a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario with her ancestral roots in the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan and the Red River.
With a background in nursing, including in the operating room, she has over 21 years of experience practicing law and publishing extensively on the topics of Indigenous health and how Aboriginal rights and treaty law intersects on the health of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people. She is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Law Society of Saskatchewan and received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Saskatchewan, and her Master of Laws and Doctor of Laws from the University of Ottawa. In 2013, she completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship with the Indigenous Peoples’ Health Research Centre at the University of Regina. She is a former Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Health and Wellness at Brandon University.
In addition to running her own law practice, she came to the Senate of Canada from the University of Ottawa, where she was the Associate Director for the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics and a part time professor in the Faculty of Law. She worked previously as counsel to the Native Women’s Association of Canada, legal advisor to the Canadian Nurses Protective Society, and an executive with the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the National Aboriginal Health Organization.
Among many others, Senator Boyer has served on the boards of the Champlain Local Integrated Health Network and Save the Children Canada. She is a former Canadian Human Rights Commissioner and an appointed Member of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, First Nations Appeal Tribunal. Senator Boyer is one of eight people from across Canada chosen to be a holographic narrator in the Turning Points for Humanity Gallery at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Her ongoing work has been recognized with numerous awards including a 2018 Honorary Doctorate in Education from Nipissing University.
Senator Boyer resides near the beautiful village of Merrickville, Ontario. She is married to Marv Fletcher and is the mother of four children and has four grandchildren.