I grew up on the James Bay coast and from a young age I learned that we were more or less on our own when it came to medical emergencies.
As with most remote Indigenous communities across Canada, we had limited health care and have never had a full-time doctor in the community. If any serious health matter arose, people needed emergency flights from Attawapiskat to Moosonee, Timmins or Kingston.
The healthcare system has been striving to deal with cutbacks, all kinds of shortages in doctors and nurses and healthcare practitioners for years and it is getting worse rather than better.
I learned a lot of about the healthcare system in the North when I met one of my partner’s childhood friends, Dr. Alex Cutten, in New Liskeard more than 25 years ago. Of course, I was raised to see these professionals as larger than life and to put on a pedestal.
After meeting Al, I realized he was one of the most open and kind people who ever came into my life. He was witty, an intellectual with a vast knowledge of medicine and just about every topic you can think of. He was curious about many subjects, and even better, he was a lifelong musician.
I was fortunate to spend many days with him and my partner Mike as they analyzed the world around them. They are both from Iroquois Falls and I heard many fond stories about their days in the More of The Sayme band, which played area venues in the late 1960s.
I learned a lot from Al, and I came to understand just how challenging it was to work as a doctor in northern Ontario. He was perpetually on call when we were visiting him, and Al often left on a moment’s notice to head to the hospital for an emergency.
When he graduated from Western University in London, Ontario, he returned to the North where he was born and raised. He was the type of person who was interested in giving back. He worked first in Matheson and then later in New Liskeard for decades. Much of that time he was on call, and he rarely got a break as there is always a shortage of doctors in the North. He had no choice but to show up for long hours, often to save the lives of people seriously injured in traffic accidents on the notorious Highway 11.
Over the years, I watched how the stress and challenges of this dedication negatively affected Al. He had a massive heart attack years ago that almost killed him, and he retired soon after. He still made himself available to family and friends to share his knowledge and consideration, however. His wife Diane, another close friend from Iroquois Falls and who had worked for many decades in nursing, was always at his side and that made things easier.
This week we learned of Al’s passing and that news was devastating. At age 76, his poor health took him from us. I am thinking today of how difficult this time is for Mike as he and Al were like brothers over the years. Al is survived by his wife, his sisters Margie and Marion, and many nieces and nephews as well as great-grand-nieces and -nephews.
His legacy is one of a huge dedication to caring for people in northern Ontario. Thousands were helped by him over the years even when he was struggling himself with the challenges and stress of working in an underfunded and overwhelmed northern healthcare system. I learned from Al the sacrifices he made by dedicating his life to helping others.
I also learned that as good citizens we need to make sure that governments provide necessary funding so that everyone has access to prompt and quality health care no matter where they live in Canada. We need to provide as much assistance as possible to our doctors and all healthcare professionals so that they are not overwhelmed and stressed out to the point where it affects their quality of life.
I saw Al as I did so many Elders and traditional people I knew from the James Bay coast. He understood the pioneering hardships of previous generations, and he saw firsthand the difficult lives we lead up here in both the Native and non-Native communities. He had a strong kinship to the North and to wanted to make life one step better for everyone around him.
The Dr. Alex Cuttens of this world are far too precious to us. We need to honour them and to take care of them on their dedicated journey of care for all of us.