With a dream of addressing Northern health inequities, he’s at the beginning of a long road, pursuing his medical career goals. Maverick Simba-Canadian is from Kakisa, Northwest Territories, having grown up in the north for the most part other than three years spent living in British Columbia. Now, he is going to university in Edmonton. He went to elementary school in Kakisa, high school in Fort Simpson, then attended Lester B Pearson College in BC. That’s where he graduated from and he went on to McEwan University to undertake a Bachelor of Science with a major in Chemistry and a minor in Biological Sciences.

Driving him to succeed is his family, his desire to make a name for himself and his interest in pursuing medicine to become a doctor. In his opinion, the medical system in the North isn’t good and Simba-Canadien had a family member who suffered as a result. “I want to help and make equitable access for all people in the North as people in the South would get,” he explains. As he’s completing his first year of a four year program, then he has medical school to finish and then two to four years of residency, he still has a ways to go yet.

His advice to Indigenous students who are leaving their home communities to continue their education is, “Go pursue your dreams. Home will always be home and then whatever knowledge and experience you gain, you could use that and bring it back to your community and help the future generations in the process.”

When it comes to obstacles he’s faced, Simba-Canadien is the first generation of his family to go to post-secondary, leaving it to him to pave the way for his sister and cousins. He’s felt the strain of that pressure but he gets through it thinking about how much easier it’s making life for his sister and how many opportunities she will have. In addition, he knows he’s inspiring others when his dad tells him people always ask how he did what he is doing.

To balance his mental health and well-being with a packed daily schedule of classes, sitting on the  Prime Minister's Youth Council and the Arctic Youth Network board of directors, Simba-Canadien tries to step back and regroup when he can. He assesses the environment and the situation and goes from there so he can handle whatever issues arise in his day.

As a young Dene man, what inspires him is his people, especially his grandmother. “My grandma is always the one who pushes me to be the best version of myself and to pursue any of my dreams, and constantly reminds me that the world is my limit and that anything could be achievable if you put your mind to it,” Simba-Canadien shares.

“Dene people are very resilient, very connected with one another. Because of this, and because of the hardships and obstacles and issues that previous generations have endured, just for me and our people to have a better way of living because of the knowledge and experience they passed down to us, that's what also inspires me, motivates me to want to pursue and to help my people overall have better access, equitable access, to healthcare systems, without facing systemic racism, systemic barriers, which is very prominent currently in our health system in the North,” Simba-Canadien continues, thinking of the community of fifty people he comes from.

Also providing him with inspiration are his parents, his mom who reminds him he can do anything and his dad who overcame a difficult background, showing him how much can be achieved if you put your mind to it. His grandfather, who is a chief and leader in the North, inspired him to pursue leadership roles like the Prime Minister's Youth Council and the Arctic Youth Network board of directors and is leading him to think about entering politics after his educational journey is complete.  

In conclusion, Simba-Canadien offers, “Although we are from the North and that distance may seem like a very big challenge, home will always be home, and you could always return if needed, but the world is your limit, and anything's achievable, if you put your mind to it.”

Wanting to make life better for the health of his people, Maverick Simba-Canadien is working hard in university to become a doctor one day to chip away at healthcare inequities. Inspired by his family and people who have overcome so much, he’s looking to give back with his talents and hard work. Already in leadership roles as a young person, he aspires to more chances to lead and hopes to have an opportunity to do so in the future.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.