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Top doc lured back by love of North Chief public health officer returning to Yellowknife after three years in AlbertaKevin Allerston Northern News Services Published Friday, April 6, 2012
Eighteen years later, he and his wife still have a home on Latham Island and he is moving back from Edmonton after a three-year stint as the top doctor for Alberta. Beginning in June he is reassuming his former role as the chief public health officer for the NWT, a role he first held from 1998 to 2009. His first experience in Yellowknife was marred by a bad bug season when he was here in 1992 for a health-care conference. "So I was working in Puvirnituq, Que., at the time and we came up for the conference to spend a week toward the end of June and I remember it was a really bad season for black flies and I wasn't too impressed," said Corriveau. However, he said he liked the city well enough to move to Yellowknife as the deputy chief public health officer in 1994. "We thought we could try it for a few years and a few years ended up being more than 15," he said. Corriveau grew up in Point Clair, a suburb of Montreal, and realized he wanted to study medicine when he was an undergrad working toward a bachelor degree in science and ecology at Concordia University in Montreal. "It kind of grew on me during my undergraduate period. I had done a bachelor of science and ecology and had a friend of mine who had gone to medical school, and just talking to him, it seemed like something I would probably prefer than what I was doing," said Corriveau. He followed this dream, and graduated from McGill University's medical program in 1981. He spent a year in St. Anthony, N.L, where he said he discovered his love of the North. "I enjoyed the intercultural aspect of working with the aboriginal communities. I love nature, so it was an aspect of living close to land," said Corriveau. After receiving a masters in health and social services administration from Laval University in 1986, he worked as the regional medical director of the Nunavik region of Quebec based out of Puvirnituq from 1986 to 1989, then as a medical health officer in Nova Scotia for a little more than a year, before going back to Puvirnituq for another four years. That's when the position of deputy chief public health officer came up in the NWT. By that time, he and his wife Patricia Baldwin felt their two school-age children would benefit from a larger community with more options for school and extra-curricular activities. He applied for and was awarded the position, which he held until 1998 before becoming the chief public health officer. During his time in the NWT, Corriveau was instrumental in co-ordinating the transition of services when Nunavut and the NWT split. He also was involved with starting the Don't Be A Butt-head program to discourage youth from using tobacco products, and The Naked Truth, a social media campaign to spread awareness about sexually transmitted infections. "That was quite successful as well, and I think drew a lot of attention across the country at the time when that came out," said Corriveau of the program. During his time in Alberta, Corriveau stirred up some controversy when in June 2011 the Alberta Health and Wellness department launched Plenty of Syph, a parody of dating website Plenty of Fish, with the goal of bringing awareness to increases in syphilis cases in Alberta. His wife continued living in Yellowknife, with Corriveau visiting her as often as possible while he carried out his duties south of the border. As for his return to the North, Corriveau said it is his connection to the place that draws him back. "(My wife and I ) love the North. I've worked in the North for a long time and it just seemed like the right thing to do. It wasn't anything about the job (in Alberta) but more the attraction of going back up North," he said.
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