Biographies

Learn more about Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer; Dr. Danièle Behn Smith, Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Indigenous Health; Dr. Martin Lavoie, Deputy Provincial Health Officer; Dr. Shannon Waters, Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Planetary & Water Health; Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin, Deputy Provincial Health Officer; and Joanne Edwards, Provincial Drinking Water Officer.

Dr. Bonnie Henry,
Provincial Health Officer

Dr. Bonnie Henry was appointed as Provincial Health Officer for the Province of BC in 2018. As BC’s most senior public health official, Dr. Henry is responsible for monitoring the health of all British Columbians and undertaking measures for disease prevention and control and health protection. Most recently, Dr. Henry has led the province’s response on the COVID-19 pandemic and drug overdose emergency.  

Dr. Henry’s experience in public health, preventative medicine and global pandemics has extended throughout her career. Prior to her current role, Dr. Henry was the deputy provincial health officer for three years. She also served as the interim provincial executive medical director of the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) from December 2013 until August 2014. 

She was the medical director of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control and Public Health Emergency Management with the BCCDC and medical director for the provincial emerging and vector-borne diseases program, as well as a provincial program for surveillance and control of healthcare associated infections from 2005 to 2014. 

Dr. Henry joined Toronto Public Health in 2001 as Associate Medical Officer of Health, where she was responsible for the Emergency Services Unit and the Communicable Disease Liaison Unit. In 2003, she was the operational lead in the response to the SARS outbreak in Toronto. She was a member of the executive team of the Ontario SARS Scientific Advisory Committee. 

Dr. Henry is a specialist in public health and preventive medicine and is board certified in preventive medicine in the U.S. She graduated from Dalhousie Medical School and completed a Masters in Public Health in San Diego, residency training in preventive medicine at University of California, San Diego and in community medicine at University of Toronto. 

She has worked internationally including with the WHO/UNICEF polio eradication program in Pakistan and with the World Health Organization to control the Ebola outbreak in Uganda. 

Dr. Henry is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine. She is the past chair of Immunize Canada and a member of the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization and the National Infection Control Guidelines Steering Committee. She chaired the Canadian Public Health Measures Task Group and was a member of the Infection Control Expert Group and the Canadian Pandemic Coordinating Committee responding to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. 

She has been involved with planning, surveillance and response to mass gatherings in Canada and internationally, including with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. She is also the author of “Soap and Water and Common Sense” a guide to staying healthy in a microbe filled world.

Dr. Danièle Behn Smith,
Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Indigenous Health

Dr. Danièle Behn Smith has been working to support Indigenous health in the Office of the Provincial Health Officer since 2015.

Dr. Danièle Behn Smith is Métis from the Red River Valley and Eh Cho Dene from Fort Nelson First Nation. She has the honour and privilege of working as British Columbia’s Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Indigenous Health. She works alongside Dr. Bonnie Henry and other team members at the Office of the Provincial Health Officer to uphold the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples, unlearn and undo systemic white supremacy and racism and advance true reconciliation.

Dr. Behn Smith brings expertise as a family physician with training in emergency medicine (MD, CCFP-EM); functional medicine (Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner); and population and public health (MPH). She has practiced medicine in rural and remote Indigenous communities across Canada.

As both a physician and health leader, her work recognizes self-determination as the foundation of health and wellness among First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and the importance of Indigenous approaches and healing systems.

Dr. Martin Lavoie,
Deputy Provincial Health Officer

Dr. Martin Lavoie started in his current the role of Deputy Provincial Health Officer in July of 2020.

Dr. Lavoie moved from Alberta to British Columbia in 2017 and took on the role of Executive Medical Director & Medical Health Officer at Fraser Health. In 2018, he became Vice President, Population Health & Chief Medical Health Officer.

He graduated from medicine then specialized and graduated in community medicine from Université de Montréal in 1996 and is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in community medicine.

Dr. Lavoie started his career in Québec then moved to Alberta in 2002 where he held a regional lead Medical Officer of Health position. He moved on in 2009 to hold the position of Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health with the Government of Alberta, based in Edmonton. He also temporarily stepped in as the acting Chief Medical Officer of Health in 2015-2016 and in 2017.

Dr. Lavoie has led or has been a member of various Federal/Provincial/Territorial committees, task forces and working groups, including the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, on which he is currently the liaison representative for the Canadian Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health.

Dr. Lavoie is a clinical instructor, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Colombia, and a preceptor at the Office of the Provincial Health Officer for Public Health and Preventive Medicine senior resident rotations, and a supervisor for other internship/student rotations in public health.

As a main spokesperson on public health issues during his career, Dr. Lavoie has given a vast number of interviews to print and electronic media, and has participated in a number of public townhalls.

He also has been a speaker at many forums, conventions and conferences over the years, including at a few Canadian Immunization Conferences.

Dr. Shannon Waters,
Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Planetary & Water Health

Moving over to the OPHO from Island Health, Dr. Waters brings a wealth of experience with both Western and Indigenous knowledge to this new position.

Throughout her career, Shannon has demonstrated significant leadership in health impacts related to climate and drought preparation. Shannon’s expertise as a First Nations physician and passion for work in this space will help the OPHO to continue to lean into the important work of looking at the impacts of climate change on public health and how we can make a difference in helping people in B.C. to best protect themselves.

Shannon is a member of the Stz’uminus First Nation with many family ties to Cowichan Tribes/Quw’utsun (living in what is known in colonial terms as Duncan, B.C.), will develop and manage major strategies, initiatives and projects dealing with a wide variety of public health issues and provide support to the OPHO, with a focus on climate and planetary health. This includes providing public health medical advice for the provincial drinking water program, climate emergencies, water sustainability, ecosystem health, and other public health issues as assigned by the PHO.

Before working as an MHO, Shannon served as medical director for excellence in maternal care for Indigenous women and families at Island Health in the North Island region. Prior to her time at Island Health, she worked as the Indigenous health physician advisor to the PHO and held various positions with Health Canada and the First Nations Health Authority. Shannon is a steadfast advocate for the integration of Indigenous knowledge, truth and reconciliation, and building a shared path into public health work; the health and safety of all residents, and a present and compassionate leader in her community.

Joanne Edwards,
Provincial Drinking Water Officer

In June of 2014, Joanne Edwards became BC's second Provincial Drinking Water Officer. The Provincial Drinking Water Officer assists the PHO in providing oversight and accountability for the Drinking Water Protection Act. She is also a certified Public Health Inspector, CPHI(C), and has many years of experience serving as an Environmental Health Officer delegated the duties of a Drinking Water Officer in BC.

Prior to joining the Office of the Provincial Health Officer, Joanne was part of the Health Protection team within the Population and Public Health Division at the BC Ministry of Health. At the Ministry, Joanne focused on human health risk assessment and drinking water, with a strong focus on small water system strategies.

Before Joanne came to the Ministry of Health in 2012, she was employed by the BC Interior Health Authority (IHA) as an Environmental Health Officer. During her tenure at IHA, she worked out of several different offices and regions. While at IHA, Joanne served as the regional small water systems specialist and played an active role in developing materials and advocating for small water systems.

While working as an Environmental Health Officer, Joanne completed her Master's in Public Health from the University of British Columbia. Joanne also holds a Bachelor’s in technology in Environmental Health from the British Columbia Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts with a focus in Anthropology and First Nations Studies from Hampshire College.