I would like to show my appreciation to my colleagues in Council for allowing me to lead the Council for the next year. It is indeed a significant milestone and learning curve for me, as a physician leader.   I appreciate the support of our past president, Dr. Brian Brownbridge, and I absolutely value our Registrar, Dr. Karen Shaw, who is truly the epitome of excellence in professional regulation. I also respect our hardworking, devoted and committed College staff for attending to the College's business with attention to detail, always with public protection in mind.

A clause in my high school anthem reads -

"We lead and others follow; we must maintain a high standard."

As a paramount contributor to the esteemed profession of medicine, physicians must lead. Our professional role is pivotal to the delivery of health care to the people of Saskatchewan. Health is wealth and is essential for our individual development through our lifespan. In addition to this, our community health is vital for our corporate existence as a nation. It is also an essential determinant of our socioeconomic success. Because of this, I encourage us, as a physician group, to brace our hearts, discipline ourselves and deliver the highest standard of health care to the communities that we serve. Irrespective of your location within the health care systems, rest assured that you are critical to our overall success. Your contributions are significant to achieving our goal of a high standard of health care to our communities. Physician leadership demands sacrifice, striving for excellence and attention to detail. A physician must also be above reproach.

In whatever direction leadership may take us, whether leading up, leading sideways or leading down, we must show leadership to our team. 

So much has been given and committed to our profession's hand, and to whom much is given, much is expected. I would therefore encourage physicians to pay attention to self-regulation. I believe that self-regulation is the hallmark of professional regulation. Regulate yourself by obeying the bylaws, policies, standards and guidelines set by the College, loving your communities, giving the best of health care to the community you serve, loving yourself by choosing healthy lifestyles, and maintaining the right work-life balance.

I appreciate all our stakeholders and want to reassure them that we value and respect their opinions. To support our mandate of public protection, listening to all our stakeholders remains a key priority.

Finally, all physicians must comply with public health orders and encourage others to do the same, because this is the only measure to help our offensive and defensive strategies against the COVID-19 pandemic.