JCDA - Canadian Dental Association

President’s Profile
DR. LOUIS
DUBE é TAKES
A FRESH LOOK
AT THE
DENTAL
PROFESSION
CDA’s new president, Dr. Louis
Dubé of Sherbrooke, Quebec,
first became socially engagé
during his years studying at the Cégep
de Bois de Boulogne in Montreal,
where he worked on the campus radio
station, and then at the University
of Montreal, where he contributed
to the dental faculty newspaper.
Dr. Dubé received his DMD from the
University of Montreal in 1980.
For several years, he was active
in the affairs of the Quebec Dental
Surgeons Association (QDSA), becoming
a director in 1992. In 1994,
Dr. Dubé was elected to CDA’s
Executive Council. He has been very
involved in CDA affairs since then,
having chaired the Government
Relations Steering Committee,
Leadership and Awards Committee
and Steering Committee on Dental
Benefits Issues, while serving on
many other committees. In 2001, he
was elected vice-president of the
Association.
As Dr. Dubé begins his term as
CDA president, he says he wants to
ensure that all dentists in Canada are
represented by CDA. He also pledges
to do his utmost to attract the
younger generation of dentists to the
Association. “I believe that younger
dentists are more responsive to
services, while the previous generations
were more responsive to ideas
and ideals. So I think we have to
address this. In the next few months,
630 November 2003, Vol. 69, No. 10
CDA is offering a multitude of new
services that will be of particular interest
to younger dentists.”
Dr. Dubé is intent on completing
the work that will be required following
CDA’s reorganization; that is,
setting up the permanent committees
and the consultative process for the
various files. “With our new panel of
advisors, we will be able to use people
with the most expertise in given areas,
maximizing their full potential for
providing input to committees, working
groups and task forces.”
In the longer term, Dr. Dubé
would like to resolve the matter of
QDSA’s withdrawal as a corporate
member of CDA. “We need to ensure
that CDA represents its memberdentists
from Quebec, but we also need
to find a way to enable all dentists in
Canada to be represented within
CDA,” he stressed. “The increasing
fragmentation of the profession is
undoubtedly the greatest challenge
facing dentistry today. The possibility
that other national bodies are emerging
to compete with CDA is worri-
some. If other organizations say
they are representing a national
constituency, then we might someday
find ourselves in a conflicting position,
where 2 national bodies will
have different opinions on critically
important issues. This is not good for
dentistry or for patients because, as
an example, government legislators
and policy-makers prefer it when we
as a profession speak with one voice.
To strengthen CDA’s position as the
representative of all Canadian
dentists, we should give voice (and
votes) to representatives of more
stakeholders, such as licensing bodies
and dental regulatory authorities.
They would participate in debate and
decisions, but would continue to be
accountable to the government, as
they should be, while CDA would
continue to be the national authoritative
voice of the profession.”
Another aspect of fragmentation is
competition for expanding scopes
of practice, Dr. Dubé observed.
“Dentists cannot engage in a turf war
with allied professions. Hygienists,
Incoming CDA president Dr. Louis Dubé of Sherbrooke, Quebec (left) receives the chain of
office from outgoing president Dr. Tom Breneman of Brandon, Manitoba. The installation
ceremony took place at the President’s Dinner, held September 5 at Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier
Hotel during CDA’s General Assembly.
Journal of the Canadian Dental Association