A health officer with a fan club? Meet Canada鈥檚 Dr. Bonnie.
| Toronto
Before this month, her name was not widely recognized, let alone her face. But in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia鈥檚 soft-spoken provincial health officer, has become beloved in households across the country.
Each day as she addresses the province at 3 p.m. local with the latest data and policy plan 鈥� later beamed across the nation in evening broadcasts 鈥� she鈥檚 become a holder of hands for the Canadian public. With her constant presence and soothing voice, she has mastered a balance between informing a public and keeping it calm, even as she delivers mounting figures and asks for unprecedented community sacrifice.
When she had to announce this month the first death in the province, she nearly teared up, she鈥檚 shown emotion. 鈥淲hat can I say, it鈥檚 a very difficult time and I鈥檓 feeling for the families and the people dealing with this right now,鈥� she said at one presser, later adding she hoped the media wouldn鈥檛 overplay it, so as not to worry her elderly parents. She has made jokes. 鈥淲ash your hands like you鈥檝e been chopping jalapenos and you need to change your contacts.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
Not all those in the struggle against COVID-19鈥檚 spread are treating the sick. Some, like Dr. Bonnie Henry, are simply telling people what they need to know in a clear and compassionate way.
She has acknowledged people鈥檚 fears about the disruption to community life. She told them there鈥檚 never been a better time to enjoy the natural beauty around them. 鈥淭his is our time to be kind, to be calm, and to be safe,鈥� she said.
In response, a 鈥淒r. Bonnie Henry Fan Club鈥� has sprung up on Twitter. There, politicians, business leaders, and plenty of locals heap praise on her style and substance. 鈥淭hank you Dr. Bonnie Henry for being a voice of reason, community heart, and communicator of facts,鈥� is one of hundreds of thank you notes. Two women in Vancouver even recorded a tribute to her, adapting the song 鈥淒ear Theodosia鈥� from the musical 鈥淗amilton.鈥�
At a time when it seems politicians have to scream louder and assert their stance to be heard, Dr. Henry 鈥� or Dr. Bonnie as people call her 鈥� shows that confronting people鈥檚 anxieties with honest information, as it changes and even reverses, is what the public wants.
鈥淥f all the people shouting, I don鈥檛 want to listen to them because they actually inflame the situation. And they make a whole chunk of the population more anxious and less convinced they know what they鈥檙e doing,鈥� says Gillian McCormick, a Vancouver physiotherapist who co-hosts a podcast called 鈥淪mall Conversations for a Better World.鈥� 鈥淢eanwhile maybe it鈥檚 that quiet woman in the back of the room that鈥檚 observed, had a good think, calculated, and went OK.鈥�
Ms. McCormick knew nothing about her provincial health officer before the coronavirus threatened the globe. She certainly wouldn鈥檛 have recognized Dr. Henry, with her blond bob and no-nonsense business suits, in a crowd. But with a practice less than a half kilometer from the Lynn Valley Care Centre, the epicenter of the outbreak in British Columbia where six have died,聽Ms. McCormick has come to depend on聽Dr. Henry鈥檚 steady presence. 鈥淎s soon as she starts talking, you鈥檙e like, 鈥極ooh.鈥� You just feel a sense of calm.鈥�
That, combined with her battle-tested credentials, helps health professionals get their jobs done, says Sally Thorne, a professor of nursing at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Henry has been the provincial health officer for just over two years. She was a leader of the response to the SARS outbreak in Toronto in 2003, and has worked to eradicate polio in Pakistan and control Ebola in Uganda. Perhaps most fittingly, she authored the book 鈥淪oap and Water and Common Sense.鈥�
鈥淔rom the very beginning, she鈥檚 given these daily briefings with very competent science,鈥� Dr. Thorne says. 鈥淥ne of the real challenges is to help a population of anxious people, when the messages are changing and when there may be naysayers. And she has been just absolutely the epitome of calm and compassion.鈥�
For the nursing community in British Columbia on the front lines, says Dr. Thorne, she鈥檚 helped them to reassure their own patients. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very helpful to have that grounded place, to keep referring people back to substantiate our message to 鈥榢eep calm, we鈥檝e got this, we鈥檙e nurses鈥� message. Yes it鈥檚 difficult, but we will get through it.鈥�
She鈥檚 been compared to the former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani after 9/11, or New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after the mosque attack last year. But it may be more suitable to compare her to someone like Ian McDonald, who delivered Ministry of Defense press briefings and became the 鈥渦nlikely television star of the Falklands War of 1982,鈥� as The Telegraph wrote in his 2019 obituary, with his 鈥渕atter-of-fact bulletins on the latest developments鈥� that contrasted with 鈥渙verheated rhetoric鈥� of the time.
Indeed, Jody Vance, a broadcaster in Vancouver, says Dr. Henry has humanized the conflict instead of politicizing it 鈥� which inspired Ms. Vance to pen in the independent online publication The Orca.
鈥淒ear Dr. Henry, Can I call you Dr. Bonnie? In our house that鈥檚 what we call you. My boy says it鈥檚 because he knows you,鈥� she begins.
Whether for her 12-year-old son or the policymakers at the highest levels, it鈥檚 the precision and simplicity of her language that has made her so trustworthy.
鈥淪he鈥檚 very mindful to not use words that in a soundbite could scare people,鈥� says Ms. Vance. 鈥淪he鈥檚 one of those people who makes themselves available to the average Joe and Jane Public to answer the question they鈥檝e been asked a thousand times as if they鈥檝e heard it for the very first time,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e never met her, but I feel like she鈥檚 a family member.鈥�
Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service, we鈥檝e removed the paywall聽for all our coronavirus coverage. It鈥檚 free.
