Calgary’s Dr. Santa giving the gift of good health
The first time I met Allan Markin he earned the moniker Calgary’s Santa Claus after he vowed to triple the Calgary Herald’s Christmas Fund, which ended up bringing in more than $3.3 million for 12 worthy Calgary agencies. But the more I get to know this big-hearted philanthropist, it’s clear the role he really relishes is as Alberta’s Doctor Feelgood. Or, perhaps — to be even more accurate — Canada’s Dr. Do-right.
Markin, the co-owner of the Calgary Flames, is so passionate about preventive health that he’s targeting his fervour and fortune toward bringing about “a paradigm shift” of the health-care system from treating sick people to keeping people healthy.
That’s why his charity, Pure North S’energy Foundation, is hosting a Healthy Conscious Living symposium on Saturday at the BMO Centre’s Palomino Room.
“We have the solutions right now to sickness and we want to make people unsick,” says the fit 67-yearold, who just last month retired as chairman of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. to focus his laserlike attention on Pure North.
The foundation works with special populations including homeless people, recovering addicts, oilfield workers, firefighters and athletes through good nutrition and multi-vitamins, but mostly through vitamin D — or “liquid sunshine” as he calls it.
Wendy Paramchuk, executive director of Pure North S’energy Foundation, asks a bundle of questions to highlight what the daylong symposium will answer for those who attend.
Has your high cholesterol got you down? Are concerns about your heart health causing you palpitations? Can’t seem to shed those extra pounds no matter how little you eat, she asks.
There are plenty of simple steps you can take starting immediately to reverse those problems, she says.
The symposium, called Healthy Conscious Living, could easily be called AntiAging from the Inside Out, adds Paramchuk.
Some of North America’s top experts in preventive medicine will be on hand to explain the latest research into how chronic illness wasn’t something you were destined to endure, but is something we can all combat.
The program starts at 8 a.m. Saturday with a one-hour discussion by Dr. Stephen Genuis, that is accredited by the College of Physicians of Canada, entitled Chronic Illness: Etiology and Approach.
Genuis, a clinical professor at the University of Alberta, specializes in environmental medicine.
“What’s being found, essentially, is there are various factors in the environment that are acting on our genes to induce illness,” Genuis says.
That might sound depressing, but Genuis says he remains upbeat.
“The exciting thing about that is the various factors in our environment are modifiable, they can be changed.”
The whole focus of the symposium is to be proactive, not reactive to health issues, adds Paramchuk.
Components of Pure North’s free program include lifestyle counselling, identifying and modifying key risk factors, analyzing blood, nutrition coaching and education around exercise and vitamins. The entire program is bankrolled by Markin, who earlier in the day had been down at the Mustard Seed as recovering addicts had their mercury fillings removed for free along with other dental work done.
“The solutions to better health are simple,” pipes in Markin. “If all Canadians took more vitamin D, for instance, we could save the medical system an estimated $14.7 billion a year and save abut 37,000 Canadian lives every year,” he says.
The father of three grown children and 11 grandchildren wants to urge all Canadians to call their MLAS and MPS to get the vitamin D policy changed and to demand that their doctors treat them to prevent illness rather than just when something goes wrong.
“If every Albertan were to follow the Health Canada guidelines of 4,000 IUS (international units) of vitamin D we would decrease health care lineups by 25 to 50 per cent by decreasing depression, heart disease and many other ailments,” says Markin.
When asked what’s motivating him to run this notfor-profit agency, Markin is matter of fact.
“It’s for the greater good,” he says with a humble shrug. “I have the knowledge and I have the money so I have to share it,” he says.
“I’ve been very blessed so I want to bless others, and what better way can I help others than to help improve the health-care system and peoples’ wellness? What’s more important than your health?” he asks. “That’s the gift I want to leave.”
Maybe the best nickname for Markin is an amalgamation of his passions — giving and health promotion. So, let’s just call him Dr. Santa.