Siksika Health Fair 2024
Oki!
Our 22nd Annual Siksika Health Fair will take place April 17, 2024 at Siksika’s Piiksapi Memorial Arbor. This year’s theme is Youth Mental Health, and will feature special guests, Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, and Ryan Straschnitzki.
Learn, connect and engage with our departments and partners in health and wellness.
Health Fair 2024 Event Program
The 22nd annual Siksika Health Fair will take place on April 17, 2024, at the Siksika Piiksapi Memorial Arbor.
The Health Fair is Siksika Health Services’ premiere event that provides our community members with the opportunity to learn, connect and engage with our departments and partners in health and wellness.
This event offers holistic health promotion, health career information, and gives the community a chance to meet and listen to the health experiences of specials guests.
This year’s theme is Youth Mental Health, and will feature Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, former Canadian professional mixed martial artist and world MMA Champion, and Ryan Straschnitzki, adaptive athlete and Humboldt Broncos bus crash survivor.
Additional information about our 22nd annual Health Fair and related events will be shared here on our website (www.siksikahealth.com) and social media accounts (Fb: @SHWCSiksika IG: @siksikahealth) as it becomes available. For further information and inquiries, please contact healthfair@siksikahealth.com.
Event Feature: Draw Prizes!
Community members who attend the Health Fair in-person will be entered to win a GSP-signed UFC Championship belt, and GSP-signed UFC gloves!
Event Feature: Masters of Ceremonies!
Masters of ceremonies: Rob Kerr and Siksika’s own Vincent Yellow Old Woman and Telly James will engage and entertain throughout.
Thank you to our event sponsors!
First Nations Health Consortium
The First Nations Health Consortium supports First Nations and Inuit children and families to ensure children and youth can access required services or supports in accordance with the Jordan’s Principle child-first law.
Blackfoot Confederacy
The Siksikaitsitapi – Blackfoot Confederacy is a Tribal Council for the Blackfoot Confederacy Nations of Kainai-Blood Tribe, Siksika, Peigan-Piikani and Aamskapi Pikuni.
Calgary Hitmen
The Calgary Hitmen are a major junior ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Hitmen play in the Central Division of the Western Hockey League. They play their home games at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Miller Thomson
Miller Thomson is a national law firm providing business law expertise and litigation and disputes services for businesses across Canada since 1957.
Calgary Sports & Entertainment Corporation
The Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation is a privately owned professional sports and entertainment company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada formed in 2012.
LDI Solutions
LDI Solutions is a full service advertising specialties company offering a wide range of promotional items to promote a company or organization.
Alan Hallman
Alan Hallman is one of Alberta’s leading public affairs and government relations consulting professionals. His company provides public policy consulting services to maximize involvement in the public policy process.
Champion’s Creed
Champion’s Creed is Calgary’s leader in world-class Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and MMA training. Champions’ Creed is an in-kind donor for the Siksika Health Fair 2024; they provided the cage panels for our event mainstage.
Calgary Health Foundation
Calgary Health Foundation is a philanthropic organization with the ambitious aim of revolutionizing health outcomes. Calgary Health Foundation has offered scholarships for Indigenous students pursuing healthcare education.
A&N Controls
A&N Controls specializes in providing solutions for today’s technical challenges. A&N Controls is an in-kind donor for the Siksika Health Fair 2024; they provided electrical upgrades to empower our Siksika Arbor to manage the event’s technical components.
The 22nd annual Siksika Health Fair will take place from 9am-3pm on April 17, 2024, at the Siksika Piiksapi Memorial Arbor.
9:00am Registration Opens
9:30am Opening Ceremonies & Welcome
10:00am Special Guest, Ryan Straschnitzki
11:00am Keynote Speaker, Georges St. Pierre
12:00pm Gifts & Closing Remarks
12:15pm Lunch
12:30 – 2:00pm Meet & Greet / Photos with Special Guests
Schedule of Events
Keynote Speaker:
Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, former Canadian professional mixed martial artist and world MMA Champion
Georges St. Pierre was raised in St. Isidore, Quebec in a small town of 2,000 people. As a child, Georges was bullied by some of his older classmates. Georges’ father introduced him to Kyokushin karate at age 7; by age 12, Georges had already achieved a black belt! Georges continued training in martial arts throughout his teenage years, then when he watched a Royce Gracie UFC fight in 1993, he was inspired to dedicate his life to becoming a better version of himself.
Georges went on to pursue boxing, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and first competed as an amateur MMA fighter when he was 16 years old…he won that fight. In 2006, Georges “Rush” St. Pierre became the UFC Welterweight Champion, a title he held year-after-year from 2008 through 2013, when he retired from the sport. Georges returned in 2017 and won the UFC Middleweight Championship title. This made him the fourth fighter in UFC history to be a multi-division champion.
Georges St. Pierre (GSP) holds the UFC record for most wins in title bouts. GSP was officially inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in September 2021, and is recognized as one of the planet’s best pound-for-pound MMA fighter and all-around athlete.
GSP is also an actor! He starred in the 2014 Marvel movie, Captain America as “The Leaper” alongside Captain America (Chris Evans), and then again starred in the movie “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”. The GSP Foundation aims to help youth, stop the bullying, and promote physical activity in schools. Slogan: “Respect Yourself. Respect Others.”
A simple truth that drives Georges St. Pierre: never stopping helps reach goals.
Keynote Speaker:
Ryan Straschnitzki, adaptive athlete and Humboldt Broncos bus crash survivor
Ryan is from Calgary, Alberta, and first started playing hockey when he was four years old. Ryan’s dad got him into the sport because of the Calgary Flames – his dad was a big fan! At the age of 16, Ryan moved to Leduc, Alberta to plan Midget AAA level and follow his dreams to pursue a career in hockey – to make the jump to Junior A hockey. Ryan was then traded to Humboldt, where he had a good season with opportunity to further develop as a person and as a hockey player. On April 6 2018, the Humboldt Broncos team boarded the bus to travel to their game, when they were struck by a semi-truck travelling towards their bus at full speed. The semi-trailer broadsided the team’s bus, killing many of Ryan’s team members. Ryan survived, and after many years of regular physiotherapy and rehabilitation, he remains an athlete to this day.
Ryan’s journey has not been an easy one; he knows that each and every day will be a battle – not just physically, but mentally as well. Ryan’s appreciation for sport in his own life have led him to pursue adaptive sports, and pave the way for others to pursue adaptive sports as well. His dream is to one day live in a world where people with both mental and physical disabilities can have a better quality of life through adaptive sport funding, have access to inexpensive rehabilitation, and increase social awareness for those with a limited understanding of how life is for someone with a disability.
