“Another modern thinker who can save lives.” — CTV National News
Kathleen Finlay in a recent CTV News interview. Another call for compassion. “When looking at the future of the most vulnerable, we need to make sure they actually have a future.”
She speaks the universal language of compassion for those struggling to heal from life’s challenging obstacles, and especially for the most vulnerable.
Whether advocating for those most at risk before committees of parliament, working with patients, families and providers to improve healthcare outcomes or presenting innovations in mental health delivery and suicide prevention in op-eds and media interviews, Kathleen Finlay is an unwavering voice for the right of everyone to be treated with dignity and inclusiveness and for making compassion the new normal.
Preparing for the CTV National News segment with producer Elizabeth St. Philip and videographer Lucien Millette. It was this segment, reported by CTV’s chief medical correspondent Avis Favaro, that introduced Canada to Kathleen’s campaign for 9-8-8 technology for suicide prevention.
She is founder and CEO of The Center for Patient Protection and founder of the ZerONow Campaign. Visited every day by top professionals, scholars and individuals from around the world, these neoteric advocacy clinics provide leading edge compassion-based support to those experiencing challenges in the healthcare system, in mental health and for victims of sexual violence. In 2017, Kathleen launched a campaign to end non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and has taken that message to Ottawa and committees of the House of Commons and Senate on several occasions. In 2018, her recommendations to require public disclosure of sexual misconduct statistics was incorporated in amendments to Bill C-65.
Kathleen interviewed for CBC’s The National, with Ava’s approval.
In 2019, Kathleen launched the campaign to bring new life-saving technology to Canada in suicide prevention and mental health crisis. The national 988 hotline system is slated to be operational in late 2023. Her work inspired CTV Chief Anchor Lisa LaFlamme to describe Kathleen as “another modern thinker who can save lives”.
Kathleen in one of a series of compassion conversations with CTV News anchor and reporter Angie Seth.
With an unwavering mission to make compassion the new normal, Kathleen makes the real world experience of her advocacy clinics and innovate thinking available today to universities, healthcare providers and public institutions through Compassion Innovation Advisors and Ci’s Compassion Innovation Lab. She is a much-quoted commentator and op-ed contributor. Her work is frequently cited in discussions in parliament and legislatures across Canada and in national news media. Previously, Kathleen held senior positions in Canadian capital markets regulation. She can be contacted here for media and general inquiries.
