People First Radio: Recent Episodes
Vancouver Island Mental Health Society
People First Radio is a weekly one-hour radio broadcast to educate and raise awareness about issues related to health and wellness — with a particular emphasis on topics related to mental illness and mental health, homelessness and housing, and addiction, harm reduction and recovery.
A team at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction is working on a framework for a standardized unit of THC in Canada. “The concentration of THC found in cannabis has really increased over time,” said Shea Wood, a senior knowledge broker at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. “Compared to some […]
A project from UBC’s Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) team has identified public land across the province and scored it for housing potential. HART Associate Director Craig Jones spoke with People First Radio about the map. “Anybody in B.C, I don’t care if you are a community member, in government, in a non-profit builder, for-profit […]
A team in the Comox Valley has been working to understand and address the barriers faced by people when they visit the hospital. Sharon Karsten, a professor at Vancouver Island University, and Christohper Hauschild, a Mitacs research fellow employed by VIU, are involved with Walk With Me, a community engaged research project. One of its […]
During the outbreak of a new and potentially fatal disease in Toronto in 2003, it fell to psychiatrists Bob Maunder and Jon Hunter to help people in the SARS ward cope. The two have been focusing on coping in their professional lives ever since, and have recently co-authored a book on the subject, Coping: Fix […]
Journalist and author Jessica Barrett argues we can’t solve our housing crisis until we solve our crisis of home. Barrett is the author of No Place Like Home: The Missing Key to Our Housing Crisis, which combines a macro view of the Canadian housing landscape with stories of individual people – including Barrett. Over a […]
A group out of UBC says distraction blocking apps are often marketed at neurodiverse people, but little is known about how they are actually used. Kevin Chow and Marvel Hariadi were among the authors of a study that looked into the issue. They spoke with People First Radio about digital well being tools and inclusivity. […]
A UBC law prof argues that homelessness in Canada is governed by a patchwork of municipal bylaws. Alexandra Flynn is co-author of The Bylaw State, a book that explores municipal government responses to homeless encampments from a legal perspective. Flynn says that the idea for the book came when she and coauthor Joe Hermer were […]
After a decade of work with vulnerable populations, Cory Herzog-Fequet went back to school looking to help shine light on a structural issue. “It’s very meaningful to work one-on-one with people, but…you just see the same issues over and over and over perpetuating indefinitely because they’re systemic and they’re structural,” he said. “I focused on […]
After years of construction work, new shelter space is expected to open this month in downtown Nanaimo. The Salvation Army Centre of Hope is located at 19 Nicol St. Formerly known as the New Hope Centre, it houses a shelter and other support programming. Construction has been ongoing since 2023 for a new four story […]
Yo Bro Yo Girl co-founder Joe Calendino is working to prevent young people from leading the life he used to live. A few decades back, Calendino was a full patch member of the Hell’s Angels. Dealing with drug addiction, and involved in a high profile fight in a Kelowna casino in 2005, he was kicked […]
A new audio drama airing on Radio Sidney tells a story of elder financial abuse. Beware Mysterious Mark is a 10 part series airing Thursdays through July. Producer Bill Collins spoke with People First Radio about the play, and the issue it seeks to bring awareness to. “It is a traditional kind of radio play. […]
When it opened in 1921, the Weyburn Mental Hospital was hailed as the last and largest asylum in the British Commonwealth. Managing Madness co-author Erika Dyck writes that in the beginning, it was a symbol of both progress and a bygone era, embodying a set of contradictions from the outset. Dyck is a Canada Research […]
Dr. Jill Wiwcharuk has been practicing medicine for 15 years, largely working with people living on the streets. Since December, she’s added a new dimension to her work, social media influencer. Wiwcharuk posts under the handle streetdrjill. On Instagram, she has more than 75,000 followers at the time of writing. Her videos cover topics related […]
A Nanaimo supportive housing site celebrated a decade of giving people a home in the community. On a sunny April day, staff and residents at Boundary came together for a 10th anniversary BBQ. Boundary is in central Nanaimo near the hospital, it’s run by Vancouver Island Mental Health Society(VIMHS), the organization behind People First Radio. […]
Erin Dej, associate professor in the department of criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University, has been helping craft a curriculum to teach high school students about homelessness. “We recognize that young people are seeing homelessness, that they are aware of it, and they have questions,” Dej said. “We wanted to create curriculum to help them work […]
Bernie Pauly of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research and the University of Victoria speaks about how the toxic drug crisis has unfolded over 10 years as a declared public health emergency. Also featuring the voices of Amanda Farrell-Low, Stephanie Harrington, and Sarah Lee.
Trevor Wideman, a postdoctoral researcher at Vancouver Island University, is looking at municipal governance and health policy, and how it interacts with the toxic drug and housing crises. Christopher Hauchildt is operations coordinator for a community engaged research project called Walk With Me. The two of them spoke with People First Radio about Walk With […]
Gabriola Island playwright Frank Moher is putting his own story on this stage. Boy Player chronicles the author’s experience of being orphaned and moving across a continent in his youth. It’s the third in a series of shows from Western Edge Theatre exploring themes of men’s mental health. Moher visited CHLY to speak about the […]
A University of Victoria PhD student is looking at the intersection between chronic pain and sexuality. “ I’m really looking at understanding people’s stories and experiences. And what I want to understand is how chronic pain affects sexuality and identity in people that live with chronic pain,” said Jenise Finlay, speaking to People First Radio from […]
Ann Livingston has spent decades helping drug user groups organize. In the 1990s, she helped co-found the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, and is currently working with the Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users (NANDU). “ A drug user group in the simplest mission statement is to improve the lives of people who have not […]
Lexie Morgan is a registered clinical counsellor. She does work with the Sea to Sky chapter of a group called Mountain Muskox, which offers support to people who have experienced trauma or loss in the mountains. She spoke with People First Radio about the group and her work. When someone had experienced a traumatic event, […]
Writer Jordan Kawchuk is preparing to speak as a lived experience speaker at a Nanaimo Foundation event called Rethinking Drinking. “My lived experience is that I’ve been to treatment many times and I wrestle with alcohol use disorder,” he said. “I hope to that the community can see that alcohol use disorder is a disease. […]
Independent musicians from around coastal B.C. speak about mental health in the industry, following on the heels of a report from music industry leadership consultancy Revelios that identified significant challenges faced by Canadians working in music. The episode features Revelios president and founder Catherine Harrison, as well as musicians Jeff Cancade AKA Devours, NEAVV, and […]
Home Based Recovery Executive Director Rob DeClark says he’s spent the last few decades working in the in patient treatment industry. “ The landscape changed considerably in terms of the amount of options and also in terms of the cost of treatment,” he says. DeClark says that when he entered the field, a six week in […]
Elaine Power says a few decades back, close to the start of her career, Canada started viewing food as the solution to food insecurity. Power is now approaching retirement from her work as a professor at Queen’s University focused on food insecurity, while the number of Canadians who are food insecure is on the rise. […]
The Ethics Bowl is billed as “a space where discussion is used to untangle the nuanced topics.” Ethics Bowl events see teams present positions on complex topics like and face questions from judges and fellow competitors. Example subjects covered include the moral implications of life sentences without the opportunity for parole, or the ethics of […]
Victoria filmmaker Cory Thibert says he never saw a family like his depicted on screen, which was the starting point for his debut narrative feature film, Mildlife. “ Both of my parents live with cerebral palsy,” he said, “I’ve never seen that represented.” Thibert spoke with People First Radio about the film, which had its Canadian […]
Clown Fish tells the story of Paul Tedeschini’s journey through life as an actor moving across Canada and navigating various emotional challenges. The show is being performed by Tedeschini at Nanaimo’s OV Arts Centre through March 1st. He visited the CHLY studio, along with the show’s director Nicolle Nattrass, to speak about it. Clown Fish […]
North Cowichan resident Royce Warren has spent much of his life working in resource industries. “I’ve been a forester, I’ve been a miner, I’ve been a commercial fisherman. I’ve farmed for a number of years,” he said. “A lot of that was earlier on in my life and I decided to go to university and […]
Priya Sharma and Kayleigh Busch met working in the field of mental health and substance use support in Victoria. The pair say they consistently noticed a need among the population they serve. “Time and time again, we work with individuals who show that they’re motivated and they’re putting in all of this work to wanna […]
The manager of a Nanaimo supportive housing site says that almost one year on from breaking ground, the community is coming together around 1030 Old Victoria Road. “Even those folks that were coming in with those tricky questions in the early days are wanting to be a part of what we’re doing here,” said Dolly […]
Dr. Alexandre Hudon, a Medical psychiatrist, clinician-researcher and clinical assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and addictology at the Université de Montréal spoke with the program about the potential interplay between psychosis and generative AI, a topic he also explored in an article in The Conversation. “ Psychosis is a state where a person will […]
Toronto based freelance journalist Zahra Khozema spoke with the program about her evolving relationship with the gym, and her decision to give up her membership, via what she called one of the most difficult emails she sent in 2025. “ What made me send that email was I think a mix of burnout and guilt and […]
Nanaimo playwright Joëlle Rabu is bringing dementia to the spotlight with a show that hits the stage at the Malaspina theater later this month. Set in a dementia care facility, I Don’t Belong Here: Stories and Songs at the Edge of Forgetting is portrayed through the eyes of 22 different characters. “We offer the stories […]
Vancouver Island artist Philip Mix says that as a kid, all he wanted to do was drawn. Now 70 years old, Mix says at some point along the way, he figured it was more than likely a coping mechanism for him. Mix is one of numerous artists who contributed work to Recognition and Recollection, an […]
To mark Alzheimer’s awareness month, Heather Cooke, Manager of Research and Knowledge Mobilization at the Alzheimer’s Soceity of B.C. spoke with the program about recent developments in Alzheimer’s treatment. “We still see this prevalence of stigma, and that can be stigma from others, but it can also be self-stigma,” she said. “We know that silence […]
Melanie Doucet, Executive Director of the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates, says there can be a hard cut off for people raised in the foster system when they reach adulthood. “ Parents don’t just go, ‘hey, you’re 18 or 19 now, so I’ve done my job and here’s a garbage bag of your belongings […]
Treena Orchard says an approach to intimacy and human connection called relationship anarchy is becoming especially popular among millennials and Generation Z. The associate professor at Western University’s school of health studies spoke with People First Radio about the subject, which she had previously covered in The Conversation. “Relationship anarchy is an approach to relating […]
A planned supportive housing site in Victoria will offer 20 spaces to men in recovery. Located at 1153 Johnson St. It’s the result of a partnership between BC Housing, the City of Victoria, and The Victoria Cool Aid Society. Angela Moran, Director of Housing and Shelters with the Victoria Cool Aid Society, spoke with People […]
A planned supportive housing development in Nanaimo aims to offer spaces for people looking to minimize exposure to substance use. Called Sparrow, it is set to go in the former Travellers Lodge on Nelson Street. Funded by the provincial HEARTH program, the building is being leased by BC Housing, and will operated by Pacifica Housing. […]
A family story of Finding Home in Nanaimo has inspired a new children’s book. Liubov Nazarenko says she and her family moved to Nanaimo from Ukraine three years ago because of the war. According to Nazarenko, one day, her daughter was missing home, and a story Nazarenko’s mom Valentyna Miliohlova told her granddaughter to help […]
On the second Saturday of every month, a group of volunteers in Victoria head out in public to offer what co-founder Bernice Rahm calls “gimmick free listening.” Rahm spoke with People First Radio about the project, called Sidewalk Talk. “We’ve had people tell us about how their partner is in the hospital and they’re not […]
The Mayor of Calwood calls a model used to bring family doctors to the community a “no-brainer”. Doug Kobayashi says that a few years ago, the small city near Victoria had zero family doctors.To try and address the problem, they looked at a model where Colwood would run its own clinic. Doctors would work as […]
Ottawa Pediatrician Dr. Shawn Kelly is calling for more focus on addressing youth opioid use. Kelly spoke with People First Radio to expand on the issues he raised in a recent editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, co-authored by Shannon Charlebois. “ I belong to a loose network of other people who do similar work. […]
Adam McInnis is a nurse practitioner who lives in London, Ont., and specializes in addictions medicine. He also has first hand experience of addiction, and is eight years sober. In addition to his own clinical work, Mcinnis works as a nurse adviser with a provincial initiative in Ontario designed to improve care for people experiencing […]
Charlotte Lee, a research fellow and chartered psychologist at The University of Bristol, says that weight gain following diagnosis of certain mental illnesses is predictable, but healthcare systems aren’t doing enough to support people through the experience. Lee was the lead author on a study that looked at the health records of over 100,000 people […]
Patty Douglas is an associate professor of disability studies at Queen’s University and author of Unmothering Autism. She also describes herself as “a mom of two neurodivergent sons, one of whom attracted the label of autism.” “Autism is a made up category just as much as it is a very real lived experience,” she said. […]
Around ten years ago, Julia Gruson-Wood put out a research call and spoke with a number of people about applied behavior analysis (ABA), which is the basis of a common intervention used with autistic children, despite drawing criticism from autistic self advocates. Gruson-Wood says many of the conversations were cagey at first, with people trying […]
A new documentary is sharing people’s experiences of self injury, as well as the stories of their recovery. Self Injury: Stories of Recovery and Hope emerged as part of a research project of Stephen Lewis, a professor in the psychology department at the University of Guelph. “We used a research approach called participatory video. And […]
Opioid agonist treatment (OAT) is a treatment for opioid use disorder. It involves the use of medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, and slow release oral morphine. People First Radio spoke with Nanaimo addictions medicine specialist Dr. Jess Wilder, and BC Centre for Substance Use Co-Medical Director Dr. Paxton Bach about the treatment, which Bach called […]
Stephen Monteiro, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Concordia University, says that conversations around smartphone use tend to focus on content, rather than on the place the devices themselves have come to hold in our lives. “Social media is a big one. Gaming is another big one. More and more the use of AI is […]
No Fixed Address: The White Cart Memorial is a documentary filmed in Kelowna exploring grief and homelessness. Co-producers and directors Joshua Black and Stephanie Laing spoke with People First Radio. Its title refers to a memorial designed by unhoused community members in Kelowna. A shopping cart was painted white and people added tags and other […]
Renata Roma says people are becoming increasingly aware of the mental health of their pets. “ The emotional place of animals in people’s lives is very different to if we compare to how animals were perceived years ago,” she said. The researcher at the PAWsitive Connections lab with the University of Saskatchewan pointed to recent survey […]
From the works of deaf architect Adolf Loos to the psychiatric record of U.S. civil war veteran, Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy and Jenifer Barclay have been coordinating a team of authors exploring a wide range of topics in disability history. The pair are editors of Cripping The Archive, Disability, History, and Power. The spoke with People First […]
Downtown Eastside service provider First United released a law reform platform earlier this fall, calling for changes to the Residential Tenancy Act in B.C. Staff lawyer Vinson Shih spoke with People First Radio about the platform, which called for an end to pet bans in rentals, and the right for tenants to install cooling devices […]
When Shannon Donohoe-Simpson was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer in her thirties, she says it was a surprise. “ I was that person that was very healthy,” she said. “I was really into personal training and I thought I ate really healthy. So when I was diagnosed with cancer, I know not just […]
In her debut novel, Meg Todd explores difficult subject matter, covering themes like fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, inter-generational abuse, and sexual assault. Most Grievous Fault explores the story of Crystal, who is in her late 20s and mother of Becky, 14. The two live together in a small apartment in the city. Todd says she’s […]
Dr Shannon Charlebois is fed up with the prevalence of gambling advertising in professional sports broadcasts. “The situation is ticking me off. It’s ticking off lots of Canadians,” she said. Charlebois is medical editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. She co-authored an editorial about gambling advertising and risks to youth. She referred to a […]
University of Guelph PhD candidate Olivia Peters has been studying Canadian women’s experiences of intimate partner stalking. Peters spoke with People First Radio to share insights from her research, which involved in depth interviews with 20 women who identified as having experienced stalking. Peters said some women had to feign fear to be taken seriously. […]
Speaking August 31 at an event in Parksville marking International Overdose Awareness Day, Greg Hemminger shared his story of opioid addiction and recovery. In the mid 2000s, Hemminger was working as a filmmaker. He says his first feature premiered at the New York International Film Festival when he was 22 years old. “Directing my second […]
Data from almost 40,000 youth in B.C. was used to create From Loot Boxes to Lottery Tickets, a report from the McCreary Centre Society exploring youth gaming and gambling in B.C. The report found 34% of youth surveyed had taken part in at least one of eight gambling or gaming activities for money. McCreary Centre […]
Sleep Country Canada and Listen Up Canada co-founder Gordon Lownds spoke with People First Radio about his experiences with cocaine addiction, which he’s documented in a new memoir called Cracking Up. According to his memoir, while he was in the work associated with the startup phase of Sleep Country, Lownds ended up in a relationship […]
Nicole Letourneau says that when things get difficult, instead of wishing she had a drink, she now thinks “ thank god I’m not drinking right now.” The lawyer who works with the Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario spoke with People First Radio about her experience recovering from alcohol addiction. Letourneau says she had been […]
Francis Baptiste is using music to share his experiences with addiction. “ I think addiction is something that thrives in secrecy and in stigma,” he said. “If you don’t talk about it, and if you don’t open up about it, then we all end up just kind of suffering in silence.” The Vancouver musician is getting […]
Trevor Botkin is drawing from his experiences in recovery to bring peer support to the world of construction. Botkin works with the Construction Foundation of British Columbia (CFBC) is involved in a project called The Forge, which is in the midst of transforming an old biker clubhouse in Langford into a support space for people […]
Cindy Blancher is a lawyer with the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee in Ontario, and before entering that career path, she was a registered nurse in a psychiatric hospital. She’s also an advocate around issues related to mental illness, although it’s a term she isn’t a fan of. “ I have a relative who […]
Mary Vaccaro is a faculty member in the school of social work at McMaster University in Hamilton. She’s also been working in the women’s shelter system since 2012. She spoke with People First Radio about her observations from those years of work. “ I think we need to know that many of the women that we […]
More than seven thousand times last year, people were released from Ontario jails with no recorded fixed address. It’s also estimated that 80 per cent of people in Ontario’s provincial jails are there on remand. Those are some of the details from a report from the John Howard Society of Ontario, called From Incarceration to […]
Michael Sellick lives in Nova Scotia and teaches crochet on YouTube to an audience of 1.3 million subscribers. It’s a hobby he says he first discovered when he was going through a difficult period in his youth. “Two weeks into high school, I had no friends at all,” he said. “And I was unable to […]
University instructors Jamie Brownlee and Kevin Walby are the authors of Psychedelic Capitalism, a book that takes a critical look at the direction of the mainstreaming of psychedelic drugs, particularly within the medical system. “We began this work, I would say, with a sense of naive optimism, even enthusiasm that this psychedelic renaissance, this process […]
Cole Kennedy, a Phd student in neuropsychology at the University of Victoria, led newly published research aimed at improving healthcare for people with brain injuries experiencing homelessness and mental health and substance use issues. “We know that every brain injury is different, so the cookie cutter approach doesn’t work in terms of treatment as well […]
As a journalist and documentary maker, Luke Galati says he’s learned that good storytelling has a through line. “ It has something that takes you from the beginning, the middle to the end,” he said. In the two documentaries Galati has made about mental health, he says he’s been that through line. “Using myself as the […]
CRCL stands for “crisis response community led.” It’s a model for a team that brings lived experience and minimizes police involvement in mental health related crisis situations. CRCL used to be called Peer Assisted Care Team or PACT. It’s funded by the Province of British Columbia, developed, and administered by the Canadian Mental Health Association, […]
Janel Van Dongen is the founder of 100 Kids For Change Oceanside. It’s a group that brings youth together to support local charities. Inspired by similar groups in the area for men and women, 100 Kids members meet every three months. Each member brings a $10 donation, and a charity to nominate. At each meeting […]
About a year ago, Joanna Pozzulo of Carleton University started the Reading For Well-Being Community Bookclub. “ I wanted to use my background in psychology and research to really highlight for people books that I think might be useful, or at least interesting to read,” she said. “ It’s more around well being rather than trying to […]
Laura Eramian of Dalhousie University was the lead author on a study looking at the experiences of 21 Atlantic Canadians who identified as having no or very few friends. “There really was no single profile of a person who identified as having fewer no friends. We had participants ranging from their late teens up to […]
Rob Wipond, author of Your Consent is Not Required, visited Nanaimo for an author talk on his book, which takes a critical look at involuntary psychiatric treatment. Wipond says that in the late 90s, after voluntarily seeking treatment, his father was committed for a period of several months, which included experiences of forced electrocunvulsive therapy. “ This […]
Guelph On. resident Elaine Uskoski’s journey to becoming an author, coach, and speaker on the issue of video game addiction got started on Halloween in 2014. “ I got an SOS email from my son who was in his first semester of second year university,” Uskoski said. “He had been backed into a corner where he […]
Rocky Sloan, a student at Nanaimo’s Dover Bay Secondary School, has a plan after receiving a Loran scholarship, worth up to $100,000. “It is my dream to become a doctor,” Sloan said. “Right now, I’m thinking family medicine. Hopefully come back and work here in Nanaimo after I get my MD.” It’s a goal Sloan […]
Keynote speaker and mental health advocate Jessica Ward-King says opening up about her mental health challenges in a public way was a difficult decision. “It was terrifying, but it was also very liberating because then when people ask me, ‘how are you doing?’ I could actually say, ‘not so great,’ and there would be an […]
At age 42, Opal Dar has hit a major milestone as an artist. “Until just a month ago, I haven’t been able to direct anyone to a link with my music,” Dar said. “I’ve been on stage my whole life singing and doing music, also that whole time was caregiving children and people, and my […]
Addictions medicine specialist Dr. Kelsey Roden spoke with People First Radio at a pop up overdose prevention site near Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. “The toxic drug supply has gotten so toxic with so many additives and contaminants and high potency fentanyl, that sometimes the medications we have available in the hospital are just not […]
Before he was a four time Grey Cup champion, the first player to be the game’s MVP and Most Valuable Canadian at the same time, Andrew Harris was playing in Nanaimo with the Vancouver Island Raiders. Now retired, Harris has shared some of the challenges he faced growing up and during his career in a […]
The relationship between people and plants is at the root of Ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph’s work. “ In my Squamish teachings from that side of my family, it is taught that plants are relatives, that they are relations to us,” she said. “When I was going through my undergrad, which was in botany and biology, there really […]
Evelyn Thompson-George has been hoping someone would write about her father Art Thompson’s experience surviving abuse at the Alberni Indian Residential School. “ I’ve been trying for five years to get somebody to write this book about my dad. I was asking university professors. I was asking people that have written already, and my mom kind […]
Journalists Hal Newman and Chris Curtis have been exploring the intersections between poverty and the criminal justice system in Quebec, interviewing a number of people over the course of several months.. “ What we were finding is that people who get caught up in the system, their lives almost always get immeasurably worse,” Curtis said. In […]
Mental health researcher Yasmine Simone Gray says she identifies as a complex trauma survivor, and resists the label of having a mental illness. “ It’s a very particular push to try to label our distress as a disorder, and it really situates the problem within say my body, as opposed to say within the systems that […]
U.K. Barrister Nick Bano explores the themes covered in his book Against Landlords. Bano specializes in representing homeless people and residential tenants and migrants in housing struggles. Bano says landlords were on their way to extinction in the U.K. through the start of the 1970s, but deregulation of the private rental sector and a sell […]
New York based solutions journalist and author Julia Hotz paid a visit to Nanaimo to talk social prescribing – a treatment modality that lets doctors put patients in touch with non medical supports to address unmet needs. Hotz says social prescribing comes from the idea that healthcare issues are being driven by things in our […]
Guaranteed basic income would reduce poverty in Canada by 40 per cent, according to analysis from the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO). Guaranteed basic income(GBI) is a framework that would provide everyone with a minimum income, which would come in the form of regular payments from the government, using the tax system. There […]
At 81 years old, longtime Victoria resident Gene Miller says the problems facing society right now are unlike anything he’s ever lived through. “ Probably most alarmingly, everything having to do with environmental impacts and climate change, I’m very concerned about the spreading and growing impact of autocracy. I worry that as robotics expand that people […]
Almost six years ago, an accident in the kitchen left Kate Walker’s preschool aged son with a severe injury. Now, Walker wants to help other families going through the same experience. “ It was after a really lovely day on the ski hill that we came home and I was preparing, just kind of doing the […]
McMaster Associate Professor Iris Balodis is among a group of researchers raising concerns about Ontario’s approach around online gambling. “ I don’t think there’s anyone in Ontario that is unaffected by it, from hearing and seeing ads, to all the opportunities for play,” she said. “But we have very, very little idea of how things have […]
Now 19 years old, Victoria composer Camilo Aybar put the finishing touches on his first symphony in 2021. It wasn’t only composed during the pandemic, but inspired by it. The symphony features 5 movements, each representing a different phase of the pandemic: Outbreak, Lockdown, Restart Process, Variants of Concern, and Vaccine. Aybar’s story caught the […]
At age 12, Laetitia Satam started volunteering with Kids Help Phone, a Canadian charity which provides mental health support to youth through phone, text, and online services. “ I remember at that young age being like, why is talking about how you’re feeling not always socially acceptable?” She said. “And of course, when you’re a kid, […]
Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud is set to start a new role as senior advisor on ending chronic homelessness to Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. Earlier this month, the province announced a new plan to address chronic homelessness, including addressing encampments on a case by case basis. “ I think the core piece that this plan brings to the […]
“For five years, I was out on the streets homeless, and I struggled coming to the hospital because I never had anywhere to use,” said Comox Valley resident Heather Edward, who has been sober for eight months. “I procrastinated coming to the hospital for infections and stuff because I was scared that I was going […]
“Siblings, they kind of straddle this space between, you know, they’re family, but they’re also friends, or maybe they’re kind of frenemies,” said Stephanie Harrington. “It’s one of the early formative relationships you have in your life, and it’s a defining relationship in many ways.” Harrington’s brother Ian died in May 2020 from drug poisoning. […]
“We think of stuff as being something that will give us freedom, happiness and all of the stuff that goes along with material belongings,” says Fred Cameron, who works on the senior management team at SOLID outreach in Victoria. “But when you’re out on the street, if you have too much stuff, it means you’re […]
Jade Oldfield works with the Chess For Life program at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, which sees youth involved in the province’s criminal justice system spend 25 hours studying the game of chess and learning to apply its principles to life. She says they’ve already got plenty of anecdotal evidence that the program has […]
The Victoria Hand Project is a charity that creates low cost prosthetic arms for lower income areas of the world. “Here in Victoria, we do the design, the engineering and the testing of the prosthetic arms,” said CEO Michael Peirone. “And then we partner with clinics in developing countries or conflict affected areas, and we […]
Edmonton resident Angelika Matson spoke with People First Radio about her experiences receiving electroconvulsive therapy. “All I heard online about ECT was that there was memory loss, and I was so scared that I was going to lose my memories,” she said. “I remember crying on the phone with my mom saying my memories make […]
Sandy Ernest Allan started on the path to becoming a journalist focused on mental health after receiving a 60 page, typewritten manuscript in the mail from a reclusive relative. “I had an uncle who assigned me to write a book about his life,” he said. “And that happened to include his schizophrenia diagnosis and his […]
Abe Oudshoorn recently argued that success, rather than issues like addiction or mental illness, is driving visible homelessness across many Canadian cities. “When we look at the data, you get some really strange phenomena where perhaps more poor cities, cities with a lower income across the board, may have less homelessness than rich cities like […]
Philadelphia based social worker and doctoral student Olúṣèyí Ṣẹ́gun shared a message from two very different experiences of grad school at the master’s level. “Just because one environment might not seem hospitable, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a space for you in the grander scheme of academics,” she said. Ṣẹ́gun wrote a first person […]
Isaiah Neil joined People First Radio to speak about his experiences as a suicide attempt survivor and journey to becoming an advocate for youth mental health. The Edmonton resident recently shared some of his experiences as part of a panel on youth mental health, to mark the launch of a report into the subject from […]
Denise McArthur has been involved with Restorative Justice Cowichan for the last 8 years, where’s she’s currently the restorative justice coordinator. She says over the years her group has discovered that if you can help someone take responsibility for their actions in a way that doesn’t end up being a huge crisis in their life, […]
Nancy and Susan Grundy are the subjects of Mad Sisters, a memoir written by Susan, which chronicles the siblings’ relationship from the 1960s through to the COVID-19 pandemic. When Nancy was 13, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. A diagnosis that has since been updated to schizoaffective bipolar disorder. Susan says the relationship has changed dramatically […]
Dr. Paula Cook and Dr. Darlene Petersen specialize in addiction medicine, and practice in different parts of Utah. They joined People First Radio and shared a number of topics, including systemic barriers to accessing treatment in the U.S., intersections between addiction and other determinants of health, and the role of trauma in substance use. Petersen […]
Culture journalist Mihika Agarwal shares insights from her recent reporting in The Walrus on AI companion bots, which mimic the experience of a close, sometimes even intimate relationship. “Think chat GPT, but it will pretend like it’s your lover or partner,” she said. Agarwal compares the situation to the 2013 film Her, in which a […]
Christine Korol, a Vancouver based psychologist, says it’s not uncommon for people to diagnose themselves with a mental health condition based on information they’ve seen online or on a social media platform. “It comes in waves,” she said. “A few years ago, Tourette’s seemed to be all the rage.” Korol says a few years ago, […]
Patricia, Beatriz, and Constanza Morén are three sisters living in Spain. They joined People First Radio to share memories of their father, who died last year. “He was the best father a daughter could have,” Constanza said. “My father worked as an industrial engineer in the civil service in Spain and made a very good […]
For the last five years, Calgary based clinical psychologist Jonathon Stea has been posting online to try and confront misinformation related to mental health. “I really started out on social media and just in more popular media, trying to debunk myths related to the nature of cannabis addiction,” he said. “Once I got to social […]
From getting help for his own mental health, to working to change the culture around mental health at his fraternity at UBC, to insights from his role as a community mental health worker supporting people with diagnoses like schizophrenia, Noah Battista shares his journey to becoming an advocate for mental health. Battista says he was […]
Heather McDonald and Shane Steinhauer were in attendance at Nanaimo’s event marking International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, 2024. The Monday following the event, they spoke with People First Radio. The pair have worked together on a grass roots peer outreach initiative called Nightkeepers. McDonald said that in the week leading up to and […]
Speeches and stories from events held to mark International Overdose Awareness Day, August 31, 2024, in Nanaimo and Victoria. Amber McGrath urged people to lift others up and take action. “I know there’s been many times that I’ve sat on a sidewalk and cried for an hour and not one person said, ‘are you okay?'” […]
Author Bryce Andrews rowed his way up the Salish Sea from Seattle as he got to work on a future book exploring the area’s ecosystem. Along the way, he’s also encountered plenty of other folks on the water, and Andrews says he’s been struck by their kindness and manifest decency. “People are often just so […]
Mark DeVries of Parksville had spent decades visiting doctors and specialists for a variety of symptoms, including joint pains and daily headaches, which he says he was always told were normal. It was only recently that DeVreis, 57, received a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a condition that affects connective tissue. “It was my nurse […]
In September, people will start moving into 23 units of housing at 420 Albert street in Nanaimo, which had spent decades as an office building. Two of the developers behind the project, Adrian Vlasic and Fillah Karim, both in their twenties, spoke with People First Radio. Recorded August 21, 2024.
Charlotte Waddell, Director of the Children’s Health Policy Center at Simon Fraser University, says people of a certain generation will have experienced drug use prevention programs like “Just Say No” and D.A.R.E. when they were in school. But Waddell says the efficacy of those programs wasn’t thoroughly studied before they were widely rolled out. “Nobody […]
Brandon Kirk is sharing his story of life after addiction, and creating a space for others to do the same. The Cowichan Valley resident is working on a new video podcast series, Beyond Your Wildest Imagination. “it’s a podcast about life beyond addiction,” Kirk said. “It’s about Cowichan Valley people telling their powerful stories about […]
Back in 2009 Craig Ellerman was staying at the downtown Victoria Salvation Army Men’s Shelter. “I wasn’t in too good a state of mind, and I saw a poster up on the bulletin board advertising information sessions for the Uni 101 program,” he said. “I looked at it, and at first I thought maybe this […]
Carissa Halton remembered her own graduation, so she didn’t expect her daughter’s to hit quite so hard. “I’m sitting there in the graduation, the principal is starting to talk,” she said. “She just said, I see you guys out there and this is something that your kids are doing because you sat and read with […]
Recent research suggests people want to get back in touch with old friends, but are worried about being a bother. “Although people seem to be generally interested in the idea of reconnecting, they don’t want to be the one to do it,” said Lara Aknin, Director of the Helping and Happiness Lab at Simon Fraser […]
Georgina Franki and Dingeman van Bochove speak about homelessness in Yellowknife and actions they’ve been taking to address the situation. First broadcast July 25, 2024.
The documentary escape game She Could Fly aims to educate around obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Sara Kenney and Mairéad Ruane from the game’s creative team spoke with People First Radio. “It was such a cool experience like to see how creatively such difficult experiences could be shown and conveyed to people without the experience [of […]
Ruhr University Bochum PhD student Laurin Plank has been exploring the idea of using social media posts as a diagnostic aid for mental health conditions. He says people could benefit from early detection. “If people only ever get help once they’ve developed the disorder, then a lot of damage has already been done,” he said. […]
Researcher Kora DeBeck is calling for regulation as a response to the toxic drug crisis. “The high level, main problem I see right now is the catastrophic number of overdose deaths that we’re experiencing,” she said. “The numbers are really holding steady years and years later, and what we know from coroner’s data, from a […]
As outreach workers, Lea-Lah Manson and Lance Point work with people who have likely experienced brain injuries on top of dealing with the effects of homelessness and addiction. Manson says there can be a tendency for society not to look at those who have experienced brain injuries as people. “We don’t see people who have […]
Campbell River resident Ashley Kendrick spoke about the relationships she tries to create with parents when fulfilling the role of a foster parent. “You’re not trying to replace [parents]. You’re not trying to step in and steal their kids. You want their kids to go home. You’re wanting to foster that relationship and you create […]
Charlie Cavanagh started boxing at age 12. She’s represented Canada at international competitions and brought home medals, and she wants the public to remember that there’s a person behind the elite athletes on TV. “We’re hyper aware of the eyes that are on us and, after a poor performance, you get a lot of negative […]
The 100 Fine Gentlemen of Oceanside Who Give a Damn are one of a number of groups in the area based on a similar idea. Members agree to donate $100 to charity 4 times a year. Every quarter they meet and vote on what charity will receive those funds, which founder Kim Burden says are […]
After joining the army and training as a medic, and working as a civilian paramedic, Matthew Heneghan wants the public to remember that first responders are human. “We wear a uniform. We have a skill, but we are not impervious to the effects of sadness and trauma,” he said. Heneghan shared his story recovering from […]
Happipad is a non-profit that matches people with empty bedrooms with people looking for a place to live. Based in Kelowna, the group has agreements with partners in a number of communities across B.C., as well as one with the provincial government in Nova Scotia. CEO Cailan Libby spoke with People First Radio following a […]
Alcohol is the most commonly used psychoactive substance in the country, according to a government of Canada webpage. As a regulated substance, there’s a comprehensive system of rules dictating things like where and when alcohol can be sold, how much it needs to cost, how it’s allowed to be advertised, and what kind of warnings […]
15 years ago, Connally McDougall sold her first dress. “I was working in a gallery and the owner said, ‘Hey, if you or anyone you know are makers, why don’t you show us your work and we’ll see if we deign to put it in our gallery,'” she said. McDougall submitted a dress made from […]
Guy Felicella spent 30 years in the repeated cycles of gangs, addiction, treatment, and jail. Today, he lives with his wife and three young children, and has over a decade of recovery and sobriety under his belt. Felicella was one of the speakers at a recent community dialogue on the toxic drug crisis at Nanaimo’s […]
One day, when they were in the eighth grade, Christopher Lee and a group of friends decided to spend a Sunday a little differently. “We were just like, ‘Hmm, there’s something wrong in our community. We’re able to live such a nice and amazing life, but there are people who aren’t able to live that […]
Parksville resident Earl Blacklock has been recognized by the BC Achievement Foundation for his work helping expand the number of trained counsellors practicing on Vancouver Island. The Executive Director of Island Community Councilling, Blacklock said that the bulk of the work that he does is with trauma survivors. “The definition of trauma that I use […]
Vancouver non profit First United has created an interactive map that provides information on a number of evictions across B.C. Sarah Marsden, director of systems change and legal at First United, spoke with People First Radio to help break down the data. One finding was that around 1 in 4 people reported not finding a […]
WeCan Shelter Society is a Comox Valley organization that builds homes inside shipping containers for people who had previously been experiencing homelessness to move into. Charlene Davis, one of the group’s founders, spoke with People First Radio. She said it takes between $25,000 and $30,000 to build a unit and get a person living in […]
Managing director Dorothy Morrison calls Victoria’s Imagine Studio Cafe a “cafe classroom.” The cafe offers employment to young adults who may otherwise face barriers due to mental health, addiction, and homelessness. “There’s a lot of talk, but not a lot of action. So we needed to try to make a difference,” Morrison said. She said […]
The Nanaimo Foodshare is using food to help people move forward. On Mondays, in the basement of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, anyone from the community is invited to come share in a free meal, prepared by people in the Foodshare’s employment programs, under the tutelage of professional chef Calven Chow. Called the Monday Lunch together […]
Artificial Intelligence is making its way into more and more areas of our lives, a phenomenon that isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon. While AI isn’t necessarily part of our official publicly insured health care system quite yet, Zoha Khawaja says that day is coming, so we should be proactive about figuring out some […]
When the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic meant closures and reduced service for restaurants, there was a bunch of food that was suddenly without a place to go. Enter the Red Cedar Cafe in Victoria, which was born as a way to put that food to good use. Four years later circumstances have changed, […]
As a teacher librarian, Sara Stone is no stranger to children’s books. But it was what she wasn’t seeing on the shelves, combined with some personal experience, that prompted her to add author to her resume. Stone has written a series of children’s books about sensory processing disorder. Healthlink BC says that children with sensory […]
Marlo Mayers spoke with the media ahead of moving into a new supportive housing building in Nanaimo. Called Corenerstone, The 51 unit building is operated by Connective Nanaimo, formerly known as the Nanaimo Region John Howard Society. Residents at a temporary housing site in Nanaimo called Newcastle Place are being prioritized to move in, which […]
Around a decade ago Zakia Moulaoui Guery was working in a job where she’d get to know the stories of people who’d experienced homelessness. She realized that people in her life outside work were interested in hearing those stories as well, but that they didn’t have any awareness or exposure to them. Moulaoui Guery wanted […]
Singing and songwriting have helped Parksville-Qualicum’s Amarii express things he’s struggled to talk about. Now, they’ve also helped him sign with a new label, Kolossal Records. Amarii says he remembers falling in love with music sitting in front of the television watching Much Music Videos at age 12, but that he only started making music […]
Ten months after being shot in the line of duty and having her leg amputated in 1998, Laurie White was able to return to full unrestricted duties with the RCMP. When she was first asked to share her story, White says she wasn’t sure what people would want to know, but she quickly realized the […]
Gillian Kolla has been looking into the impact the drug toxicity crisis is having on people working to respond to overdose. “While people really, really find doing harm reduction work and doing service provision for people who use drugs to be valuable and rewarding work, it has been emotionally devastating as the drug toxicity crisis […]
Eight years after British Columbia declared a public health emergency due to a significant increase in drug-related overdoses and deaths, Moms Stop The Harm co-founder Leslie McBain wants people to continue to remember the human impact of the situation. “The deaths are piling up and they are people, they’re not just a number,” she said. […]
A group of Ontario school boards have filed a lawsuit against the operators of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok. The boards claim that social media products, which they say are designed for compulsive use, have impacted the way children think, behave, and learn. They say that they are bearing the brunt of what they […]
When Nisha Patel went through her medical records, including psychiatric records from visits to hospital and her university health clinic, the feeling spurred her to make art. “It really started this this anger within me,” she said. “These were all very personal experiences for me. But for the system, they were just yet another form […]
In conversation with Rory Kumala, CEO of the Vancouver Island Construction Association, on the organization’s Tailgate Toolkit program, which is designed to provide education and training on issues regarding substance use, mental health, and pain management. In addition to providing resources for workers, Kumala says addressing these issues with employers is part of the path […]
Gurleen Kaur of The University of Alberta speaks about her experience with psychosis. “Often people will read in textbooks, or papers…that psychosis is this break in reality,” she said. ” It doesn’t quite capture what it means to me, based on my experience.” Kaur said psychosis can cause her to see faces, which in the […]
Looking at how our brains are depicted onscreen with Heather and Sarah Taylor. The Canadian sisters work in the film industry, and explore depictions of mental illness, disability, and a variety of other topics on their podcast Braaains. Heather Taylor says often times shows can treat mental illness like a “problem of the week”. “I […]
David Dorson is the pen name of someone who spent a few years in prison in Ontario. he writes a column about his experiences on the website of Law 360 Canada. He spoke with People First Radio about his experiences.
Lee Chapelle has helped hundreds of inmates navigate their way through the Canadian corrections system. The founder of Canadian Prison Consulting, he also spent much of his young adulthood behind bars, beginning at age 16. Now Chapelle works with clients to address the issues that led to their charges and incarceration, and to prepare them […]
Would you exercise more for a dollar a day? Marc Mitchell of Western University was working in cardiac rehab, he noticed it was difficult for people to stick with a routine of regular exercise. That got him interested in ways to motivate people to get moving. “Folks who in some cases, literally died, like flatlined, […]
Finland, with a population of around 5.5 million, has just over 1000 people who are considered to be experiencing long term homelessness. That number has been steadily decreasing for decades, thanks to investment in social and affordable housing. The country’s largest non profit housing provider is a group called The Y Foundation, founded in 1985. […]
Journalist Meagan Gillmore reflects on the question “why do I have to constantly prove my disability?” Gillmore explored the subject in a recent column in The Walrus. “I do remember still to this day, very much feeling like, ‘oh yeah, I have a disability and this is part of my life,’ but I’ve always kind […]
Pacifica Housing CEO Carolina Ibarra joined People First Radio to talk a number of issues related to supportive housing, including new announcements in Nanaimo, The Nanaimo Acute Response Table, difficulties with data around supportive housing, and units in need of maintenance. “The way that we view and deal with supportive housing has to change because […]
For the first time in more than a decade, child poverty rates have gone up in British Columbia, according to a report from First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society. Their 2023 BC Child Poverty Report Card offers insight on data from 2021, breaking down child poverty rates by family type, race, and region, and […]
Heather Nelson-Smith, CAO of Port Hardy, shares the details on the community’s new situation table. Situation tables are a method communities in British Columbia are using to try and connect individuals at risk of harm to services that could help them. At weekly meetings, members from different community organizations collaborate on how, when, and who […]
Dr. Alex Nataros, a family physician in Port Hardy, shares his experiences both personal and professional with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In a recent column, Nataros described ADHD as “Perhaps the most over-diagnosed and simultaneously under-diagnosed condition.” He elaborated on those comments on People First Radio. “We’ve all got our phones and devices, and […]
Campbell River’s Sue Moen wanted to better understand what things are like for those experiencing homelessness in the community. She asked a group of people she knew in that situation if she could join them for a night. They agreed, and Moen took her truck down to spend a night on the streets of Campbell […]
In conversation with Michelle Gamage of The Tyee, who shares insights into her recent reporting on a condition known anecdotally as ‘street feet’. Occurring when people are unable to wash and dry their feet, it bears some similarity to trench foot experienced by soldiers during the first world war.
In conversation with Stephen Gaetz, president and CEO of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, and a professor at Toronto’s York University. Gaetz says that in Canada and the U.S., there are more people coming into homelessness than there are exiting it. He was recently part of a webinar on homelessness prevention.
Greg Dorval has been housed for around a year after being unhoused for around the same amount of time. He’s recently set up a tent outside the courthouse in Guelph On. as a form of civil protest in solidarity with those currently experiencing homelessness in the community.
Kathy Wagner shares her experiences finding hope and healing through her son Tristan’s addiction, recovery relapse, and death. She’s told her story in the memoir Here With You.
The University of Toronto’s Katherine Tamminen says that we don’t know much about the mental health of young people involved in high level sport. “There is a lack of research on the mental health of elite youth athletes compared to adult athletes who are at those elite levels,” she said. Tamminen says it’s important that […]
The Best Place On Earth, that was British Columbia’s slogan for a while. It even showed up on license plates leading up to the Vancouver Olympics. Around the same time, Danya Fast was embarking on a project that would span the next fifteen years of her life. Her goal was to hear from young people […]
A Vancouver lawyer has concerns that changes to residential tenancy regulation in B.C. could erode the dignity of people living in supportive housing. The province is amending residential tenancy regulation to exempt supportive housing units from sections of the residential tenancy act that prohibit blanket guest policies and wellness checks. Danielle Sabelli is a lawyer […]
Legislation that sought to ban public drug use in a number of spaces in British Columbia is currently in limbo following a decision from B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson. The Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act was passed in the legislature late last year and if not for the court decision in […]
Nanaimo’s Unitarian Shelter is coming under new management. It was announced this week that Nanaimo Family Life Association would be taking over the Shelter on Townsite road as of this summer. Deborah Hollins is the executive director for Nanaimo Family Life Association, and she joined People First Radio to speak about the change.
“When I went to law school, when I started practicing law, nobody talked to us about trauma. We focused solely on legal issues,” said Myrna McCallum, a lawyer in North Vancouver and host of the podcast The Trauma Informed Lawyer. “I had to learn how to be a human being and be in relationships with […]
Gabrielle Wilcox, associate professor of school and applied child psychology at the University of Calgary, and a former school psychologist, speaks about the link between mental health and academic achievement in children. Wilcox recently wrote on the subject in an article appearing in The Conversation. Wilcox says that we can’t separate supporting kids’ success in […]
From a pet food bank, to crisis supplements available for people on income assistance, Sarah Pump says there are a lot of resources people in need may not be aware of. When Pump was diagnosed with a chronic illness and became too sick to work, she saw first hand what it was like to navigate […]
Malé Fofana loves languages. And he’s got some interesting perspective on them, for a few different reasons. He teaches at two different universities in Sherbrooke Quebec, one in English, one in French. Fofana’s also lived in three places that each have a distinct variety of French, growing up in Senegal, spending ten years in France, […]
Tracy Smith-Carrier, Canada Research Chair in Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, feels there a number of myths preventing society from addressing poverty. “I think they all stem from the same place. This notion that some people are deserving of our assistance and others are not,” she said. “If we actually addressed poverty head on, […]
Pamela Steen shares the details behind her December Bling-A-Thon in support of the Canadian Mental Health Association. “Don’t feel shallow or shy about dressing in a way that makes you feel good,” she said. “If it’s sweatpants with holes in it and that makes you feel good, just own it. If it’s sequins, just own […]
People First Radio pays a visit to Coco Cafe, a social enterprise in the Vancouver Island community of Cedar. Their mission is to provide employment, training, and socialization opportunities for people with developmental disabilities within their community.We hear from general manager Marc Taschereau, Coco Cafe employee Jacob Brockman, support worker Cecelia, and Deborah Cooper. […]
Opening a recent article in The Walrus, Kevin Patterson evoked the Nanaimo of a few decades ago. What he described sounds in many ways rougher than what you might picture today. A resource economy in decline, unemployment passing twelve per cent, and jokes about Hell’s Angels and Nanaimo Bars seeming not too far from reality. […]
Catching up with Carmen Lavoie about Vancouver Island University’s end of life doula course, which made its debut this past September. Lavoie also spoke about the taboo around discussing death, and shared tips on how to have conversations about the end of life process. “Death and dying, those words can be very helpful,” she said. […]
Kelsie Kilawna shares the story behind a new kit meant to help Indigenous communities in crisis navigate interactions with the media.
Ian Bushfield and Sophie Burke join People First Radio to explore an end of life guide they’ve co-authored for humanists and non religious people.
Many people spoke emotionally about experiences with addiction and recovery at a recent public hearing in Parksville. At issue is a proposed addiction treatment centre, which would be run by Island Health, and offer a voluntary only 90 day treatment program for people aged 19 and over. There would be 19 beds at the site, […]
From overcoming challenges like experiencing homelessness as a youth in Thunder Bay, to learning about traditional plant medicines and family history from her grandfather, Chrystal Toop shares some of the journey that led her to start Blackbird Medicines, a cultural wellness program where she now supports Indigenous people training to be end of life doulas. […]
When People First Radio first took to the airwaves on November 22 2007, Jan Coleman was there. She served as co-host with Kevin Midbo through 2010, and helped guide the program through its early years. Jan passed away recently, and People First Radio took some time to remember her impact on the show. Former host […]
Death educator and Nipissing University professor Susan Srigley starts her semesters off by having students reflect on their personal experiences with death. “The majority of those assignments tell a story of students who have not been supported around death, have not been prepared for death, and largely their experience is one of isolation and silence,” […]
Health historian Matthew Smith says that relatively speaking, many governments are doing less to address mental health than they were decades ago, and until that changes, state health providers will never be able to keep up. In a recent article published in the conversation, the University of Strathclyde professor pointed to poverty and inequality as […]
When she was 32 years old, Tara Sidhoo Fraser had a stroke, and experienced the loss of most of her memories. She’s written about her recovery in the weeks, months, and years that followed in a new memoir, When My Ghost Sings. Sidhoo Fraser says sharing her story has created an outpouring of connection. “I […]
In conversation with Marla Zucht, general manager of the Whistler Housing Authority, a municipally owned corporation that aims to house at least 75 per cent of the community’s workforce.
Victoria Maxwell shares insights on her recovery process managing bipolar, psychosis, and anxiety. Maxwell says acceptance of her diagnosis was “the greatest liberator,” but it only happened after she met a healthcare team that was willing to work with her. “Once I did meet a psychiatrist and a nurse who really inquired about the reasons […]
Paul Chapman of the Nanaimo and Area Land Trust joins People First Radio’s Joe Pugh for a walk around Cottle Lake in Nanaimo’s Linley Valley. Stephanie Merrill of the Nature Trust of New Brunswick shares the work going on related to conservation in that province.
Daniel Snyder, chair of the Langley Community Action Team, shares his story recovering from heroin addiction while working in the trades, and his reflections on the toxic drug poisoning crisis.
Journalist and writer Carlyn Zwarenstein shares some of her insights looking into a backlash against harm reduction, and some of her personal story as a user of prescribed opioids for chronic pain.
Ben Perrin spoke with dozens of people who had experienced Canada’s criminal justice system. Some had been incarcerated, others were victims of crime, many were both. The result is Indictment: The Criminal Justice System On Trial. Perrin spoke with People First Radio about the issues present in the justice system, and shared a vision for […]
In conversation with Re-Threading Madness host Bernadine Fox, who shares her experiences surviving trauma, including therapy abuse, as well as how she’s hoping to change the conversation around mental health.
When her father was sick with throat cancer, Tate Ryan-Mosley headed online. At first, the self described ‘super-googler’ was looking to learn as much as she could about the medical aspects of her dad’s diagnosis. Then when it seemed like grief was on the horizon, she tried to use the web to prepare herself. It […]
Aron Lee Rosenberg spent all of 2020 offline. The McGill University lecturer shares what that experience was like, as well as what he says most people don’t think about when it comes to internet use. He’s also chronicled the experience in the book Jacking Out, from Rock’s Mills press.
Research from the University of British Columbia found three main categories of men in heterosexual relationships. John Oliffe, a professor at UBC and the Canada Research Chair in men’s health promotion, spoke with People First Radio about the research, masculinity, and relationships.
Spenser Smith wanted to respond to online comments denigrating people who use drugs, so the VIU creative writing grad turned to poetry. In A Brief Relief From Hunger, published by Gordon Hill Press, Smith reflects on his childhood, and his own recovery from addiction. Along the way, he weaves in poems inspired by posts from […]
UBC’s Jiaying Zhao and Foundations For Social Change’s Amber Dyce explore the results and process of a study that offered unconditional transfers of $7500 to people experiencing homelessness.
Sarah Lovegrove, outgoing chair of Nanaimo’s Community Action Team, speaks with People First Radio’s Joe Pugh at the Vault Cafe about the state of the toxic drug poisoning crisis in Nanaimo.
In conversation with Rachel Herron, Canada Research Chair in Rural and Remote Mental Health, and a professor at Brandon University.
Speeches and stories from an Aug 31 event held in Maffeo Sutton Park to mark International Overdose Awareness Day. Featuring the voices of Amber McGrath, Sarah Lovegrove, Qui Sepulveda, Lenae Silva, Sheila Malcolmson, Aimee Chalifoux,Wanda LeBlanc (Moms Stop the Harm), Laura Lee James, Heather MacDonald, and Patrick Aleck.
Marie-Josée Houle, Canada’s first federal housing advocate, was appointed to the role in February 2022. Houle joined People First Radio to speak about housing in Canada and her work in the role thus far.
The Village, a supportive housing site in Duncan, is attracting attention from other communities looking to emulate its model. With 34 modular units, it was able to quickly go from proposal to reality, and while there was opposition to the site before it opened and in its early days, it’s operators say public opinion in […]
Bennet Caffee shares the story behind Orange You Glad To Be in Miami. The one man show premiered this week at the Nanaimo Fringe Festival, and recounts Caffee’s first manic episode, which occurred in his early twenties.
Ali Gaul and her daughter Grace Martin share the family story behind Lucky Casanova, Martin’s one woman show, currently playing at the Nanaimo Fringe Festival.
Carolyn Whitzman, housing and social policy consultant, joins People First Radio to explore the federal government’s role in Canadian housing policy from the 1940s through to the present day.
Simon Katterl led a team tasked by the government of Victoria, Australia to advise the state’s minister for mental health on how to acknowledge harms caused by the mental health system. Speaking with People First Radio, Katterl said there can be a temptation to frame harms as a result of an underfunded system, or one […]
Simon Fraser University’s Nick Blomley shares findings from research into people’s experience of dispossession while precariously housed.
Research published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry found that rates of involuntary psychiatric hospitalization have been increasing in British Columbia. Will Small, a professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, and a research scientist with the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use helped author that research. He joined People First […]
Jessica Michalofsky wrapped up a journey of almost 900 Kilometres on Sunday in front of the legislature in Victoria. In late May, she set off running from Nelson in memory of her son Aubrey, who died from toxic drug poisoning. Michalofsky was greeted by a crowd of around 100 people at a rally organized by […]
Cheyenne Johnson, executive director of the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, discusses the Road To Recovery Initiative set to roll out at St Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.
This spring, new research into the lived experience of evictions in Canada was released. Commissioned by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, it was the largest study of its kind ever done in the country. People First Radio spoke with lead author David Wachsmuth, Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance, and Associate Professor of Urban […]
“The Lived Experience of Eviction in Canada” with David Wachsmuth of McGill University. Cheyenne Johnson of the BC Centre on Substance Use explains the Road to Recovery Initiative.
Carmen Lavoie had been interested in the end of life process for a while. But the social work professor at Vancouver Island University says it was her own cancer diagnosis that really made things come into focus. Now, Lavoie is getting set to launch a new end of life doula Course this fall. On top […]
Kix Citton, executive director of the Nanaimo Brain Injury Society discusses aspects of brain injury in the community which may fly under the radar.
The Cultivating Abilities Program from the Nanaimo Foodshare is well underway. It’s a 19 week program for people who self identify as having a disability (diverse ability). Participants are trained in agriculture, the food industry, and employability skills. People First Radio’s Joe Pugh paid a visit to the Five Acres Farm in Harewood to learn […]
In conversation with Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes, Canada Research Chair in Person-Centered Care in Addictions and Public Health, and a professor at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia.
Patrick Cools, drug checking technician, and Destiny Herman, operations coordinator, both with the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mid Island Branch, talk drug checking in Nanaimo. The service is offered at the CMHA’s overdose prevention site on 250 Albert St.
Piotr Burek, research assistant and graduate student with Substance Drug Checking in Victoria, discusses what can drug checking tell us, what its limitations are at the moment, and what are we seeing in the drug supply right now.
In her new memoir Chronic Conditions, University of Windsor professor Karen Engle wanted to explore using language to “capture what it’s like to be in a body that appears to work from the outside, when its internal systems operate through an ad hoc assemblage of garbled messaging, reroutings, and shaky foundations.” Engle has been dealing […]
Victoria has a new community led crisis response team. It started a gradual rollout earlier this year, and is designed to respond to mental health emergencies in the community avoiding police involvement wherever possible. It’s being operated by AVI Health Services. Dreanna Picard, an experiential crisis response worker with the team, and Lacey Mesley, its […]
Kim Mackenzie of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s BC Chapter shares the latest on the Peer Assisted Care Teams (PACT) that the organization is rolling out across BC to help deal with mental health emergencies in communities.
A group of housing providers are saying we need to tweak some of our systems and attitudes around supportive housing. In a column that appeared in the Victoria Times Colonist last month, they called for changes to the Residential Tenancy Act, and identified a tendency towards “firefighting” rather than systematic investments in solutions. The column […]
“Punk rock saved my life” is a phrase you’ll find often in Scream Therapy: A Punk Journey Through Mental Health, a new book from Jason Schreurs. Informed by his lifelong membership in the punk community, it tells the story of Schreurs’ life navigating a bipolar diagnosis in his late forties, and the punks he learns […]
It likely wouldn’t surprise you to hear that people with serious mental health conditions like schizophrenia, experience stigma. Family members and others close to a person with a mental health condition can experience discrimination as well, a concept called stigma by association. A new study from York University found that one in three family members […]
Christopher Andersen is crossing the country for a cause, and he’s doing it on inline skates. The Ladysmith resident has nearly 500 wheels to get him from Whistler to Newfoundland. He set off on Monday, the start of The Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Week. Anderson lives with bipolar, attention deficit, and hyperactivity disorders. […]
Natalie Frandsen, assistant teaching professor at the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria, discusses how online courses could better support student mental health.The subject was the topic of Frandsen’s doctoral thesis, as well as a recent article in The Conversation.
Jordan Reems is taking the stage to share a deeply personal story. For more than a year, Jordan has been learning and practicing his little brother Anthony’s songs. Anthony passed away in 2021. He was a talented musician. On Friday April 28th, Jordan will be sharing some of Anthony’s music in The Sound Is Lost, […]
Nearly ten years ago, Natalie Senik says a doctor told her that because of her mental health, she would never work or be in a relationship again. Now Senik has flipped the script. The Victoria resident has been working in peer support following a career change a few years ago. She also writes about her […]
Dr. Joshua Greggain, President of Doctors of British Columbia, discusses the situation around walk-in clinics in Nanaimo and the surrounding region.
Located in Fanny Bay, Operation Freedom Paws helps people who have experienced challenges like post traumatic stress disorder, and type 1 diabetes train their own service dogs. People First Radio’s Joe Pugh paid a visit to a day of training to learn more about the program.
Brigida Crosbie is the founder and owner of Tydel foods in Chilliwack. The store, named after her two daughters, Tyanna and Delana, operates at a low markup – food is priced only slightly higher than it costs them to get in. They also provide seniors with a heavily discounted food package. Crosbie Says her mission […]
Every day since last September, rain or shine – or snow, Clay Johnson has gone for a swim in the ocean. The grade 11 student is just over halfway through a full year of daily dips. Called Swim to Eat, Johnson’s campaign is designed to raise funds and awareness for those experiencing eating disorders – […]
"That's what life's about. If you don't help other people, you're not doing much" "I can't solve people's problems, but I can help make their life less painful."
Natasha Karod took part in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange program at Vancouver Island University as an outside student. She spoke about her experience with People First Radio’s Joe Pugh at The Vault Cafe in Nanaimo. To hear an interview with former inside student Joey Cramer click here. To hear an interview with criminology professor Joanne […]
Joey Cramer took part in the Inside-Out program offered at Vancouver Island University as an inside student in one of the first classes offered after the program came to Nanaimo in 2016. He visited the CHLY studio to speak about his experience. To hear former outside student Natasha Karod speak about her experience with the […]
The Inside-Out program at Vancouver Island University brings undergraduates together with learners inside the prison system for a semester of shared learning. Criminology professor Joanne Falvai brought Inside-Out to Nanaimo in 2016. She spoke with People First Radio about what she’s been able to see at the program in the years since. You can hear […]
Co-facilitators Josh Drummond and Alex Schiebel discuss the Beyond Blame program offered by the Nanaimo Family Life Association. The free program seeks to help men looking to move beyond abusive behaviors and build healthy relationships. More information about the Beyond Blame program can be found by clicking here.
Registered Nurse Nicole Klementis speaks to People First Radio about her experience as a student in Vancouver Island University’s Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Program. The program is the first of its kind from an accredited Canadian University and this is the first year it is being offered. You can hear more about a study linked to […]
Dr. Pamela Kryskow is the medical chair of Vancouver Island University’s Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Program. She’s also a founding board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada, and medical lead for the non-profit psychedelic assisted therapy healthcare practice Roots to Thrive. Dr. Kryskow spoke with People First Radio about a clinical trial exploring the use […]
Dr. Valorie Masuda, palliative care physician and general practitioner in oncology, outlines a clinical trial that will study psilocybin assisted group therapy for patients with a terminal diagnosis. The research is related to the psychedelic assisted therapy program at Vancouver Island University.
Leif Gregersen on the educational work he does with the Schizophrenia Society of Alberta, and his own experiences with mental illness.
John McCormick, incoming executive director of Nanaimo’s new Systems Planning Organization explains how it aims to coordinate the community’s strategy on housing and homelessness.
This month nearly one hundred people gathered at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre to discuss solutions to the toxic drug poisoning crisis in Nanaimo. Among the voices included on the episode are Central Island’s Medical Health Officer Dr. Sandra Allison, Community Action Team co-chair Sarah Lovegrove, Lanae Silva, Sarah Doyle, and Nanaimo City Councillor Hilary […]
Historian Chris Elcock discusses George Peters and the LSD Rescue Service. Peters founded the service in Chicago in the 1960s. It helped psychedelic drug users through negative experiences, and Elcock argues, was an early form of harm reduction.
Vancouver Island University History Professor Cheryl Warsh discusses gender, class, alcohol, and drugs in Canada since 1850. An essay by Warsh on the subject appears in the book “Pleasure and Panic”, published by UBC Press, which Warsh also co-edited.
In the first part of a series of conversations on stories from the history of drugs and alcohol, People First Radio speaks with Dan Malleck about pharmacists and liquor laws in Victorian Ontario. Malleck is a historian of medicine at Brock University and Director of the Centre for Canadian Studies at Brock. He wrote about […]
In The King of Jam Sandwiches, author Eric Walters gets personal. The story follows 13 year old Robbie, but it’s heavily informed by Walters’ own childhood. It deals with themes like mental illness, poverty, and foster care, and won the Governor General’s Literary Award for young people’s literature in 2020. Walters, a Member of the […]
If you’re on a low income, and have been living in the same building for years, what happens to you if that building gets torn as part of a new development? It’s a question Brian Doucet has been trying to answer. Doucet is the Canada Research Chair in Urban Change and Social Inclusion, and an […]
Because TikTok has so many younger users, alcohol companies aren’t allowed to advertise on it. But as Dr. Jessamy Bagenal recently wrote in British medical journal The Lancet, there are a number of non-traditional ways that liquor could be being promoted to youth on TikTok. She spoke with People First Radio to share what these […]
Earlier this year a group of tenants got together at Nanaimo’s Mount Benson Legion Branch for a mini town hall event. The goal was to come up with community based solutions, for ways to better support tenants who are vulnerable because of age, income, or disability. The meeting was organised by local media outlet The […]
In conversation with Ary Maharaj of the National Eating Disorder Information Centre(NEDIC). More information about can be found on NEDIC’s website, https://nedic.ca/
MySafe Society is one of several safer supply pilot projects in British Columbia. It provides around 130 people in the province with a prescription supply of Dilaudid – hydromorphone tablets that are taken orally. Dilaudid is an opioid that is sometimes used to treat pain. The prescriptions are intended to allow people who had been […]
Rebekah Young, Head of Inclusion and Resilience Economics at Scotiabank, discusses a recent column in which she called on Canada to double its social housing stock.
"Having some stress in your day also means that you're having more interactions with humans, and that there's also more positive events with other humans, and that good things happen"
On January 16, Nanaimo City Council declared the overdose prevention site on 264 Nicol Street a nuisance property after receiving a report from city staff detailing social disorder surrounding the site. The site is run by the Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users (NANDU), and the designation means that the city can impose cost recovery […]
On January 16, Nanaimo City Council declared the overdose prevention site on 264 Nicol Street a nuisance property after receiving a report from city staff detailing social disorder surrounding the site. The site is run by the Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users (NANDU), and the designation means that the city can impose cost recovery […]
A 500 million dollar fund is being made available for non profits in British Columbia to purchase existing housing. The fund is going to be managed and distributed through a non profit society created by the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA),the BC Non-Profit Housing Association‘ (BCNPHA), and the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC (CHF BC). […]
The BC Centre on Substance Use was established in 2017. It has a mandate to develop, help implement, and evaluate evidence-based approaches to substance use and addiction. Since 2016, British Columbia has been in a public health emergency due to deaths from illicit drug toxicity. Cheyenne Johnson, Executive Director of the BC Centre on Substance […]
Giuseppe Ganci of The Last Door Society discusses the concept of recovery capital and shares his perspective on the current state of addiction treatment options in BC.
The Canadian Mental Health Association is helping bring a new approach to respond to mental health emergencies in BC. It was announced late last year that 12 Peer Assisted Care Teams, or PACT for short, are coming to the province. The teams are made up of one mental health professional, and one peer with lived […]
Program Chair Shannon Dames provides an update on Vancouver Island University’s Psychedelic Assisted Therapy program, which welcomed its first cohort in September 2022 for a one year term.
Dr. Melanie Badali, registered psychologist and member of Anxiety Canada’s scientific advisory committee, discusses panic attacks and panic disorder. The discussion covers what a panic attack is, how common they are, what you could do if you experience one, and how you can help if someone you know is going through one.
Most people are likely familiar with the idea of the poverty line, as in the phrase “living below the poverty line.” How do we figure out where that line is? Canada’s official measure of poverty is the Market Basket Measure. To learn more about how we conceptualize and track poverty in Canada, People First Radio’s […]
Six years ago Vancouver Island Mental Health Society’s Boundary Supportive Housing opened its doors in Nanaimo. What exactly is supportive housing? And what’s the relationship like between the housing and the surrounding community? To find out, People First Radio’s Joe Pugh paid a visit to the building, and spoke with Janet Rowley and Camille Eade, […]
Nanaimo MLA Sheila Malcolmson is British Columbia’s new minister for Social Development and Poverty Reduction. Malcolmson had previously been the province’s minister for Mental Health and Addictions. She joined People First Radio to speak about the tasks outlined in her mandate letter, and what changes within a ministry when a new minister takes over. […]
Coverage of a new supervised consumption site opening in Nanaimo at the corner of Albert and Dunsmuir streets. Excerpts from a November 21 Nanaimo City Council meeting at which councilors questioned Ann Livingston on matters related to the overdose prevention site on Nicol street run by the Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users. Ann Livingston, […]
Each province and territory in Canada has recognized one program or individual within its borders with an Award for Innovation in Mental Health and Addictions Care. People First Radio presents a series of conversations with a number of the recipients from across Canada. The Kainai Nation, also known as The Blood Tribe It’s the largest […]
With Canada’s National Housing Strategy hitting the halfway point of its ten year term, People First Radio featured a pair of conversations exploring the strategy’s progress thus far. One of those conversations was with Jacqueline Gahagan, Associate Vice President of Research at Mount Saint Vincent University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Gahagan’s background is in health […]
In 2017 the government of Canada launched a ten year National Housing Strategy, with the goal of reducing chronic homelessness by 50 per cent and removing over half a million families from housing need. We’re now five years into that plan. Ren Thomas is an associate professor at Dalhousie University who researches housing policy. She’s […]
Each province and territory in Canada has recognized one program or individual within its borders with an Award for Innovation in Mental Health and Addictions Care. People First Radio presents a series of conversations with a number of the recipients from across Canada. In Manitoba, the award went to KidThink Children’s Mental health Centre, a […]
Nikki Sutherland, Greg Cook, and A.J. Withers discuss their experiences on the front lines of the homelessness crisis in Toronto when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020. They’ve each contributed to the book Displacement City, which is composed of eighteen different chapters offering firsthand perspectives from street nurses, lawyers, people living in the shelter system, […]
Chaque province et territoire Canadien vient de donner un prix pour l’innovation en matière de santé mentale et en matière de dépendance. People First Radio vous apporte une série de conversations avec les lauréats. Au Québec, le prix était donne a une entreprise pour leur programmation visant a aider des jeunes. Le programme s’appelle T’as […]
After 20 years in the Canadian Armed Forces and three tours of Afghanistan, Ryan Hawkyard was dealing with the effects of post traumatic stress. A mental health professional recommended he try acting, and Hawkyard was quickly able to see benefits. Now, he’s the coordinator for Soldiers in the arts, a program that brings veterans and […]
Each province and territory in Canada has recognized one program or individual within its borders with an Award for Innovation in Mental Health and Addictions Care. People First Radio presents a series of conversations with a number of the recipients from across Canada. In British Columbia, the award went to Cherokee Bent. Bent has been […]
"I was very shy when I first heard about my winning, I'm just a regular person like everybody else...I just want to give my supporters all the credit, because without them it wouldn't be possible"
Each province and territory in Canada has recognized one program or individual within its borders with an Award for Innovation in Mental Health and Addictions Care. People First Radio presents a series of conversations with a number of the recipients from across Canada. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the award went to the St. John’s Status […]
"We're seeing more and more that trying to improve the mental health of the caregiver is [also] really really beneficial to the person who is living with dementia"
Each province and territory in Canada has recognized one program or individual within its borders with an Award for Innovation in Mental Health and Addictions Care. People First Radio presents a series of conversations with a number of the recipients from across Canada. At the start of the year, The Canadian Mental Health Association’s Saskatchewan […]
Each province and territory in Canada has recognized one program or individual within its borders with an Award for Innovation in Mental Health and Addictions Care. People First Radio presents a series of conversations with a number of the recipients from across Canada. In the Northwest Territories, the award went to the Supporting Wellbeing program. […]
In late 2019, just before the start of the pandemic, Scott Schieman embarked on a long term study of Canadian workers looking for insight into the interplay between people’s work and well being. Schieman is a professor of sociology at the University of Toronto and the Canada research chair in the social constructs of health. […]
Kiffer Card is the Scientific Director for the Institute for Social Connection and an Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University. He’s seen some evidence in his research that burnout and social isolation could be linked. He’s also found that people with hybrid work setups report significantly better mental health than either those who exclusively work […]
For those wanting to learn more about the housing affordability crisis, one resource is BC Housing’s podcast, Let’s Talk Housing. Now in its second season, it features episodes on a variety of issues ranging from stigma around supportive housing, the role of the private sector in housing development, and how climate change impacts decisions around […]
Celia Haig-Brown and Randy Fred recently finished a tour to promote Tsqelmucwilc, a book that shares the testimonies of survivors of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Tsqelmucwilc is a Secwepemc phrase that loosely translates to “we return to being human again”. The book builds on Haig-Brown and Fred’s work in Resistance and Renewal a 1988 book […]
Anxiety Canada CEO Judith Law discusses the organization’s podcast, Our Anxiety Stories, as well as societal awareness of anxiety. First broadcast October 20 2022.
Nanaimo’s former John Howard Society has a new name, Connective Support Society. Connective Executive Director John Horn spoke with People First Radio about the name change, and the wide variety of work the society does in the community.
Kerri Isham of Power Up Education speaks about an upcoming full day workshop exploring the issue of sex trafficking on Vancouver Island.
The New Brunswick Health Council, along with the Government of New Brunswick’s Department of Health and Education & Early Childhood Development released the results of the most recent student wellness survey. It was completed by more than 40 000 students from grades 6 through 12, which is more than 75 percent of the eligible population. […]
Alina Pete is a cartoonist from the Little Pine First Nation in Saskatchewan. Their short graphic novel Brain Gremlins chronicles their experience with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Brain Gremlins appears in Through The Labyrinths of the Mind, a graphic novel anthology dedicated to mental health. It was released earlier this year by Vancouver publisher Cloudscape Comics […]
WSeeing a superhero dealing with schizophrenia inspired writer Bevan Thomas to create a new project. He and publisher Cloudscape Comics brought together a group of 11 artists, each of whom would explore their own experiences with mental health and mental illness in a graphic novel anthology called Through The Labyrinths of the Mind. In addition […]
Stanley Q Woodvine wanted to bring back a lost tradition to the recycling depot he uses – Free Hot Dog Day. First though, he needed to find a Barbecue. Woodvine has been without a home since 2004. He maintains a blog and has a sizable twitter following, and for a number of years excerpts from […]
Joseph Kakwinokanasum is a Cree-Austrian storyteller and writer from the James Smith Cree Reserve. He also goes by the moniker Starblanket Storyteller. Kakwinokanasum is preparing for the release of his first novel, My Indian Summer, which comes out later this September. It’s a journey decades in the making. The Starblanket Storyteller spoke to People First […]
When talking about housing affordability, a lot of conversations centre on the issue of supply. Yushu Zhu of Simon Fraser University thinks that we need to focus on How we build housing, rather than just how much housing we build. Zhu argues that the way we analyze dwellings can be too focused on economics, and […]
Scientists often use animals to help us learn about ourselves. One important thing to keep in mind when studying lab rats, is, well the fact that they’re in a lab – and not their natural environment. What’s the impact of that? Kelly Lambert is a professor of Behavioural neuroscience at the University of Richmond, and […]
M-J Milloy is a research scientist at the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use and an epidemiologist by training. He was part of a team that did research into how and whether drug users avoided harm reduction measures during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. The researchers compared results across a number of North […]
Excerpts from Nanaimo’s event to mark International Overdose Awareness Day, held in Maffeo Sutton Park August 31 2022. Speakers include Sarah Lovegrove, MP Lisa Marie Barron, MLA Sheila Malcolmson, Lenae Silva, and Aimee Chalifoux.
After 25 years at the negotiating table, the Wei Wai Kum First Nation and the province of British Columbia have reached an incremental agreement to transfer more than 2200 hectares of territorial land back to Wei Wai Kum. The land is west of Campbell River, and the provincial government calls the agreement an early benefit […]
The mental health of psychologists has long been a taboo topic according to a group of researchers including Stephen Lewis, a professor at the University of Guelph. Lewis was part of a team that recently published a study into the mental health of more than two thousand psychology faculty and graduate students. The study found […]
In a community where most of the land is privately owned, how can people ensure the ecosystem is preserved for future generations? That’s the question facing the Gabriola Land and Trails Trust. Their answer is to take a community oriented approach to protecting the natural landscape. The land trust’s Nature Stewards program is asking folks […]
Community safety programs are sprouting in many cities and towns across Canada. In Winnipeg’s Osborne Village, the SABE Peace Walkers look to take an indigenous led, relationship based de-escalation approach to provide incidental support and safe walks to the community. All of the SABE Peace Walkers are provincially licensed in security, and trained in crisis […]
Dave LaBerge, Manager of Community Safety with the City of Nanaimo, speaks about the rollout of the city’s new Community Safety Officer program.
Nous sommes en plein été et bien sûr, en été, la chaleur s’installe. Peut-être avez-vous remarqué que vous avez la mèche courte quand le thermomètre monte. C’est probablement le cas si vous êtes un joueur de baseball dans la ligue majeure. Joël Guérette, de l’Université de Québec en Outaouais, a récemment trouvé que quand il […]
The Nanaimo 7-10 Club Society has been providing meals to the hungry since 1985. Since last August however, they’ve been without a building, as their old location on Prideaux Street was demolished to make way for supportive housing. They’ve switched to a bag lunch to go format, and are still looking for a new home […]
Designed for vulnerable youth, Take a Hike! is an alternative education program that sees students spend 4 days a week in the classroom and one day out in nature. Students also have constant access to a full time registered clinical counsellor. There are Take a Hike programs in many BC communities, including Nanaimo, where around […]
Shea Smith co founded The Homeless Idea Podcast, which is described as “a view into the everyday events, and insights of a Homeless individual in today’s society from a first hand perspective.” Smith spoke with People First Radio about the podcast, his journey, and his perspective on some of the systems surrounding homelessness. […]
Some healthcare professionals are noticing a link between climate change and our mental health, especially in younger populations. So much so that there’s a new lexicon emerging, with conditions like eco-anxiety and ecological grief falling under the umbrella term of “Psychoterratic Syndromes” Natania Abebe is a registered nurse who practices in Ottawa. Earlier this year […]
How can someone get help when they might not even recognize they’re in trouble? It’s a question that’s been on the mind of Ottawa Comic artist Von Allan. Earlier this year, Allan learned that his best friend since childhood, Dave Foohey had died. Police had found Dave dead inside his home, and estimated he had […]
Lisa Brinkman, Manager of Community Planning with the City of Nanaimo, discusses the city’s affordable housing strategy. First broadcast July 2022.
If you’re an organization looking to address homelessness, it makes sense to to take into account the perspectives of people who’ve experienced homelessness. This can be easier said than done. Issues can arise when people with lived experience aren’t being compensated the same as salaried employees when attending meetings and conferences, for example. These experiences […]
One day riding the metro in Montreal, Annie Archambault overheard people complaining that someone on the street wouldn’t take a sandwich they’d offered. As you’ll hear her explain, the experience galvanized the community worker, who has experienced homelessness herself. It led her to speak out on a new Tik Tok account, surleborddelaligne. Now with tens […]
Mental illness still dominates most conversations about transgender Canadians. That’s according to the profile of the new Canada Research chair in Transgender Creativity and Mental Health, Lucas Crawford. Crawford is a professor at the University of Alberta’s Augustana campus, and spoke with People First Radio about what he hopes to accomplish during his tenure as […]
The media round-table session from an event facilitated by the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition’s “Getting to Tomorrow” project. It was held at the Dorchester hotel in Nanaimo on June 16th, and was focused on how the city can respond to the toxic drug poisoning crisis. Those present included Ann Livingston, Amber McGrath, Shane Calder, Sarah […]
Losing your job is stressful, to say the least. It can be accompanied by a sense of grief, uncertainty, and psychological distress. There’s one group of people for whom unpredictable job loss is not only possible, but necessary for a well functioning democratic society. Yet as Zim Nwokora explains, there’s not a ton of sympathy […]
Chances are you know what it means when musicians get together to jam. But do you know what a game jam is? It happens when a group of people get together to design their own video games in a very short space of time, think 72 hours. Sandra Danilovic believes that when people make games […]
Dr. Najmeh Khalili-Mahani spends a lot of time staring at screens, which makes sense, since a big part of her work focuses on digital health. Khalili-Mahani is a biomedical engineer and neuroscientist. She Works for the engAGE Centre for Research in Aging at Concordia University and for the McGill Centre for Integrative Neuroscience. She speaks […]
Whether it’s a date, a meal, or a ride, you can find just about anything you want through your smartphone these days. Even a therapist. Dr. Lauri Goldkind is an associate professor of social work in the graduate school of social service at Fordham University in New York. She’s been researching new apps that connect […]
Housing co-ops, come for the affordability, stay for the community. That’s what Thom Armstrong says is the experience of many of the people living in housing co-ops in the province of British Columbia. Armstrong is the CEO of the co-operative housing federation of BC, as well as the community land trust foundation of BC. First […]
Brigitte Watson lives in Pointe-Claire QC. When a forest in her community was at risk of being cut down as part of new developments, Watson decided to take action. The only potential issue was anxiety that made it difficult for her to go far from home by herself. Watson speaks about the experience of going […]
Marnie Wedlake discusses “Taken Away by the Green Butterfly: A Critical Autobiographical Narrative Study of Shock Therapy”, which recounts her experience receiving Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the 1990s. Wedlake is a registered psychotherapist and faculty member in the department of Health Studies at Western University in London Ontario. First Broadcast June 02, 2022.
June is time to buddy up. That’s because this month, the Centre for Suicide Prevention is running its third annual buddy up campaign. It’s focused on men’s suicide prevention. Akash Asif is the external relations director for the Centre for Suicide Prevention. As he explains, there are a number of ways men can help reduce […]
Bára Hladík speaks about her debut novella “New Infinity”. The story follows a woman grappling with the philosophical and societal implications of autoimmune disease, and blends narrative prose and poetry. “New infinity” is published by Metatron press and releases June first. First Broadcast May 26 2022.
Pat Gervais, owner of Pondersmith Games, speaks about “Surviving Opioids”, a video game he’s currently developing. The game is informed from by Gervais’ experience with and recovery from opioid addiction, which he also addresses in the interview. First broadcast May 26 2022.
Basic income has been viewed by some as a way to reduce poverty while simplifying existing welfare programs. That sentiment isn’t universal however. In a Globe and Mail op ed, Canadian senator Diane Bellemare recently argued that basic income would be costly and complicated. In response, Jiaying Zhao, associate professor in the department of psychology […]
Some doctors in Canada are now prescribing food. But it isn’t as simple as telling a patient to eat their broccoli. As Dr. Matthew Little explains, Food is much more than just something we put into our bodies to stay healthy. Little is an assistant professor in the school of public health and social policy […]
PJ Patten shares the story of his experience with homelessness and addiction, which is also told in his graphic novel Tower 25. More information on Tower 25 is available here: https://www.cloudscapecomics.com/product/tower-25-the-graphic-memoir/ First broadcast May 19 2022.
Andrea Paquette, President of Stigma Free Society, speaks about the organization and her lived experience with Bipolar disorder. First Broadcast May 12 2022.
Eris Nyx, co-founder of the Drug User Liberation Front(DULF) speaks about Health Canada’s recent rejection of the DULF’s application for a section 56 exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The exemption would have allowed DULF to legally operate a compassion club model in which they would test methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin for the […]
Heather Cowie, National Project Manager for Dementia Friendly Canada, speaks about the stigma surrounding dementia, and everyday actions people can take to combat it. First broadcast May 05, 2022.
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau speaks about empathy, the theme of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Week. Grégoire Trudeau is a national volunteer with the Canadian Mental Health Association, and more information about this year’s mental health week can be found at mentalhealthweek.ca First broadcast May 05 2022.
Julia Woodhall-Melnik, principal investigator of the University of New Brunswick’s Housing, Mobilization & Engagement Research Laboratory (HOME-RL), discusses housing affordability and affordable housing in the province, what she’s found in her work at HOME-RL, and recent measures taken by the provincial government. First Broadcast April 28 2022.
Nathan Lauster responds to the UBCM’s recent position paper on housing, and discusses housing supply, zoning and the role municipalities play in our housing situation. Lauster is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology at the University of British Columbia, and author of The Death and Life of the Single Family House: Lessons from […]
Craig Hodge, Coquitlam City Councillor and Executive with the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM), discusses the information contained in a position paper on housing released by that organization in March. First Broadcast April 07 2022.
Christiana Bratiotis, Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Social Work, speaks about hoarding. First Broadcast April 28 2022.
A visit to Project Rise, an employability program for people who’ve experienced homelessness, run by Island Crisis Care Society. Featuring interviews with Project Rise Participant Don Crisp and Project Rise coordinator Stephen Cochrane. First Broadcast April 21 2022.
Penny Gurstein, lead researcher at the University of British Columbia’s housing research collaborative, speaks about affordable housing in the province. First Broadcast April 14 2022
Melissa Giles, project lead with BC Rent Bank discusses rent banks in the province, which help people facing temporary financial emergencies with loans that enable them to stay housed. For more information on a rent bank in BC, you can visit: bcrentbank.ca First Broadcast April 14 2022.
Francois Richer, professor in the department of psychology at the University of Quebec at Montreal, speaks about where our thoughts come from, the link between our thoughts and our emotions, and how we can use this information to be more conscious of our mental state. First broadcast April 07 2022.
Laura Misener, director of the department of Kinesiology at Western University, and a former university level gymnast, judge, and coach, speaks about the need for a cultural shift within gymnastics and other sports. First Broadcast April 07 2022.
Kiah Ellis-Durity speaks about a new online course by youth for youth on cannabis and mental health. Ellis-Durity was the project facilitator for the course, which can be found at cannabisandmentalhealth.ca First Broadcast March 31 2022.
Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell, registered psychotherapist and certified music therapist discusses how music is used as a healing tool in clinical settings. Mitchell is also the coordinator of the bachelor’s of music therapy program at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo Ontario. First Broadcast March 31 2022.
Eris Nyx, co-founder of the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF), speaks about the Vancouver based organization, which tests and distributes heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine to drug users as a form of harm reduction. First Broadcast March 24 2022.
Sheila Malcolmson, British Columbia’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, discusses the province’s new complex care program, following the recent announcement that 100 complex care spaces would be coming to the Greater Victoria area. First Broadcast March 31 2022.
Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux and Steve Koptie discuss the concept of ‘Reconciliation Social Work’, which they have previously outlined in a paper of the same name. Wesley-Esquimaux is the chair for truth and reconciliation at Lakehead University and chair of the governing circle for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg. Koptie is a […]
Megz Reynolds, executive director of the Do More Agriculture foundation, speaks about mental health within the world of agriculture. Also discussed is access to free mental health counselling for BC producers and their families. More information on that initiative can be found here: https://www.domore.ag/bc-support First Broadcast March 17 2022.
Dr. Daniel Chorney, Clinical Child Psychologist, discusses Anxiety Canada’s “Caretoons” – short cartoons to teach kids and youth about anxiety. The conversation also touches on social anxiety: what it is, what the signs are, when it might be something to seek help with, and how to do that. First Broadcast March 17 2022.
Ashley Clarke, coordinator of “Older Adults Eating Well Together” discusses the program put on by Nanaimo Foodshare. First Broadcast March 10 2022. More information on the program can be found here: https://nanaimofoodshare.ca/campaign/older-adults-eating-well-together/
Brandon Gray, technical officer with the mental health unit of the World Health Organization discusses the findings of the WHO’s recently released scientific brief: “Mental Health and COVID-19: Early evidence of the pandemic’s impact”. First Broadcast March 10 2022.
Mental Health First Aid training and delivery specialist Denise Waligora speaks about MHFA training, as well as some best practices for being a mental health first responder to the people in your life. First Broadcast March 10 2022.
Dr. Alexandra Dimmer and Dr. Susan Law speak about the results of a study they conducted at McGill University into the experiences of well siblings of young adults with mood and or anxiety disorders. First broadcast March 3 2022.
Dr. Jill Cameron, Professor of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Toronto, speaks about the results of a study into caregiving to older adults with depression. First broadcast March 3 2022.
Youth coach and fourth year Vancouver Island University student Mallory Woods speaks about how their own experiences growing up have led to a passion for and career in supporting youth mental health. First Broadcast March 3 2022.
Margaret Pfoh, CEO of the Aboriginal Housing Management Association, speaks about the organization’s recently released urban, rural, and northern Indigenous housing strategy, a first of its kind for BC. First Broadcast February 24th 2022.
Dr. Shannon Dames, chair of a new psychedelic assisted therapy program set to debut this fall at Vancouver Island University, speaks about the new program, psychedelic therapy in general, as well as results from the ketamine assisted therapy program “Roots To Thrive”. First broadcast February 24 2022.
Jeff Smith speaks about his experience with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and a new non profit called The Detachment Technique. Smith says the treatment helped him and he’s looking to share it with other first responders and military personnel experiencing PTSD. First Broadcast February 24th 2022.
Author, journalist, and pain patient Carlyn Zwarenstein speaks about the issues covered in her latest book, “On Opium: Pain, Pleasure, and Other Matters of Substance”. First broadcast February 17 2022
Dr. Neil Boyd, professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, discusses decriminalization of illicit drug use in a Canadian context. Boyd was one of the authors of a paper in the January 2022 edition of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry called “Proposals for Decriminalization of Illicit Drug Use: Considering a Combination of déjà-vu, Diversion and […]
Lisa Lapointe, British Columbia’s Chief Coroner, discusses new statistics on illicit drug toxicity related deaths in the province. First broadcast February 17, 2022
Dr Trevor Hancock, retired professor of public health at the University of Victoria, discusses the idea of a well being economy, and calls for GDP to be replaced with indicators that take people’s well being into consideration. First broadcast February 10, 2022.
Dr. Laurie-Ann Corbin-Berrigan, professor in the department of physical activity sciences at the University of Quebec at Trios-Rivieres, speaks about her 2021 exploratory study into head impacts in Canadian Varsity Football. First Broadcast February 10 2022.
Nanaimo city councillor Erin Hemmens speaks about the city’s role in and efforts toward addressing homelessness. First Broadcast February 3rd 2022.
Outgoing producer and presenter of People First Radio Kevin Midbo speaks about the beginnings of the show, how the issues he covered evolved, and the effect producing such an immense body of work had on him. First Broadcast January 27th 2022.
Ryerson Masters of Professional Communication graduate Harleen Dhami discusses her thesis: “Bell Let’s Talk: A Catalyst for Support and Self-Disclosure, or Corporate Greed?” First Broadcast January 27 2022.
Jonny Morris, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s BC office speaks about navigating the public system for mental health support in BC. First Broadcast January 27, 2022.
Nanaimo author and former shelter director Lois Peterson spoke with People First Radio about her book Shelter, and her goal ‘that people look at issues like homelessness, poverty, other social issues, with curiosity rather than judgment.’ First Broadcast February 03, 2022.