What happens when land meant to sustain life becomes a tool for profit? And who gets left behind when housing policy erases the systemic barriers gender, history and lived experience?

This week on And Still We Rise, Angela Marie MacDougall sists down with Stefania Seccia of the Women's National Housing and Homelessness Network for a powerful, clear-eyed conversation about what's really driving Canada's housing crisis - and why women, Indigenous people and gender-diverse communities are being pushed to the edges.

• Together, they unpack the crisis from the ground up:
• How land was taken, repurposed, and priced beyond reach;
• How housing became an investment strategy, not a right;
• Why invisibility in housing policy isn't an oversight - it's design;
• Why "build more" won't work if we don't ask - for whom?

Stefania shares what she told Canada's new Prime Minister, why the right to housing must be enforced - not just promised - and how feminist and Indigenous leadership is reshaping what safety, home, and justice could really look like.

Whether you're living the crisis or just waking up to it, this episode is for anyone ready to ask harder questions - and demand better answers.

Former BC Minister and lifelong advocate Katrina Chen joins And Still We Rise to explore what it really takes to build safety - at home, in policy, and in public life. In this intimate and wide-ranging conversation, Katrina and Angela Marie MacDougall delve into surviving gender-based violence, leading childcare reform, writing through trauma, and walking away from politics to heal.

At the heart of this conversation is Katrina's new children's book, A Stronger Home - a tender and courageous story of a mother and son fleeing violence, written to help young readers understand trauma, reslience, and healing.

Angela and Katrina discuss how storytelling, survivor leadership, and trauma-informed public policy can shift what safety means for everyone.

From early childhood education to economic survival, from Gaza to Vancouver, this episode connects the personal and the political in the fight for justice. What happens when leaders speak their truth? What does it mean to centre survivors in every system? And what do we owe to each other rnow, as the world tilts further into crisis?

As Katrina says, "We heal together."

Tune in for an honest, courageous conversation about care, trauma, and the power to building something better - from the inside out.

In this post election episode of And Still We rise, Angela Marie MacDougall is joined by Frédérique Chabot, Executive Director of Action Canada, recorded just before Canada's 2025 federal election - when reproductive justice was notably absent from the national political discourse.

Together, they unpack the narrowing of election narratives, the weaponization of fear, and the real stakes behind the temporary elimination - and now reinstatement - of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality. Drawing connections between reproductive justice, democracy, and economic policy, they expose how gender rightss are being used as political scapegoats and how this climate opens the door to broader rollbacks.

Frédérique breaks down what reproductive justice actually means - including access, autonomy, and the right to raise families in safe, supported communities - and why it's central to any meaningful vision of public health and democracy.

She explains how Action Canada and the feminist movement in Canada have pushed back against false economic choices and reframed reproductive health as part of a larger fight for dignity, safety and survival.

We kick off the relaunch of And Still We Rise with a bold conversation featuring Sue Brown, Co-Director of Justice for Girls. This episode dives into the reality facing girls in Canada.

From the criminalization of survival to the erasure of MMIW and Girls, this conversation dives into what young women - especially Indigenous and racialized girls - are forced to survive in the so-called systems of "care".

We ask:

Why are girls punished for surviving violence?

How does the state criminalize girlhood?...especially Black and Indigenous girls.

What would change if policy, power and protection began with girls.

And Still We Rise - hosted by Angela Marie MacDougall

Producer - Jennifer-Lee Grunson

In commemoration of Black History Month and with few days until International Women's Day, Angela Marie talks summarize the history of Black people and the experience of Black women and girls in Canada.

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Show Hosted and Produced by Angela Marie MacDougall and Battered Women's Support Services. Audio Engineering and Editing by Sarah Ellis Fox.

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To learn more please visit:

Women Deliver: https://womendeliver.org/

BWSS: https://www.bwss.org/

On this episode of And Still We Rise, Angela Marie speaks with Janice Abbott CEO of Atira Women's Resource Society. They talk about the key role that transition houses have played in the last 30 years of organizing for women's liberation and share personal stories and lessons.

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Show Hosted and Produced by Angela Marie MacDougall and Battered Women's Support Services. Audio Engineering and Editing by Sarah Ellis Fox.

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To learn more please visit:

Women Deliver: https://womendeliver.org/

Atira Women's Resource Society: https://atira.bc.ca/

On this episode of And Still We Rise, Angela Marie speaks with Dalya Israel, Executive Director of WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre. They talk about diversity and inclusion for marginalized genders, the rape crisis movement and #MeToo.

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Show Hosted and Produced by Angela Marie MacDougall and Battered Women's Support Services. Audio Engineering and Editing by Sarah Ellis Fox.

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To learn more please visit:

Women Deliver: https://womendeliver.org/

WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre: https://www.wavaw.ca/

Billed as the world's largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women, Women Deliver conference is coming to Vancouver, June 3 – 6, 2019. On this episode of And Still We Rise, Angela Marie speaks with Evelyne Guindon, Managing Director, External Relations for Women Deliver. They talk Women Deliver work and how they are working globally for gender equality.

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Show Hosted and Produced by Angela Marie MacDougall and Battered Women's Support Services. Audio Engineering and Editing by Sarah Ellis Fox.

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To learn more please visit:

Women Deliver: https://womendeliver.org/

BWSS: https://www.bwss.org/

In the midst of the opioid crisis and until recently, much less has been known about women's substance use as most research and treatment focused on men. On this episode of And Still We Rise, Angela Marie speaks with Shannon Skilton, Emily Henry and Dawn Vanichuk women's substance use specialists from Chrysalis Society. They talk about the social context for women's substance use, share personal experiences and discuss what it takes for women to thrive in a world that needs so much healing.

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Show Hosted and Produced by Angela Marie MacDougall and Battered Women's Support Services. Audio Engineering and Editing by Sarah Ellis Fox.

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To learn more please visit:

Chrysalis Society: http://www.chrysalissociety.com/

BWSS: https://www.bwss.org/

On this episode of And Still We Rise, Angela Marie speaks with Julie Savard-Shaw about abortion, reproductive justice, connecting the global and domestic feminist organizing, feminist policy development and Women Deliver Mobilization.

Julie Savard-Shaw is CanWaCH's Director, Partnerships, Women Deliver 2019 Mobilization Canada. She works with stakeholders across sectors to ensure Canadian leadership in the promotion of domestic and global women and girls' health, rights and well-being in the lead-up and at the 2019 Women Deliver Conference.

Julie holds a Master of International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and a Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management. Julie most recently worked at the Prime Minister's Office, providing policy advice on international, gender and immigration-related matters.

Prior to working in politics, Julie worked in the international development sector and successfully leveraged additional resources for global health and education initiatives. Julie also supports local organizations that provide shelter and assistance to women survivors of gender-based violence. In her spare time, Julie regularly travels to Peru, where she co-founded a music school in rural Lima which provides weekly music lessons to disadvantaged youth.

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Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Women's Groups and Funders Respond to Global Gag Rule

https://bit.ly/2Jw0Rrz

Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy

https://bit.ly/2YBkIcc

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Show Hosted and Produced by Angela Marie MacDougall and Battered Women's Support Services. Audio Engineering and Editing by Sarah Ellis Fox.

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To learn more please visit:

CanWaCH: https://www.canwach.ca/

BWSS: https://www.bwss.org/