People First Radio

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. […]