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.