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 experiences 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 […]