People First Radio

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.