People First Media program archive
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Soles remembering souls helps survivors remember, heal

November 17th, 2014 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Soles remembering souls helps survivors remember, heal)

Soles Remembering Souls ‐ Connecting Survivors will be held at the Port Theatre in Nanaimo on Sunday November 23, 2014 to support those left behind after deaths by suicide

Looking Away

Every year, many people lose their lives to suicide, leaving behind family, friends, colleagues and others who struggle to make sense of their loss. Our community is unfortunately no exception. On Vancouver Island, we lose more people to suicide than to motor vehicle accidents and accidental overdose combined. Research also tells us that someone who has lost a significant person to suicide is at a 9 times greater risk themselves.

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Street artist makes her mark in Nanaimo’s Wisteria Lane

November 11th, 2014 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Street artist makes her mark in Nanaimo’s Wisteria Lane)

A street artist from Saskatchewan is creating murals for Nanaimo’s Wisteria Lane as locals work to improve the neighbourhood

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Alyssa Glassford, aka Humanity, has been doing street art for the past twelve years. She has traveled around the world and lived across Canada, experiences that have given a unique edge to her work. At the moment, Humanity is spending hours painting along Wisteria Lane in Nanaimo’s Nob Hill neighbourhood.

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Men’s panel takes a look at current men’s issues

October 6th, 2014 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Men’s panel takes a look at current men’s issues)

From men’s rights to domestic violence, we convene a men’s panel to focus on current issues

picture 589When a men’s rights group working against “bigotry that is routinely practiced against men and boys in this culture” planned its first major conference this year, protesters were fighting for the event to be cancelled (see The Huffington Post). The push for “men’s rights” has for some time been a hotly-debated concept—and has been seen as a push-back against hard-won rights for women.

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Mount Polley disaster may portend more of the same as mining activity is on the rise

September 23rd, 2014 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Mount Polley disaster may portend more of the same as mining activity is on the rise)

B.C. New Democrats say citizens living near the Mount Polley disaster are facing fall rains and winter setting in without even knowing what the plans are for the massive cleanup effort that is needed

Sub NDP MLAs visit Mount Polley I“The scale is hard to imagine,” wrote Peter Moskowitz at Vice.com, “…gray sludge, several feet deep, gushing with the force of a fire hose through streams and forest—coating everything in its path with ashy gunk. What happened on [August 4, 2014] might have been one of North America’s worst environmental disasters in decades, yet the news barely made it past the Canadian border.”

A breach in the Mount Polley mine tailings dam released water and mine tailings into pristine Quesnel Lake. The spill has been called one of the biggest environmental disasters in modern Canadian history. But now, it seems, just over a month later, that news about Mount Polley is barely making it to British Columbians, let alone any farther.

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Canadian vets marching for PTSD awareness reach a goal

September 17th, 2014 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Canadian vets marching for PTSD awareness reach a goal)

Three veterans who served Canada in the former Yugoslavia—Steve Hartwig, Jason McKenzie, and Scott McIntyre McFarlane—have marched across the country to raise awareness of PTSD

picture 584When Steve Hartwig, Jason McKenzie and Scott McFarlane arrived in Antigonish, Nova Scotia on September 7, they paused at the downtown cenotaph honouring fallen soldiers from World War I. They were close to reaching the end of their march across Canada to raise awareness of PTSD among Canada’s veterans.

In WWI, the psychological distress of soldiers was attributed to concussions caused by the impact of shells; this impact was believed to disrupt the brain and cause “shell shock” (Bentley, 2005). Now, in 2014, there is greater understanding of what is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder—but education and awareness is still lacking.

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Island Top Team to hold a second women’s self-defense workshop in Nanaimo

September 16th, 2014 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Island Top Team to hold a second women’s self-defense workshop in Nanaimo)

A women’s self-defense workshop held in late August was attended by over 20 women, prompting organizers to plan for another in September

picture 585Vancouver Island Jiu Jitsu instructor (“professor”) Robert Biernacki and colleague Cathal Walsh offered a women’s self defense workshop in the late summer to introduce concepts related to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, considered to be among the most proven methods of self defense known. Media in both the U.S. and Canada have reported a signficant increase in demand among women for self-defense workshops and courses, and gyms, police departments and colleges are responding to the demand by offering courses to students and community members.

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