People First Radio – May 30, 2024People First Radio – May 30, 2024
People First Radio
Stories from a Nanaimo community dialogue share the human cost of BC’s toxic drug crisis, harm reduction, and stigma, alongside a mother’s grief and advocacy. The episode also follows designer Connolly McDougall’s path to building a sustainable, size-inclusive clothing brand after a life-changing skull fracture.
0:00•31 May 2024
People First Radio: Toxic Drug Crisis Voices and Fashion That Truly Fits
Episode Overview
- Trauma-informed care, counselling, and accessible therapy are portrayed as essential in addressing addiction and homelessness, not optional extras.
- Harm reduction and recovery are framed as complementary, with calls for supervised consumption, safer supply, detox, treatment, and housing across a full spectrum of care.
- Community members stress that people who use drugs face intense stigma and violence, and urge others to respond with humanity, compassion, and practical supports like drop-in spaces.
- Family advocates highlight that criminalisation and imprisonment can worsen mental health and substance use, and call for mental health support and kindness in place of punishment.
- Connolly McDougall illustrates how clothing can be both sustainable and size-inclusive, encouraging people to check fibre content, avoid greenwashing, and value durable, well-fitting garments.
“I support people and where they’re at.”
How do people find hope in the darkest times? This edition of People First Radio brings together raw frontline voices from British Columbia’s toxic drug crisis and a very different, yet connected, story about clothing, dignity, and inclusion. The first half centres on harm reduction recovery expert Guy Felicella, who spent decades in gangs, addiction, and homelessness on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Now more than 11 years sober, he shares how a supervised consumption site with detox and transitional housing changed his life. A nurse who revived him after an overdose told him, “because I care,” a moment he recalls as “astronomically huge” in his path to recovery. Guy pushes back against the idea that harm reduction and recovery are opposites, saying he “supports people and where they’re at” and calling for a full spectrum of care, from safer supply to housing.
Voices from the Nanaimo community dialogue underline that message. Shane, fresh out of treatment, talks about stigma, violence against unhoused people, and the need for “a little bit of humanity and some compassion.” Grieving mother and advocate Wanda Leblanc offers a searing account of her son’s criminalisation instead of treatment, reminding everyone that “the addict you see on the street is loved by someone.” The focus then shifts to Vancouver designer Connolly McDougall and their brand, Connolly Goods.
After a skull fracture forced them onto disability and made solo work impossible, Connolly rebuilt their practice around teamwork, sustainability, and radical size inclusivity. They describe the fashion industry’s arbitrary sizing systems and greenwashing, and explain why they insist on natural fibres, long‑lasting construction, and clothing for bodies often ignored by mainstream brands. Blending stories of overdose, stigma, parenting, disability, and fashion, this episode speaks to anyone who cares about people first, policy second.
It may leave you asking: what simple act of care or curiosity could you offer in your own community today?
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