Check in here for audio interviews with some of the personalities that make Fernwood the unique and funky neighbourhood that it is.

As opportunities arise, we wil also present audio from the big picture, perhaps national, perhaps global, that has an impact on Fernwood residents.

(It is obvious that the content below is now archival, because we no longer have a volunteer dedicated to it. If you are interested in picking it up, send us an email.)

Seth Klein is a respected policy analyst for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Seth presented a plan for poverty reduction in BC at Alix Goolden Hall on Feb. 28, 2009. The introduction is by Victoria City Councillor Philipe Lucas, who organized the event. Speaking after Philipe is local poverty activist Rose Henry.

This is a raw audio recording of the presentation.

BC Poverty Reduction Website

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 101 mb, 1 hour 50 minutes run time)

Wayne Hollohan is running for City Council. He is President of the Fairfield Community Association, and Chair of the Victoria Planning and Zoning Committee

FCA President Tony Sprackett interviewed Hollohan on Nov. 6, 2008.

(note that the volume drops on this interview at approximatly 31:47 into the recording. I was unable to resolve this technical issue, so please adjust accordingly.)

Wayne Hollohan's Campaign Website

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 49 mb, 53:44 run time)

Tim Van Alstine is running for City Council. Tim brings a long history of neighbourhood association work, along with credentials from participating at a municipal level.

FCA President Tony Sprackett interviewed Van Alstine on Nov. 2, 2008.

Tim Van Alstine's Campaign Website

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 46 mb, 49:53 run time)

Kristen Woodruff says she's serious about winning the mayor's chair in the November 15 Victoria municipal election.

FCA President Tony Sprackett interviewed Woodruff on Oct. 27, 2008.

Kristen says she does not participate in the "exchange economy".

E-mail Kristen

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 26 mb, 28:28 run time)

Dean Fortin is a City Councillor and Executive Director of the Burnside-Gorge Community Centre. He wants to be Mayor of Victoria. In this Radio FCA exclusive, Councillor Fortin offers his take on the issues facing the next City Council.

FCA President Tony Sprackett interviewed Fortin on Sep. 21, 2008.

In the photo above, Fortin meets with FCA & FNRG members, and other community activists at Koffi, on Haultain St., in August of 2008.

At the end of this interview, Dean was asked who he needs to have on Council to support the agenda he laid out. Dean did not list any current Council members, but we later clarified that this was an oversight on his part. Fortin indicated after the interview that he would like to see progressive incumbents Pam Madoff, Sonya Chandler, and Charlayne Thornton-Joe returned for another term.

Dean Fortin's campaign website

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 35 mb, 38:15 run time)

Fernwood resident Adam Saab is the Green Party's candidate for Member of Parliament in Victoria. FCA President Tony Sprackett interviewed Saab on Oct. 5, 2008 with 9 days to go until the federal election.

Topics include the national housing crisis, child care, Afghanistan, and the implications of voting Green in our current first-past-the-post system with the potential of helping the Harper government gain a majority by splitting the progressive vote.

Adam Saab's website

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 42 mb, 46:10 run time)

Approximately 200 people gathered in Stevenson Park on Saturday morning September 27th to honour the dedication of the Community Well.

The well and historical plaque were unveiled by His Honour, the Honourable Steven L. Point, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

Lieutenant Governor Steven L. Point (left) Songhees Nation Chief Robert Sam (right) and a crowd of community supporters as Father Edward Kwiatkowski conducts a blessing of the newly unveiled Community Well.

Photo credit: Pete Rockwell

Watch the MOV file (approx. 82 mb, 7:15 run time)
or
The AVI version via YouTube

Video credit: Andrew Naysmith, Oak Bay Johnny Productions

Denise Savoie is running for a second term as Victoria NDP Member of Parliament. FCA President Tony Sprackett interviewed Denise at her Cook St. campaign headquarters on September 26, 2008.

Topics include the national housing crisis, child care, Afghanistan, approaches to crime control, and what the NDP role might look like after the Oct. 14th federal election.

Technical point: Your volume level will likely need to be adusted up once the interview starts. Apologies for that inconvenience.

Denise Savoie's campaign website

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 28.5 mb, 31:05 run time)

It was historical research by (at that time) FCA board member Kevin Neish that sowed the seeds of the Fernwood Community Association's Community Well Project at William Stevenson Memorial Park in the 1200 block of Pembroke St.

Susan Woods, host of CFAX Radio's local history show "Remember When", interviewed project lead Bill Goers, and FCA Vice-President Joanne Murray, chief organizer for the Sep. 27, 2008 dedication ceremony. There is a very rich and colourful history to the water under Spring Ridge.

Radio FCA thanks both Susan Woods and CFAX for letting us run this here.

In the photo above FCA member Bobby Arbess and his son Misha are happy about the newly installed pump.

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 43 mb, 47:15 run time)

Fernwood resident Cosmo Meens was Beijing chef for the Canadian triathlon team. Victorian Simon Whitfield brought home the silver medal from the mens' event, and Cosmo was the guy who provided the nutritional fuel for Simon and his team-mates to stay healthy.

Cosmo talks about Beijing, the triathlon races, and what else - food!

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 39 mb, 42:48 run time)

Former Premier of Ontario, and current Liberal MP for the riding of Toronto Centre, Bob Rae speaks at an August 22, 2008 lunch meeting at the Fernwood Inn. Ann Park-Shannon, federal Liberal candidate for Victoria is pictured above, along with Rae.

Mr. Rae was in town stumping for the Liberals' Green Shift policy, currently under attack by the Harper government, as an October election draws nigh.

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 41 mb, 45:44 run time)

Untangling the web of bureaucracy to get a government related problem addressed can be a daunting and intimidating task. With 3 different layers of elected government and a regional district, just finding the right door to be listened to at can be a problem.

Even for those who know which door to go to, finding an advocate is sometimes the only way to have a problem addressed. Provincial Members of the Legislative Assembly are funded by the government to maintain community offices. These offices provide help to people trying to find the right door, or provide help with a government-related problem they are facing.

Connie McCann is the Legislative Assistant for Carole James, MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill. I spoke with her on January 3, 2008.

-Tony Sprackett

Contact info for the offices of both Fernwood MLAs, Carole James and Rob Fleming is below:

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 19 mb, 20:30 run time)

Former Afghan Legislator Speaks to Victoria

Listening to Malalai Joya speak in October of 2007, I couldn’t help feeling that I was hearing the voice of someone who might not be with us on this earth for long. As sad as this makes me, the reality is that this 29-year old Afghani woman is riling some extremely dangerous people in the decades-long war zone that is her home country. She has already survived four assassination attempts and it would only be foolish to presume that the powerful people who want to see her dead will stop at that.

When you look into her eyes as she speaks, you can see an earnestness that comes from having had to live through unspeakable horror. You can see a person who has had to confront her own mortality, and has chosen to carry on anyway, fighting the human rights atrocities that are common daily living in Afghanistan.

Ms. Joya can list many specific examples of female activists who have been killed already for opposing the warlords who sit as integrated partners in the NATO backed government of Hamid Karzai. This is the government that Canadian troops are in Afghanistan to support.

The common Afghan people sit in the middle of Karzai and the warlords on the one hand, and the stone-age Islamic fundamentalist Taliban on the other. It’s an unimaginably tough place for people of reason and intelligence to exist. Joya says suicide among women is soaring as the apparent hopelessness of their situation continues to take its grim toll.

Joya was in Victoria to deliver her message that the NATO forces are unwittingly supporting some very corrupt and oppressive people, and they are doing it in the name of justice and freedom for women and children. She has the credentials to know that of which she speaks, having been elected to the National Assembly of Afghanistan in 2005. She was suspended from the parliament this year, and has appealed this to the Afghan Supreme Court.

-Tony Sprackett
Recording assistance with Ms. Joya's address: Eliza Sprackett

For more on Malalai Joya, check her website.

Listen to the MP3 file (approx. 18 mb, 19:25 run time)

Waleed Rabiaa is the son of a former general in the Iraqi army, during the time of Sadaam Hussein. After the invasion of Iraq in 2001, Waleed acted as a guide / interpreter for journalists wishing to go beyond the bounds of the stories that were available to them as imbedded press.

Tony Sprackett interviewed Waleed on July 25, 2007. This interview runs 1 hour and 28 minutes

Listen to the MP3 version. (approx. 20 MB)

Download the Part 1 podcast interview (23 MB)

Listen to the Part 1 MP3 version online (34MB)