Rising Economy Podcast CHEK Podcasts

Family doctors are at the heart of Greater Victoria's healthcare system. However, in recent years, the doctor shortage has left many people without access to family doctors. In this episode of Rising Economy, we talk with Niki Bouchard, Retention & Recruitment Lead with the South Island Division of Family Practice, to find out how Greater Victoria ended up with such a shortage, what steps are in the works to improve the situation — and what still needs to be done to attract and retain more doctors for the region.

Join us for a fascinating talk with Carla Sorrell, Director of Design Victoria, a 4-day festival (May 9-12, 2024) celebrating Victoria's design community. Carla offers festival highlights plus insights into how design — from architecture to graphic, product and software design — shapes the economy and culture of cities, including the Metro Victoria region.

Since World War II, governments have largely relied on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to assess economic progress. Now, support is growing globally for a well-being approach to the economy where quality of life, greater equality and environmental protections are measured alongside traditional economic performance. In Episode 10, we talk to Chris Forester of the Island Community Mental Health Association and Emilie de Rosenroll of South Island Prosperity Partnership about measuring what matters.

With 13 municipalities on Southern Vancouver Island, inter-governmental collaboration is often seen as … well … complicated. But the desire to collaborate across municipal boundaries was alive and well at Local Leadership Day 2023, hosted by South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP). The event drew over 90 municipal leaders and key stakeholders together to explore solutions to local constraints to economic vibrancy. Join host Kerry Slavens and guests Steve Duck, Sidney Municipal Councillor, and Dallas Gislason, Executive Director, Community Economies, SIPP.

This episode of Rising Economy features an-depth interview with Jonathon Dyck of the Victoria Foundation exploring how Greater Victoria residents scored our region on key issues like health, housing quality of life and the economy in the latest edition of the Vital Signs report.

With more than 80% of our food coming from off-Island, only 20 to 30% of our farmable land in production, and only three days of fresh food available at any given time, Vancouver Island has a major food supply gap. In this Rising Economy podcast, we talk to three people working hard to fix the system — Darren Stott, Greenchain Consulting; Tom Hyde, Mill Bay Processing; and food systems specialist Dr. Patricia Reichert.