Interrogate power. Highlight truth.
Tune in as the De Facto Journalism Co-op (http://www.defactomedia.ca) shines a light on systems of power, and abuses of rights and authority.
Our team of award-recognized journalists investigate institutions like police, prisons, housing, drug laws, child welfare, and more.
Our 30-minute weekly show takes listeners behind the scenes of De Facto's investigations, and also highlights top investigative reporters and important scoops from across the country.
Listen in live every Saturday 11-11:30am on 100.5FM in Vancouver — or podcasting anytime at defactomedia.ca (http://defactomedia.ca/radio)
CREDITS:
Theme music courtesy of Devours (November (https://devours.bandcamp.com/track/november), Homecoming Queen (https://devours.bandcamp.com/track/homecoming-queen), and 10 Things I Crave About You (https://devours.bandcamp.com/track/10-things-i-crave-about-you)) with permission
Originally aired on Vancouver Co-operative Radio (https://coopradio.org/shows/de-facto-radio) CFRO 100.5FM
Broadcast from the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations
Harm reduction workers on the BC & municipal elections (E07: Oct 31, 2026)
Hosts: Dustin Godfrey and David P. Ball
We speak with two harm reduction workers and community organizers in the Downtown Eastside about how the provincial and civic elections could impact drug users.
Tyson Singh Kelsall is an organizer with Police Oversight with Evidence and Research, POWER, and a Simon Fraser University Health Sciences PhD candidate. And Kali Rufus-Sedgemore is executive director, Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War.
They tell De Facto Radio how their community is bracing for a potential of escalating legal crackdowns — but also how they’ll continue fighting for their loved ones’s lives. And with BC moving far right and Vancouver and Victoria shifting leftward, they discuss a shift in tactics needed to survive — and why municipal leadership may become more and more crucial.
CREDITS:
Theme music courtesy of Devours (November, Homecoming Queen, and 10 Things I Crave About You) with permission
Originally aired on Vancouver Co-operative Radio CFRO 100.5FM
Broadcast from the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations
24 Oct 2026
Pivot Legal Society lawyer on unhoused people's Charter rights (E06: Oct 24, 2026)
Host: David P. Ball
We hear from Laura Macintyre, a staff lawyer and Homes for All Campaign representative with Pivot Legal Society (https://www.pivotlegal.org/) in Vancouver.
We discuss the organization's court battles for the Charter rights of unhoused people facing displacement and the confiscation of their valued belongings, after an investigation by De Facto journalists Brishti Basu and Mike Graeme explored the devastating impacts of increasingly aggressive bylaw enforcement.
REFERENCES:
Pivot Legal Society Stop the Sweeps report (https://www.pivotlegal.org/stop_the_sweeps_report)
Victoria bylaw officers trashed newly donated tents within days — contrary to city claims (https://www.defactomedia.ca/bylaw-officers-unhoused-victoria-belongings/)
As election cycle spotlights homeless crisis, bylaw seizures ‘devastating’ for Victoria’s unhoused (https://www.defactomedia.ca/unhoused-people-impacts-city-seizes-belongings/)
CREDITS:
Theme music courtesy of Devours (November, Homecoming Queen, and 10 Things I Crave About You) with permission
Originally aired on Vancouver Co-operative Radio CFRO 100.5FM
Broadcast from the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations
Host: David P. Ball
Naloxone kits pulled off fences and discarded. Memorials for deceased loved ones dismantled. And a person’s death 48 hours after a bylaw sweep trashed rescue medication for their lungs.
We talk to De Facto journalists Brishti Basu and Mike Graeme in Victoria about their investigation into the devastating impacts of increasingly aggressive bylaw enforcement, and the fallout from officers throwing away possessions that are physically and emotionally important to them.
They proved — by tracking unhoused people's belongings using Apple AirTags — that tents end up in the landfill within days of a bylaw sweep, despite officials' insistence that no such thing happens to new or otherwise functional items in Victoria.
REFERENCES:
Victoria bylaw officers trashed newly donated tents within days — contrary to city claims (https://www.defactomedia.ca/bylaw-officers-unhoused-victoria-belongings/)
As election cycle spotlights homeless crisis, bylaw seizures ‘devastating’ for Victoria’s unhoused (https://www.defactomedia.ca/unhoused-people-impacts-city-seizes-belongings/)
CREDITS:
Theme music courtesy of Devours (November, Homecoming Queen, and 10 Things I Crave About You) with permission
Originally aired on Vancouver Co-operative Radio CFRO 100.5FM
Broadcast from the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations
10 Oct 2026
Expert UBC Medicine witness on testifying in DULF trial (E04: Oct 10, 2026)
Hosts: Emma Arkell and David P. Ball
This week, we continue our coverage of the landmark Supreme Court of B.C. decision to toss charges for founders of a harm-reduction compassion club, Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum, who were convicted of drug trafficking.
This week's guest is an expert witnesses who testified in the case about his research with the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF). Thomas Kerr is professor and head of Social Medicine in UBC's Department of Medicine, and research director with the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU).
REFERENCES:
UBC's Thomas Kerr: (https://socialmedicine.med.ubc.ca/dr-thomas-kerr/)
De Facto's coverage: (https://www.defactomedia.ca/breaking-dulf-founders-trafficking-charges-thrown-out-in-bc-supreme-court-ruling-on-constitutional-challenge/)
CREDITS:
Theme music courtesy of Devours (November, Homecoming Queen, and 10 Things I Crave About You) with permission
Originally aired on Vancouver Co-operative Radio CFRO 100.5FM
Broadcast from the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations
3 Oct 2026
Drug User Liberation Front's big court win (E03: Oct 3, 2026)
Hosts: Dustin Godfrey, Emma Arkell and David P. Ball
This week, we unpack the landmark Supreme Court of B.C. decision in favour of a harm-reduction compassion club whose founders were convicted of drug trafficking — risking long jail terms. But a judge agreed that parts of Canada's drug laws were unconstitutional.
Dustin reported extensively on the case for De Facto and Filter magazine, and Emma covered it for Press Progress. They chat with David about its significance. We also hear reaction to the ruling from DJ Larkin, a lawyer and executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. (https://drugpolicy.ca/)
REFERENCES:
https://www.defactomedia.ca/breaking-dulf-founders-trafficking-charges-thrown-out-in-bc-supreme-court-ruling-on-constitutional-challenge/
https://filtermag.org/dulf-constitutional-challenge-health-canada-official/
https://pressprogress.ca/key-parts-of-canadas-drug-laws-found-unconstitutional-as-judge-throws-out-charges-against-founders-of-vancouver-compassion-club/
https://drugpolicy.ca/
CREDITS:
Theme music courtesy of Devours (November, Homecoming Queen, and 10 Things I Crave About You) with permission
Originally aired on Vancouver Co-operative Radio CFRO 100.5FM
Broadcast from the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations
26 Sept 2026
Workers' right to strike under Bill C-39 (E02: Sept 26, 2026)
Hosts: Dustin Godfrey, Emma Arkell and David P. Ball
This week, we’re talking about some massive news in the labour sector and politics — as the federal government tabled Bill C-39, an Act respecting certain measures to strengthen the economy. It sparked swift outcry over what unions said is an attempt to curb workers' right to strike, but with Ottawa denies.
Emma Arkell, a De Facto co-founder and Press Progress reporter formerly covering the labour beat, talks about her coverage of this controversy and what it means for workers and the economy.
CREDITS:
Theme music courtesy of Devours (November, Homecoming Queen, and 10 Things I Crave About You) with permission
Originally aired on Vancouver Co-operative Radio CFRO 100.5FM
Broadcast from the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations
19 Sept 2026
Canadian spies' corporate intel-sharing (E01: Sept 19, 2026)
HOSTS: Emma Arkell and David P. Ball
GUESTS:
Zak Vescera (Investigative Journalism Foundation)
Matt Simmons (The Narwhal)
STORY:
Canada’s spy agency now shares intel with corporations — thanks to a push from TC Energy (Oct. 23, 2025)
https://thenarwhal.ca/tc-energy-csis-intelligence-sharing/
TOPICS:
How Canada’s biggest corporations successfully lobbied the federal government to enable access to sensitive intelligence information
Concerns raised by civil liberties and environmental advocates over creating a chill effect on freedom of speech
Their story was just shortlisted for a Jack Webster Foundation award for excellence in business reporting this week
CREDITS:
Theme music courtesy of Devours (November, Homecoming Queen, and 10 Things I Crave About You) with permission
Originally broadcase on Vancouver Co-operative Radio CFRO 100.5FM
Broadcast from the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations
16 Sept 2026
De Facto Radio Trailer
Contact De Facto Radio
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
