This is the fourth in the series, “Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside: Past and Present.” In this episode, Libby Davies, former Vancouver city councillor and former NDP MP for the riding in which the Downtown Eastside is located, discusses the tragedy of missing and murdered women in the community. She recalls addressing the issue with the then federal minister of justice, shocked that not only was the federal government not doing anything about it, he hadn’t even heard of the issue.

This is the second in the series, “Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside: Past and Present.” Libby Davies, former Vancouver city councillor and former NDP MP for the riding in which the Downtown Eastside is located, discusses the past and the present of the community. Davies recalls the impact of activist and poet Bud Osborn and reflects upon the struggle to establish Insite, Canada’s first safe injection site. She goes on to discuss the impact of the ’90s austerity budget — and the resulting challenges still to be addressed.

ou probably don’t know his name, but for decades Bob Gallagher has worked tirelessly as an activist and organizer behind the scenes in the fight for LGBTQ rights in Toronto and Canada. Libby Davies, Canada’s first out lesbian MP, was a member of Parliament for 18 years, many of them working with Gallagher, who was chief of staff to Jack Layton. Davies pays tribute to a man she calls a friend and colleague, talking to Gallagher recently about the moment 40 years ago when everything changed for Toronto’s LGBTQ community and his years of “getting things done.”