Frankly Speaking September 2018

Brad Baker

Brad is a proud member of the Squamish Nation and carries the ancestral name Tsnomot, which he shares with his late grandfather and father. Brad has been an educator for 24 years in the North Vancouver School District. For the last 7 years his position has been District Principal with the portfolios of Indigenous Education, Careers, and Safe and Caring Schools.

Brad was recently selected to the 2017 Governor General of Canada’s Leadership Council. He was 1 of 250 leaders from across Canada that came together to develop strategies on how to move Canada forward in the next 150 years. Brad was the recipient of the Indspire Guiding the Journey National Award for Leadership in Indigenous Education in 2014. He has been a member of the BCPVPA Aboriginal Education Leadership Committee and the BCSSA Aspiring Aboriginal Leadership Program. Brad has had the opportunity to enhance the awareness of the values of Indigenous Education that leads to dialogue through his presentations across Canada and the United States. Recent highlights have included presenting at the National Gathering of Indigenous Education in the years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Brad also presented at the National Indian Education Association’s (USA) annual conference in 2016. More recently, he was the keynote speaker at the 37th Annual Catholic Educators’ Conference in Vancouver and has provided leadership to districts across British Columbia on Indigenous Education. His most recent work includes writing educator guides for the National Film Board and working with the Royal British Columbia Museum on curriculum development. Brad is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Education program at the University of British Columbia.

Leslie McBain

In February 2014, Leslie McBain lost her only child, Jordan Miller, to an accidental opioid overdose. Jordan had become addicted to the pain medication Oxycodone prescribed to him after a work-related back injury. Before his death, 25 year old Jordan was a bright and dynamic young man looking forward to a future running his own business. His death shook his family and friends to the core.

Soon after Jordan’s death, Leslie embarked on a journey advocating for more compassionate, evidence-based drug policies. Two years later, she co-founded Moms Stop the Harm (MSTH) and has since become the Family Engagement Lead for the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU). Leslie sits on BC provincial and Canadian federal committees dedicated to changing drug policies, and she has even participated on the international stage as a member of the Canadian Delegation to the UN March 2018 annual Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

Kenneth Tupper, Ph.D

Kenneth Tupper, Ph.D., is the Director of Implementation & Partnerships at British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, where he supports efforts to improve the provincial addiction treatment system through scientific research, health professional education and clinical care guidance. Prior this current role, between March 2003 and February 2017, Kenneth was Director, Problematic Substance Use Prevention in the Population and Public Health Division of the British Columbia Ministry of Health. In this former role, he assisted in the development, implementation and monitoring of provincial health policy to prevent and respond to problematic drug use and associated harms. Kenneth is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, where his research interests include: psychedelic studies; the cross-cultural and historical uses of drugs; public, professional and school-based drug education; and creating healthy public policy to maximize benefits and minimize harms from psychoactive substances. Kenneth has published in numerous peer reviewed journals, presented at international health and drug policy conferences, and has twice been appointed to Canadian delegations to high-level United Nations international drug policy meetings.