After having lived through a pandemic, Dr. Evan Adams is even more keen to address vitally important issues. It’s why the Coast Salish actor and former deputy provincial health officer agreed to host an inspirational documentary series focusing on four Indigenous people in recovery from addiction. RealWorld Media produced The Conversation, which is licensed by TELUS originals.
“This is one of the most pressing health issues, I think, that we have ever faced,” Adams tells Pancouver over Zoom. “So, I thought I better spend some time here.”
Each one-hour episode focuses on a different person. This allows them to share their story while offering space to hear from family members and others in their life. Adams has a background in addiction medicine and has worked in the Downtown Eastside. However, he is not treating any of the show’s participants as a physician.
“I’m really just someone who’s chatting with them about where they find themselves,” he says.
One of the four, Alexis, is a talented hip-hop artist in her early 20s who aged out of foster care. Her zest for life and her music is palpable. A second participant, Jay, has reconnected to his Indigenous family and culture by embracing ceremony and learning his heritage language. It’s a remarkable turnaround, given that Jay went into government care at five months of age and was sent to live in an abusive Christian residential school in Arizona.
Adams anchors shows with alarming facts
A third participant, Malcolm, was introduced to alcohol at the age of eight, spiralled into drug addiction, overdosed several times, and wound up in prison before transforming his life. Through a Christian support group, he has gained remarkable insights. And Ryan is a successful businessman who hid his drug use until he lost everything. Now, Ryan shares his story publicly in the hope of helping others.
“When a young woman is going through addiction, it’s very different than when a middle-age businessman is going through addiction,” Adams says. “And if someone is in the Downtown Eastside, it’s different than if they’re on a small reserve in the North.”
Nuances between people’s stories shine through in this well-produced series, which was mostly filmed in Kamloops and premiered in Mental Health Week. The central participants in The Conversation speak courageously about their lived experiences and share intimate aspects of their family histories. They also open up about how they were able to chart a new course with help from family, friends, and loved ones.
It’s critically important to hear these stories, because in 2023, First Nations people were six times more likely to die from drug toxicity than the general population in B.C. In each episode, Adams begins with an alarming fact linking to the subject of the documentary.
A duty to hear from others
In advance of Alexis’s story, he points out that Canadians between the ages of 15 and 24 represent the fastest growing population requiring hospitalization into drug overdoses. In the episode about Malcolm, Adams notes that more than half of the people in prison across Canada cite substance use as a contributing factor in their incarceration.
“For many, the repeating cycle of addiction, arrest, and imprisonment stems from their family history,” Adams adds. “This is a series about the survivors and how they found a pathway to healing.”
He is no stranger to hearing painful stories, having served as an honorary witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. This entailed listening to recollections of Indian residential school survivors. Adams recognizes that it can be painful to hear from people living through addiction. Yet he emphasizes that people from all walks of life benefit from the knowledge that those with different lived experiences can impart.
“I do think we all have a duty to hear from others,” Adams states. “Reconciliation is the responsibility of not just leadership and government, but of citizens. And so we must engage with our Indigenous neighbours and not just literally leave them in the gutter to die.”
The Conversation also addresses the impact of intergenerational trauma and colonialism in addiction. Adams bluntly states that everyone is a product of where they came from. His mother, for example, is quiet and loves to read, which might explain Adams’s studious nature. His father, on the other hand, was a boxer who didn’t raise his son with a gentle hand.
“Yet I love them and I understand where they were working from,” Adams says. “And I know it absolutely shaped who I am and what I do.”
From Smoke Signals to public health
Sometimes, Adams adds, people will go in the exact opposite direction of their parents. This too can indicate that they are a product of that experience.
“I’m not being judgmental, but sometimes the things that we do to each other within a family are less than good for a person.”
As an actor, Adams has a long list of film and TV credits. They range from a starring role as Thomas opposite Adam Beach’s Victor in the 1998 film Smoke Signals to a more recent appearance as Dr. Tim Watts in the miniseries Bones of Crows. Adams acknowledges that in his younger days, he pursued acting as a means of avoiding his social responsibility, which he now fully embraces.
In a curious twist, his public profile as an actor now means that some folks are more interested in hearing what he says about health care. And Adams insists that hosting The Conversation had nothing to do with any desire to be on TV.
“We need to talk publicly and openly about what’s driving the toxic drug crisis and what’s driving addiction,” Adams declares. “Addiction is alive and well and affects virtually all families.”
Since going clean, Alexis’s music career has taken off as YellowBunny. Check out her video (above) for “An Autumn Love Story”. For more information on The Conversation and to see the episodes, visit pathwaystohealing.tv. Follow Charlie Smith on Bluesky @charliesmithvcr.bsky.social. Also, follow the Toronto Spark on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social and X @TOSparkOfficial.
