Former Hatter Mark Sakamoto sharing stories of Good People

“I started off in Hamilton where I was going into tent cities that looked apocalyptic, and felt frankly apocalyptic. For the solution side we went to Medicine Hat,” he said. “Obviously folks in Medicine Hat will be very familiar with Housing First but a lot of the country isn’t. So I was really honoured and proud to kick off the series showcasing a city that I know and love.”

While filming that first episode, Sakamoto was struck by one particular Hatter’s change of opinion.

He remembered that Mayor Ted Clugston campaigned against Housing First but then looked at the numbers after he was elected in 2014.

“It turns out that the most compassionate thing to do it was actually the cheapest thing to do. So he did something that most politicians don’t do, and that’s reverse policy.”

Another person from the episode who has stayed with Sakamoto is Cory, a recipient of the Housing First policy. Sakamoto recalled the 24-year-old shared that had been drinking every day since he was 15 and had been homeless or sleeping rough for his entire adult life. Sakamoto said it was remarkable what Cory felt for the first time when waking up in his own place.

“Plain human dignity. That motivated him to stop drinking and motivated him to donate his time into the community and so while this policy was great for Cory and the thousands of other people that have been touched, I think it’s also great for the community and the sense that when people feel dignity and they feel safe they want to contribute and that’s great for the city of Medicine Hat.”

Other episodes of the series focus on gun violence, the plight of veterans, the global garbage epidemic and the opioid crisis.

“A big thing that we’re trying to do in this program is to really humanize the problems,” said Sakamoto. “I mean it’s called Good People, there are lots of good people that are leaning in and trying to help. But the real lights of true human, unbelievable human resilience, come from the good people that were actually struggling with the issue of homelessness or of opioid addiction or whatever the case may be. And so I think by humanizing the problem you can empathize more.”

When Sakamoto isn’t producing a series or writing best-selling books that win Canada Reads, he helps run digital health company Think Research. As executive vice president, he’s particularly busy these days offering digital tools and virtual care to people around the world.

Being a little closer to the pandemic than most has given him a unique insight into this period in history.

“In this quiet period if there is a silver lining, albeit a pretty distant one perhaps, if there is it’s gotta be that in this quiet pause decision-makers and citizens alike can use it as an opportunity to think what kind of community, what kind of province, what kind of country do we want to emerge back into,” he said. “If COVID has done anything it’s laid bare the truism that we’re only as strong and vibrant as our most vulnerable. I do hope that the program (Good People) offers some tangible sort of green shoots of hope.”

Sakamoto also praised Alberta Premier Jason Kenney for sending out ventilators across the country and how Canadians have banded together.

“It sure makes you proud to be a part of this country,” he said.

by Chris Brown

Former Hatter Mark Sakamoto sharing stories of Good People

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