New First Nations radio station launches in B.C.

Vancouver welcomed another classic rock station to the airwaves earlier this month, but one that gives a different meaning to the word “classic.”

CJNY, or Journey FM urban Indigenous radio at 106.3 FM, kicked off its start with a ceremony on March 3 at Hoobiyee Ts’amiks Vancouver Society, then began broadcasting on March 6 with classic rock that features Indigenous artists, with cultural shows also on the playlist.

The first broadcast by the new station was the Good Medicine Show, hosted by Ashley Pimlott and beamed out every Monday at 6 p.m. (and rebroadcast on Sundays at 4 p.m.). The new station’s website on Tuesday featured the album cover for Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction.

“We’re set up as a not-for-profit society,” said Ron Bartlett (Legath Nee Myant), a member of Kitsumkalum First Nation and general sales manager at Northern Native Broadcasting, Journey FM’s parent company.