Welcome to Ryan Painter's Blog

For years, Ryan has been an outspoken advocate for destigmatizing mental health. He has shared his personal story of struggle with mental illness and suicide, and his over a decade journey to come to terms with these challenges.

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Ryan felt deeply, after years of work on his own mental health and after a fortunate encounter with a speech by Bob Rae on in the House of Commons on his struggles with depression, that he had an obligation to speak openly about his challenges to help raise awareness and end the stigma that keeps people silent.

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Ryan came out publicly in 2017 as a person living with mental illness and unafraid he shared his very real experiences, the good and the bad. He took his voice to advocate for policies like paid sick leave at the national and provincial level, including working with the BC Federation of Labour to advocate for mandatory paid sick leave in British Columbia.

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Ryan took his campaign for mental health to the Greater Victoria School District in 2018 when he entered the race for School Board. He secured 18, 678 votes and was sworn in on November 5th of that year. He continues to advocate for students wellness and wellbeing and advocates for students with disabilities and diverse learning needs, as well as being a vocal supporter of SOGI123 and the 2SLGBTW+ community.

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On November 26, 2021, Ryan was honoured to be elected as Chair of the Greater Victoria Board of Education and is committed to continuing his work and advocacy for closing learning gaps for Indigenous students and ensuring that vulnerable students, students with disabilities and neurodiverse students.