Interview with Michael Perry
Get to know Michael Perry, the 2025 Champions of Mental Health Award Winner, RPN, President-United Nurses of Alberta,
Local183, and founder of
UNA Mental Health Workers Caucus.
From disc jockey to advertising and public relations, and finally to mental health nursing, get to
know Michael Perry, the Champions of Mental Health Award Winner in the Workplace category
from the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health.
We caught up with Michael on a Friday afternoon in September with the intent of finding out
more about our award winner. Beside the fact that his favourite comfort food is a big bowl of
spicy chili and if he had to choose one song to belt out at Karaoke, it would be “What a
Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong, what makes him tick?
Michael grew up in a small town in Alberta called Ponoka and even though he’ll be celebrating
his 40th year in nursing in October, he didn’t start off wanting to be a nurse and in fact started off
his professional life as a DJ.
Michael’s journey towards becoming a nurse, began by working as an Aide at the psychiatric
hospital in Ponoka, and although he veered off for a time and got a degree in Advertising &
Public Relations, he was eventually pulled back into the field of nursing. He found that his skills
in planning and communication that he had developed during his time in advertising/public
relations, could be applied to nursing, but in a much more positive and rewarding way. For
example, Michael’s planning skills help to continue to help him create strong, nursing care plans,
which ultimately enhance patient outcomes.
When Michael first heard that he had been nominated for this award, he was blown away, but
also a bit worried that after a few days, they might call back and say “hey, we changed our mind,
we got the wrong guy”. Heather Sweet, the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for
Edmonton-Manning contacted him to say that they wanted to nominate him, and being the
straightforward and humble guy he is he did point out that while this award carries his name, it
represents the collective efforts of so many.
Michael was chosen for this award as, through his roles on different committees, caucuses and
his everyday work life, he has championed the adoption of the Psychological Safety Standard in
work settings in Alberta, secured commitments from Recovery Alberta for its rollout and has
advanced national advocacy for expanding Psychiatric Nursing practice across Canada’s
provinces and territories.
As Michael feels that solutions should be preventative rather than reactive, he is also extremely
excited about a commitment that has been secured for the organization to take on the
Psychological Safety Standard, including the Guarding Minds at Work assessment tool, that is
most beneficial in the implementation of this work.
Here are words direct from Michael about his passion for psychological safety at work, which
illustrate his advocacy to include psychological safety on par with physical safety.
"When we think about Occupational Health and Safety in Canada, we recall that laws were
introduced because too many workers were being hurt - or worse - simply by doing their jobs. We
acted because we could no longer accept unsafe workplaces. Today we recognize the risks
workers face are not only physical. They are psychological. Stress, burnout, harassment, moral
injury, and mental illness can be just as damaging as faulty equipment or hazardous materials.
And just like in the early days of OH&S reform, we now face a choice: will we make
psychological safety as fundamental of a right as wearing a hardhat or locking out a machine?
Too often the conversation about workplace mental health stops at resilience training, wellness
apps, debriefing or individual coping strategies. These can help, but all too often they come after
the harm has already occurred.
Prevention means stepping upstream. It means addressing the organizational conditions that
cause harm in the first place: chronic understaffing, unsustainable workloads, poor role clarity,
cultures that downplay, ignore, or outright tolerate harassment, or incivility, as well as absence
of recognition for hard work and achievement.
The Canadian Standards Associations, Psychological Health and Safety Standard reminds us
that psychological hazards are occupational risks. Like physical hazards, they require systemic,
identification, assessment, and control. When organizations take this seriously - when they
embed psychological safety into policy, leadership, and workplace design - the benefits are
enormous:
- Lower turnover and absenteeism.
- Higher engagement and loyalty.
- More innovation and creativity.
- And most importantly, healthier employees who bring their best selves home to their
families and their communities."
Besides this award, in his day-to-day work life, Michael strives to help create more healthy and
inclusive work environments. Along with being the founder and chair of the Pride Caucus of
UNA and a member of the DEI Committee for Recovery Alberta (AHE), Michael believes in the
power of inclusive workplace for advancing, not just patient care, but as well for advancing the
well-being of staff. In his own words, “inclusive workplaces are not just important, not just
something nice to have, they are truly a basic requirement of a professional practice.”
Michael is also continuously learning and recently completed a certification in Accelerated
Resolution Therapy as a therapeutic modality and has a lot of interest in how that can be used to
help and support his fellow healthcare workers.
As we close off, Michael would like to give a special thank you to three nurses in particular that
have served as mentors for him over the past 40 years - Lana Hartmann-McLean, Chandra
Clarke and Lisa Barber. Their practice, their commitment and their welcoming personalities have
always inspired him to try to become a better person.
We thank you, Michael for letting us get to know you better and look forward to hearing about
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