Walking with Dr. Gabor Maté through Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is like being on the arm of the Pope. He knows everyone, and stops, again and again, to chat and check-up on patients and area residents he’s come to know over the past decade.

They came by the hundreds, packing the Commodore, Vancouver’s big-band-era ballroom, with leopard-print leggings and neon arm bands to see the socially conscious rapper, M.I.A. Known for her political lyrics, her eclectic personal style and her culture-mashing sound – a raw fusion of dancehall reggae, favela funk and electro – M.I.A. has recently taken up the role of brash envoy for the Third World.