April 1, 1996, carnegie newsletter by Carnegie Newsletter

WOODWORKERS OF C A N A D A

CENTRE DESIGN Coordinator: Joy Thompson

HOW TO GET INVOLVED 0

complete "Sobering Centren Questionaire

attend a public meeting call or drop into the oftice; ask for JOY

What friendehip mean6 to me

look for dates and times of focus groups When you walked in the room I feu in love with you and yet 1didn't even know your name. You in your world your looks and smile - you're to blame

Love at first sight.. in my eyes it flew away, All I want is to get to know you, a friendship I'd gain anyway

agencies and organisations are invited to a meeting for groups OFFICE:

First United Church 320 E. Hastings St., Vancouver, BC V6A 1P4

DROP-IN HOURS: TELEPHONE:

Looks can be deceiving, It's what the person is inside; I finally got to h o w you - all I had to do was express myself and be a fiiend one that's true

So I keep inside and hold the gift we both gave each other A friendship that in time will grow with giving and sharing with one another

Thank you for opening up to me You are a very special person. You know who you are my fiend, Keep on being you, your qualities have no end. Lance

10:OO a.m.-2:00 o.m. Tuesdav, Wednesday 681-8365

COPIES OF THE "SOBERING CENTRE QUESTIONAIRE CAN BE PICKED UP AND DROPPED OFF AT THE FOLLOWING: Ray-Cam Community Centre, DERA, Sheway, Vancouver Native Health, Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, YWCA Crabtree Comer, Carnegie and Strathcona Community Centres, The Portland Hotel, Neighbourhood Safety Offices, Lookout Living Room, First United Church, The Back AUey and Gastown Business Improvement. FOR THOSE WHO HAVE FILLED OUT THIS QUESTIONAIRE, REMEMBER TO DROP IT OFF AT ANY OF THE ABOVE NO LATER THAN APRIL 9th, 19%. Thank You.

our view of a sense of community

'Opening Event Wednesday Aprir 10 3-5pm 3rd Boor gaIIery

Everyone WeIcome ? nehsAment;s

A REAL COMMUNITY Mapping The Downtown Eastside Carnegie has been busy with a History of the Downtown Eastside Community. When you look at the area's history in museums and archives there is so much material, in the form of photos and articles, that it requires several visits to go through it all. City Hall doesn't include the Downtown Eastside on maps of the area If it isn't here, then where is it? What is the name

DATE

Downtown Eastside doing on the local firehall? What explains the name D.E.R.A.? There is a very active community in the Downtown Eastside. Visitors come here from other countries and from all over Canada (especially those with low or no incomes). Low income persons are prone to staying here for years - even dying here..and not fiom drugs or drink but just old age. Loggers tell tales of their exploit., fishers relate experiences fiom their lives and gold miners seek angels to supply them with the wherewithal to go out again. Writers congregate to hear all the stories they can and turn them into articles, novels, plays. Young & old, sick & well, the homeless, poor & middle income live side by side. They do pretty well working together, making the neigbbourhood a healthier, better place to live; to kecp it an active, vibrant centre of people with the will to fight for their rights. City Hail, the Downtown Eastside may not be on maps of your making, but it is here. By WKA SANDERS

KA'IURI was special. A t & age of three he ms capable of calculating higher nunbers than mast o the adults in the village. ?he adults were scmewhat impressed by Katuri's a b i l i t i e s but there m e more important mtters t o give thought to. 'Ihe daily search f o r wter and scraps of edible food preoccupied .thevillagers, and often the search was -ul. kan an early age Katuri would keep count of th d bodies that were buried by the edge of the veldt after the frequent periods of drought. He figured that an average of three souls passed on each wek, and he would place a large rock in om of the neat rows of rocks near his hut t o keep track of the burials. After 16 raws, the villagers detmnded that Katuri stop taking up so much village land. So with the help of several older boys he dug a shallow, 6 foot wide p i t that wuld contain his rocks without disturbing the elders. 3y the tirne Katuri ms seven, the rock p i l e stood marly 10 inches above the ground

D i a n e P d w a s f i r a l l y o n h e r w y . After getting a six m t h leave of absence fran the Vancouver General, she, and four other nurses in the ccmpany of a doctor fran the Overseas Christian Service, were flying over the Atlantic tow3-d the mrk Continent. Diane's husband ws against the t r i p , but she insisted that she had t o put her skills t o work where they m e really needed. "It's nineteenminety six," she said t o him, "and people are still dying for lack of medical attention. I ' m going, and t h a t ' s that." (A f i n a l night of wild loverraking softened his attitude. ) ?he plane landed in Nairobi. A mountain of supplies ws transferred t o a train that chugged north for two days, then f i v e trucks took the party inland on a four day journey over bonejarringroadstothevillage. A t the end of the line, Diane carefully climbed d m f m n the tnrk and found herself bending over a t a 45 degree angle as she stood on solid ground f o r the f i r s t time i n 14 hours.

She clenched her f i s t s and raised than in the u r as her spine found its natural position. Arms raised, as if in trimph, she sighed .ong and loudly, Her face seerred t o be frozen n a big s i l l y perrntnent mile. V i l l a g e r s gathered in as the trucks m e u r r .ceded. h e children clung t o Diane's hands md led her i n t o the centre of the s e t t l m t . She peered in the passing huts and spke nxmprehemible cccrments t o the children who :embed curious but quiet. ?he heat and e x c i t m t suddenly mde Diane's legs very weak. She f e l t like fainting and jtopped by a sloping p i l e of rocks t o r~r canposure. She s a t d m on them and put her wad betwen her knees. '%a kully t u kclanna!'' a young voice shouted. I Diane looked up and sawa boy pointing at her feet. He looked distressed as their eyes laked I in fascinated wndernmt.

I I

It took a l o t of letter writing, but as Diane's ( s i x months in the village came t o an end, she

had persuaded her husband, the government, and Katuri's farnily that she must take him t o Canada t o be educated. "He has unique intelligence.'' she said t o everyone concerned. "He He the opportunity t o develop his g i f t , and I ' m going t o see he gets it." Katuri eager t o go, but was confused a t why another part of the w r l d wuld be any better than his village. @ r t a i n l yhis st& no longer ached as r d since the nurses came, but the babies still died, and now he wuld have t o gather rucks for strangers in another place. Diane tried t o explain t o him, as best as she could, that in Vancouver the children didn't die fran hunger and there was plenty of fresh wter in the houses. Katuri couldn't believe her. He knew t h a t l i f e was the w y it ws. People were born hungry and thirsty, and only the mst stubborn people did not die as babies and children. It h i t Diane hard t h a t Katuri and the villagers couldn't m t a l l y conceive the thought that the my they lived WE several lifebehind the rest of the w r l d . She also f e l t

guilty over the fact that she couldn't take the entire village with her. It's not right, she thought, that the kst has so much d t h and chooses not t o share it. ''Chpitalisn sucks." she uncharacteristically muttered t o her fellow nurses during their nightly rap session. Diane's colleagues knew of her union activi t i e s back ham, and considered her t o be politically left-leaning. But i n the harsh atmosphere of the village's hardships during the past s i x months, they saw her b i t t e r l y turning akay fran the idea of -tern demxracy, and anbracing an ideology that canpletely eliminated the d o g - ~ ~ t + gdo-nothing-but, forprofit greed mentality t h a t dcnrinated North

.me-.

For h i s part, Katuri ms indifferent t o these m t t e r s as he climbed up into the truck and sat next t o Diane. He waved through the window as they slowly His rock p i t lcoked strangely pulled MY. rmgnificent and he strained t o keep it i n sight till the last possible moment. ?he truck picked up speed and Katuri began hlmming. Diane squeezed h i s hand and thought of ways t c prepare him f o r the culture shock ahead.

Tim Stephenson and Jenny Kwan field a few questions about their political stance as NDP "candidates" at a DERA general meeting at Carnegie.

I V FEED has moved from the Native Health Clinic to 356 Powell. Our new meeting space is called The Back Alley, even though you come in through the front door. IV Feed will be one year old on April 1st, 1996. We have had our share of problems and successes, and we have all learned alot. What we have learned will be useful to those involved in IV Feed and the Back Alley, as well as to others that are just beginning to organize themselves. The idea that users can organize themselves is starting to grow, and even if IV Feed and the Back Alley were to be shut down tomorrow, the idea

356 powell street, phone b 8 5

7 177

every tuesday at 6pm, light supper following

that we must take control of our own lives, and that we have the numbers and the knowledge to do so, is here to stay. One of the main reasons for renting our own place was to give users somewhere where they would be welcome, other than the streets and alleys ofthe Downtown Eastside. And as we know, we're not exactly accepted in the streets and alleys. We're only tolerated, thanks to the fact that there's too many of us to be permanently dispersed without us just reassembling somewhere else. Our strength is in our numbers, that there are so many of us concentrated in one area. If all the users in the area worked togeth-

er, we would not only be listened to, but could actually play a part in making the real decisions about ourselves and our area. Our numbers are great enough for us to be a strong lobby group, at least on the local and provincial levels.

If we were to link up with other user groups across the country, and work as a united voice across Canada, then even the federal government could be pressured to listen and make correct decisions about drug laws, maintenance programs, and other topics of importance to our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters in Canada and around the world.

But some of the yuppioneers already living around there aren't too happy with their old friend Bad. In fact, they're doing the NIMBY thing - Not In My Back Yard. Residents of the condo building at 28 Powell and the art crowd on Carrall complain that Bad is building too big right next to them, and that 70 new cars will clog the lane and make life just too miserable. Is Bad worried? Not likely. He's got the Gastown business establishment with him, and City Hall is being very civilized about it. (Did you know that Bad's architect is Gerry Kennedy, spousal unit of Councillor Lynne Kennedy. Of course, she absents herself every time one of his projects is on the table.) There might be a fly in Bad's ointment, though. You can tell by the increasingly frenzied

Condo-king Brad Holme left a trail of unhappy residents through Mount Pleasant, with flooded suites and shoddy workmanship in the "artist lofts" he built. Along the way, he also managed to alienate a lot of people at City Hall, for his highpressure tactics in working the loopholes. Now he's weaving his old bottom-line magic in the Downtown Eastside, busily making new friends. First it was the low-income residents of the neighborhood. That's the big majority, by the way. Bad's high-security Fort Cordova condo project now under construction at 8 East Cordova (he calls it the Van Horne) is a finger in the eye of the community, which is trying to deal with social conditions without gentrifjmg the area and driving out the poor. And his plan to build micro-sued units for welfare recipients is a throwback to the bad old days when the poor should be happy with what they get. Bad gets his, though a $750,000 palatial -.-spread up in the hills of West Van. Lately, in an ironic twist, Bad has been way he is trying to unload those suites in what is putting the screws to the very people who were a soft condo market. such loyal cheerleaders in getting Fort Cordova First he mounted an expensive door-toapproved, the Gastown yuppies. door advertising campaign in an unlikely comer of If it goes ahead, his new project across the the North Shore, trying to woo the comfortable street at 298 Carrall (the parking lot on the burghers away from their split-level paradise. northeast corner of Carrall and Cordova) will be a Then he unleashed that ridiculous media blitz massive edifice of double-height condos, taller (shilled by SFU business prof Lindsay Meredith than anything else on the block. is that ethical?) that women are stampeding to Fort Bad pictures the project, like Fort Cordova to get in on all the excitement. Cordova, as appealing to the "urban pioneers" Speaking of those yuppies and Gaslords, who will move into a presumably-uninhabited there's still one thing they agree on kick the lowwilderness and tame it for civilization. income residents. c-3

A cozy little outfit called the Gastown Land Use Plan Task Force purports to make decisions for a big chunk of the Downtown Eastside. Their basic goal is to upscale the area, and right now, they're busy huffing about putting limits on the number of "social service" centres (Hello, Dugout and Sally Ann) on each block. Those centres provided needed services for the great majority of people in "Gastown," but these urban pioneers consider them blights and in need of regulation,juist like porn shops and pawn shops. At their most recent meeting, many of the members of this special interest group said that hotels should be phased out as long-term residences. Of course, that would displace more than 1,000 low-income people, but so what? This little clique has the ear of the politicians., so it's important to make it clear they don't speak for the majority of residents. Okay, this sad/angry litany is coming to an

end, but here's one last distant early warning: a developer wants to rezone a site at 295 Alexander (northwest comer, at Gore) to build 70 luxury condo units at $150,000 eaach. That's just aa half block from the Evelyn Saller Cantre (another of those pesky social service centres) and the Lookout emergency shelter. This is the furthest east that the condo invasion has threatened, opening up ripe new territory for gentrification. The developer is holding out a carrot in the form of 30 extra units that will be rented out to "artists" at some subsidized rate, but still far in excess of what most people in the neighborhood can afford. In an earlier incarnation of the project, the developer tried to lure the Pitt Gallery into the project, but the Pitt thought better of it. Yes, artists need affordable., safe places to live and work. But, please, not at the expense of the low-income community around them. Gus A. Walker.

Public Forum on Human Settlements in the Twentieth Century Monday, April 1,1996 - 7:30-9:30 p.m. - Planetarium Star Theatre, 1100 Chestnut 1996 marks the S w n d UN Confer~nceon Human Settlements. While still concerned with basic issues of settlement as a human right, the focus of Habitat I1 is on urbanization and its impact on the future. This Open

Forum will allow for a local discussion of global issues. The moderator is Darlene MiirLari, a d the guest panelists are: Global Vim: Chunges Over the Past Twenty Ymrs -- Dr. Peter Oberlunder, special advisor to U.N. -National View: Transitions From International to National - Dr. Aprodicio Laquian, UBC NGO Perspective Patsy George, International Council on Social Welfare Youth Perspective Anne Wen Rowe-Evans, The World We Inherit Social Activist J i m Green, Social Housing and Settlement

This Forum is sponsored by the Centrefor Human Settlements at UBC, the World kederalkts oj'C'anada, and the Vancouver Branch of the UNAC

Open letter to the ex-Volunteer who will remain nameless (but you know who you are): I want to thank you for accomplishing in a short time what I could not succeed in doing in 15-plus years in this Centre. You have managed to attack the intergrity of the Volunteers, staff and the whole community. You forced the closure of the Computer room with your reckless insinuations. Now a lot of people have lost a program which they really needed. So I thank you for making my 15-plus years look like a waste of time. George Nicholas

Our livelihoods are enriched by the contributions of those who served before us. Many give more than they ever take fiom the community and we inherit the benefits of this generosity and their vision, perseverance and dedication. While most of us cannot make the contributions which would make us household names, we can contribute &eely to improving our community and the world when we simply greet a neighbow or serve on a committee or act on behalf of others less able. When we do so, we demonstrate a quality of leadership which inherently conveys an understanding of human life and serves as a guiding principle which inspired people like Bruce Eriksen, who founded DERA some 23 years ago, and nurtured his successor, Jim Green. Such a sense of purpose was lost at the monthly general meeting of DERA, held at Carnegie on March 2 I, when the Chair decried the hard work, devotion and determination of the Woodward's Committee, morally supporting the classless outbursts of some intolerant participants and members of the audience, who I believe do not represent or reflect the attitude or spirit of the people of the Downtown Eastside. Unfounded accusations besmirching the integrity of Mr. Green require no defense from me. The resumection of the Woodward's property, the impending opening of the Four Corners Community Banbare but just the latest monuments which will deflect unwarranted and embittered personal attacks; standing as testaments to Jim Green's tireless and unwavering commitment to the betterment and improvement in the daily lives of all members of our community. Yours truly, W. Garth 'Sam' McCaUum

People

. . . o

for those who want to learn or teach how to raise a Tipi we are planning to setup this workshop in April

. 9

Cribbage

Cards

Gp.@S NIGHT . Chess

Has been Revivedl i Friday, April 5th 7 - 10 pm Carnegie Theatre Come One, Come All. Challenge your Friends

If you are interested please feel free to contact 401 Main Street Phone 6665-3003

Eroding national stanc rds

... .. . :, 0

Respecting Our Differences As u~lemployi~terlt continues to soar with such rapid speed, we find ourselves living in some pretty troublesome times while coming face to face with this very real issue. In these hard economic times, we find ourselves looking to vent our frustration on something more tangible. such as the colour of someone's skin. The last thing this country needs now is the problem of racial discrimination, yet this is the very thing which seems to be picking up momentum, day by day. First and foremost, other than the First Nations peoples, we are all immigrants to this country. We are here thanks to our parents, grandparents or ancestors. No one has more of a right to be here than anyone else. We are all human beings, each with our own differences of language, skin colour, eyes and culture. All of us are required to breathe the same air and, yes, we all have the same right to be here on this planet called Earth. Canada is known as the "cultural mosaic" as her population is made up of people of various nationalities. It is not always a simple task to understand someone else's point of view, let alone agree with it, but that in itself does not present any insurmountable problem. The important thing is that we, as human beings, have respect for one another's differences. Prejudice exists in every nationality; it is part of hutnan nature and, while I cannot condone it, I know that in some way we are all guilty of this. If we want to be totally honest with ourselves, we may even want to share the responsibility, to some degree, for our own prejudices. However, this problem seems to escalate with statements such as: "Why don't you move to where your own people are?" "Why don't you shop in your own malls?" or when the lack of service to a customer is made obvious in order to show disinterest in doing business with them. Such unwarranted behaviour and such words of

--+ Only when you're gone hungry can you know how I feel NOS> Standing in a lineup with hands held out before me In a strange place Where no one knows my name Made to feel less than the man that I am Standing here before you as you play your power game To whom do I turn when you've turned me down Only when you stand here as Iam will the thought WIZWC; even hit you as to the human that I am For I am you and you are me And what connects us is our mortality

Anna Maria Fasciana-Fierro conflict must end. There is a world out there that is continually teaching us lessons as to what happens to those countries when racist statements and actions turn into racial violence. Often it is with great diff~cuLtythat I listen when reference is made to the "civilized" world. I have to question the meaning that each one of us places on the word 'civilized. ' Rather than look at one another with mistrust or any destructive emotion, we would do well to remember that, as human beings, we are all trying our best to survive. We must always keep in mind that racism like the plague can only make matters worse, destroying all that spread it.

By ANNA MARIA FASCIANA-FIERRO

Dear Mr. Campbell: We are writing to follow up a request for information submitted to your office in October 1995. We are interested in the BC Liberal Party's policy on rent protection for tenants. Three reps from our organisation (Tenants Rights Action Coalition (TRAC)) met with you and Val Anderson [whomyou recently gave a dropkick to when he spoke infavour of poor people and social programs.. .] early in 1995 to discuss your party's housing policies. your plaid-shirt ads and nonstop smile have been reported to have failed miserably but you do live in a house] At that time you were unable to tell us your party's position on the rent regulation issue. Two reps met in February with Jeremy Dalton, your party's new housing critic, and were again told that the Liberal Party (BC) does not have policy in regard to rent regulation. [The Liberal Party (Federal) has, of course, destroyed all housingprograms, downloaded all housing matters to the province, and makes it a 'sorry but we have no choice' thingfor every province except BC (yet) to sell oflall public housing, non-proJit housing and co-ops.] In the interim, you were reported in various publications as having pledged to the Greater Vancouver Apartment Owners' Association [the corporate owners especialy] that a Liberal government would repeal the present government's rent protection legislation in the first sitting of the House after an election. This report

has appeared in The Apartment Investor, BC Report and The Wesrem Investor. We are not requesting at this point a full elaboration of the BC Liberal Party's housing policies, although we hope at some point prior to an election that you will be able to provide this. We are seeking information'only on your party's stance toward rent protection legislation. Therefore, we will ask again: can you confirm the stance a Liberal government would take towards the present govenunent's rent protection legislation (specifically Sections 18.1 through 18.3 of The Residential Tenancy Act?) Would your party repeal this legislation? We are also interested in your party's position on other aspects of Bill 50 (The Residential Tenancy Amendment Act, 1994). Would your government repeal the entire Bill, as reported in some publications? Please contact the undersigned, or our coordinator, Michael Walker, at your earliest convenience to clari@ your party's position on these issues. Anticipating your early attention to this matter, Sincerely, TENANTS' RIGHTS ACTION COALITION

PaulR Taylor Co-Chair

Boyd Pyper Co-Chair

[Readers:This was sent in February and Campbell hasn't responded at all. All parts with I ) are added for this rendition and.. your enlightenment!]

Why I A m Fasting

in transfer pgments to-the provinces for health, post-secondary education and social assistance. Gone is the right to income when a person is in need, the right to adequate income, the right to appeal, and the right not to have to work for welfare. The only CAP right maintained in the CHST is the right to income assistance regardless of the province a person is fiom. The CHST will place Canada in a position of breaching international human rights law expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1W6), and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1 989), all of which Canada has signed. Under the CHST, provinces will not be obliged to have financial assistance programs for persons in need. National standards for social assistance will be gone, and so will be one more building block of Canadian unity. A fast is a reminder that hundreds of thousands of Canadians, many of them children, do not have enough to eat. A fast is an expression of solidarity with those who are hungry. There's a great deal of denial that unemployment, poverty and hunger are serious problems in Canada. Business lobby groups try to prove that 8% unemployment is full employment, and that poverty is not a major concern. However, the growing need for food banks is proof that something is tembly wrong with our economy. The public safety net is collapsing and, with the abolition of national

standards for social assistance, the way is open for third world poverty in Canada on a large scale. A fast is a way of grieving for Canada, the second richest country in the world, where: a) the infant mortality rate is increasing. b) the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing c) the number of hon~elessis itkcresing d) onicial uttemploy~nentis close to lo%, and will continue at that high level for years to come. e) the suicide rate for teens between the ages of 15 and 19 is the third highest in the world. f ) universal health care is being eroded, and a two-tier health care system is developing. g) our schools are being ravaged by cuts, and many post-secondary students cannot afford a university education because of high tuition fees. A fast is a way of grieving for the numbness and paralysis of many Canadians in the face of growing injustice. We see long food bank lines, and we get used to them. We see more and more homeless people, and we get used to them We know that increasing rates of poverty and unemployment cause increasing rates of family breakdown, infant mortality, child abuse, mental illness, malnutrition, substance abuse, suicide, homicide, rape, property crime, youth alienation, and we get used to it. A fast is a way of grieving for our political and economic leaders who have become dehwnanized

dreams were not so different tiom those of many other people in the world, and were expressed in the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. It included the right to decent work, decent income, ,+ adequate food, clothing and shelter, respectful relationships, and the opportunity for each person to participate fully in the life of a healthy community. Today Canadians fear the loss of hard-won social . democracy in the global economy of competitive impoverishment. We long for community that lifts being-in-the-world beyond the predatory stage of ' human development. We do not want our success to depend on another's failure, nor our prosperity on another's poverty. We want to be in control of our lives, to belong to our land, to live with our traditions. This dream is worth fasting for. This dream is worth fighting for.

and whose acquisitive, aggressive way of being in the 1 world is the opposite of being in the world for others. They are unable to grasp that it is not just :that some people are rich and others poor. It is that some people live and others die. , A fast is a way of grieving for those who speak +.out against injustice, knowing full well that the c-. principalities and powers that warp and brutalize -?? , . our society are so strong that it is necessary to pay 3 l a price to oppose them. A fast is also an act of protest, a powerful action $ by a powerless person, a time of reflection, an act .$? : of penance for oneself or for those who are :;, destroying our country, a way of demonstrating ;. i . ': ,;, commitment to something beyond one's personal ' .. . .,'\:.:-. ;' comfort, and a symbol of hope. '2 We were proud of ourselves after the Second . World War, for we had seen what we could do in a national emergency. We thought of ourselves as , a people with a common democratic purpose, and \fl~~. . we even dreamt of having our own flag. Our +,

4; - 3

By SANDY CAMERON

FY~

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S L C ~Mmch

199 6

'Patchwork' so -

The Canada Assistance Plan, which now h h i s mid-70s a.nd a profess-qr, has guaranteed national standards in &eritus of sod$ work at the Univeqiy : welfare and health care come to social programs for the past generation, of B.C., in a n i n t e k e w ~ o r i d a.~ . d lbecome defunct, to be replaced by a "I see homeleskne'ss: niore poverty, a an end Monday, a nationwide patchwork system withvirtually no na- real danger that'cljildren will be netional standards. glected parti+ar13,3,and that we will s e ~ coalition prepares to fight. Splane had a lot to do with creating an underdass develoi, like in the Unitthe modem welfare state. He was an Ot- ed States, which has made it such a danROBERT SARTl tawa civil servant in the department of gerous,country." \'ancouver Sun Sunday marks the end of an era in the health and welfare who wrote the CAP Under the new Canada Health and Social Transfer program, sweeping cuts in history of Canada, and Richard Splane ' legislation back in the 1960s. ..".Without national standards, it's federal transfer payments t o t h e fears the future is going to be a darker, every proviri.ce anits 0%" saidsplane, provinces in the name of deficit-fighting more dangerous time. ,

.4s national standards for

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I I

health later ~nllre

will ah0 come into effect next Monday. The federal contribution for social programs in 1996-97*ll be $15 billion nationwide, down $2.8 billioh fromi995. . The national standards that are,abolished are: the right of every Canadian to an income when in need, the right to an adequate income, the right to appeal welfare rulings and the right not to have to work for welfare.

everything from welfare to post-secondary education to health - helped define Canada for Canadians who came of age in the past 30 years. Recent polls indicate Canadians view their social programs as what most distinguishes them from Europeans and Americans. Splane said nutrition and counselling programs benefiting children and expectant mothers will be especially hardhit because most are subsidized b y c ~ p . He said he is ~ ~ o u b l ebyd a study just completed in ?bronto that indicates the number of underweight babies born there has been rising steadily since 1991, the first such trend in the city's history. Low birth rate is considered by health experts to be a key factor in poor

"That is a result of the scaling d0km of the programs in the Mulroney era, even before the effects of the cuts starting ond day," said Splane. He said cutting programs now is false economy because the later social costs of poor health and anti-social behavior will outweigh any savings in the current budget. A nationwide coalition of community and religious groups is holding fasts and

-..

the Fraser Institute, 626 Bute. . Former prospector Sandy Cameron of the Ecumenical Committee for Socia1Justice started fasting Monday and will continue for a week at Robson

' q m o j am aw!pha~a sap4 qmaJ s!q )!d eq$40 WoUoq e w 04 6u!yu!s apun A u eas I se 'ssaldlaq laej 1

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Alzheimer's. Members of the ~omnunityhad many adventures searching for him when he did his f a ~ O udisappearing s act. One time he turned UP in a video store on Victoria f i v e "Have You my best friend Muggs7" Even Imre surprising was that such a frail-l&ing Person could live to 90 years of age. The Centit?wlebrpfcd the life of this courageous man in late February. There were many interesting 'Stan Stories'. I remember stan ~oiunteeringas assistant cook in the He

Adventurous Stan Stan Henderson passed away peacefully at his home on Febnuuy 18, 1996. He was surrounded by his loving family until the end. Stan was a miracle baby, being born to a mother with tuberculosis; he wasn't expected to live. Life muahave been ar~eme]ydifficult for this family I can't imagine having thirteen children. Stan seemed to cover everything fiom climbing Mount Slesse, in the Fraser Valley, to gowing potatoes in the boulevard. He and his family lived in North Vancouver for many years. Stan wo*ed for Imperial Oil until his retirement; his p - ~ Winnie passed away many years before him. Stan leaves six children, nine grandchilben and six great-grandchildren. It was always amazing how aware Stan was of his surroundhgs despite the baffling discalled

:,&&ms i ~r What are tney I

doing now?

JAC4

2. What are they doing now?

PR/A

I 1. What are they doing now?

3. What are they doing now?

also frequented the Library and loved b e h part of public meetings. 1had to laugh when one of hi:. daughters arrived with a broken leg. She said that. unlike the rest of the family (Stan in particular), it did not happen while mountain-climbing. Apparently the accident occurred in her office! Stan was akin to my father with a love of both music and gardening. We all miss You7 S W , but know you are having a great time climbing Mount Slesse, gardening, playing your favourite music. You might even be planning to plant potatoes in the Strathcona Community Gardens this year... By IRENE SCHMIDT

4. What are they doing now?

5. What ar doing now!

One Elevated Day

Skytrain ran that cold dm day in Februaty she she she she. Faces all opaque sitting waiting for quake or spare change of rainforest to jingle tingle trickle down.

inauguration message to glen dark

before you identifj yourself too readily with east enders of our city dare to live a month on single person's welfare in a $20/night room without extra hydro fiddling! ia doudas

Plastic in wallets, no pets allowed wendy trendy costly hairdos all turquoise proud eyes like pissholes in snow.

Skytrain ran off rail, not a passenger noticed, all too busy body counting bank balances. john alan douglas

everyd everyday I wake up tired bone weaty all my muscles feeling bitter-sweet deep fatigue tired so tired like everything that's h a p p e d to me really has happened broken bones skull to asshole and the nights and the struggle and the rain and the cold and the years and decades of these o lord everyday I wake up so tired I don't hardly think I can get up out of bed but not nearly as tired not even close to the worn-out weariness I felt when I was young when 1 was strong when I was sixteen before I'd ever smoked a cigarette or guzzled a jug of wine or gone crazy trying to find something to stick io a syringe to stick in my vein and hock all the pain down and out for a couple of hours

no even though everyday these days when I wake up I'm bone weary and tired not nearly so tired and weary as thatsixteen on the track team and the basketball team going to dances so damned miserable and lonely and hurting so bad so deep in my soul 1never wanted to get out of bed I remember thinking at sixteen 1'11 never feel rested again

and yeah everyday now I wake up tired but my spirit wakes up with me feeling not quite so weary as my body in fact my spirit jumps up so quick like it's happy just to wake up one more time one more day never thought I'd have never thought I'd live long enough to be this bone weary or thought I'd ever look forward to whatever and whoever and however this day will be messed-up angry sad or joyful and lighted with beauty or across-the-board with all these things not like when 1 was sixteen so tired I thought I was already dead depression whoa depression 1 didn't even have a word for putting a stranglehold on my life to keep rage and terror under control for one more day a day lived between pain and strain maybe a day I'd make my last day maybe a suicide shot once again oh but I looked good when l was sixteen I looked so good all the girls wanted to go out with me but now my hair's gone gray my teeth are loose 1can't stand up straight and I look like hell I look like hell I look like I've really been where I've been but I don't live there anymore no my soul's not drowning in horror everyday I wake up my life is kissed with life once more everyday I wake I say lord I'm blessed with life one day more

Bud Osborn

ldsntity Ids

Dreamed I saw Graham Greene (which one?) jump clean off Burrard Bridge changed his name three times on way down. Wouldn't THAT mess up the impending gland claim? john alan douglas international women's

day in the gender neutral rainforest of bc canada inequality besets all peoples everywhere fight tbrough it but somehow by oh try to be creative constructive not negative destructive for too many couples have been sabotaged before their prime at the hands of self-righteous crusaders envious of other peoples' love [say love john a douglas for lisette

DOWNTOWN STD CLINIC 219 Main; Monday Friday, 10a.m. 6p.m. EASTSIDE NEEDLE EXCHANGE 221 Main; 9a.m. 8p.m. everyday YOUTH Needle Exchange Van on the street every night, 6p.m. 2p.m. (except Mondays, 6p.m. midnight) ACTIVITIES SOCIETY 1995 DONATIONS P a u l a R.-$20 Diane M.-$25 C e c i l e C.-$12 Libby D.-$25 Wm. B.-$25 Nancy H.-$16 L i l l i a n H.-$40 L i s a E.-$8 Sonya S.-$200 L o m e T.-$50 E t i e n n e S .-$I5 Me1 L.-$20 A.Withers -$20 S a r a D.-$16 R o s i t c h -$16 C o l l e e n E.-$16 K e t t l e F.S .-$I6 Bruce 5.-$30 Hazel M.-$16 B i l l S.-$2 J o y T. -$20 Ray -$I2 Bea F.-$30 Bruce -$4 F r a n c i s -$50 C h a r l e y -$25 Anonymous -$166.50 The

g//fEm~~s NEWS LETT E R

THE NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATIONOF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION

Diane M. - $2 0 Jerome -$2 CEEDS -$50 Susan S .-$30 DEYAS - $ l o 0 ~ ri d iR . 4 ~ 30 Amy E.-$20

Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association.

Submission Deadline for the next issue: Wednesday. April lo

NEED HELP?

Downtown Eastside Residents' Association can help you with: * any welfare problem *information on legal rights *disputes with landlords *unsafe living conditions *income tax *UIC problems *finding housing *opening a bank account Come into the Dera office at 9 East Hasti n g St. ~ or phone us at 682-0931.

DERA HAS BEEN SERVING THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE FOR 23 YEARS.

communities of the urban poor should be strengthened and not scattered By Elizabeth Bed Is this not the fast that I choose. . . Is it not to shareyour bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into our house? Isaiah 58:6-8. AS A MEMBER of the AffordableHousing Forum in New Westminster.I was interested in a forum concerning housing in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, held February 1 at St. john's (Shaughnessy)Anglican Church in Vancouver. The evening began with an explanation of gentrification by David Ley, a UBC professor of urban geography. and a member of St.john's. The concept has todo with thewgentry"moving in to where the poor folks used to live. His talk included pictures of False Creek surrounded by pulp mills, when that area included older, low cost housing. Maps marked the disappearance of rooming houses and other affordable housing. A recent headline read "Yuppies in the hood." The neighborhood of the Downtown Eastside is seeing massive upscale redevelopment which will not house its present residents. Ley gave us a definition of community as "people who have lived together for a considerable period of time" and suggested that the Downtown Eastside community is jud that - a community. not just an area to be "upscaled." The second speaker was Downtown Eastside poet and advocate for the poor, Bud Osborn. Osborn has lived through gentrification in Ohio, Mdnhattan, Toronto and now Vancouver. He spoke eloquently of his home community. Osborn pointed out the differencebetween isolated poverty and shared poverty. In Toronto there are 20 - 40.000 scattered poor people. In his eastside community, "our community of the poor." people are there for each other, by word of mouth communication helping each other live in poverty, mourning and celebrating together publicly. Osborn has a dream for his community. He wants the entire Woodward's building to be used for single room apartments.' He wants affordable housing for people in the neighborhood they have called home for many vears. What other area in the city w e l c o m ~people

with disabilities, poor refugees, single mothers and their children. impoverished native people, the mentally ill, addicts, alcoholics,prostitutes, those coming out of prison? Shelters turn away people every night and with the present economic picture, more and more people are becoming marginalized. The Downtown Eastside is able to care for those who are unwanted elsewhere. Osborn's dream is that the strength of his community can be recognized. This city. unlike' most cities, could make a new response to its most vulnerable citizens by creating affordable housing in the Woodward's building. Bud spoke of the impossible tragedy of his own life being turned around by God's love. From hisown experience he knows that the impossible is completely possible with God. There is something in the gentle and honest way he speaks that makes his vision catching. Why not? All that's needed is political will we the public holding on to our respect for community. In my community of New Westminster we are experiencing the arrival sf people who have been "gentrified" awav from their homes elsewhere: We have a loit0 learn from Osborn's

am seeing peoile move from isolation to sharing, from alienation to community. An immediate concern in our city is the proposal for use of the 65 acre Woodlands prop erty. After hearing from Bud Osborn, the dream of building affordable housing in our community seems closer to reality. He has reminded us of what we know well - what happens to the poorest and most afflicted among us happens

211 456 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V W 1R3 Tel: 879-1209 Fax: 879-1229

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MEDIA NOTICE For immediate release

March 26,1996

End Legislated Poverty Demonstrates at the Fraser Institute Monday, April 1, 12 noon 626 Bute at Melville

If the Fraser Institute had its way, publicly hnded social programs would no longer exist and would be replaced with charity. "They even promote the idea that the minimum wage is immoral," said Linda Moreau of End Legislated Poverty (ELP). ELP is a provincial coalition of 41 groups representing churches, women, unions and people with disabilities. On Monday, April 1, at 12 noon End Legislated Poverty will protest the cuts to welfare, health and education at their source: the Fraser Institute. April 1 is the day the Canada Health and Social Transfer goes into effect, cutting $7 billion in federal transfer payments and wiping out national standards for welfare.

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Speakers include: Ben Swankey, fiom the Old Age Pensioners; Marjorie G d l h Cohen, an economist at Simon Fraser University; Sheila Baxter, author of three books about poverty in B.C.; John Fitzpatrick, of the Vancouver and District Labour Council; and Fred Musin, the President of the Hospital Employees Union. The ELPhl Players and the Raging Grannies will entertain. "Slashing welfare fUndiigand destroying national standards is a strange way for the Canadian government to celebrate the United Nations declared International Year to Eradicate PoverM, said Dave Ross, on the ELP Board of Diuectors. The Fraser Institute and other neo conservative business interest lobby groups have been pressuring government to destroy our social safety net and create a competitive, desperate labour force.

"The Fraser Institute would have Canadians go back to the "good old days" of child labour, starvation and low wages. It would be a dog eat dog world where the rich live in lavish opulence and everyone else competes for crummy jobs or crumbs. We're disgusted with the Fraser Institute for lobbying for changes that help the rich and hurt the rest of us", Moreau stated. .. Contact: Linda Moreau - phone (604) 879- 120 Rose Brown fax (604) 879-1

3' 5 i.

"OLD FOLKS ARE WORTH A FOH'TUNE" "What are seniors worth'? We are worth a fortune! Remember - the silver in our hair, gold in our teeth, stones in the kidneys, lead in our feet and gas in our stomach!" "1 have become a little older since 1 saw you last and a few changes have come into my life. Frankly, 1have become a frivolous old gal." *

"I'm seeing five gentlemen every day. When 1wake up, WILL POWER helps me out of bed. Then 1go see JOHN."

Next CHAHLlE HORSE comes along, and when he is here he takes a lot of my time and attention. When he leaves, ARTHUR KlTlS shows up and stays the rest of the day..but he doesn't like to stay in one place very long, so he takes me from joint to joint."

"After such a busy day l'm really tired and glad to go to bed with BEN GAY." "What a life!! Oh yes, I'm also tlirting with AL ZYMER." "The preacher came to call the other day. He said that at my age 1should be thinking about the hereafter. 1told him 'oh, 1do that all the time.' No matter where I am, in the parlour, upstairs, in tht kitchen or down in the basement, I keeping asking myself.... I

and now what am 1 here after'??" Submitted by Joe Paul

Surely it's been years of bored surrender. Saw 2 or 3 visions. Solace and sun and labor. Perhaps the sky, alternately blue and grey, hides an atrocity - I don't know. I've never seen a b t of it. I believe there is a place where we can be together, all of us, beautifully, but I don't think we are the ones who will fmd it. And I remember the rumor of escape In your eyes, the odd, groping language you employed. Have you found your Calandria, your city of flags and windows?

the tangents of tangential self hands a makeshift wherever dotting the line between silences the machinery beneath polemic history's dark thirty where we lived, we said, all our lives in another direction in the useless density of things owned elsewhere, for other reasons as simple as birds, the wires they ride in a haze that m o m s Vancouver (that statistical, shifting discomfort in a dream of topography) erratic fields of endeavor towers bent toward the sky like arthritic fingers where naked bakers unfurl their dark velocities dreamed of you for the first time last nightla sickness going around/descended upon dl daylpale rage of elbowsland then I slept and suddenly dreamt about yodyou were diplomatic Uarl

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Woodward's Two opinions are making their way through the Downtown Eastside community regarding the 'deal' and future of the old Woodward's building. The bare facts appear to be: a proposal for making a mixed-use site beneficial to the whole community was put together in the late 80's by DERA and Jim Green and Ron Yuen, the architect responsible for Four Sisters Co-op and Pendera and Solheim Place. the proposal, with drawings and plans for b d i n g and partnerships, was promoted by Green and Yuen for almost 8 years. It never made it past the private money needed.. the soon-to-be-abandoned site was then and still is the tip of the iceberg for the future of the Downtown Eastside in terms of the threat of gentrification to the 10,000 plus low-income residents Kassem Aghtai, owner of Fama Holdings, bought the building after four other developers looked at it carefully and walked away. Aghtai took a slim proposal to the politicians at City Council, who were very anxious to get this place developed in almost any way - he got approval for 354 market condominiums. members of the community refused to take this and the Carnegie Action Project began organising; many activists in the Downtown Eastside in many different ways contributed to keeping the hture of Woodward's alive for people of the neighbourhood a bunch of people, all of whom had worked continuously to save Woodward's from exclusive condo-ization,. were contacted and asked if they wanted to meet together and put plans, strategies and information on the table to see what options we had for want of a better name, the moniker "Woodward's Committee" stuck meetings happened once a week, there was little to do without having millions of dollars... there was an enormous amount of work to do because we didn't have millions of dollars ... Mike Harcourt, saying he wanted to leave our low-income community with this, promised and delivered half of the building to other-than-condo use Aghtai, in making this deal, insisted that "Co-op Housing" be the model for the community half the Woodward's Committee was almost at the table, but the essentials of the 'deal7 were done between BC Housing and Fama Holdings. We had no say. subcommittees, or, "what about this and this and this and this and ... " The co-op was established for the residential portion of the building and is gathering information on how such a model works and what its advantages are to the people in the neighbourhood. Some of the committees of the Woodwards co-op include: a Design & Development committee to look at size of floorspace, numbers of units, amenity space, the courtyard, access issues, entrances, all under Principles of Livability. We learned of the 'modesty requirements' of BC Housing, of the difficulty of dealing with the private sector whose goal is profit, and of what is neededldesiredlhoped for by many people in the Downtown Eastside. another subcommittee for recreation and community use of space started, looking into health issues, sports and people uses an employment subcommittee is looking at getting a training program plus hiring and work in all phases for locals - both youth under 25 and people over 25 who are ready and skilled. Oh, the other opinion - that all this has been done behind closed doors in secret meetings designed and run to exclude almost everyone and with an end result that will slam the door on the poor

and most vulnerable; that this is not a victory but a death knell; that a small group of people have set themselves up as the elite - speaking for no one but themselves and their exclusive interests - and conducting business as usual with suits fiom corporations and govemments. These two opinions are equal on paper..each takes up space on the page. paulr taylor

1107 Seymour Street Voncower, BC Conodo V6B 558

I Want a Date With You April 16th 1996. Mark the date on your calendar. This is the date for the next Neighburhood Health Group (NHG) meeting. On the agenda... well, it's up to you the people who live in the Downtown Eastside, Strathcona, Gastown and CityGate (Main St. Skytrarn). The purpose of the NHG is for the residents to advise the Community Health Committee (CHC) on what kind of medical care you want. Your CHC (#2)is to base its health plan on the needs of the residents. As a member of CHC #2,1 can't do this without you telling me. CHC #2 consists of the above mentioned neighbourhoods plus Cirandview/Woodland (the Commercial Drive area). We were arbitrarily put together by the staff of the Ministry of Health in 1994. 'Ihe reasoning behind this decision was logical we have s d a r medical and social issues This does make it easier to develop a plan because the nine CHC members don't have long-winded explanations about what life is like. We recognize the big issues. CHC #2 has two NHGs for now: Grandview/Woodland is one and the other four areas make up the second. 1represent the issues of

Phone: (604) 681-91%?

For: (604) 893-2911 Emoll: m P m O p c . w g

the Downtown Eastside, Brenda Kwan represents Strathcona and David Brown represents Gastown. We have started on the first health plan, which is based on more than 80 research documents. Our next task will be to begin adjusting the plan according to what the residents tell us. There is a great stumbling block and only you can help get rid of it. We know that the only way you are going to be able to advise the CHC members on health care is when you know what health care is today. The fact is, no person can know all there is to know about health care, but there is the opportunity to know more. The NHG meetings are a vehicle to learn more about pharmaceutical drug treatment, alternative medical treatment, communicable or degenerative diseases or mental illness and all their symptoms. 2211s is only a partial list. One format could be to have people come fiom various agencies and talk about them, if you want. 'This could include cancer, AIDS, TB, ... We can get knowledgeable people on lots of things; we need you to tell us. The date is April 16th. The time is 7:00 p.m. The place is Strathcona Community Centre, at Pender and Jackson. Please come, so the nine of us can do the job we volunteered to do.

By ALISON CAMERON __1

It's the same old Patricia Ten years ago this month, the evictions began. Hotels in the Downtown Eastside started turfing out long-time residents to make way for higherpaying Expo tourists. It was one of the somest episodes in the history of this neighbourhood, and leading the pack was the Patricia Hotel, with a callous and indifferent attitude toward human suffering. It was the Patricia that threw Olaf Solheim out on the street at the age of 87. Olaf was a gentle old guy, a retired logger, who had lived in the hotel for more than 40 years. DERA found Olaf a home in a social housing project, but it was too late. His life shattered, his heart broken, he just started wandering the streets, trying to find his way back to the Patricia. Two weeks later, he was dead. Did the Patricia express regret? Forget it. Did they learn anything from that tragedy? You judge from the following incident. Last Friday night, two friends were walking up Hastings Street. They saw a man lying in a doorway. He was out of it. They tried to revive him, but they couldn't bring him around. So they went across the street to the Patricia and asked to use the phone. The guy behind the desk had a cool blonde mustache. "No phone," he said. "But there's a guy lying in the street. We iust

When 1 was 11 years old 1moved into a townhouse. In that neighbourhood there was a park, and through the park ran the Humber River. There was a small stream and a field too. The field

Did Mr. Cool Blonde Mustache care? 'The nearest phone is two blocks away," he said. ''The police station." Then he turned his back on the two hapless Samaritans and took a paying customer up in the elevator. The customer made some smart remark that the two men couldn't quite make out, and the mustache laughed as the elevator door slid shut. Guess that adds another oak leaf on the Patricia's Distinguished Indifference Medal. Maybe they want to forget about Olaf, but the community sure doesn't -just look at the new Solheim Place residence in the 200-block Union, secure and affordable housing, the only protection against greedy and cruel landlords. By the way, the two friends didn't have to go two blocks to find a phone. They made their way into the beer parlor, threw a quarter in the pay phone, dialed 9 1 1 and, shouting over the din, finally got hold of an ambulance. had lots of butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, pheasants and snakes. By the stream there were trees. Me and my sister made animals with clay from the stream bed, and saw Erogs, turtles and fish. In the Number River there were big fish, like rainbow trout. Me and my sister and brother enjoyed swimming there. That's what 1remember about that year.

By Doris Leslie