April 1, 2006, carnegie newsletter

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APRIL 1, 2006

604-665-2289

grqmews@Jvcn.bc.ca WW\V.~rnne~ ..org

401 Main St, Vancouvtr

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Dear Ms. Taylor ·. ~ · .: · I am inviting you to an educational and consciousness-rais1ng session at the Carnegie Community Centre on Tuesday, March 28th at 11 a.m. The purpose ofthe event is to help you to understand-: *what it's like to have to live on welfare rates that are too low to meet basic human needs; and * how difficult it is for a person to apply for and actually be accepted to go on welfare.

Our resource people for the hour-long session wi11 include policy experts in the field of welfare, plm individuals who can provide first-hand experiences in having to deal with the welfare system.

As well, for your benefit there will a series of audio-visual aids including the Wheel of Misfortune, illustrating the obstacles to receiving public assistance in B.C.; and the $600 Mountain of Food, showing how we could feed all our poor families if we only cut back on luxuries a little bit.

We hope you will be able to join us for this important event. We are sure that what you learn will assist in the important policy issues facing our province.

Jean Swanson, co-ordinator [Carole Taylors secretary sent a form letter that expressed apologetic refusal.]

The Messages to Carole Taylor that you wrote at Tuesday's "Shoe- In" -Welfare rates up -Hassles down -Your shoes could feed me and my son for 3 months -Sorry I can't yell out -Shoo off Carole Taylor -Raise Welfare Rates!!! Hypocrite -1 survive on $140 per month for food and clothes -You stupid cow!

-Carole, give your head a shake Dear Carole:$600 would get a person(s) a safe, clean home, or at the very least - something to live on -WAKE UP! -Present the money you spend on your shoes to a disabled, impoverished child who needs special shoes for a health reason -BE FAIR! -Scrounging for food -You sure know how to BUDGET! -What I want to say is not for public -Carole Taylor dances on the poor!

-Shame! Shame! A waste of taxpayers funds . -Never judge until you've walked a mile in the moccasins. Is this sustainable shoo-ing?

-Walk a mile in my Guccis.

Recorded by Diane Wood

"Shivers"!

It was a packed theatre on Tuesday March 28th at Carnegie for the Carole T a~lor Shoe~)n. The Shoe~)n was held to protest inadequate welfare rates . and the provincial government's insulting budget.

The event compared our Minister of Finance ' to Carole Taylor's, six hundred dollar Gucci shoes announce the BC budget to the $510 a single person on welfare gets. On hand was a mountain of food worth $600 to display what could have been purchased instead of her Gucci shoes. 'Professor' Bob Sarti hosted the program using a classroom theme to send the message that Carole Taylor and our BC Liberals have a lot of learning to do.

Participants at the event had an opportunity to share how they would have spent the budget and how they get by in a five-week month. Speakers were on hand to further the argument that welfare rates are too low and that the BC government has the funds to ensure that people are not living in poverty. Libby Davies and Jenny Kwan were present with Jenny flying in by helicopter to attend the event.

Our very own, Maryann Antoinette honoured us with her attendance and for the event even proclaimed, "let them eat cake" - and eat cake we did.

Some very serious issues were discussed and will add to the fight to raise welfare rates and end the barriers to getting on welfare. We celebrated the event at the end with our 'class' photo and display of our homemade Gucci shoes.

JayaBabu

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May 16 h, 2006 is Census Day in Canada!

As you may be aware, the census is Canada's largest and most comprehensive survey, collecting demographic, social and economic information on residents of Canada. On May 16th, more than 32 million people will count themselves in when they complete their 2006 Census questionnaire. As the census approaches, Statistics Canada will be in the process of hiring thousands of people across Western Canada, to fill a variety of positions.

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Statistics Canada is looking for candidates in your community, to staff census jobs. We're currently ~ recruiting for crew leaders and enumerators for the next stage of census operations. We encourage applicants I to apply on·line at www.census2006.ca. Manual applications forms are also available if required. t (

Thank you in advance for your support to help us achieve the most complete census possible. Your assistance in this endeavour will make a meaningful contribution to the future of your community. For I additional information or for questions, please contact the Local Census Office at 1-800-862-63 81.

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Raise the Rates Campaign event

I don't know about you, but for two years in a row I've been outraged by our new Finance Minister's apparent insensitivity to flaunting her wealth and privi1ege as she introduces the provincial budget.

Last year was bad enough, $1 20 spent to re-sole her 15-year-old red shoes. This year $600 new Gucci's.

If she chooses to spend that much on her footwear why does she feel obliged to rub it in the faces of ' those who don't have that much to spend on healthy food for their children in a month or 2 months?

The Facts

The facts on child poverty in BC, and Canada, are 5hameful. For the second year in a row, First Call's :hild poverty report card shows this province had the highest rate of poverty at 24%, or almost I in every 4 ~hildren, living in poverty. This is well above the 11ational rate of 17.6% .

In BC, if you are a child in a single parent home, you have a shocking 65% chance of being poor, a :Jramatic increase over the past 3-4 years mostly affecting mothers. If you are an Aboriginal child, you r1ave twice the chance of being poor as a nonAboriginal child. If your family is new to Canada you also have a very high chance of living in poverty. If you have a disability and a single parent, you :rre very likely to be growing up poor.

Children are poor because their parents are poor.

And of course, we know children are poor because their parents are poor. We all say we value children :md want to give children the best possible start in life, yet we ignore the needs of parents for an income that will allow them to take care of their children in a dignified and healthy manner.

About one quarter, or more than 50,000, ofBC's poor children live in families that depend on welfare as their main source of income. These are the poorest children in the province. The purchasing power

of welfare incomes for families with children has been shrinking since 1994. The rates are completely inadequate for even the basics: food and rent.

Welfare policy also discriminates against children with disabilities. Adults with disabilities on welfare receive a higher monthly rate, but children's extra needs do not receive the same recognition.

Then we have the majority of poor children in the province who are poor now because their parents are working, but are receiving wages that are too low to provide an adequate income and/or they cannot get enough work to bring their families out of poverty. !he la~or market is failing to adequately support mcreasmg numbers of working families.

An increasing gap between the richest and poorest families is another worrisome trend. Over the last 20 years, the average yearly income of the poorest 10% of Canadian families with children has increased only 8o/o, while the richest families with children gained 35%.

The consequences for children and families

So what are the consequences for the children in poor families? What are the consequences for their parents and for society as a whole? In other words, why do these statistics matter?

First of all, families can't find adequate housing or afford to feed their children nutritious and balanced meals on this low income. They manage by living in poor, unsafe and crowded conditions; they eat cheap meals Jacking in nutrition but that will fill hungry tummies. Mothers go without food so their children can eat. Then they are often judged and shamed for their living conditions, for their food choices, for leaving their children alone without proper care while they work or run errands. They are vulnerable to having their children apprehended for neglect.

We know from research the statistical risks facing children growing up in poverty: they are more likely to have poor health; more vulnerable to low literacy levels or school failure; more likely to experience social exclusion; more likely to get in trouble with the l~w. And the longer the experience of poverty, the htgher the risk of one or more of these problems.

Children who spend their early, preschool years in poverty, are at higher risk of long term negative effects, yet children under 6 are more likely to be poor than older children.

These facts about child and family poverty are well

known. The harm caused to individual families and children is predictable and well known. The harm to society as a whole of increasing income inequality is predictable and known. We know that other industrialized countries are able to bring their child poverty rates down much lower than Canada's through government policies and programs. So the solutions are known too.

Yet we have this appalling combination of bad policy, societal neglect and willful greed putting 1 in 4 of our children at serious risk of harm.

In a country as rich as Canada, the poverty of any segment of the population is inexcusable and shameful. First Call focuses on child poverty because the formative years of life have long-lasting effects; be-

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.. cause children are particularly vulnerable and cannot ¡ vote and we have a special responsibility to ensure respect for their rights. Countries that have embed. ded respect for children's rights in their child and family policies and achieved lower poverty rates for children, often have more progressive social policy overall.

We have heard governments or other apologists for the current state of affairs say we can't afford to support children and families in need now, we have to wait for the economy to improve, etc., all these excuses against the backdrop of daily, documented harm to children growing up - waiting. And now they say the economy has improved - BC is booming! Prosperity has arrived! Yet in BC we have the highest child poverty rate in the country. What are we waiting for now?

I think we are waiting for our fellow citizens and our government leaders to find their sense of generosity and compassion, to open their hearts, and to care enough. We need to keep giving them the facts, telling the stories, proposing the solutions,~ we are today, and holding on to our outrage. Chtld poverty is not normal in a rich society like ours, and we must never shame ourselves by accepting it. â&#x20AC;˘

[Adrienne Montani, BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition, was chair of the Vancouver School Board]

How many people who aren't poor know?

I remember what this neighbourhood was like 25 years ago. It was poor. It had drug users and people with illness and disabilities. But hardly anyone was homeless. Most people had enough to eat. No one slept in the pews at First United. The stores weren't boarded up.

Why was it different then? In those days welfare and minimum wages had more purchasing power. People could afford to rent a room, buy a sandwich at a cheap restaurant, have a cup of coffee with a friend, and get a bus pass or a phone .

Now the.welfare rate for a single person is $510 a month. How many voters who aren't poor actually realize that welfare rates are so abysmally low? How many know that the $51 0 is divided into 2 parts. $325 is for shelter. How many people who aren't poor know that the $325 has been frozen for 14 years or that the average rent for a crummy hotel room is $380?

How many people who aren't poor know that the support portion of welfare is $185? How many know that it was $205 a month in 1981, 25 years ago? How many middle class or rich people or members of the legislature would have the budgeting skills to even survive on $510 a month, let alone stay healthy and look for work?

Think of what you could buy if you got $852 a month for welfare. That's what welfare you'd get today if welfare had the same purchasing power that it had 25 years ago.

Why are people in this neighbourhood so sick, so hungry, so depressed? Because provincial government policies have created a deep, deep poverty in the midst of incredible wealth.

That's why Carole Taylor's shoes made us angryshoes that cost $90 more than a single person on welfare has to live on for a month. She had a $2 billion budget surplus. She could have ended the deep, deep

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poverty and the hardship it creates. She could have helped open the stores in our community and in low income neighbourhoods across the province.

But she didn't. The government didn't. Instead she· bought the Guccis the shoes that say, "if you're ~oor yo~ don't count"--the shoes that say being rich m the mtdst of deep, deep poverty is normal. .

But, as Nelson Mandela said, "Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made, and can be overcome and eradicated by the actions human beings." That's what we expect the governments we elect to do. We're getting allies and we're not going to stop til those welfare rates get raised .

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And .e Just Begun ...

THB NAMB: OF THE ROWS

March 23124. CNN has been blasting the airwaves for over 20 hours under the headline: FEEBLE DISCHARGED PATIENT DUMPED OFF IN LOS ANGELES SKID ROW This is followed by an amateur video showing a taxi making a u-tum on a street, stopping long enough for a senior woman dressed in pajamas to get out of the taxi, and start wandering up and down the street.

The video photographer (a social service provider) instructs one of his staff to go to the woman and offer her refuge.

Now, why would officials of a hospital discharge an elderly woman, then call and pay for a taxi to drop her off anywhere in Skid Row? Was this the bureaucratic, tied-by-the-hands, hospital staff's 'best choice' under their circumstance? Did they rationalize that only in Skid Row would she certainly find comfort from her fellow human beings?

Maybe by the year 2106 the name Skid Row will mean: A Place Of Safety And Comfort.

Garry Gust

The W.I.S.H. Society's recent endeavour to develop a safe house for sex-trade workers has been blocked

by The Strathcona Business Improvement Association (B.I.A.). WISH's current site at First United Church has always been an inadequate stop-gap measure for them while they sought out a better, permanent site.

Recently, they found one on the 400 block of East Hastings. No sooner had they announced this than up jumps Cathy K wan, President of the Strathcona B.I.A,. to slam the door in their face. Their reasoning: it's 2 blocks from a school--they're 3 blocks away now-- and it impedes the ability of "Strathcona" to grow its commercial base.

Many people may not have noticed, but this B.I.A. has systematically, over time, appropriated significant parts of the Downtown Eastside for their own purposes and have declared arbitrarily broad areas to be part of Strathcona. They have hung Strathcona banners all over Hastings, Cordova and Powell streets, snapping up as much geography as they can.

Would anyone who knows the Downtown Eastside well accept that such locales as Sunrise Market, Oppenheimer Park, St. James .Church, Vancouver Native Health or The Franciscan Sisters (to name but a few) are located in Strathcona? According to the B.J.A. the Downtown Eastside is the 100 block of E. Hastings. Everything else is either Chinatown, Gastown or Strathcona. Apparently the designation Downtown Eastside Oppenheimer District (DEOD) means nothing to them, which is the area comprising East of Main, North of Hastings, back to Clark Dr. B.LAs' in general are a contrivance set up by The City which permits them in neighbourhoods where they operate to levy membership fees on businesses

within their catchment area. Businesses which opt not to join are free to stay out, but the catch is they still have to pay the fee whether in or out.

In 1989, The City commissioned a local area plan for Strathcona that defined the future of Strathcona in terms of development, land use, and social issues.

The committee which was formed to work on this plan was told time and again by the assigned planner to not deal with any issues on Hastings St. but to confine their work efforts to boundaries framed as Gore to the West. Clark Dr. to the East, Malkin Ave. to the South. As for Hastings, the study area actually ended at the South lane behind it.

Since this B.I.A. was commissioned, they unilaterally re-defined their boundaries because apart from a few grocery stores there are no businesses to wrangle money from in Strathcona. And what have they done with the money they have extorted from premises in the area? Apart from hoisting up a whack of pretty banners, they have invested heavily in hiring a renta-goon flying squad which drives around much of the Downtown Eastside hassling and intimidating street people they' feel don't belong in "Strathcona".

It's hard to know who is most at fault here: The B.I.A., which rides roughshod over the neighbourhood, or the City's Planning Dept. which stands behind them and should know better and chooses not to get involved with the W.I.S.H. situation in any helpful way.

W.l.S.H., hoping not to be hounded out of its own neighbourhood by the B.I.A., has now entered into negotiations with a property owner on a different site. When asked on a radio interview whether they had connected with the B.I.A. over this the spokeswoman replied with a succinct no. Good! Giving this B.l.A. credibility and enhancing their opportunities to further consume the Downtown Eastside is the last thing Downtown Eastsiders need as we try to grow and improve our community. We don't need any more bowing and-Scraping to Cathy Kwan or Wayne Nelson from The Patricia Hotel and their ilk. We need to support and encourage W.l.S.H in every way ¡ we can and demonstrate that we will not rollover in submission to B.I.A. intimidation. Let them do what they do best: count your money and mine your own â&#x20AC;˘ businesses.

Ian MacRae

f o' 1\..ichard is dead. it SeeJTIS. They took him back to the hospital Took him away .. no one's seen him since Tragic thing is no one remembers or cares Po' Richard used his wheelchair all fallin apart In front of the Georgia Hotel lookin pathetic so the stockbrokers would buy him package after package to take his pain away Funny little man no one'll miss; well maybe me but I always had a heart for losers, bein one & all his pissbag and puckered stomach bore the waste of his wasted life Poor Richard is dead, it seems don't see him conning someone for a push he'd sit, smok~ 2 Y2 rocks, give you a toke tell you how generous he was as he tweaked funny little man no one will miss Po' Richard is gone for good.

Al Loewen

Hi there, My name is Joanna Trebon and I'm contacting you on behalf of the Electronic Recycling Association.

As a non-profit organization, our main focus is the reuse of IT equipment . Over the years we have kept uncountable amounts of computers out of the landfills, and donated them into the hands of many needy charities and low income people. With and n top of Donations, ERA ensures that equipment is properly recycled.

We accept all computer equipment and accessories as well as telecom equipment. Please spread the word .. Best Regards,

www.era.ca joanna@era.ca 2028 Wall Street, Vancouver BC (604) 215-4483

fiN. ;' â&#x20AC;˘

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Ben Swankey Speaks at Carnegie

Ben Swankey Came to Carnegie At the age of ninety-two, His strong face Covered by the struggles Of seventy-four years As a fighter for justice.

We came to listen To this man Who has never, ever, given up.

He spoke of past battles And he also spoke of hop,e-eOf a new day coming.

Ben Swankey spoke at the Carnegie Centre on March 17, 2006. It was a good place for him to be because his political education began right here in the Downtown Eastside. Like thousands of other unemployed young men, he hitch-hiked to Vancouver from the prairies in 1931 at the age of seventeen.

While in Vancouver he attended a protest meeting that demanded jobs and decent wages. It was at the Cambie Street Grounds which were a bit south of Victory Square, and 10,000 people attended that rally. Suddenly mounted police attacked, swinging

clubs. Ben WaS horrified ~d hurt for he, too, was hid by a club. He became angry and fought back, but what chance does a boy have against mounted police? In the following weeks Ben asked himself important questions. Why were so many people unemployed? Why was there a huge depression that devastated the lives of millions of Canadians? Why were armed police attacking innocent citizens, including women and children? He returned to the Carnegie Library at Main and Hastings, and began to read books on politics and economics. He read books by Marx and Engels and realized that there were alternatives to capitalism that did not know how to distribute wealth and income in a just way.

He also learned that there was a conflict between the ¡ working class which wanted a decent life and the capitalist class which wanted maximum profits.

When Ben was eighteen years old, he made a resolution to fight for social justice, and he has kept that resolution for his entire life.

Like many people in the 1930s Ben joined the Communist Party because it seemed to be the path to a better society. He talked of the mat)y struggles for better working conditions in which he took part over the years, and as he talked a smile appeared on his face as he remembered old battles and old friends. He made the point that the right to form trade unions, decent wages, safe working conditions, unemployment insurance, Medicare, and social programs were fought for by Canadians. Now these rights are being taken away by a business class that dreams only of maximum profit.

Ben has fought.all his life for justice and it has been a hard fight. In the late 1950s stories of the horror of Stalin's totalitarian rule spread around the world, and dedicated people like Ben felt betrayed.

In the 1980s the Soviet Union coJlapsed on itself, and Ben left the Communist Party in 1991. At the same time the power of huge corporations increased in Canada and throughout the world. "Watch out for power of corporations," Ben warned. Noam Chomsky would agree, and he wrote in his book "Class Warfare" that "[Corporate] business tastes blood.

They think they can roll back the whole social contract that's been developed over the past century ... labour rights, human rights ... anything other than making profit tomorrow." (Class Warfare, p. 50) Ben never became bitter or fell into despair.

He continues to work for social justice with a commitment and integrity that is an inspiration to others. 路 For example, he teaches a current events class at his care home and writes for the care home newsletter.

He is a hands-on worker, a pragmatist, who will work with any person or group that is moving in the direction of a more just and humane society. He believes that politics is the art of the possible, and he knows the value of compromise and a united front.

He has no use for people with large egos who want to dominate an organization. Ben wrote, "In more than 70 years of social activism I have learned the importance of compromise in democratic organizations ... Compromise is the way all Canadian democratic organizations achieve unity within their ranks."

This is a lesson organizations in the Downtown Eastside need to consider as they attempt to deal with the avalanche of gentrification that threatens the community.

Ben closed his talk at Carnegie with a message of hope. He said many people in Canada were unhappy with our present regime of corporate maximum profit. He felt people were looking for leadership. He believed students, and many other young people, were angry with the high costs of education, student debt, low-paying work, and unemployment.

He hoped that youth might build an organization like the Canadian Youth Congress he helped build in the 1930s. "Onward," Ben seemed to be saying to us.

"Onward in unity." And his powerful, determined presence in the room seemed to be saying, "Never give up."

It was an honour to have Ben Swankey speak to us at the Carnegie Community Centre. And thanks to Paul Taylor for inviting him to come.

Sandy Cameron

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Hello, I see we've met, before, obviously affected each others core of being I'm seeing you now in someone else's guise, You're someone else, but you've still got your eyes Maybe the roles were reversed Maybe we rehearsed As each other, last time around 'cause it seems like we're so well versed, I know your pitch and you know my sound It's like this: nine holed leaking frame Creates and contains This certain resonance And we're carried on this plane, To find each other and experience What happens when we blend What notes we hold, what notes we bend And no one's ever to blame, 'cause the distance is intrinsic to the sound we send And there's something all encompassing that we all come from and although we split for lifetimes in between we're one sound And here once again on this same sweet ground I've found we've met and yet ............ we never really were separate were we friend?

Never separate Rosetta Stone

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WEDNESDAY APRIL 5th, 7:00p.m., Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main St ADMISSION IS FREE~ ALL WELCOME/

"Tyranny was never a remedy for terror. Tyr~ny is terror. Tyranny and terror promote and multiply each other so well, becau§e each is the others only possible "legitimation". But if they are actually the same as any Socrates could show, then they cannot legiti~ate each other. The choice between terror and totalitarianism is a choice that can only be made- can only be identified as a choice- b~ terrorists, and Tyrants. The Democrat, the Repubhcan, and the Independent among us will not be so quick to see tyranny and terror as opposite alternatives, ~ut onl7 as tw~ sides of one coin; A single composite cho1ce agamst liberty and humanity.

The authentic rejection of tyranny mandates the rejection of terror. There is no way to defend the democracy by the use of anti-democratic mean~.

There is no anti-republican method correspondmg to a republican purpose. There is no fu~he.rance of national and personal, political and soctal mdependence through submission to national police controls.

The state cannot at the same time uphold the law, and trample it underfoot."

[Submitted anonymously}

Author JOHN MacLACHLAN GRAY will talk about making the transition from writing award-winning stage musicals--to writing critically-acclaimed thrillers! He is a writer and composer for stage, film television,.radio and print - and his thrillers include "White Stone Day», "The Fiend In Human', and "A Gift For The Little Master" .

For more information about this event, come into the Carnegie Library or contact us at 604-665-3010.

Newstrom the GRAMMA KNOWS THE "F' WORD: how adults can discover more fun in their lives. Ted Schredd.

This book will help show you the way to a life filled with more laughter, joy and fun - give it a try!

LIVING WELL WITH HIV & AIDS by Allen Gif· ford, et al. (616.97) This 3rd edition ofthis excellent book gives reliabl~, accurate medical advice and the experiences of people living with hiv I AIDS, with a self-management focus.

GARBAGE LAND: on the secret trail oftrash by Elizabeth Royte. (628.44) A bizarre and cultural tour of what happens to TRASH, and how we can change our environment if we want to.

MEMORIES OF JOHN LENNON, edited and introduced by Yoko Ono. (921 LEN) This lovely memoir of John contains his personal memories, writings, drawings, and many photos, plus intimate glimpses of his life by other famous friends of his.

ROCK & ROLL: an unruly history Robert Palmer.

(781.57) Companion volume to the PBS TV series.

A wonderful history of R&R, full of great pictures and inside infonnation through the years!

OUR RUNA WAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH: a guide to understanding. By Natasha Slesnick.

(362.74) Although this is an American book, the problems, concepts and solutions for o~r Canadian youth are much the same. The book provides support and solutions for the families of runaway youths, and youths' case studies.

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(For Dave Temple, and all friends like him) •

Master poet and a Binner King, dive-bombing dumpsters to survive.

Leonard Cohen voice and talent that can make souls and skins sing and ring and vibrate with their own melodies. Potential CEO of any Fortune 500 Company of his design, or Sir Arthur to the future kick-ass groovy Kingdom of the True Saints.

Temple of a great big blazing Spirit who, _like most of us, got taught how not to Shine~ How to eat our Passions and our Power: Don't show up the little pea-brains, the Patriarchs that were Mom or.Dad (and later, our doctors and our shrinks). "Don't talk, don't trust, don't feel, DON'T THINK! Don't make us feel small and dark," they told us, -- in a zillion overt/covert ways -- "with the contrast of your Light. Your Intelligence. You be small, be good, be quiet-- or else! ..."Or else They'd give us more to cry about! Crush our spirits and our dreams, crush our blazing little Selves, so we might never grow bigger, brighter, or replace their jealous dieing lights with our Truest Selves. ...

Poison word darts, poison schemes, Pedagogies of "Politeness" to ensure Our submission, shame and guilt · .: for the ghastly rebellion •

of daring to think and feel for ourselves!

So we did the "Polite" thing to do: We turned our horror and outrage in on ourselves! We drank and drugged, we stuck needles in our arms (and even in our dicks!)

Trying to numb out or blowout, trying to silence the memories and the rage in our brains, the pain in our rage, Because we could no more endure the daily diets of Oppression we'd learned to politely swallow and beg for more! Ignorant Nonsense and more attempts at Social Control, like the "Mental Illness" labels they used to define and dismiss us, to smoke-screen and shame-shift, (to cover up their crimes!) So, we Rode our manic roller coasters in the LaLa Land of"Up" and "Down."

Spiritual, psycho-social suicide on the chemical comers of Pain and Human Wastings, pharmaceutically resplendent Madhouses and Hellholes, policed to keep us in "our place." And We laughed and spit at them, we laughed and spit at ourselves! We made jokes about who was the bigger Fuck-up, who'd done more crack or meth or jig or big or bad, who was jonesing worse than whom, who'd last best beat the bullies in our heads. Jesus! We had

Become our own Abusers, beating up, imprisoning Ourselves! (Why not finish the soul massacre they had begun!- THAT'LL TEACH'EM! .. .Right?)

Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP)

Newsletter

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April 1' 2006

Carole Taylor "Shoe-In'' a big success to hungry people (thank you, BCGEU, BCTF, BC Fed, CUPE 391, Michael and Diane Goldberg, CCPA staff and Andrea Ottem).

The event took place on March 28th at 11 am in the Carnegie theatre, and the (Continued on the next page)

When Finance Minister Carol Taylor introduced the provincial budget last month, she wore new $600 Gucci shoes.

Six hundred dollars is $90 more than a single person gets in a month on welfare.

There was no increase to welfare rates in the budget even though there's a $2 billion surplus.

Like many other people, Jaya Babu and Diane Wood were appalled by Carole Taylor's arrogance and blindness.flaunting $600 shoes while thousand of British Columbians live in deep poverty.

They began to talk about shoes, and how they might be used as an expression of resistance to injustice. Then others at Carnegie joined in the conversation and began to create an event. They had the confidence to do this. They had the faith faith as creating what we do not see. And the Carole Taylor "Shoe-In" was born. There would be a large, golden shoe representing Carole Taylor's $600 shoes (thank you, Miriam), and there would be $600 worth of food to give

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ELFA~E

$50 ot-t'i u UCCIS

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''Shoe-In'' creates energy (Continued from previous page) Carnegie was buzzing. Lots of media showed up, and the "Shoe-In" was ready for them. The event was designed as a teach-in to teach Carole Taylor some facts about poverty in BC. She didn't show up, but Libby Davies, our Member of Parliament, and Jenny K wan, our Member of the Legislative Assembly, were there.

Professor Bob Sarti presided over the teach-in, and he did an excellent job.

Mary Ann Cantillon (thanks, Mary Ann and Sharon for the costume) was Mary Ann Antoinette and she repeated that

famous phrase, "Let them eat cake."

Then delicious cake (thanks Katrina) was served to people in the theatre.

Jean Swanson gave a talk on why welfare rates should go up. Then Prof.

Bob asked us to answer the question, "How do people on welfare get by in a 5 week month?" Downtown Eastside residents in the audience responded with many answers and Diane Wood wrote them down. The answers will be sent to Carole Taylor. Some of the answers to the questions were: use food banks; use (Continued on the next page)

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"Why do the rich turn their backs on the poor?"

(Continued from previous page)

Adrienne Montani from First Call gave a strong talk on the heeds of poor children and poor families in BC. She said there is more child poverty in BC than in any other province. She said that the gap between rich and poor is increasing, and that those poverty facts are known to government. Yet the government turns away from the crisis of poverty. "Why does it do that?"

Adrienne asked. Why do the rich tum their backs on the poor?

Then there was a parade of shoes not Gucci shoes and a class photo on the front steps of Carnegie. After that, the 路 $600 worth of food was distributed to people who were hungry after a five week welfare month.

The "Shoe-In" was a great success.

There was a lot of energy in the Carnegie Theatre. Congratulations to the many people who worked hard to n1ake this event inspiring, infonnative and lots of fun. Hopefuly, some of that energy will spill over to the Raise the Rates Campaign. In her speech Jean Swanson quoted Nelson Mandela, ''Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings."

--Sandy Cameron

free food outlets; beg in the streets, go binning; sleep a lot; prostitution; end up in hospital, and many more.

Seth Klein of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) spun the Wheel of Misfortune. This wheel had the many barriers to welfare on it, and it showed how difficult it was to get welfare in BC. Then Seth talked about a new CCPA report that showed that the drop in the number of people getting welfare in BC is due to the new welfare rules, and is not because more people on welfare found work. Seth said welfare rates should be raised by 50 percent, and the money to do this was there because the government had a two billion doJlar surplus.

Then Prof. Bob asked the audience what it would do with the government's $2 B surplus. There were many answers to this question, and Diane wrote them down. They will be sent to Carole Taylor. Some of the answers were: increase welfare rates; build social housing; a dental program for people on welfare; more treatment centres and harm reduction programs for drug users; opening up Riverview so mentally ill people aren't on the streets, and many more.

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"J Love letters to the Downtown Eastside Last Feb. 24th the Carnegie Community Action Project invited people to come to a workshop to talk about why they liked living in the Downtown Eastside. Many of the stereotypes of the neighbourhood are based on the assumption that no one would live here if they had a choice, so CCAP wanted to document what some people really feel about our community.

Nearly everyone talked about the humanity of people in the Downtown Eastside. "It's a non judgmental community," said one. "You can be who you are." "People look out for each other," said another. "There's a face to face quality."

"Where else can marginalized people be taken seriously and be heard?" asked one resident. In other places it's "hush, hush

about who you are, but here people are who they are," said another participant.

"People down here are nicer to me than my own family and don't judge me," said one person. Another said, "The struggles down here bring down the barriers and pretensions."

"There is a code of conduct down here and a sense of justice," explained one person. "I'm comfortable staying here with my status (low income and no documents)."

Others talked about the resources and services in the area. "There's always something happening art, social justice work, crafts, gardening." "We have a real community centre," said another.

"There's less discrimination around (Continued on next page)

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We have a living history!

(Continued from previous page) disability, class, race and sexual preference." Others mentioned the availability of low cost, stable, decent social housing, the Portland Running Club, the variety and quality of people who volunteer, and the Sunrise Hotel.

"What community can you think of that would take the most notorious drug hotel and turn it into a cooperative cafe, laundromat, radio station, and dentist's office?"

The history of the struggle for social justice in the area was another theme.

People noted that the Downtown Eastside was central to the On-to-Ottawa trek in the 1930s, the battle against racism against people of Japanese and Chinese origin, and is now a centre for work on aboriginal rights and drug users rights.

"We have a LIVING HISTORY!" One person said that some of the worst problems in the area come from people who don't live here.

Residents also liked the fact that the Downtown Eastside is a pedestrian rather than a drive through community. They liked the diversity of people in the neighbourhood, and noted that the Downtown Eastside has two elected representatives (Libby Davies and Jenny Kwan) who actually stick up for people in the neighbourhood. One person noted that

if low income people were mixed into a neighbourhood with a lot of richer people, the elected reps probably wouldn't be so likely to represent their interests.

Others spoke about the resilience of people in the community how we get "knocked down by the media and government" but still fight back. There's a renaissance of philosophy and art and questions in the community as art emerges from the people with a tremendous amount of talent who "don't fit in" with establishment thinking.

One person concluded that what the Downtown Eastside could do for the rest of the country is to "humanize Canada."

A few people also wrote short papers about why they liked the Downtown Eastside.

Miriam Stuart, who lives at Lori Krill, wrote: "I am fortunate to live where I do.

As a member of a co-op, I have a sense of belonging and control over my housing. I have the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills and confidence in helping to manage and maintain my housing community. My own living space is small, but I look upon the entire building as my home. My home is far bigger than any I've lived in previously, with a multitude of common spaces, inside and out, and a wealth of diverse neighbours."

(Continued on the next page)

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More reasons to like the Downtown Eastside (Continued from the previous page) D. C. wrote, "I like the Downtown Eastside because people look out for one another here. It's hard to feel alone here because people here reach out and live to do things together. There's a sense that we're all in the same boat and boundaries between groups and cultures are easily dropped here. Also there are plenty of free and inexpensive resources here, such as job centres and community centres." .

My neighbourhood, the Downtown Eastside

By Colleen Carroll

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were friendly and they cared for one another. They, have here in the DTES, what I like to call a real sense of community.

At the hub of what I call community in the DTES is the Carnegie Centre. That is where I first met and began to appreciate my neighbors and became involved with my new community. From there my interest in the community spread out, and by involving myself with issues of the community, I was able to increase my network of friends and like minded citizens and truly establish myself in a minor way as a member of this.

(Continued on the next page)

I came here from a small town, actually village, in the northern interior BC. A place of real community where everyone I thought knew everyone and we all connected on a regular basis. I came here to Vancouver looking for an affordable place to live, so since the rents were cheaper here than any other place in the city I mpved here, I am so glad that I did so. For after having arrived in the city of Vancouver as a stranger it soon became clear to me that my little section of town called the Downtown Eastside was not so very different than the small village I had come from in the north. The people here

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My neighbourhood ...

the most part these desperate people are also good people. Poverty should not be outlawed here like it is, and the poor and homeless relegated to positions of criminal. The criminal is the one who backs a society that produced such people without wishing to pay for the consequences of having done so. The cost of prevention is so much cheaper than cure, yet we opt to save a nickel today knowing it will cost a dollar in the future. What people who drive through our neighborhood don't see are those of us who have homes here. Our homes are no more different than those driving past, only in many cases we have simplified our lives and live in far more Spartan digs. However small, our places are our homes, and we look forward to parking our tired bodies in them at the end of the day just as much as anyone in any other part of the city enjoys being at home.

The only difference between our area and other areas of the city is our sense of a close knit community and our deep appreciation for our neighbors because we have taken the time to know them and, thus have grown to appreciate them for what they are, precious individuals each with their own talents to contribu~e which makes up this feeling of ' community, a feeling which is sadly lacking throughout so many neighborhoods, but abounds here in the DTES.

(Continued from previous page)

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wonderful community.

Now you might just wonder why I feel my neighborhood is so special being it's the poorest postal code of Canada. Well there is something about the synergy that one gets from the people here. They work together yet remain independent. Many possess talents you would never have imagined.

When they get together with their various gifts and abilities it is wonderful what is produced. This is no place for idle gossip, but for philosophy. This is where people share and are inspired to further develop their talents for the good of all. We share a common living room, so to speak, at the Carnegie Centre.

I can't help but feel sorry for those folks out in the "burbs" who sit there lonely and don't have a clue about their neighbours or their neighbourhoods.

While they don't care, they in turn, are not cared for. Where they don't give, they do not receive. Here, in the DTES we have an ongoing exchange of synergy that bonds and develops us as a community and enriches us as individuals.

When people drive through our neighborhood they see the homelessness that is very visible. They see these homeless people who society has turned its back on. Many are here trying to escape and they turn to drugs openly traded here for a means of escape. For 7

I like the fun, the folk and the general goings on I've just had a hot coffee... bumped and spilt all over my coat. Apology accepted.

It is starting to drizzle on this February day. Good Start for this fine day.

Next to people and their in~ricate complexities. I think it's got to be the weather. Fingers cross for our better weather.

I am not a very civic person. I like sociability and there's just enough at Carnegie Community Centre. With people, their plans for the future of their lives and moreover the lives of other in the community.

Yes, Carnegie and its workings, for people, events, programs, and most definitely the food. Don't try it, you'll be back faster than you think.

To walk the side streets is energy giving happening to me. I love the gardens, homes and speed, more the process of movement. The colour sneaks up on you before you know it. I think it's because there is so much green, green grass, trees and it's all year round.

Suddenly you get a pow of orange, bright blue, vivid yellow, some royal red, and deep pea green all presenting itself twenty four hours a day, you've only to â&#x20AC;˘ enJoy. Putting it all back in a nut shell, yeah I like the folk, fun, and festivities the general goings on and yeah I like the

older buildings. I always have. Heck I even learned to like the "seagulls as the morning bird calling to each other coaxing each other to come play with the sky.

Michael M.

Thanks Jaya (our CCAP practicum student) for all your help and good spirit and energy and work. We'll miss you. Jaya's practicum is ending and she's leaving Carnegie at the end of March.

The Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) Is a project of the Carnegie Community Centre Association. Through research, public education, advocacy and direct action, CCAP works on Issues that affect the Downtown Eastside: housing, gentrification, homelessness, and poverty.

Phone CCAP at 729-2380 or 6652289.

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But out gods and angels had not forsaken Us! Nor our last Intelligence. We heard: "Jesus, get a grip! Listen! -to the angels, to the prophets and the poets, still in your midst! The fallen angels and Avatars hiding out in "Pisstank/junkie's" suits (and those who've made it out). The Jesuses among you, The John the Baptists (and the Judases!)

Crying out in your ghettos, rapping beat Poetry and song, and graffiti in your streets, Heart attacks and Art attacks, gouged from the gory ghettos in our souls.

Begging, "WAKE UP!" JesusGod! (as Hardcore pisstank Jack would say): "What are Ya-NEW!" Are you "MENTAL!"-- cases? Or Great big blazing spirits just dying To"Awake.and. break Out of the ghettos you help Keep yourselves locked in, Eating garbage off the streets When Royal Feasts and whole Kingdoms Are there for the taking, just awaiting Your broken blazing Spirits, calJing, Calling you, "Come Home, Come Home!

Come home to your TRUE SEL YES. Subvert The Perverts by TAKING BACK YOUR LIVES!" There is magic and miracles on the other side of your darkness, and many gorgeous healing Spirits, who will help love you back to life. Help reclaim your lost souls. Heal your broken bodies

-- Ifyou Choose Life.

Please Choose Life, my friends, so that I don't continue to Mourn this Tragic Human Loss to The Enemies ofPromise, and Real Power, Enemies of Innocence and Goodness that turned us into loathed and loathsome Shit eating Shit in these HeiJholes, in our now self- imposed prisons, On Express Lanes to Death? c K. Durga,

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(Personal note to Dave: I truly admire your incredible "Attitude of Gratitude;' but- with all due respect - What you've learned to be grateful for makes me want to puke.) .

For anyone interested in Choosing Life, and in need of Help jumping off their own "Express Lane to Death," The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority has all kinds of cool addictions programs (NOT 12Steps!) and FREE Acupuncture Clinics all over this grand (and corrupt) city. (Call; 604-658-1250). I highly recommend the 10-hr/week Day Program at 377 East 2nd Ave, where I got reconnected with my True (Spirit) Self, and turned on to some clean, ORGANIC, Bliss (Seratonin and Dopamine) via Acupuncture and other therapies. (If you can stick needles in your brains, you can stick pins in your ears, right?)

God Speed! See you all on the flipside! -However it turns out.

Budgets and Sketchy Killers The budget is nothing but a tool used in finances for social affairs purposes. In short, a budget purpose is to serve the needs of the people. When people are put to serve the needs of a budget, the budget sometimes becomes "A Sketchy Killer". The conservative and neoliberal emphasis in budget surpluses has come to sanctify the budget, to the point that they underscore the results and outputs of that practice. And those results during the last years and weeks, only point to the destruction of lives, especially among the poor, the weak, the environment and the most vulnerable groups of society, which ironically should be the ones requiring more resources from the budget. Furthermore, if budget cuts have been in practice, particularly for programs oriented to help children, the elder, women, health, education, environmental protection and safety, the concern for the budget out. come should be high.

The testing for the consistency of a budget requires independent monitoring and assessment by the application of indicators (ratios), which alJow the associa1 tion between the resources (money) and the purposes (specific goals), that must be measured to acquire the degree of achievement necessary to realize the budâ&#x20AC;˘ get's objectives.

The ''new" or ' neo'liberal styles of government (na-

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tional, regional and local), have created a systematic "neo bureaucracy", where it is difficult or just not possible to practice a methodical follow up of the budget, even for the people with the skills and experience to do so.

On the other had, the banner of "Accountability", obscures or makes it hard to know who is the Person Responsible, when there are inquiries about budget estimation, budget preparation, and the implementation of CRITICAL budget-executive-orders. So,

when a budget becomes so highly technical -often in a deliberate manner- and confusing for the ordinary people to understand, the budget becomes what some South American writers call "The Sketchy Killer", because when disaster happens, nobody seems to be responsible.

This sketchy killer in not easy to see, highly difficult to identify and, even if IDa, the sad nee-bureaucratic motto of "accountability" will dilute any responsibility to the point that, even after the most expensive and long inquiry, no one will be punished for the losses in lives, the loss of resources and damage to the community and the environment (sinking of Ferries and travelers lost).

In the event of disasters -which are aggravated because of budget cuts, or absence of budget provisions, rich people can get expensive lawyers to conduct inquiries, but for people with less resources or no money, the moves of The Sketchy Killer go unpunished.

Some of the victims of The Sketchy Killer: Sherry Charlie (19-month-old). Sherry was beaten to death by an uncle on Sept. 4, 2002. The government has appointed a six-person panel to hold an inquest into B.C.'s system of reviewing child deaths.

The liberal government of Mr. Gordon Campbell cut the Children's Commissioner Office in 2002, citing a review that "found too much duplication between the office, the B.C. Coroner's Service, the child and youth advocate and the ombudsman."

Fanny Albo (91-year-old). On Feb 17,2003, despite her family's wishes, hospital staff moved Fanny more than 100 kilometers away to Grand Forks, where she died alone only 48 hours later. Less than two weeks later, Fanny's husband AI Albo (96-year-old) died.

They were married for nearly seven decades. B.C. Health Minister called The Albo family to express his condolences. The province's deputy health minister investigated and found Fanny Albo did not get quality care. Health Care Budget Cuts?

However, none of the allegations investigated, have been substantiated or resulted in charges. It is The Phantom of The Budget: The Sketchy Killer. It is on the loose. It is not armed but it is extremely dangerous. Though some witnesses have seen it wearing "brand new expensive shoes", there is no picture available, it is...Sketchy!

By Jorge Escolan-Suay

Spring is here and Speaking!

Dancing birds sing theirs songs brighten sun shinning sky cripspy fresh cool, cold air so clean and clear--Yes, pring is here and speaking o me the Beauty and the Glory so the sun can warm every flowers in our neighborhood and shine to all those fresh,young green leafed trees Yes, my friend ' I do need the sun

to warm my broken heart simulate my desire so I can be faithful to the faith in my soul : uproot the sadness 路 shine me with some hope and Grace, " so I can be more loving and kind give birth and nuturing to a mind of virtue ... and not wasted in vain and selfishness or pride.

Yes, Spring is here awaken and Speaking tome so I could clearly see the sun is always here and shining-to my heart the longings, the loves and the faith in my soul long ago for you. for me and our community!

CecineLam

WOODWARD'S

The City of Vancouver and theW Redevelopment Team would . . like to invite you to attend a Woodward's information open house on: Saturday, April 8 11 am- 3 pm .

Woodward's uw Room", 101 West Hastings Street (comer of Hastings and Abbott Streets) Get up to date information on the revitalization of Woodward's and learn more about this landmark mixed-use project.

Carnegie Community Centre

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r The Future ofFood- a discussion OPERA IN THE DOWNTOWN EAST SIDE??

Ofcourse!

On Saturday April 1, you're invited to spend three hours discovering opera.

You're invited --- to think about its power to entertain and inspire - to watch rare film of great stars - to find a way to enter the greatest of alJ art fonns, personally We will talk about the history of opera from 1600 to the present. We will consider its meaning and influence. We will hear its greatest voices and learn some of its unique vocabulary and techniques.

And we will find ways to apply these great truths to the ongoing Carnegie Opera Project.

Come and see Cecilia Bartoli, Maria Callas, Jon Vickers, Jose Carreras, George London and more, share what they know: Opera is for Everyone.

Saturday April 1, 1 to 4pm Carnegie Centre Theatre Refreshments will be served Sponsored by the Carnegie Community Centre

Two articles in the February 21 issue of The Globe and Mail caught my attention.

The first, titled " Dinosaurs, dodos, what's next?

UN warns of spiralling extinction rate," by David Adam, of Guardian News Service, tells that "humans have provoked the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago."

It goes on to say that, at present, the rate of extinction of plant and animal life on Earth is 1,000 times greater than it has been in the past.

It was the second article, by Dennis Bueckert, taken in conjunction with the first, which caused my eyes to widen in amazement. Titled, "Ottawa seeks 'suicide seed' testing," it tells of the current federal government lobbying at a major UN conference for an end to the moratorium on the field testing of socalled "suicide seeds," which are seeds which whose offspring are sterile, causing farmers who use such ''terminator technology" to be forced into buying new seeds for each crop every years.

I mean, excuse me? On the one hand, we have an article saying that the rate of extinction of species on Earth is greater now than at any other time in human history, and on the other hand, we have an article saying that Canada (or more specifically, the Harper government) is seeking the implementation of terminator technology, further accelerating the extinction process, all in the name of glorious, profit-gene~ating capitalism, and for the avarice of greedy, uncarmg corporations. Have we completely lost it here? Are we even listening to our own warnings?

The extinction article says that a 20 10 goal to slow the rate of extinction can only be reached with "unprecedented additional efforts." And this is what those efforts consist ofl Allowing corporatesponsored extinction to proceed in the pursuit of the almighty dollar? This is insane.

According to the film, The Future ofFood, we are already exceeding by 20 percent the capability of Earth to sustain human life. And knowing this, we are bringing in tenninator seed technology, which will make this process even more difficult, and institute a new, manmade, built-in extinction factor in Nature? We must be mad.

Can you imagine what will happen to food prices if terminator technology takes hold? The complications are mind-boggling.

In the article, Vandana Shiva, a prominent Indian scientist, author, and environmental activist, said, "We see the terminator technology as a crime against nature. The driving force behind this is quite clearly the United States. The US has never become a member of the UN biosafety convention. Instead, they're using Canada to do its dirty work." Dr. Shiva noted that the US government is co-owner of the terminator technology.

But the madness doesn't stop there. In much of the film, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are discussed. Monsanto (a corporate criminal responsible for Bovine Growth Honnone as discussed in the book and the film, The Corporation) has genetically engineered crops to be the only plants resistant to its herbicide, Round Up. As cross pollination of crops in different fields is quite a common occurance, Monsanto's GMO grains spread to fields of farmers who aren't Monsanto customers, causing the farmers' crops to become interbred with the Monsanto variety. Then Monsanto sues the farmers for patent infringement, claiming the farmers stole Monsanto's technology.

The real crux of the matter is that the effects of GMOs aren't yet known on humans. Other countries are watching the US (and in particular, its children) to see if GMOs are harmful in consumption. The European Union won a battle to have GMOs identified in the labelling of foods sold in their supermarkets. I don't think that battle has been won in North America.

Part of the problem is that corporations won the right to patent lifeforms back in the 70s (and subsequently, the right to patent genetic structures). This makes the whole business of genetically engineering food highly profitable.

The fiJm is directed, written, and produced by Deborah Koons Garcia. It is well worth seeing.

I'm not one much for quoting scripture, but appropriately, like it says in the Bible, "Sow the wind reap the whirlwind."

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Terminator rejected! A victory for the people ..

A broad coalition of peasant farmers, indigenous peoples and civil society today celebrate the finn rejection of efforts to undermi?e the glo~al morato_rium on Terminator technologtes- genetically engineered sterile seeds - at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Curitiba, Brazil.

"This is a momentous day for the 1.4 billion poor people world wide, who depend on farmer saved seeds," said Francisca Rodriguez of Via Campesina, a world wide movement of peasant fanners, "Terminator seeds are a weapon of mass destruction and an assault on our food sovereignty. Terminator directly threatens our life, our culture and our identity as indigenous peoples", said Viviana Figueroa of the Ocumazo indigenous community in Argentina on behalf of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity.

"Todays decision is a huge step forward for the Brazilian Campaign against GMOs," said Maria Rita Reis from the Brazilian Forum of Social movements and NGOs, "This reaffirms Brazils' existing ban on Tenninator. It sends a clear message to the national government and congress that the world supports a ban on Terminator." "Common sense has prevailed lifting the Moratorjum on the Terminator seeds would have been suicidal - literally," said Greenpeace International's Benedikt Haerlin from the Convention meeting. "This is a genuine victory for civil society around the world - it will go a long way to ensuring that biodiversity, food security and the livelihoods of millions of farmers around the world are protected."

Terminators, or GURTS (Genetic Use Restriction Technologies), are a class of genetic engineering technologies which allow companies to introduce seeds whose sterile offspring cannot reproduce, preventing farmers from re-planting seeds from their harvest. The seeds could also be used to introduce specific traits which would only be triggered by the .

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application ot proprietary chemicals by the same • compames.

At the CBD Australia, Canada and New Zealand along with the US government (not a party to the CBD) and a number of biotech companies were leading attempts to open the door to field testing of Terminator seeds by insisting on 'case by case~ assessment of such technologies. This text was unanimously rejected today in the CBD's working group dealing with the issue. It still needs to be formally adopted by the plenary of the CBD. Despite today's victory, there is no doubt that the multinational biotech industry will continue to push sterile seed technology. 'Terminator' will rear its ugly head at the next UN CBD meeting in 2008. The only solution a total ban on the technology once and for all/' concluded Pat Mooney of the Ban Terminator Campaign. Now all national governments must enact national bans on Terminator as Brazil and India have done.

Posted on PovNet

Mommy Madness & Mayhem Mommy have you lived with your horrific, sordid dreams that you so callously laid upon my boyish innocence? Hurtful glares piled up[on evil stares, your harsh realism extreme, raining blows came down on my stark, quivering presence, my tiny heart beating boom bitty-boom, skipping quickly out of tune. Oh God, please don't let Mommy find me, trembling and closeted away or under the bed, whatever, as my fear compounds, ascending into terror encroaching deep, internal agony that is wasting and prolonged. My mind, my body, intensive tearing, a shredded mess - Won't someone get her out of here!

How I tried to love her but to no avail - on and on the mean-spirited torture goes My marrow stirs and shakes under concentrated disdain. On sunny days she wants rain; not caring that I'm the one who pays. This my detested witch from who knows where, boiling in anger, she pours onto me despair beyond compare.

I am her little lost waif, "a pile of two-bit trash" -

WILTED FLOWERS

Wilted Flowers each day I see down in the void, struggling among the weeds, Wilted Flowers struggling to survive Between the concrete cracks, sidewalking, curbside.

Wilted Flowers each day I can't help but see And it breaks my heart, 'cause it don't need to be, What I see when one happens by Ain't no crack-ho, nor a bag lady squeezed dry.

Potential mothers, nurturers, care--givers is what Images of the Earth Mother, left to rot, This feminine half of humanity Let us forget them, NOT.

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Wilted flowers, dying and drying each and every day In front of my very eyes, it's hard not to be dismayed, For something of great import to society is lost, and most times help arrives too late For the wilted flowers of our streets, alii can do is pray.

Wilted Flowers in the void of no hope or love I wish to see just once One wilted flower wake up to the sun Sink her roots deep into Mother Earth Seek that sustenance for which all humans thirst It is there for those flowers with the will to search It wouldn't hurt for other healthy flowers to show the way • Provide a space in the rich farmlands for a short stay For the wilted flowers to recoup, grow healthy themselves And start the cycle anew, A wilted flower school, Wouldn't that be trey cool.

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never again to be warm and safe as I am thrown and blown around like toxic, stale, dank air... where is my real home? Oh to be wrapped in loving arms, a cozy cocoon so safe and sound, not crying anymore out of tune as cheerful thoughts surround.

No, I won't give up. I must be strong to escape these harms and to survive these wrongs .. I cling to my luckiest charms. I must not give up, oh no never; I must remain strong.

Robyn Livingstone

DOWNTOWN. EASTSIDE YOUTII ACTIVITIES SOCIETY . 49 W .Cordova

NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN- 3 Routes: 604-685-6561 City- 5:45pm -I 1:45pm Ovemie"t - I 2:30am - 8:30am Downtown East,idr- 5:30pm - I :lOam 2006 DONATIONS Libby D.-$100 Rolf A.-$50 Barry for Dave McC-$100 Christopher R-$30 Margaret D.-$40 Bruce J.-$15 Gram -$200 Mary C-10$ Penny G.-$50 MP/Jelly Bean -$20 RayCam-30 Janice P.-$30 Wes K.-$ 30 Paddy -$60 Glen B.-$25 John S.-$60 Leslie S.-$20 Wm.B -$20 Michael C.-$30 HumanitieslOl-$100 The Edge-$200 Sheila B.-$20 Ben C.-$20 Brian $2 CEEDS -$50 Anonymous -$5

604-251-JJJO

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LETT E R

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4 01 MAin St. VAncnuvllr. 6C V6A 2T7

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THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THf. CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articlcl repracnl tho vicwa of individual anributon and not oftho Aaocialion.

Editor: PauiR Taylor; cover+ layout, Diane Wood.

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Submission Deadline n•ri i~'IHI': . fnr . ,. . Tuesday, Aprilll

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North Vancouver Community Band Carne'

Comni Centre

40 musicians playing classical, pop, jazz, TV & movie theme tunes

Thursday, April 13th, 7:30PM Carnegie Theatre

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1 We ...n_ •Wte ,.., Ca1 up Cem••MJ Ctlltre. •• tW. Newzl1tcer, are llaUIIIIIIJ.• die S,e••+ll Niidoe'• krrtton.

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Contributors are not pennittcd to malign or attack or relegate ' any penon or poop or class, includina drua users and poor • to a level refaaed to or 'less than human•.

We Remember the Disappeared Children of Canada!

Where are they Buried? Who are their Killers?

When Will Justice Be Done?

The Second Annual .

Aboriginal Holocaust Remembrance Day -·

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Contact

Jenny Wai Ching Kwan MLA

Working for You 1070-1641 Commercial Dr V5L 3Y3 Phone: 775-0790 Fax: 775-0881 Downtown Eastside Residents Association 12 E. Hastings St, or call 682-0931

Public Vigil and Rally Good Friday, Apri114 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Outside Christ Church Cathedral, Georgia and Burrard st. in downtown Vancouver, featuring Food, Drumming, Music, Cleansing Ceremonies and Te timonies from Aboriginal Holocaust Survivors This event will be followed by a 48 hour prayer and witness vigil, and by rotating actions at other downtown churches Sponsored by a Coalition of Aboriginal and LowIncome groups in the Downtown Eastside on Occupied and Unceded Coast Salish Territory

Order of Canada John Wilfred Turvey, C.M., O.B.C. 2004 Recipient - Order of British Columbia.

John Turvey was heroin-addicted at age 13 and rehabilitated in his early 20s, but he never left the streets, choosing to give back and work on the streets rather than live on them. With only a Grade 6 education, he has generously educated instructors and students alike during his decades of public and community service.

For more than 35 years, Mr. Turvey worked tirelessly as an experienced, outspoken advocate for the most unfortunate people. His priority was children and youth, and he provided many original, accessible and user-friendly services to them. Frequently with personal and professional sacrifice, he challenged all levels of government to improve the Jives of vulnerable adults, children and youth.

As executive director of the Downtown Eastside Youth Activities Society for 20 years until his recent retirement, John Turvey was a principled, community-centered visionary, gifted social worker, brilliant educator and respected and elegant public speaker.

He was a determined and outspoken defender of socially excluded citizens and a role model for aspiring sociaJ workers and community activists.

As a champion of the rights of residents of the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver to live with good health, dignity and opportunity, Mr. Turvey's efforts often involved new, and sometimes controversial methods. On the cutting edge of providing solutions to social problems that affected many B.C. communities, all citizens of this province have benefited from his tireless commitment.

In 1988, the Atlanta Centre of Disease Control recognized John Turvey for running the most costeffective needle exchange program in North America Mr. Turvey was a founding member of the .B .C. Aids Network and Vancouver Native Health Society.

His leadership of the Downtown Eastside community on the issue of sexually exploited children and youth resulted in Criminal Code changes, development of the B.C. Provincial Prostitution Unit, educated newsrooms and increased public awareness of the issue.

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Editor, I would like to bring to your attention, as well to the residents of the DTES, an incident which happened to me.

1 was on my way up Hastings Street to visit a very ill friend who happens to live just past the United Church. As I approached my destination a young man brushed by me. I looked up in a passing glance and proceeded on. As I went to ring the door bell, this young man, after having apparently made a beeline back to me, practically cornered me in the doorway and told me that if 1 ever looked at him "like that" again he would "blow (my) fucking head off''! pointing to his pulled-u shirt at his belly.

I said "excuse me" and veered away directly to the police station where I met two officers at the doorway. Shaking with fear I related this story to them.

One police officer said "You're alright" and the other one said, "Oh he probably has a mental health concern or issue." I don't know about you but I felt rather 'brushed off'; my concern wasn' t an issue being that I was "alright" and the young man, who looked sane and mean to me, was suffering from a manufactured "Mental Health Issue."

I say what the hell is going on here?! Do we now have ail East Los Angeles in our neighbourhood? I have lived here for 6 years and have watched as our neighbourhood has gone to a completely neglected situation with open drug dealing. Gun-toting, knife wielding thugs feel comfortable here while they tend to their drug pushing duties.

I am still shaky from this event and realize that we are ali targets for this crap now. The neglect is only going to get worse until it finally becomes a Martial or worse.

Law issue. . .

Elizabeth Raymond Ashforthe

"Go Ahead- E>E.. a FOOL!P' Vancouver's official 'Fool's Day Committee' has nominated Mr. David Emerson as front-runner in the April 1st election for "Fool Of the Year" and shall be forever grateful for the frenzy which elevated his status to that of National Hero.

The Committee was swayed by the heartfelt way Mr. Emerson pleaded his case in the following poem, his first formal statement to the media: E - for the EGGHEADS who don't understand me, M- for my MANSION, in Merry Old Shaughnessy, E - is for ETHICS, highly overrated!

R - for RESIGN? Ha-Ha. I don't think so.

S-is for STEPHEN, so suddenly sexy 0 - Yeah, OH BOY! I'm a Cabinet Minister!

N -NANOSECOND, how long I stayed Liberal.

Paris Hilton, George Clooney, Dick Cheney, Christy Clark, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Competition for the Crown is furious, and hopefuls vie for dominance after grueling weeks of floor crossing, belly flopping, tongue twisting and pie throwing.

April FooPs Day is also the premature climax of Vancouver 1s annual 3Foolishness Week2, as proclaimed by the City for April 1st to 8th During this holiday observance, mirth, havoc, and nonsense reign supreme for one entire week! Given such sweeping 'Foolish License', authorities are cautioned to be on guard as of April 1st, as the whipped cream will fly thick and fast.

For security reasons, anyone wishing to attend the election at its new, top-secret location must register via the website. Though the Committee is sworn to secrecy, spokesfool Godfrey Daniels gave a hint of revelations to come as he quipped, "we will spare no humiliation to ensure our place in the international spotlight".

Next Time

26th Annual International Gathering Of Fools Saturday, April 15\ 12:00 Noon The Day Of Fools is a tradition - a homegrown display of absurd dress, notions and behaviour .. and the public is invited to join the fun, in or out of costume!

The revered spectacle, featuring floats, stiltwalkers, Human Beings In Silly Costumes, and major hoopla, also serves as the public forum for the election of our annual "Fool ofthe Year".

This year1s nominees (prudently selected by Vancouver1s official Fools' Day Committee) include: Stephen Harper, Marc Emery, David Emerson, Sam Sullivan,

Don't want to do this the next time around Want to get it all straight and nailed down Just say 'You're a jerk" and I'll agree, And the next time around will be better you'll see You can't just sweep it all under the rug Because there's no carpet big enough and I can't just shrug it off, like an oyster from the shell just say "oh shucks", just say "oh well" History not learned is bound to repeat, You think you're on a different road, but it's the same street You've been on, who knows how many times?

I've pushed your buttons and you've rung my chimes Next time: We won't be so strange Next time: We'll both act our age Next time: We'll know all the ropes Next time: I have such high hopes Rosetta Stone

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free admission open mike free coffee

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