April 1, 2009, carnegie newsletter

APRIL 1, 2009 carnnews@vcn.bc.ca www.carnnews.org (373 hits per dayf) http://han esters.sfu.ca/chodarr (INDEX]

Recognizin g Our Volunteers

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360掳 365 days

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VOLUNTEER COMM ITTEE MEETING Wednesday April 8th @ 2pm in Classroom II ALL VOLUNTEERS WELC OME! Your vo ice is needed and appreciated.

Karaoke -

as a p relude to 2009 Volunteer Recognition Week. Friday, April lOth 7pm- I Opm in the Ca rnegie Theatre Bring out your h idden tale nt. Come and sing your to y our heart's conte nt Refreshment.\ .1erved to wet your whistle .... or your p ipes.'

2. Volunteers of the M onth: Denis Scott who has been Oppenheimer's B ingo caller for the past year. He has actually learned how to call the numbers in Canto nese. Bravo Denis.

Dori Lyric who has taken up residence in our C omputer Lab ..... not rea lly but many community members are benefi ting fro m his consistent and mul tiple shifts.

V6LUNTEER RECOGNITON WEEK APRIL 12th -18tH, 2009 This week is a n opportunity fo r ALL vo lunteers to be applauded for the ir many contributions and positive affects yo u have on our Community!

The Nomin ation Box for the Vo lunteer of the Year and the 4 Special Merit Awa rds will be at the 2"d Floo r Reception Desk. Yo ur choice is important!

MARCH 25 1H- APRIL 06TH@ 5:30PM cut-off VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION WEEK Sunday 11 April Izth to Saturday April 18 ', 2005 Our Volunteer Program is a vital force in our community. lt is a very un ique creation that provides enormo us benefits. not only to the commun ity th at Carnegie serves, but also to each and every individual who participates in it. I am so often humb led by th e goodness I see in so many of you.

What keeps me go ing at work is being around people every day who embody a spirit which compels them to do service fo r the good of others.

T hank yo u for carry ing the spirit of he lping others thoughout the year.

T ogether we will cele brate and pay tr ibute to all our vo lunteers. Th ere will be something going on every day of the week . Please see the Events Brochure in the Volunteer Program Office. sign up fo r tri ps and p ic k up your dinner and party tickets.

Vo lunteer Di nne r - M id Recognition Week Wednesday, A pril 15'", @ 4:30 in the Theatre Vo lunteer Recor; nition Party a nd Awa rds Friday, April l i , @ 4:00 PM in the Theatre

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COUEEN'$ CORNER Every year. the Carnegie Association (along with the peer nominat ion process), selects an outstanding vo lunteer as its Volunteer ofthe Year. This person is selected because he or she has met a hig h standard o f performance consistently throughout the year. It is always a very tough decision because the re are so many vo lunteers deserving of recognition. At this Celebration the Vol unteer of the Year w ill be announced for the first time plus the four other volunteers for special merit recognit ion. It always ki lls us keep ing this secret.. . .like I have said before, we can't say C heesie the Chimp for much longer when people ask Who? Who? Who? Awards w ill be presented to the Vo lunteer of the Year and 4 Special Merits. T his party is for YOU -IT WON'T BE ANY FUN WITHO UT YOU ... food, e nte rtainment, your favourite lShirt o f t he year , door prizes, hilarity a nd more. Please pick up your tic ket from the Volunteer O ffice.

Right after the Volunteer Recognition party th ere is a good old fash io ned rock n' roll band.

LIVE BAN D DANCE! THE "ROCKINGGOYS Friday, Apri l 17'h 2009 in the Carnegie T heatre with our very own Carneg ie All Star Band "The RockingGuys'; always guaranteed fun! Lock up your grannies.

7pm - lOpm F riday Ca rnegie T heatre ABSOL UTELY EVE RYONE WELCOMEl

Open Letter- BC Leadership Council Fully S uppo rts Davies' Re po rt, "Alone and Cold" Premier Gordon CampbeH Government of British Columbia Honourable Wally Oppal Attorney General Honourable John van Dongen Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Honourable Michael de Jong Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Dear S irs, T he BC Assembly of First N ations, First Nations Summit and the Union ofBC Indian Chiefs wel-come the release of the interim repott, Alone and Cold by Commissioner Davies. The insightful findings and recommendations in his report raise many critical issues and concerns regarding municipal po licing in British Columbia. While it is deeply regrettable that it has taken the loss of Frank Pa ul 's life to have these issues brought to the fo refront, we express our sincere desire and collective commitment that the report will lead to change. We fully support the recommendations and urge the BC government to move swiftly to impleme nt them.

We wish to acknowledge Commissioner Davies and his staff fo r the courage and integrity they have shown . We are greatly encouraged by the oppottuneities to move forward as identified in the report's recommendations.

The report validates the concerns expressed by Mr. Paul's family who have pushed for years for a public inquiry into his tragic death. T here can be no question that the system failed Mr. Paul. The Vancouver Police Department failed to safeguard his life, services fo r the homeless were severely lacking and most significantly, the police investigations were fundamentally flawed. Moreover, the decision not to lay any criminal charges regarding Mr. Paul's death highlights the critical need fo r far- reaching changes, especially if Aboriginal people and the public are to ever regain a level of confidence in policing in BC. The report has shed light on serious systemic flaws w ithin the mun icipal po lice system and states that these fl aws are grounded in confl ict of interest. The present practice where police investigate police when there is a police-related death must not and cannot

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continue.

The need for a complete overhaul o f the po lice s~stem is, in our view, without quest ion. We agree w tth the Commiss ioner'~ com ment that nothing sh011 of a wholesale restructunng of po lice investigations will suffice. We therefore welcome and fully support the recommendation to establish a civi lia n-based body to investigate po lice-re lated deaths. We understand that the Davies Report foc used only on municipal policing in BC. We urge the BC government to consider the expansion of the mandate of a civilianbased body to include the Royal Canadia n Mounted Police and that this be a priority ite m for the preliminary negotiations fo r the renewal of B C government's contract with the RCMP.

ln add ition, we urge the BC government to pay particular attention to the report commissioned by Commissioner Davies titled The M ost V ulnerable of the Vulnerable: Aborig inal Chronic A lcoholics in the Downtown East Side. We comme nd and fu lly support Commissioner Davies' call for a c iv ilian-operated sobering centre, an enhanced civilia n-based detoxification centre and permanent hous ing fo r chronic alcoholics.

The BC government must not lose s ight of the fact that the process is not yet complete - several critical matters remain outstanding.

Firstly, it is now clear that the conduct of the officers involved was " marked by indifference, callousness, and failure to care" and that "the VPD investigation into the circumstances of Frank Paul's death was methodically flawed". In light of the report's findings, we call for the Cri minal Justice Branch .to now reassess whether criminal charges are wan路anted. It is our view that those responsible for Mr. Paul's death must be charged. This goes to the heart of our j ustice system - those tasked w ith enforcing the law cannot be seen to be above it.

Secondly, the re is the issue of compensation for Mr. Paul's family who have had to endu re a len bothy and . pa mful campaign to see j ustice served, quite apart from the loss they have suffe red.

Thirdly, the BC Court of Appeal has yet to issue its rul ing on whether the prosecutors involved in the decision not to lay cha rges in the death of M r. Paul can be compelled to testify at the inqui ry. We have been deeply disappointed by the decis ion of the Criminal Justice Branch to challenge Comm issioner

Davies' jurisdic tion - it not only obstructs the course of justice, it pro longs the process and delays the conclusion of this matter fo r the family and friends of Mr. Paul who deserve closure and answers. We urge the Attorney General to act with integrity and respect and withdraw his objection. :" We request a meeting as soon as possible to discuss how we can move to e nact the report's recommendations on an urgent basis and work together to nr••vpn ~;o-...._ recurrences o f this type of tragedy.

S incerely, O n behalfo fthe FIRST NATIONS SUMM IT: Grand Chief Edward John Grand Chief Doug Kelly Dan Smith On behalf of the UN ION O F BC IND LAN CHlEFS Grand Chief Stewart Phillip Chief Robert Shiotah Chief Lynda Price O n behalfo fthe BC ASSEMBLY OF 151 NATION Regional Chief A-in-chut (Shawn Atleo)

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THE SHORT BALLAD OF FRANK PAUL Garry Gust Well, there' s no place to go And it's cold as hell.

But hell is for the dead So I better go to jail.

I' ll be warm there, \ /' A nd I might get something to eat. ~ Either way I got to get off this Cold skid row street.

" Howdy do, Mister p' licerna n, I've seen you on the Row. "Can you please take me in, I got no place else to go."

A w, God Darn," said his borther "you' re g ivin' me big pain," ' Go and get your ass together And sleep out in the lane ."

8,000 Drums Sacred Ceremony was on Saturday, March 21, 2009 at Victory Square.

As it is also the Day To Eliminate Racism. Our speakers were: Gladys Radek of the DTES Elders Council who spoke on behalf of our Missing and Murde.red Women. Carlo Sayo of the Philipino Canad1an Youth Alliance; Harjap Greewal ofNo One Is lllegal, Welcome, exp lanation of ceremony, opening prayers, colors by Patrick Smith explained by Mark We opened with our Squamish First Nations led by Reuben George *then the people of the Stolo also Salishan led by Eddie Gardner * Salish; people of the Statlium Nation- phonetic spelling :o) * Matriarch Verna Benson and women of the Hazelton area. * Drumming and traditional si nging by the Traditional Mothers and G randmo thers Society路 * Indigenous people of G uyana Anasr'Village with .

Mr. Fantastic ana Steve * Haida s ingers led by Noel Abrahams;

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* S liammon First Nation by Takaya Blaney; * Pow Wow and a wonderful round-dance by the DKO Singers; * Eddie Gardner and Sadi McPhee sang songs from the Medicine Wheel, singing late elder Mary Uslick's Medicine Wheel songs.

Thanks to Sid Tan, Lyndsay Bomberry and Lynn we didn't get around to the storytelli ng! We'll organize something this summer tho .. I said ... :0) The event is, was and will be s upported by grassroots organizations: No O ne Is Illegal, Stop Home less Now Anti-Poverty Committee, Portland Hotel. Plus: the BCGEU. Special thanks to Holly Page, Harsha, Anna Hunter, Harjap G rewal, Vikki Peters, Ruby Mari e Dennis, Gord August and his helpers, and the many indi viduals and groups who helped out. And: to my so n Sky for doing the poster! Veronica and David Cunningham, you too yo!

We raise our hands to those who sang their beautiful songs with the mass of people from many nations coming to Coast Salish territory .. l hope I didn't leave anyone out..

Much love Kat Norris

resources are being used handin g out tickets to people who will never be able to afford to pay 1 them," said Ann Livingston, executive director of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. "I find it unbelievable. It is fwth er margina liz ing VPD 2009 Business Plan targets DTES people who are already struggling to surv ive." (" Pol ice accused of harassi ng the poor with . nuisance tickets," Ian Austin, The Province, On Sunday, March 15, 2009, supporters of the March 16, 2009) DE Women 's Centre held a "sidewalk market" In the same Province artic le, Pri scillia Mays of protest eve nt in response to the Vancouver Po lice 路 the DTESWC said, " It is not'a coincidence that Department's rece nt crackdown in the Downtown the increased ticketing is happening in the lead-up Eastside for minor offences such as s idewalk to the Olympic Games.

It is happening to ensure vending, jaywalking, and spitting. ~ that residents live in a state of fear and According to a Streams of Justice report, I intimidation so that the [Downtown Easts ide] is (http://www.streamsofj ustice.org/2009/03/ l cleansed of poor a nd home less people in time for dtes-power-to-women-illegally-vend-in.html), tourists." the "VPD Superintendent Warren Lemcke revealed at "Not paying the tickets wi ll result in 'no-go' the Feb. 18 Vancouver Police Board meeting that court orders to keep chronic offenders out of officers issued 892 bylaw tickets in December c~rtain areas, s~id organizers [ofthe police station a lone for such offences as illegal vending and s1dewalk sale] 111 a press release. " ("Pol ice jaywalking ... " cracking down on poor: Activists," Jeff Hodson, Chi li Bean, an organizer of the event who is Metro, March 16, 2009) with the DTESWC and the Carnegie Comm unity ln a letter of mine published in 24 hours on Action Project, said, "You don't see this kind of March 17, 2009, I wrote, "Police ticketing enforcement in Kits ilano or other parts of the c ity." ('"Stop the war on the poor': Protesters," Eastside has increased a lot in the past few Matt Kieltyka, 24 hours, Marc h 16, 2009) months.

Yet the c ity has the power to overturn The VPD 2009 Business Plan bore out Chili tickets such as this [because they' re munic ipal Bean's assertion . Written as part of the goal, "To by law infractions].

If the city is on the s ide ofthe improve liveabi lity by reducin g street disorder," is most v ulnerable, why is it allowing the tickets to "Members will continue to receive training to use stand? ft s ure looks more and more like a prethis existing legislation to specifically combat 20 I 0 poor-cleansing action." behaviour and activities that contribute to urban According to The Province article cited above, decay, including aggressive panhandling, Councillor Ke rry Jang said that the ticketing City squeegeeing, graffiti, public fi ghting, open-air from the form er m unic ipa l is a leftover drug markets, unlice nsed stree t vending, the government's Project Civil City campaign (which scavenger economy, and sleeping/camping in c ity the c urrent C ity Counci l is in the process of parks and other public spaces . ... In addition to the dismantling). Said Jang, " We are speaking with continuance of these strategies, in 2009 the VPD the police of a dif ferent approach. Our solution is wi ll introduce a new strategy aimed at redu cing to create more hous ing." street disorder by increas ing the number of A CBC rep01t late on March 18, 2009 ("More members in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) on gangster arrests coming: Vancouver police," the Beat Enforcement Teams (BET), and www.cbc.ca) confirmed that the c ity and the increasing the time these members spend curbing have begun to take that approach: police and deterring disorder on the street in this area." '" We were able to have extra o fficers deployed The stated "champion" of this goal is near the end of last year,' [VPD ChiefJim] C hu Superintende nt Warren Lemc ke. said. ' We don't have that luxury of doing that "At a time w hen there is so much concern in the right now.

We have other pressing priorities in the region about g un v iolence, a ll these pol ice

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Vancouver Police Department. ' David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said th e c hange in language in the police plan is not enough.

'Now that we know that they've c hanged the ir practices, we'd like them to go further and remo ve the container at Carroll and Hastin gs [streets], where they store be longings of homeless people tha t have been seized. And we would like the m to sto p seizing the belo ng ings of ho me less peo ple,' Eby said. (Eby has a YouTube video that he made posted from February 19, 2009, of police throwing away a homeless ma n's belongings: http ://www .youtu be. com/watch ?v= BsC-4ilH fDs. Search www.youtube.com: VPD throw out homeless belongings) Mayor Gregor Ro bertson said the department is heading in a diffe rent direction-a departure from Project C ivil C ity launched by fo rmer mayor Sam Sullivan. Its aim was to cut homelessness, street drug use and panhandling tho ugh polic ing. ' At city hall we've moved away from the Civil C ity initiative, ' Robertson said . ' We're focu sed on ending homelessness, and (providing] hous ing and mental illness supports.

And I think at the VPD, we see a real focus on gang crime,' he said ."

Given that various Business Improvement Associations have reported a decrease in "street disorder" since the new s helters began operating, this latter approach certainly seems saner than the po lice increasing " nui sance" ticketin g. Now if only the bylaw tickets were overturned by tb city ...

By Rolf Auer

Thirsty and Starved Oranges; that's why the citizens hate the homeless we steal oranges boldly when we are thirsty throwing the peels all over the sidewalks I knew it was something some reason for the ir hatred It was oranges all along ...

Allan Rydman

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A Funny Thing happened on my way ..

I promised a poem by 10 AM No problem sez i However, there's many a slip Twixt the cup and the lip I went to a Healing Circle Inhaled the sage, washed in the smoke He ld hands and prayed wit da Sistas • ~J Ate chicken (catch a tory) mit ----~_.::.. some almond cake, dribbled over mit blueberries ... there were SECONDS!!

My point: got up flouri sh to write dis piece Electricity let me down, down, down No background pour Ia muse to come I could not foreground Panic! butter'd scones Butter me three personas God not but talk to me gently and play that radio Willem

APRIL DOCUMENTARIES

CARNEGIE THEATRE SATURDAYSSTARTING6PM

April 11 1" The Pharmacratic Inquisition (The most important tool used by the C hurch and State to perpetuate their authority over humanity is ignorance. A since re attempt to set us free.

Iatrogenocide! The Biotechnology, Politics and Economics of Modern Pandemics.

April 18th Zero 9111 Find o ut why the official version of events surro unding the attacks of 9111/0 I can't be true. Run from the Cure. Open

Your Eyes, the War on Terror is A Lie. April 25th Anthrax-Smallpox vaccinations and The Mark of the Beast; Run >From the Cure Qi Gong for Arthritis Manage your Osteoarthritis.

Tabac Just tell them ['m a tobacco picker you don't ha..f~a tell them I pick it offa sidewalks and anyway it's special: Gentlemen' s Bien( hand-picked from the streets of America a rare and more powerful mix, Trail mix I pick it on the trail, 路so unique 路'you can't buy it any old where" no, it' s only for the discerning smoker smoke what you got even if it ain't a lot you get used to this & that other stuff . high-falutin store-bought just can't cut tt can't smoke that sissy stuff & not since they quit the Daily Mail J not in Vogue any more, guess

News from the Library~ Frank Paul Inquiry The library has just received a copy of Alone and

Cold: The Davies Commission Inquiry into the Death of Frank Paul. T he report paints a damn in~ picture of neglect, both from individual police officers and from the justice system as a whole.

The report condemns the practice of having pol ice officers investi gate other police officers, the Coroner's Office for refusing to investigate Frank Paul 's death, and the justice system for failing to prosecute the police officers invo lved. The 400page plus report can be read in the library - it' s in the Downtown Eastside Reference collection kept at the librarian's desk.

New Books A couple of new self-he lp boo ks have arrived.

Both use cognitive behavioura l techniques to treat disorders by changing unh e lpf ul patterns of behaviour and thought. Check out Overcoming Obsessive Compulsive Behavioural Disorder, by David Veale & Rob Willson (616.85), and Overcoming Traumatic Stress, by C laudia Herbert and Ann Wetmore (616.85).

Whatever happened to Smell-0-Vision, or the Amphicar, o r the sword pisto l, or x-ray machines to measure feet in shoe sto res? It Looked Good

on Paper: Bizarre Inventions, Design Disasters, ami Engineering Follies (608) traces the history of inventio ns silly, dangero us, and just plain

disastrous.

Spring rains getting you down? Head down to the library to escape w ith a new batch of travel books. Whether you're d ream ing your way down the Amazon, or out exploring you r own backyard take a look at some of our new travel guides.

T hese inc lude: The Rouglr Guide to Thailand 's Beaches & Islands (915.63), Footprint Guides' Vancouver (917 .1 I ), Europe on a Shoestring (9 14.04 )Michelin's British Columbia and the Rockies (9 17. I I), and H aida Gwaii: Tile Queen Charlotte Islands (917. 1 1) .

Beth, your librarian

Vancouver Public Library presents

Clear the Clutter- Simplify Your Life Too much of everything you don't use, clothes you don't wear, magazines you don't read?

PAUL TALBOT, the "clutter guy"

he lps you

plan to simplify your life.

Friday April 3, 3 :00 pm Carnegie Theatre Admission is free & all are welcome!

Bea-tS on Broadway Third Friday of each month, and although 1 do specificall y invite people to come, there's a fair amount of room for walk-ins as well; l recommend they aJTive before 7 because the li st fills up. The venue is the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House at E.Broadway/

The moment you arrive, you learn to survive.

How did I get here?

Some bitch dropped a dime, and now I'm doing time .

It was a fishing expedition and I was above suspicion.

I'd like to give that squid a crack, but in here, that'll bury you, Jack. You're in a bubble, and if you want, you got trouble. In here you get a s han king, you don't ge t a spanking.

Mess with a bull , And you'll find the hole . When you lose sight, from this point, it's fight.

Buddy to the right sits in his house. quiet like a mouse: His name is Sid. He's just a kid.

My friend to th e left of me, his name is Bill.

My friend down th e range sends me a kite.

He says, "I'm free, it's time to take flight".

I wish him luck, and I pass the buck.

Yes, this is the point of no return.

Now with on ly time to burn.

Stanton Here Jam in my room with all the beautiful antiques A woman who's got it all And here I am, I got another 83 days before Christmas Sitting on my big bed My window is maybe a good 5 inches open No more 'cause the hydro pole is right bes ide it When the wind blows, I can feel the breeze ~~•'Y I can see the North Shore city lights The lights are lit up on Lions Gate Bridge Twinkling( twinkling little stars Blue. green, yellow, red I could see Just a shadow of the boats and rooftops The moon was coming down, Beautiful orange with the moon there Like a sunset riding out Sue Blue

Sue Blue is double trouble! She is an actor, writer, a heale.:, listener, teacher, auntie 'n nanny, with many faces

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I'm a Glutton for Life -

Gladys Knight

Bring it on baby, bring it on gonna feast on this life .._._'--~..'' a-gonna taste, suck and suckle life.

1 my feet flapping an' a-walking I my muscles bunching an' scrunching ' m a-gonna feast on this life.

Bring it on baby, bring it on The Eastside's teeming masses I love it all - the highs, the lows I' m a-feasting on life.

I'm a g lutton for life Doan send me your darkness Light me a candle Bring it o n, bring it on Phoenix

Sign up for Emergency Preparedness Sessions If you have not previous ly taken one ofthese sessions we encourage you to attend. Learn how to get organised for any eventual emergency and then take action to be prepared.

Sessions are held in the Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 2pm- 3pm, on Aprill3 1h and May 1 18 h. Tea, coffee, sandwiches & fruit are the refreshments served, so we ask all to sign up for one of the sessions by the previous Friday - April 101h or May 1 J5 h - so we know how much food to order.

Door pri zes and handouts will be available for those signed up - go to the 3 rd fl oor Administration Office.

PACffiC BLUEGRASS 4- HERITAGE MUSIC

SOCIE'TY

PRESENTS

A VARIETY OF BANDS PLAYING BLUEGRASS, FOLK & COUNTRY MUSIC Wednesday, April 15th, 7- 9 pm Carnegie Theatre Presenting A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

A BLIND MUSICAL GENIUS Play a song in front of him and he'll play it back perfectly

Clarence Ashatn Playing in Carnegie's Theatre Satu rday, April 11 '", 12 - 4pm Come and hear him at play aud be sure to tell friends about this pltenomeual person!

Carnegie Theatre Workshop

ACTING BASICS N ext Classes in May '09 Watch here for more details

•·:·••· @~ ~ ~ ·••·:·• I

We are the "Sun Eagles" soccer team representing the Homeless of DTES. We aim to help insp ire members of our community to li ve a healthier life, getting off the streets and drugs.

We have the skill and fire-power to defend the championship . Vancouver won in 2008 in Calgary.

We will be great representatives for the City of Vancouver in the upcoming National tournament in Toronto this coming June.

We do need yo ur support and input in terms of financial or in-kind donations to aid us in achieving our goals.

Donations and I or in-kind could include: * Monetat-y * Sponsors * Jerseys * Cleats *Nutritional Food * Sport Beverages * Air Fare I Transportation * P.R. I Advertising * Media exposure *Socks * Soccer shorts We practice at Oppenheimer Park,our home ground, every Tuesday l-3pm and Saturday 3-4:30pm. We encourage you to come down to 400 Powell Street to meet up with us anytime.

For more information, please do not hesitate to leave a message for Sam Al-Jondi at 604·665-2210.

With appreciation,

D''<l~

Sun E.a.gtes

The Eastside Sun Eagles Soccer Team

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Up Hastings near Slocan I notice the sidewalks closed big sign front of the cement truck and all sez to this blind lady Hey! It's closed. she's got crud ' round her mouth and blind glasses over regular old lady frames like a blast outta hell itself GET LOST so loud it'd scare the shit outta bikers make Rottweillers whimper suddenly I'm offended and scream ' l hope yo u get run over by a truck ya ol' bitch this guy crossing the streets the laughter hides his face choked up as I was you don't hafta be afraid of al the usual suspects it's the freakin ' ol' lad ies you gotta watch All an Rydman

Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP)

Newsletter Find us in the Carnegie Association office (604-839-0379)

Apr 1, 2009

City Council gets a titch tougher on hotels City Council has told its staff to take one of the worst slum hotels in the Downtown Eastside to court to try to get an injunction to improve maintenance standards. They haven't revealed which hotel it will be.

The decision came at a Council meeting on March 26.

Council also asked staff to report back to them in 90 days on two other possible ways of improving conditions in hotels: assessing the idea of mandatory 3rd party management; and an amendment to the Single Room Occupancy Bylaw to define room closures as conversions. This last change was suggested by Pivot lawyer Laura Track as a way of keeping hotel owners from closing rooms rather than fixing them up.

CCAP' s Wendy Pedersen told council at the meeting that they needed to get a plan to replace all 5000 SRO' s with good,

self contained new units in the area for SRO residents. - Jean Swanson

Kurt from Neighbourhood Helpers tells council about how nothing was done about the complaints he made about his hotel.

Can you think of a hotel that City Hall should pick to do it's test case?

(Blackbird photo right)

"Beggars can't be choosers" Does the DTES want modular shelters? even proposing this as an option!) or 121 square feet with bathroom.

Residents would eat in the bottom floor

"Beggars can't be choosers." That's the line that kept running through my head as I listened to Michael Geller do a presentation on what he calls modular housing, but CCAP calls modular shelters. I kept thinking of that because that's the silent premise for his proposal to build these shelters for homeless people.

Geller has received $25,000 from the province to make a recommendation to them about putting modular shelters on the parking lots on either side of the Drake Hotel on Powell St. He spoke at a DERA meeting on March 23 at the Carnegie Theatre, and then people in the audience had their say.

What is a modular shelter? Geller had a slick power point presentation to answer this question. Geller's version is not mobile homes or shipping containers, simply prefab units built in BC. They could be as small as 77 square feet with no bathroom (imagine the audacity of

of the Drake, said Geller. His recommendation is for the units with a bathroom but no kitchen. There would be 64 of them in 1 and 2 stories and would cost about $45,000 each without a bathroom. Geller compared this price to $300,000 per unit for a recently approved unspecified social housing unit while the commonly accepted price for a singles unit is $200,000.

Things started to get more interesting 2

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( (.o(\ h V\~.te..l ~ f ~ 路 when Geller said that these (inadequate) units could actually be turned into permanent housing with a little "refurbishing." In addition to the Drake, they could -also go on lots owned by developers who would get a tax break for allowing their land to be used for these temporary shelters. I wonder if the cost of the tax break or eating facilities is factored into his $45,000 per unit cost.

They could be set up as "permanent" housing and last for 10 years, he said.

Kim Kerr ofDERA opened up the discussion asking: ''Is this the best we can get right now or not?" He said DERA hadn't put its support behind this kind of housing because it isn't adequate.

He said DERA doesn't consider hotel rooms to be social housing because they are inadequate too.

Clyde Wright ofVANDU and CCAP said he was against it because it could turn into a permanent thing when it's really just a bandaid.

Joan Morelli said she was not in favour either. "It's another cop out for not building real housing."

Patty said we need baby steps to get into permanent housing rather than sleep in the pouring rain.

Nikki ofDERA suggested that the scheme was coming forward because of the Olympics.

One woman said that modular shelters would be better than roach-ridden hotel rooms in the beginning but might deteriorate later.

At the end of the meeting Lily Loncar

ofDERA said that the rationale ofthe modular shelters was based on 2 false premises: we don't have enough money to build good housing and we don't have enough time. "Governments always say there's not enough money for things poor people need," she said. "But if we have $1 billion to spend on Olympic security, we have money for housing. The only issue is what governments chose to spend it on." Then she added, "Any community can chose to fast track a project if they want to." Loncar added: "We're always told to accept crap cause there's not enough money."

Geller responded that he ''didn't disagree." And said we " need to get the federal government back in" to building housing. So, why, I ask, isn 't he going around to all the media and bureaucrats and politicians arguing for that, instead of modular shelters?

CCAP volunteers recently discussed the pros and cons of the modular shelters and came out strongly opposed to them.

People are afraid that they will become permanent, movable, inadequate housing instead of adequate, self contained units that help people feel respected and put down roots in the community. The DTES Women's Centre Power of Women group also discussed modular shelters and according to Harsha Walia the group feels that "they are inadequate.

They force poor people to accept the lesser of two evils, instead of having dignified self-contained social housing units."- Wendy P

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Streams of Justice "quests" for new social housing & Province funds some of them Here's the report that Dave Diewert wrote following the Streams of Justice action in March to draw attention to the need to fund social housing at 12 cityowned sites below.

Just after this action, the Province announced funding for 4 out of 12 sites (1338 Seymour, 188 E 1st, 3212 Dunbar and 525 Abbott).

They also announced funding for 2 social housing projects that were cancelled in 2001: 1005 Station St., and 339 W Pender.

Hey everyone, Our 4 day Quest for Social Housing on the 12 city sites action is over. It was an interesting enterprise, for sure. It started with a press conference at our first site on Tuesday morning, where we drew attention to the lack of construction on any of the sites despite promises otherwise, and announced our intention to travel by foot to

I

each of the 12 sites in search of signs of construction. Thanks to those who carne out for that part of the action, and apologies to those who missed it due to deficient communication on my part.

We then set off to 3 other sites that day.

Meanwhile, at 1:00 pm on the same day, the Premier and the Housing Minister made an announcement that 6 of 14 sites (including 4 of the 12 sites we were to visit) were ready for construction and funding was in place. I had a conversation with Rich Coleman, the Housing Minister, and he said that they would be underway, with shovels in the ground, in L Cc"'n" ...~'l -.ti p~ 5.)

4

( Ce1'\hl\ued. ~ Pt9e f)

the next few months. These two things happening on the same day was an interesting convergence, and made for some extra media attention.

We camped that night at a site in Yaletown, and decided to hit the remaining 8 of our sites all on the next day. So on Wednesday a band of 10 or so of us walked from Yaletown, through downtown, over the Burrard Street bridge, out to 16th and Dunbar; and from there along Broadway to Fraser Street, and then down to 1st and Main. We carried signs, passed out leaflets, and put

up signs on every one of the 12 sites. It was a long day of walking, but we accomplished our mission, ending at the final site around 6 pm. We had supper together there, and then headed home.

Thanks for everyone's support in various ways. It was a worthwhile event, I think. One never quite knows how to evaluate these things, but we helped to raise the issue of the absolute necessity of new, permanent social housing.

Well that's the update. Hope you are all well. peace ... dave

SATURDAY, APR1l4 (i,

NOON

I RAND MARCH

FOR HOUSING

Join the DTES Contingent

@MAIN AND HASTINGS Wear a blanket 5

Forty groups support low-income planning process Do we want developers to decide what the Downtown Eastside will be like in the future?

Or shou1d local residents decide?

The Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) is working to give local low- income residents a .,, big say in what happens to the ~ " community. Lots of other groups want a say too: developers, churches, business associations, etc. The City seems to be on the ve,rge of agreeing to some sort of planning This is a map of the 7 sub areas of the Downtown Eastside. Can you believe process for the neighbourhood, but what 70.6% of the people who live in Gastown kind? Do we want the typical process where business groups, agencies, are low-income (below $20K a year)? In developers, and government outnumber Strathcona 46.9% of the population is low-income. Oppenheimer has the low-income people and their representatives? Another danger in the highest % - 75.5%.

DTES is that the city will say they want housing coalition, which is made up of representatives from Gastown, Victory Downtown Eastside groups and individuals Square and Chinatown and assume that the who agree that low-income people should business oriented groups there represent have a priority in the DTES' s future. The thousands of low-income people in these coalition we belong to, LILAHC, drafted areas of the DTES. CCAP says no to this.

Since low-income residents are about 75 this resolution: "The following organizations support or percent of the popu1ation of the DTES, we want them to have 75% of the say in what will participate in a local area planning process that: happens here. And we want that 1) Has a vision, goal and implementation percentage reflected in any planning mechanisms to create and maintain a safe, process.

That's why CCAP is working with affordable and healthy low-income neighbourhood; LILAHC, the Low-income land use and

6

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2) Has a steering committee made up of low-income DTES residents and their representatives in proportion to their population; and 3) Will take about 1 year."

So far, 40 groups have endorsed this resolution and we have passed it on to the City's DTES planner, Jessica Chen. The groups are: Aboriginal Front Door, Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society, Atira, BC PWA, CCAP, CCCA, Citywide Housing Coalition, CRAB Water for Life, DTES Community Arts Network, DTES Centre for the Arts, DTES Neighbourhood House, DEWC Power to Women, Enterprising Women Making Art, Faithful Public Witness Committee of the VancouverBurrard Presbytery, Fearless TV, Feb. 141h Women's Memorial March Committee,

Flux Design (area business), Four Sisters Co-op Child and Youth Committee, Franciscan Sisters, Grandview Woodlands Area Council, Homelessness and Mental Health Action Group of St. Andrew's Wesley Church, Impact on Communities Coalition, Lookout, Longhouse Ministry, LILAHC, Lutheran Urban Mission, Mission Possible, Pivot, Portland Hotel Society, PACE, Senior' s Stitch ' n' time group, SFU Teaching Staff and Support Union, Solidarity Notes, Streams of Justice, Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction, VANDU, V ANDU women's group, Vancouver Flying University, WISH. If you're with a group who would like to endorse the resolution, call Jean at 604 729-2380. ~JS

DTES residents and groups respond to VPD business plan changes Speakers from the Downtown Eastside Women Centre Power to Women Group, DTES Neighbourhood I louse, Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, Carnegie Community Action Project, as welJ as lawyers David Eby and Douglas King of Pivot spoke on the issue at a news conference at Pigeon Park. ((o-n. \1 (\lt..â&#x201A;Ź<1 Of\. fX~<?... i) 7

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in light of the outrage, but nothing in the plan suggests an actual change in overall strategy and practice."

"Removing language without changing

The changes to the police plan include removal of the provisions to increase the number of tickets as well as removal of the specific targets of street checks in the Downtown Eastside. The revised plan was adopted by the police board on Wednesday March 18th.

"While these changes have come about as a direct result of all the pressure and protest by groups such as ours, we are not at all satisfied.

These are cosmetic changes that do little to change the wave of street sweeps and police harassment that OTES residents have been unfairly subjected to," said Karen Lahay, member of theDTES Women Centre Power to Women Group.

According to Harsha Walia, Project Coordinator at the Downtown Eastside Womens' Centre, "The plan still solely and disproportionately targets The DTES with explicit plans to eliminate street vending, to continue with a ticketing campaign, and to increase police presence. These are still street sweeps fuelled by the 2010 Olympics. They are cleverly word-smithing

the offensive policies the language describes is an insult to those who want better for our homeless population," said David Eby, acting Executive Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association. It's not enough to simply pretend in the Business plan that this crackdown is not continuing."

In the year 2008, over 1, I 00 city bylaw tickets and over 800 provincial statute tickets were issued in the Downtown Eastside. -JS

Vancity Support for this project does not necessarily imply Vancity's endorsement of the fmdings or contents of this report."

8

This is written by Rafe Mair and please read it as you will find it VERY interesting. Bottom line- he is supporting the NDP in the upcoming election.

Hi Everybody, Rafe here.

I received an email from a man saying that he has a tough time bring ing himself to vote NDP and asked for my comment and here it is. I hope you find it of interest. Please pass this on to your add-ress book so that we can provide infonnation where the media will not.

Let me take a moment to answer your question which is one that has troubled a lot of people including myself.

When I was in government (1975-80) I was Minister, first, for Consumer and Corporate Aff-airs.

During that time I passed more consumer legislation than anyone before or since including licensing Car dealers (with six of them in caucus setting their collective hair on fire) forced the Banks to acknowledge and obey BC laws for the first time, forced serious reporting changes to the Vancouver Stock Exchanges for w hich they have never forgiven me, licensed Travel Agents and made them create a fund to bring home passengers stranded by bankrupt charter companies and so on.

As Environment Minister I stopped the govemment killing of wolves, stopped exploration for and mining of uranium and went to Seattle and negotiated the saving of the Skagit River fi路om a raising of the Ross Dam which Seattle was pennitted to do under a 1941 deal with the BC govenunent.

As Minister of Health I brought in the Homecare program and Palliative Care.

I tell you all these things because there is no way in the world I could have ever done these things for the public ofBC had Gordon Campbell been Premier.

T he political ground has shifted dramatically and the present day version of the o ld Socreds is, I think, the party Carole James leads. I know that there are suppmters ofMs James that are hard line lefties just

' as when I was with Bill Be1m ett there were supp01ters and indeed members of Caucus who were near fascists. That so1t of thing will always happen in a two patty system.

If it were 1975 all over again, I'd support Bill Bennett (the best premier BC ever had, in my view); in 2009 1 will suppott Carole James.

Now as to the point that Campbell "cleaned up the mess". Perhaps, but let's be fair and observe that the NDP were struck by the "Asian 'flu" and in fact balanced the budget in their last year. It's also interesting to note that under the Liberals the Vancouver Convention Centre is over budget $400 million, more than double the cost of the "fast feJTies" . For a fuller account of the Liberals financial record may I refer you to my forthcoming atticle, next Monday, in www.thetyee.ca.

Now let's look at 2009. This election, for me, boils down to a single issue - the environment and the plans by Campbell to deface and destroy the province I was bom in and love and where 7 out of 8 of my grandchildren live. The energy policy, in which no one but industry had a hand in formulating, will ruin an ever increasing number of rivers, not to look after BC's energy needs, but mostly, American requirements, I have nothing against Americans and in fact have often been accused of being to lenient with them, but I don't want to see us sacrifice our environment rivers so they can preserve theirs. This policy is govemment by the Not1h America Free Trade Agreement and our experts tell us three things1. once an American company has access to our water for any reason, it can use it fo r any reason Including selling bulk water exports.

2. Once an American company has tenure on a Canadian water and is using it, that tenure cannot be terminated either by contract or legislation.

3. Once we are exp01ting energy, we cannot reduce that supply to the US without reducing our own usage by a s imilar amount (this is the "Proportion-ality C lause").

Moreover, the profits which BC Hydro now pays into our treasury will go as div idends to s hareho ld-er~ of Companies like General Electri c, Led cor and Axos. BC Hydro, forced by this government to pay huge amo unts fo r energy that they can't even break even with when they sell it, will bankrupt BC Hydro for w hich we paid a high environmental price 45 years ago but which has s ince then given us regular

power at Ill Oth the cost they pay in California. Dr Marvi n Shaffer at SFU calls this new business technique "buy high, sell low"!

If Campbell is returned we w ill be, like Bre'r Rabbit, stuck to the American Tar Baby.

There is but one other choice, vote NDP. But w ill this not mean the financ ial ruination of the province?

1 don't believe so for a moment. But let us assume an NDP government made a balls up of the economy. That can be repaired by a new government. llowever, once we have established the Campbell Energy Plan for another four years that will be the end of BC Hydro and the end of hundreds of rivers.

FOREVER. I cannot allow that to happen without giving it the fight of my life.

I, a former Socred m inister, with the same core values I had then, am suppot1ing and wi ll vote f< Carole James.

Sincerely, Rafe [Mair] Please look at www.saveourrivers and get the bigger picture

ADDICTION A ll of my life I've been flying And now I feel I' ve bee n dying.

To save my sou l I must start t rying If I' m to stop a ll this crying.

A m oment o ut, without a a b lowout.

A moment down, without being on the ground.

I must stop al l this time I'm losing.

My life has become a loss Of bad choos ing.

By doing drugs and all this boozing.

From bad advice and living in thi s vice.

If I could o nly cha nge the way I th ink With my life so close to the b r in k.

Because soon I fee l I'll need a drink A nd the drugs that make m e t hink.

Now I fee l the water in my eye, And I begin to cry.

So now I have the need to ask why.

Only if I cou ld fly.

I could rise so hi gh Just once ag ain before I die .

Stanton J

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!

Great news - the 2009 Neighbourhood Small Grant Applications are now at Carnegie, Strathcona and RayCam Community Centres, as well as various locations around the DTES. Even better, this year you can apply online at

www.neighbourhoodsmallgrants.ca.

Check out our fabulous new website, complete with success stories, application forms and more. We will also be holding workshops in the neighbourhood to help you in completing your application.

Keep checki ng the website for locations a nd dates!

Application deadline: Friday, April 24, 2009 A Note on Addiction Years ago 1 left the DTES to escape crack, to escape the addict I' d let myself turn into. I chose a place faraway in the West Kootenays; no crack there, for sure.

For years, sleepless nights where coke dreams tore me awake cold and shaking from the coitus interruptu~ crack dreams that played me to the point I really thought I was losing my mind. .

1 promised myself I wou ldn't go home ttll the drug dreams stopped. They never did stop. I just learned not to attach any significance to them.

I learned the trick, like Alan Watts once said. ''Objection to pain is pain." Ignore it and it no longer rul es your ni ghts or, for that matter, days. .

I' m still at heart a coke fiend. I walk the stnp same 3S everyone. I see my ol' Chicano b uddies, s~i.le and walk past. I learned to live "around" my addtctJOn. 1 don ' t hold out any quick and easy answers. I fo und 11y way out of the maze the hard way by ~ndless drug :lrcams, dreaming about what the body mtssed even 11ore than any love. I still dreamt

1 don' t crack out. My daughter's holding her breath praying I don' t fall back into the crack. I won't say I won the battle w ith my addiction. I' ll just say me and the Devil played to a stalemate and I left the fight alone.

R . Loewen

Homeless Crisis Grows in BC North Shelter is scarce and even 'jungle camps' are shut to the jobless and addicted. A Tyee special report.

By Sean Condon TheTyee.ca "What does homeless ness mean to you,' asks Herb, a middle-aged, homeless aboriginal man.

Suddenly, the five aboriginal men hanging out in a home-less shelter in Smithers look at me, waiting for a response. Herb, who was a little belligerent and a good deal drunk, wants to know how much I really know about homeless-ness. After spending an hour probing into his life and asking what it's like to be homeless in this small town in northern British Columbia, it only seemed fair. ' It's not having a place of your own," I answer somewhat awkwardly. "It's not having a place that you know will be there at the end of the day."

"No,' says Herb, correcting me. "Homelessness means not having a safe place to sleep."

It sounds almost too simple when you hear it and even more troubling to know how hard it is to achieve. Before Herb moved into the Broadway Place Emergency Shelter nine months ago, he lived peacefully in the bush in jungle camps-- makeshift camps that are home to anywhere from one to a half-dozen homeless people. But when the police and drunk locals started tearing the camps down, he was forced to come into town.

'This town is a hard place' Luckily, the Broadway Place opened last year, giving the town its only nine shelter beds. Although the shelter is already overcapacity, Herb is happy with the place. But there aren't really any other options for him. What social housing there is in Smithers is for families only. The handful f single room occupancy (SRO) hotels that once existed have all burned down or been condemned. A chronic alcoholic, no landlord will rent to him.

With temperatures dropping below -30 degrees Celsius in the winter, a safe place to sleep is the most he can hope.

"This town is a hard place," says Herb. "If I could, I'd be back out there [in the jungle camps]. There's nothing for me here."

From Prince George to Prince Rupert, Herb's sense of hopelessness has been repeated more than a dozen times.

Across northern B.C., the homeless and social workers say there is no affordable housing available nd little opportunity to escape the cycle of homelessness and addiction. Predominantly aboriginal and struggling with alcoholism, the north's homeless have been quietly growing in their own communities. But with recession forcing th forestry industry to lay off thousands of workers, many predict the homeless crisis in the north is about to get much worse.

'Our homelessness is invisible' Getting a grip on the actual number of homeless up north is pretty difficult. Unlike Metro Vancouver, which has done three homeless counts since 2002, smaller communities lack the resources and the ability to do the same. For one, the homeless up north aren't easy to find "Our homelessness is invisible," says Sylvia Byron, agency coordinator for Vanderhoofs Omineca Safe Home Society, which runs the town's four shelter beds. "People are smart.

There's always a couch or an uncle or someone that if you give $20 can find you a place to stay. But they can't sleep in doorways because it's too cold. If they do, they're dead."

Byron says the invisibility means social workers can only estimate the number of homeless based on how many people use the social services and what they think lies hidden behind closed doors.

Last year, as the critic for homelessness, NDP MLA David Chudnovsky toured the province and asked social service agencies what they thought the number of homeless, hid-den and on the street, was in their community. In his report, !Finding Our Way Home, Chudnovsky estimated there are close to 2,000 homeless people in northern B.C and at least I 10,580 across the province. He now figures the numbers to be much higher.

i

I

I "I was surprised with the depth and the breadth of the problem , outside the Lower Mainland and also very struck at the sense : that people outside of Vancouver have that they're being 1 ignored," says Chudnovsky, who I followed for four days in northern B.C. showing the documentary, Our Way Home: 'A continuation of colonization' What people do know is that the homeless population in the north is primarily aboriginal, anywhere between 60 and 100 per cent depending on the city or town. When I ask two managers at the Broadway Place shelter what percentage of the homeless in Smithers was aboriginal, they debate whether the number was 92 or 95 per cent.

'What we're seeing is a continuation of colonization," says 路 Randene Weir. executive director of Nechako Valley Community Services in Vanderhoof. "A lot of the homeless are residential school survivors, or the children of residential school survivors."

But there seems to be little sensitivity to historical abuses up north and racism is much more overt. In Vanderhoof, a homeless native man named Arthur tells me stories about having white people throw bottles at him from their car as he tries to hitchhike back to the reserve. Walking around Prince George with a middle-aged homeless man named Brian who gave me a tour of the city's shelters and drop-in centres, I see white people move out of the way on the sidewalk for me, but refuse to move for him.

1

"It's not easy being native [here] even if you're not homeless," he says. . .

Making matters worse, there seems to be littl~ .coord1nat1on going on between the band leaders, the mumc1pal government and the social service agencies, even though the homeless often migrate between reserve and town.

"There's a lot of conflicting interests," says Jeff Renaud, the acting-executive director of Lake District Community Services in Burns Lake. "But these different groups have to come together with an economic plan and work for the greater good of the community."

'People disappear' In some northern communities, the number of homeless seems to have exploded over the past two years (200 to 300 in Terrace, 100 in Vanderhoon, while others have seen a gradual increase in the past decade (1 ,000 in Prince George) or seen their numbers stay relatively stable over the past few years (250-300 in Smithers).

While these numbers may seems small compared to Vancouve~s homeless, which has been estimated to be as high as 8 000 the homeless in northern B.C. make up a far greater proportidn of the total population. Of the 3,000 people that live in the Village of Burns Lake, roughly 100 .. don't have a place of their own. Yet these small commun1t-1es have little to no services to meet the need.

"It's difficult for the community to meet the need of people who are or who are facing, homelessness,' says Renaud.

"There ~re a lot of gaps in the service nd people disappear It's really difficult and sad."

In places like Burns Lake and Vanderhoof, the hand.ful of shelter bed that do exist are reserved for women ftee1ng a~use or drug addiction. There are no shelter beds for men. In Pnnce Rupert, the Salvation Army operates 10 beds out of a hotel.

The only place in northern B.C. that seems to have eno~gh resources to at least cope with its homeless population 1s .

Prince George, where there are a number of shelters, drop-lncentres and soup kitchens all located within a small ~0-block radius. But in order to accommodate the city's grow-mg number of homeless, service agencies have had to find ways of dealing with the 路overflow."

"We're all a little depressed that our 'meeting room' has become another shelter room," says Audrey Schwartz, executive director of the Active Support Against Poverty (ASAP) shelter, as she shows me a small room filled with 10 . mattresses stuffed inside. 路we thought we'd be able to use 1t for meetings.'

A call for affordable housing .

What you hear from homeless persons and social workers In every northern community is that there is a desperate need for more affordable and social housing. In many of the towns, social workers told me the social housing is

available is for families only.

"They don't let us have any homes," says Rocky Prince, a 63vear-old native homeless man who stays at the Ketso Yah Centre Men's Hostel in Prince George. "It's too expen-sive for a single person. It's $450 for a room and $600 for a onebedroom. But I only get $400 a month. I don't know why they charge so much.'

Although every Canadian city saw new affordable housing projects all but disappear after the federal government announced in 1993 that it would no longer build social hous-ing, the problem is painfully visible in B.C.'s small northern communities. And much like in Vancouver, the lack of new affordable housing was coupled with an economic boom a few years ago that dramatically pushed up rent costs.

"There's very little [affordable] housing and it's really reduced over the last couple of years," says Jane LeFrancois, director of programming for the Ksan Housing Society in Terrace. "There was such a need for rental accommodation that landlords don't need to rent now to low-income people because there is enough people that can afford the higher rents."

But while Vancouver was at least able to use its sizeable, if unstable, stock of single room occupancy hotels in the Downtown Eastside to provide some sort of affordable housing, most towns and cities don't have that option.

After years of neglect, the few SROs that lasted in northern B.C. have either burned down or been condemned and have never been replaced.

'The crisis they helped create' A request for an interview with Minister of Housing and Social Development Rich Coleman was not granted. In-stead, the ministry sent some background information that said since 2001 there have been 23 social housing projects with 342 units built in B.C.'s northern communities.

"The Province recognizes homelessness is also an issue in smaller communities -- that is why we are not just concentrating our efforts in large, urban areas," it read.

In January, two of the 15 new low-income properties the province bought were in the north-- the 18-unit Astoria Hotel in Prince George and the 33-unit Jamboree Motel in Williams Lake.

Over the past three years, there has also been new funding for a series of shelter programs and rent supplements. And following in the footsteps of the successful program in Vancouver, the province started funding homeless outreach workers in Williams Lake, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Vanderhoof, Terrace and Dawson Creek. The province claims the program has housed 400 in the north since 2006, but did not say how many were still housed.

However, Chudnovsky argues that while some of the developments are positive, the BC Liberals are still not building

the much-needed new housing.

'The provincial government has done some things [aro~n_d homelessness] but it began under the pressure of the cns1s they helped create when they stopped building social housing in 2002," he says. "And they've chosen strategies to a great extent that don't increase the stock of housing."

'There's nothing better south anymore' Despite the provincial government's recent conversion to put more funding into housing and homelessness, it may still be too late. The lack of affordable housing in the bigger cities has meant that smaller communities have had to absorb them on a much greater number.

'Some [of the homeless] used to head to Prince George, but they don't anymore.' says Stacey Tyers with the Ter-race AntiPoverty Group Society. "They just stay in the community.

There's nothing better south anymore. You used to head to Vancouver, because there used to be housing. There's 'no point now; you'd be homeless there.

Making matters worse, the U.S. recession has caused a serious slowdown for B.C.'s logging industry and has res-ulted in massive layoffs in the north . B.C. forestry saw profits fall from $1 billion to $652 million last year and 17,000 forestry jobs have been lost since 2007.

Already, social-service providers up north have noticed a sharp increase in the number of families using services.

"When we're talking about families seeking services, they don't want to leave town," said Carol Seychuk, executive director of the Northern Society for Domestic Peace in Smithers, which runs a women's shelter and transition housing.

But although many in the north could be looking at a lengthy unemployment, neither the federal or provincial government appears to be doing much to increase the social safety net.

Premier Gordon Campbell asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper to extend employment insurance benefits for laid off loggers for another year, but Harper only extended it by five weeks.

Minister Coleman told The Vancouver Sun that the prov-ince does not intend to make access to welfare any easier for out of work loggers.

'It's you against the world' Back at the homeless shelter in Smithers, Herb, seemingly not satisfied with my first answer, asks again what homelessness means to me. But before I have a chance to respond, a young homeless man who just entered the shelter gives his own answer.

'It's having no family, no friends, no one to turn to," says Brad Innes, a 21-year-old native man who has been homeless since he was 17. "It's you against the world."

Originally from Mission, Innes has been bouncing around the north for the past few years, heading into a new town every

time he's run out of the old one.

Although they are a generation apart, I couldn't help but see the similarities between Innes and Herb. They have both been chased away from their communities. They have both been turned away from housing, either because they don't have the money or because they are aboriginal. They are both struggling with alcohol. They share the same sense of hopelessness.

"It's too difficult [to find housing]," Innes tells me. "There's a few places in town, but they're for families. Other places won't rent to us, or it's too expensive. â&#x20AC;˘ A bright, young man and a talented artist, Innes would seem to have the potential to make his way out of poverty. But I couldn't help but fear that if he doesn't get housing and support soon, his future would start looking a lot like Herb's, who's only goal now is to curb his drinking.

As I leave the shelter I am overcome by the sense of hopelessness. The men in the shelter don't believe they will ever get housing or that things will ever improve. Forgotten or ignored, the homeless in northern B.C. can only hope to survive. If they are lucky, to have a safe place to sleep.

Changing the Guard: Christopher Robin Went Down ... (a tale of the beginning of a talent?)

So there was a plump gal of I 0 Forced to recite NO END Dressed in yellow frills- a Daffodil She sings to gatherings Quaking in her orthopaed ic boots For she had a certain weakness She smiled and curtseyed (having been carefully taught) Pinned posies to ladies' lapels Gentlemen's pin-striped suits Oftimes piercing her fingers, bleeding.

Mother culled her " little solider l~~w.~.._.ut she deliberately walked in water her boots Just for the attention and towelling -'f Something like love Maybe it was love Anyway it had to do until the next best thing came ' round Willow a a.k.a. Wi lhelmina

slang tongue twist

A Legal Victory for Victims of Catholic Abuse and Torture!

Vatican can be Sued for Clergy Abuse

tommy hilfiger, ad idas, nike, calv in klein hang loose on brown bodies from hats to pants even coo l undies

An Oregon man who alleges he was molested in the 1960s by a priest can pursue a civil lawsuit against the Holy See, a federal appeals court says The ruling has brought him one step closer to suing the Vatican for sexual abuse he says he suffered a Roman Catholic priest.

In a 59-page decision issued Tuesday, a threejudge panel from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the man -- who says he was molested in the 1960s by a priest at a Catholic school --can pursue a civil lawsuit against the Holy See because the priest allegedly abused h' while serving in a religious capacity.

Note: Under the doctrine of vicarious liability, employers are responsible and liable for the acts of their employees. The Supreme Court ofCanada ruled in 1999 that the United Church of Canada, and the Catholic and Anglican churches, are vicariously liable for the acts of their employees in Indian residential schools. Yet the government of Canada subverted this ruling, assumed responsibility for the damages wrought by the churches, and has absolved the churches ofany responsibility for residential school crimes.

walki ng billboards is the latest trend on our littered pow-wow grou nds there's no long braids on the young or old or no mother tongue slipping from our lips just empty words that tangle in our short cropped hair skins are dancing, but not to any pow-wow drum.

It's a hip hop beat from g hetto streets here they break dance flip high fives 路 and s lam each other's mothers whil e they lay the beats to their b lood brothers.

Brand extension reaches Bush rez and rezw:bia A dissillus ion of communi ty

Nevertheless, survivors of residential schools should act on this U.S. legal precedent and appeal in international courts for legal action against the Vatican, which planned the original m odel for Indian residential schools and ran 75% of them in Canada.

- Kevin Annett www.hiddenfromhistory .org ...

.

And it's skin against skins in this neo-warrior gang clash, our s lang tongue twist, and we trip into a new age ghost dance.

Sue Blue's Son

Survivors of Incest Anonymous, Inc. For women .

Every Thursday, 6:15 to 7: 15pm Avalon Women's Centre.

Contact Michelle: 604-263-7177 For more infonnation, call or send a stamped, self-addressed envelope (SASE) to:

Poets and writers interested in submitting work to the Megaphone, email paulhiebert@hotmail.com

Survivors of Incest Anonymous, Inc. P.O.Box 190, Benson, Maryland USA 21018 1-410-282-3400 www.siawso.org

1

DOWNTOWN

NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN·-3.. Rouiesa ·-. .

EASTSIDE ..

YOl)TH ACTIVITIES SOCIETY

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Free showers for homeless persons at 327 Carrall Wed 7-8:30am; Sat 7-10am; Women Only Fri S.8pm THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE · 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and Articles represent the views of individual I1 this Newsletter, are occurring on Coast Salish Territory. I Contributors and not of the Association.

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C~RNEGIE

•-Edito;::-;auiR Taylor

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TIM STEVENSON CITY COUNCILLOR SERVING THE COMMUNITY WITH PRIDE

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Subject matter relevant to issues pertaining to the Downtown Eastside preferred, but all work will be considered; Black & White printing only Size restrictions must be considered (i.e. if your piece is too large, it wiU be reduced and/or cropped to fit; All artists will receive credit for their work; Originals will be relumed to the artist after being copied for publication; Remuneration: Carnegie volunteer tickets.

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oo you Have a Legal Problem?

Are you charged with a crltne7 VIsit the UBC Law Clinic In the 3'd floor gallery of carnegie Centre for free advice & representation.

- Law Students Legal Advice Program (LSLAP) Drop- In, Tuesdays, 1 - 9pm.

2009 DONATIONS: Barry M.-$150, Libby 0 .-$70 Rolf A.-$50, Margaret D.-$40, Jenny K.-$23, Sue K.-$30, Sandy C.-$25, Christopher R.-$180 Mel L.-$25, Greta P.-$25. Java 8.·$75, Alayne-$25 Anonymous -$1500 Leslie S.-$25 The Edge ·$200

The Bit & The Drill Welcome to the year of 5 Rings stamped on foreheads & bodybags for those who celebrate by dying- just what we need : risky relatives demanding answers for their crying. You wanted a new holiday how ' bout Feb.12 Come to Hell uay tt should be Swell eh!? All those tourists with their j erky mo vements then wham bam I'l l take that recorder M'am now leave it with us get the fuck on the bus o r you' ll be ou r latest history/tragedy, back to that day o f evil architects & destruction engineers their beer & corruption now they always meet in secret (why god made dark) this guy knows Infrastructure like the hand on his back of his hands have written commands stuff like $900 million for this savagery er sec urity matters known only to those above who will let it s lip ten years from now their own urine was leaking from above but With Love New Vancouver exciting as two dogs fig hting I hear the Disney Cartel is interested in a chain of movies on said fighting (I had 10 bucks o n Faceless Wonder) we shall make no waste ... before its time now where there's a will there's a landfill like being born on empty never to be fulfilled please make allowances for th e ho ur but it looks like your little show of horrors just cut our city's power & its many promise pushers: podium stutterers: Yesmen dealers & the ir whining squealers You are the Bit, They are the Drill; will security wannabees really give a shit who they maim & kill for now we could cram all said losers rocket & fire it off to the sun land fill is full to capacity the mon is our next toxic dump & should be fun?

This 5 Ring Circus will show us who we really are a com plete & utter joke NO that's no t all folks when you stumble through as many waspnests as I have people on fire or sale do n't register anymore. They came, they left th eir garbage rudeness & 100 flavours of the flu take it away Promise Pushers: Podium Stutterers, YesMen Dealers & their pack of squealers that is New Vancouver it brings tears to my eyes what have they done to you w hat have you become- not even Satan could condone this evil puddle C. Robert Darwin was rig ht all along this is "our hopeless muddle" you are never too young to learn this is now our concern fo r the cause one problem No cause for concern no more show 'n tell when Ricky brings his Dad a g un fun in the snow as they run o ut of contro l (a running ovation) Yes PROGRESS is tbe only 7 digit 4 letter word li ke disputing anc ient burial

customs you just may be the best meal someone else ever had looks like prophecy fulfi lled reality land filled just remember you are the bit & they are the drill. End of class.

ROB ERT McGILLIVRAY

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it takes all sorts . ..

I hw1, 1 dream,don' t tlirt,never wed,oh please,don't tease.l'm free, words said,upset, l've bled, ! know,quite often,literally,you dig? Written down,fo r keeps,posterity,a ll known,who cares, ! do,means much,to me, can't s leep otherwise, w hat then? Don' t know,not sure,no fear,just go, l' m real,not quite,that's true,don' t steal, I' m meek, inherit earth,that said, new birth,cold w inds,may blow,could freeze,Tknow,can takc,am it, eat crow,don' t mess,my mind,!' II treat yo u in kind, good use,resources,obtruse,other fo rces,make time, for me,slow down.won' t plea, what's up,with you, you're down,bad views. Upbeat,! li ke, feel s good, nice deal. Maybe you fret,small things,no sweat,life is too short.heard that,all sorts,regrets,remorse,bad vibes,connect,with me,call up,feel free, where is the love? Bruised hearts,don't shove,once bitten,twice s hy,you're s mitten,don' t lie,false trips,taken lost, ca n't do,no more. Been th ere,ain ' t fakin',for sure, won't happcn,aga in:cause now, l' m pure. Get rea l. crash course,your case,no appeals. Where are you. now,no deals.

Wha t's up,once more,don ' t run,rev down,have fu n, not done, no more,move on,no doubts,come on,don 't po ut,save face,b izarre,no way,l' m ri g ht,you' ll say.

Argue,with me,what for,you' ll sce, l' m herc,foryou, always,count on this fact,this truth, will happcn,take th at,to the bank,can't lose,you win!

What's next,you say,guess twice,double up.ro ll d ice, abrupt stop,gain speed,press on,momentum,kcep it, s traig ht.simple,you rate,won' t lose. Take time,take ten. whatever,to rest. Be still, perk up,get going,long run,chin up.eyes shine,face sun.hig h noon,take heat, cool soon. Get this,lock in,zone out,you choose. Tune in,long term. Lie back,chill o ut,all spent,be cool. You are good. Right now,you set the rules,take heed.last time,you' re fi xed,all good,don' t bleed ,thj at's done, those days,gone by,prcss o n,no worri es. I trust,good s tuff.i n you,yes you,for real,can' t take away,from you it's a ll,you are fo r keeps,can' t bcnd,sideways, it's time s tay on track; bad days,tough times,are gone, for good now,more than eve r,never tu rning back.

ROBYN LIVINGSTONE

Our Colonial Her itage Reverend John Chivington, Methodist Church miss ionary and volunteer Co lonel in the Colorado Militia, 1864: "Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians.

I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill them."

L. Frank Baum, author The Wizard of Oz, 1898: "The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians. Why not annihil-

ation? Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are."

Duncan Campbell Scott, Deputy Superinte nd ent of Indi an Affai rs, Canada, 1910: "It is true that Indian children die at a much higher rate in our Indian boarding schools, and that the cause is invariably the spread of uncontrolled disease. But such is in keeping with the policy of this Department, which is geared towards the Final Solution of the Indian Problem."

Brian Thorpe, Se cretary, B.C. Conference, United Church of Canada, 1996: "The treatment of children in our Indian residential schools was almost benign in nature. The abuse done to them was certainly not a matter of policy and originated with just a few individuals.

We need to be careful of making inflammatory claims and exaggerating what went on."

Rudolf Hoess, S.S. Commandant, Au schwitz Death Camp, 1945: "The so-called ill treatment of inmates in the camp has been greatly exaggerated and was the result of a handful of undisciplined recruits and did not reflect a general policy ... Most deaths occurred from illness or starvation brought on by the inmates' weakened condition ... " John Mill oy, resea rcher, Cdn government's "Truth and Reconcili ation Commission", 2008: "There is no real evidence that children in residential schools were deliberately killed. The high death rate was the result of consistent underfunding of the schools and not because of intent ... "

For coffee as good as Carnegie's, forget Waves; Get French Press-\and $2 Americana cups at

Sohilr &Ions, 247 Main Street. Used books!

Harriett Nah anee, survivor, United Church 's Albern i Indian Residential Schoo l, 1995: "Then he (Principal Caldwell) kicked her. She went rolling down the stairs. She lay at bottom of the stairs, her eyes weren't moving, she wasn't breathing .. They buried her out back and told her parents she died of pneumonia. That happened all the time."

Read a nd Hear the t ruth of G enocide in C a nada , pa st and present, a t this website : www.hiddenfro mhistory.o rg

Headlines Daily newspapers are not that interesting when read ing stories that are obviously slanted. The turnoff was exacerbated when the NDP was government and there was the obligato ry anti-NDP article, news story, TV spot with the 3-sccond sound bytes or radio show wi th an unending diatribe from the talking host about how "stupid, misinformed, dishonest, sexually deviant, etc." all NDP MLAs were and governme ntas-a-whole was supposedly in seri ous free fall.

It was fu nny and expected at firs t as the big money, owning the media and having vested interests in the continued exploitation of the people of BC, tried every trick to bring the NDP crashing down. It was hilarious when the Board ofTrade had one of their Yes-men go public and announce a "gathering of the concerned" or something at a huge auditorium in Vancouver. It was touted as a beginning of a " real" citizen's movement to rip the vei l off the s leazy NDP -backroom dealings, nepotism-gone-wild, porkbarrel giveaways to friends and businesses and so o n. (Why reinvent the wheel? All such charges had been levalled against the Socreds (now the BC Liberals) with copious evidence to back them up.: Okay. It was a riot, but the re le ntless coverage and set-ups perpetuated by neo-Liberals finally paid ofT with our first-past-the-post electoral system putting Gordon Campbell and cronies in power with 77 of 79 seats. They got 57% of the vote and 97% of the seats.

This became possible by the technique known as the "B ig Lie"- te ll the biggest lie you can and repeat it so often that anything else seems less likely (even if it's true).

The point being that, with the amount of information available, people who aren't intensely interested and at the same time unconvinced just have to accept what the '' objective press" says.

Is that enough of an intro? The Headline I saw today said that C ampbell is directly involved in the mess of BC Rail. Sub-headline said that the paper trail leads directly into th e Premier's office. Other headlines are vying for attention but that one tweeks memories of some revolting greed (read ' privatisation') involved in BC Hydro. Along with that is the takeover of our rivers and fisheries by American corporations and the corporate conceit of giants like

Alcan, SunCor, Mac-Blo and mining in this province who have increased their profits by over I00% s ince the BC Liberals were bought a nd sold ( liken it to something crawling out from under a rock).

Another bit of trash-talk: Go rdon Campbell is about the o nly premier who has steadfastly called for more deregulation of banks and financial institutions, even after the global economic cris is caused by the deregu lation of banks and fina ncial institutions.

The rumour is that the ND P is unlikely to form a government in May. A rumour started by who? The pundits are already dismissing a majority of seats for the NDP on account of the Green Party taking crucial votes. Don't believe it. Vote strategically if you have to but keep in mind that it's still first-past-the-post you only need I more vote than the g uy/gal in second Also remem ber that there is a referendum on changing our electoral system to the fairer one of proportional representation. [*More on this next issue.]

One thing that is a bright cloud is the seeming resurgence of a true-blue Conservative Party in BC! Its leader is on record as not believing in climate change, and the need for more jails, Jess welfare and no abortions. A true Stephen Harper clone!! They, like the BC Liberals, are philosophically opposed(!) to social housing.

For the next 6 weeks - listen. Pay attention when political pundits like pro-Liberal Vancouver Sun's Vaugh n Pa lmer relentlessly attacks the NDP: ("Seven weeks to the election and ND P is a party in search of issues," March 24) and ("NDP strategy of demonizing Campbell has its limitations," March 25). There are plenty of issues. all righ t, and Campbell has plenty of fau lts. Listen to what's said and, more impmtantly, what's not said on TV, radio and in print.

Remember that the purpose of argument is to change the nature of truth. Whose truth? In what context?

Ask yourselves what's best for your kids.

By PAULR TAY LOR [Note: In the next issue there will be a positive explanation of the Single-Transferrable-Vote (STY} system. The BC Liberals have gone to great lengths to not inform the public on th is crucial issue even thoug h (or because of the fact that) there is a Referendum on the ballots in May's provincial election to see if 60% of voters living in BC want a fairer (proportional rep resentation) system]