UN CEDED COAST SALISH TERRITORIES - On Monday July 16 Downtown Eastside (DTES) residents gathered outside the Pantages demolition site to draw attention to rats and rubble disaster that has festered in their community for over a year. "Nearly two months ago we conducted a community rat count to show that 138 E Hastings was full of rats who were using the site as a staging ground to invade neighboring hotels," said organizer Jean Swanson. "And just last night again I counted 18 rats in five minutes." After the rat count the City of Vancouver promised to "work with the owner to tidy up the lot" but has taken no substantive action to remove the rubble. Swanson points to Section 4.1 (I) ofthe Standards and Maintenance bylaw which clearly states, "All land shall be kept clean and free from rubbish or debris, objects and materials, except for materials for immediate use in the construction, alteration or repair of a building on the site." At the news conference coalition member Colleen Boudreau unve iled the community's "rubble house," a small model house plastered with disgusting layers of rocks, garbage and grime collected from the Pantages demolition site. Boudreau said, " We need housing in our community. Too many of us are living on the streets & in places where our kids get taken away from us. The city has an opportunity here to make something beautiful and badly needed out of this embarrassing and dangerous pile of rubble."
Pantages Challenge Letter Monday, 16 July 2012
Mayor Robertson and Members of City Council: We are writing as a broad coalition of residents, community members, activists & allies of the Downtown Eastside low income community to demand that you act speedily to clean up the pile of rubble at 13 8 East Hastings, the site of the former Pantages Theatre. This was once a historic landmark that Vancouver's founding neighbourhood could be proud of. Now, thanks to the negligence of the lot' s current owner, Marc Williams, it is a toxic pile of junk that is both an eyesore and a health hazard in the heart of the community. In any other neighbourhood, the demoli tion of a building would be completed and the debris removed in just a few weeks. But Marc Williams seems to believe that it is appropriate to leave the rubble on his property for almost a year, presumably because he is operating in the DTES and thinks that he can get away with this conduct there. Apparently the city agrees. That you have allowed this situation to continue is clearly an act of discrimination against lowincome people. It is also a form of ecological racism, since it is no coincidence that this is being permitted in the heart of one of the largest urban aboriginal communities in Canada. Members of the low-income community are unanimous in condemning Marc Williams for this act of negligence. "It's psychologically damaging to look at this site every day because it makes you feel more impoverished and creates more of the internal negativity that you already have to mentally fight," said Asia Hotel resident Ben Smith, "It says you are a loser. I am a loser because the city doesn' t care and just lets the owner get away with a big mess." Another resident noted that it is " proof that the city really doesn't care about people here. We're not part of this city." Not only is the city clearly guilty of racist, poorbashing discrimination in its negligence towards this site, but it is also in violation of its own codes. Section 4.1 (1) ofthe Standards of Maintenance bylaw clearly states that "All land shall be kept clean and free from rubbish or debris, objects & materials, except for materials for immediate use in the construction, alteration or repair of a building on the site."
Marc Williams is not currently engaged in any sort of "construction, alteration or repair" of anything on the site of 138 East Hastings. He has not even applied for a building permit. All that he is doing is letting the rubble sit there, causing health problems for people in the neighbourhood.
3
From the standpoint of justice, equality, legality, and simple economics, Marc Williams' actions are destroying the DTES and we demand that you stop him. In the coming days it is imperative that you: 1. Remove all garbage, rubble & other debris from the site of 138 East Hastings in a safe, efficient manner. 2. Buy the lot from Mark Williams and designate it for I 00% resident-controlled social housing. These actions are essential for the continued health and wellbeing of the DTES low income community and we are determined to see that you take them. If you do not make public and substantial progress towards completing these demands in the next W\!ek, we will take action ourselves to ensure the safety of the community. The DTES has been waiting for far too long already for you to take action in this regard and we will not wait much longer. Please consider this letter to be our final warning to you before we remedy the situation. Thank you advance for acting to protect the human rights of every person living in the City of Vancouver, especially those who reside in the DTES.
in
Sincerely,
DTES Not for Developers Coalition: Member groups include: *Aboriginal Front Door Society *Carnegie Community Action Project *Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users *Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society *DTES Neighborhood Council *DTES Power of Women *Gallery Gachet *Streams of Justice *UBC Social Justice Centre *For more information contact the Downtown Eastside Not for Developers Coalition, Jean Swanson 604729-2380*
{
Poverty Olympics Opens - London 2012 The iconic Vancouver Poverty Olympics Torch will make an historic appearance in London. The East London Poverty Torch Relay will.herald the 'Whose Games? Whose City?' Demonstration against the Corporate Olympics to be held on July 28th. Counter Olympics spokesperson, Julian Cheyne, said: "'The Poverty Torch Relay highlights long-standing Olympic issues of eviction, land seizure and the exclusion of the poor. London 2012 is no different. The Olympics epitomises corporate power and growing social inequality.' The Torch was handed over to London at a ceremony at the Olympic Cauldron in Jack Poole Plaza Vancouver in 20 10, visited Glasgow in March 2012 and was received by the Counter Olympics Network at the B ishopsgate Institute in April 20 12. Cheyne added, "This is a milestone in Olympic protest- the first time, to our knowledge, that a protest torch has been handed from one host city to another. We hope this will be a feature of protest in future host cities.' On Saturday 2 1st July, the Torch will go from 'Lym- 路 pic Stratford and end at bulldozed Wanstead Flats, where there will be an open day arranged by the Met to look at the police facility from !lam to 3pm. Our runners will be received by members of the Save Wanstead Flats campaign at the end of this event. On Friday 27th July, the Torch will go from scenic Clissold Park to the unsightly basketball training facility at Leyton Marsh. The Save Leyton Marsh campaign will hold a welcome party for the torch. The relays will start at 2pm & allowing roughly an hour to complete the routes means the runners should arrive at both end points at about 3pm. Notes 1. Compulsory Purchase for London 20 12: <http://gamesmonitor.org.uk!node/640> 'A prime
opportunity for the property industry.'
'We don't think it will be difficult to get partners,' says LOA head of property and development Gareth Black -er. 'If we do the site assembly we're proposing to do, we're creating a prime opportunity fo r the property industry.'
2. Wanstead Flats- A Terrible Precedent Is Born <http://www.blowe.org.uk/20 11 / 12/wanstead-ftatsterrible-precedent-is.htm1> The campaign against the use of Wanstead Flats during next year's Olympics by the police for a Muster Briefing and Deployment Centre has never just been about what happens in 2012. From the beginning, it has always been about the precedent set by choosing to enclose part of Epping Forest, an area supposedly protected by a 135-year-old Act of Parliament.
3. History of Our Campaign: The story of Save Leytoo Marsh <http://saveleyton marsh. word press. comlh is tory-ofour-campaign/> The landgrab is not just about abusing a large area of greenbelt land in opposition to the local residents. It's not just about creating a precedent for this land to effectively become brownfield and so ready for other development. We have uncovered that it's also a Trojan horse whereby the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (L VRPA) will be able to more easily implement its pre-existing (but publicly unknown) proposals to knock down the adjacent Ice Centre in Lea Bridge Road and build something double its size. Principally we have learned that the weight of state oppression is on us. Save Leyton Marsh originally set out to be a local environmental campaign, and the group would have opposed whoever, whichever public body decided to start digging up Leyton Marsh for whatever reason, for whatever period of time. We have learned that because the purpose of this shameful destruction of our green fields is the London 2012 Olympic Games, we are not free to object, protest or campaign as we should be.
4. Planning Displacement: The Real Legacy of Major Sporting Events Three Games, three eviction stories <http://gamesmonitor.org. uk/node/93 1> In September 2009 Planning Theory and Practice Magazine published, in its Interface section, 3 articles on displacement caused by 3 different mega-events, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2010
Winter Olympics in Vancouver. 5. <http://gamesmonitor.org.uk/node/1305> 'What Olympic Legacy?' In 2002, long before the credit crunch, Game Plan, a Government report signed by Tony Blair, said 'We conclude that the quantifiable evidence tosupport each of the perceived benefits for mega events is weak, The explicit costs of hosting a mega event should be weighed very carefully against the perceived benefits.(which) appear to be more about celebration than economic returns'. The party legacy! 6. MEGA-EVENTS, OLYMPIC GAMES AND HOUSING RIGHTS Report by Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions CCOHRE) <http://www.ruiggian.org/ressources/Report%20Fair %20Play%20FINAL%20FINAL%20 This report is dedicated to the millions of victims of housing rights abuses in the context of mega-events. lt is dedicated to those who have lost their homes and suffered displacement or eviction because of the Olympic Games or other mega-events; those who have been arrested, beaten, traumatised, incarcerated, even killed; those who have been dispossessed and impoverished; and those who have otherwise found themselves unable to 'share the spirit' when the Olympics or other events came to town. 7. Rio Evictions: Brazil off-course for World Cup and Olympics - UN housing expert <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Displa yNews.aspx?NewsiD=10960&Lang UN Housing Report GENEVA (26 April2011) As Brazil prepares to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, the Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, said Tuesday she has received many allegations concerning displacement and evictions potentially leading to violations of human rights. 8. Sochi <http://garnesmonitor.org.uk/node/1087> 's Soviet style Olympics The dismal record of mega event evictions, media manipulation, lying and overspends continues. Sochi is striving hard to compete with Delhi and Beijing as the most brutal event in recent years. 9. COHRE paper on ATLANTA'S OLYMPIC LEGACY http://www. ruiggian.org/ressources/Atlanta backgrou nd paper.pdt> The goal of this chapter is to address the housing displacement and criminalization of Atlanta's poor and
5
homeless people- both motivated and generated by the Olympic Garnes. A few other interesting things from the internet about London Poverty Olympics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 49vAmVMRmU http://www.londontourguide20 \2.orglpovertyolympics-20 12/ They still tell us: "Globalization, free trade, de-regulation, privatization, gentrification-- like a rising tide, will'raise all boats."' Even after their economy imploded. All will benefit, they say, but their tide has raised only the yachts of the 1%. The rest of us get austerity bud- gets, more police, service cuts, more gentrification, pension theft, more police, greater inequality, more pollution, more prohibition, more corruption, and always more police. Plus the military, and private "security."
Humanities 101 +
Intake Sessions
Please tell your friends and family about our upcoming intake sessions for Hum 10 I, Hum20 I and Writing. The courses will be starting August 28th, 2012. Hum 101 and Writing are available to everyone, and Hum 201 is for those of you who have completed Hum101. For more information about Humanities 101 please visit ourâ&#x20AC;˘website: http://humanities 10 ! .arts. ubc.cal Carnegie Centre, 401 Main (3'd floor classroom): Saturday August 11: Humanities 10 1 at 1.30 p.m. & Writing at 3.30 p.m. Vancouver Recovery Club, 2775 Sophia St. Saturday August 11 at 11 a.m. & Monday August 13 at 11 a.m. Crabtree Corner, 533 East Hastings St. Monday August 13 at 1.30 p.m. The Gathering Place, 607 Helmcken Tuesday August 14: Humanities 101 at 11 a.m. & Writing at 1.30 p.m. Downtown Eastside Women's Centre (women
Q!!!y), 302 Columbia St. Wednesday August 15 at 1.30 p.m. Humanities 101 Community Programme Dr. Margot Leigh Butler, Academic Director tel. 604-822-0028 fax. 604-822-6096
News From -the Library Whether you want to jumpstart, rediscover or further your creative pursuits, this book, written by Phil Hansen, will help you build your creative muscles by experimenting with the unexpected. Tattoo a Banana:
And Other Ways to Turn Anything and Everything Into Art (745.58 H249t) is entertaining, clever, and witty. Tattoo a Banana is an innovative approach to creativity by internationally recognized artist Phil Hansen. This fun and captivating guide will have you creating art with anything at hand - like a piece of toast, your own fingerprints, or a stack of marshmallows - showing how to develop everyday creativity w ith offbeat techniques. Once you tattoo a banana, print on marshmallows, or mold a Mona Lisa sugar cookie, you'll definitely be curious about what else is possible ! For more, v isit tattooabanana.com. In this deeply moving and resourceful memoir, Asylum: Hollywood Tales from My Great Depression: Brain Dis-Ease, R ecovery, and Being My Mother's Son (92 1 Pl98a) beloved actor-director and New York T imes bestselling author Joe Pantoliano takes aim at the stigma attached to what he calls "brain disease" by writing candidly and humorously about his own journey through clinical depression and addiction. Most people know Joe Pantoliano from his memorable roles in such blockbuster movies as The Matrix, Risky Business, The Fugitive, and Memento, or from his Emmy-winning performance on The Sopranos. But despite all this success, the actor, known
as "Joey Pants," struggled with what he later found out was clinical depression-or brain dis-ease, as he calls it. Asylum is the story of Joe's quest for the Hollywood success he was sure would cure him, and the painful downhill spiral into depression and addiction that followed his success. Weaving deeply personal experience together with informative discourse this memotr creates an unflinchingly honest portrayal of the true nature of the disease, as well as Joe's own eventual diagnosis, recovery, and ongoing efforts to educate others and remove the stigma from mental illness. Another powerful book about addiction is Ninety Days: A Memoir ofR ecovery by Bill Clegg (362.29 C624n) Bill Clegg's goal is ninety. Just ninety clean and sober days to loosen the hold of the addiction that caused him to lose everything. With six weeks of his most recent rehab behind him he returns to New York and attends two or three meetings each day. It is in these refuges that Bill befriends essential allies including Polly, who struggles daily with her own cycle of recovery and relapse, and the seemingly unshakably sober Asa. At first, the support is not enough: Clegg re lapses with only three days left. Written with uncompromised immediacy, NINETY DAYS begins where Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man ends and tells the wrenchiQ.g story of Clegg's battle to reclaim his life Rick Mercer is one of Canada's sharpest and funniest political satirists and his latest book is receiving great reviews. Rick Mercer Report: The Book (97 1.07 M55 r) is collection of rants, writings, and comic encounters with the great and good of politics, showbiz, and literature. (Yes, relive Pierre Berton offerincr o advice on rolling a joint, and Margaret Atwood showing off her hockey skills as a goalie.) Rick, a tremendous writing talent as well as a verbal one, has selected the best of his rants from the first four seasons ofRMR sprinkled in choice moments from his interviews ' ' added a generous he lping of other material that has never been broadcast, and arranged the whole into revealing themes and groupings with all-new introductions, reflections, and updates. Who knew that Stephen Harper was quite so preoccupied with gay sex? That Paul Martin could be so forgetful? That politicians could be so sleazy? Well, no doubt most of us did - but it's wonderful to have it pointed out again by this brilliantly funny and charismatic talent. Megan, your librarian
Saturday & Sunday
August 4 8: 5, 2012 11:30 am 路 7 pm Oppenheimer Park and surrOt."nd,ng venuc3. 400 :1loc\t of Powell Street
Summer Suspended Rain soaked, chilled up, summer surrenders to a socked in low ceiling grayish black, sun metallic clouds, depressing, the spirit of optimism -somewhat, to say the least. However I don't get down too much, I can deal with it all.. another bummer summer. If it was, October or November I'd really be extremely depressed. I just keep saying to myself, that a major heat wave is just around the corner. Gotta keep the faith. I'm so tired of hibernating, and taking cover from -------- weather, ain't you, also. {yeah, I thought, whatever mood your in, keep on slog gin, all the noise, dance, and stuff, cause were right in the middle of barbecue and festival season, sometimes you don't have to plan out going to one or several, because they are all over the map, often in clusters, and cavorting with each other, back to back, simultaneously, that's so cool, and yet quite confusing and disorientating and it makes the lousy more bearable, instead of watching, the vision or reading you can even check out old movies, in a park setting near the beach and wish fully under a few stars, setting sun or soon to be rising moon, far out, wonders never cease wealthwise if ain't feeling too summery to us yet, summer can also certainly be a state of mind like, where a pair of
shades, do not carry an umbrella, that's just an open J invitation to the rain Gods, be very aware ofthisjust remember to be extremely nice to mother nature, she knows exactly what she is doing, she is perfection. She understands balance, sharing, we all have to take the good with the bad, what's going around is going around. Better days ahead just around the comer with climate change [so called] maybe, just maybe, some time soon, it be eighty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit, in the middle of December,in the depths of winter, how cool is that, and that scenario is certainly not out ofthe question,it's within the realm of possibilities ... Recently I read in local corporate newspapers, that ninety, percent of Greenland is literally melting before our very eyes, very rapidly I might add. Glaciers are also breaking down, falling into the ocean turning into vanishing, disappearing lesser and smaller ice flows, very peculiar, [ponder as vividly as an amazing story, I heard recently on the radio air waves cluttered as they are, with commercials. I clearly heard that. A credible scientific expedition had actually and factually found the exact iceberg that the Titanic cruise ship had struck, quickly sank exactly one hundred years ago, the journalist interviewed this scientist and explorer, excitedly and promptly, questioned him that, it being this prize discovery, would he be ~unning tourist boats out to it, so he could charge people also for being photographed and posing on it or beside it. No he said, certainly not he stated quite sanely. How about cutting it up and
selling for souvenirs?!.also saying no to this travestytrain-of- thought. No he said with no hesitation I plan to blow it up, blow it to smithereens in fac~ good on him, now there's poetic justice, as I never heard it so beautifully before. Remember I remind you, what goes around comes around. Truer words may have never been spoken. ROBYN LIVINGSTONE.
'\
If it doesn't include the majority residents it's not a neighbourhood plan Carnegie Community Action Project statement on the 2012 Chinatown Neighbourhood Plan
The Chinatown Neighbourhood Plan is rooted in 11 "Vision Directions" which treat low income people as t hough they don't even exist in t he neighbourhood. They are implicitly referred to as impediments to economic revitalization and development. The low-income community is mentioned in when the report tells us that the median income in Chinatown is $17,000 a year; that 67% of the population is low-income, and over half of the residents live in singleperson homes. (p. 11) It sums up the demographic sketch by explaining the "neighbourhood has been and continues to be predominately low-income." And it asks, in a way that seems to set the question for the rest of the report to answer , "How will t he existing low-income community and new residents define a new vision for the neighbourhood?" Unfortunately this question is not answered. No where are low-income residents' voices audible nor are t heir interests represented. The explanations of issues and visions for each section of the report are totally missing any sort of lowincome community perspective. And worse, the record of actions already taken and recommendations for future actions consistently overlook the needs of low-income people or contribute to their displacement from Chinatown altogether. The Heritage and Culture section is focused on a "Society Building Strategy" that aims at the heritage and real estate renovation of Benevolent Societ y owned buildings tljat will also help with the gentrification of Chinatown. Two key tools have been used to accomplish this "revitalization" of privately owned buildings. The "Transfer of Density" heritage incentive policy helped renovate Bob Rennie's Wing Sang building into an exclusive art, real estat e office , and now museum space. And 5 out of 11 society owned buildings have received $100,000 each to support their "rehabilitation plans" (p. 19) One of these buildings is the Asia Hotel, owned by the Mah Society. The Mah society recently informed its 34 low-income tenants that they will all be evicted some time this year to allow a major renovation. The society has been tight lipped about what t he rents will be in the building after the renovations are complete. Has the c ity directly funded a major renovict ion of a society owned hotel? Are there any measures the city is using to stop renovic tions from the hotels in Chinatown under the guidance of this report? The 2005 Downtown Eastside Housing Plan's section on Chinatown says to "recognize housing objectives when implementing heritage policies in Chinatown, and vice versa. " (2005 Housing Plan, Pg 56, section 9.3.4) This is suspect because the AECOM consultant report on economic revitalization in Chinatown and commissioned by the C ity of Vancouver, written in November 2011, recommends easing SRA bylaw restrictions so that societies can get rid of tenants because " rents that can be charged for the ground floor 路 retail spaces and the market orientation of the retail tenants will be influenced by the residents living upstairs.' (AECOM Project Report, "Vancouver Chinatown Economic Revitalization Action Plan." Nov 2011, Page 9.)
The AECOM report also Iists, under the category of "threats" to revitalization, "The presence of population attracted to the social service facilities on Hastings Street," (Page 45) And finally, the report argues that it is important to renovate heritage and SRO buildings despite restrictive city guidelines that will not allow for the demolition of SRO rooms because, "additional pedestrian activity, particularly in the evening hours, will dilute the influence of the underprivileged population." Imagine how it feels to be underprivileged and know that some business people think your presence has to be "diluted."(Page 53) This report clearly sees the displacement of the low-income community as a precondition to and also a positive consequence of the economic revitalization of Chinatown. A lot of the recommendations of this report pop up in the Chinatown Neighbourhood Plan with amendments only to the language that has fallen out offashion for Vancouver planning because it is too strong and outwardly poor-bashing. The ideas, though, appear throughout the city report in a shallow code. The Built form and Urban Structure section celebrates the Historic Area Height Review's success in attracting to Chinatown between 600 and 700 new condo units and t heir residents to support the business, street and shopping climates (p . 12). It is not concerned with the effects of these condo developments on land and rent prices for tenants in hundreds of privately owned SROs or rental units, nor on the effect of a s udden massive increase in higher income r esidents on the cultural and social assets of t he existing lowincome community. The Land Use: A living and working community explains "Chinatown has traditionally been an affordable neighbourhood with a mix of rental, SROs, non-market housing and limited owner occupied market housing." And it explains the DTES H ousing Plan calls for the replacement of "existing SROs with better quality housing targeted to low-income and aging residents" and also , at the same time, to "encourage market housing with a focus on affordable market rental and ownership housing." (p. 33) How does this report deal with this policy contradiction of both protecting the existing low-income housing stock (until it can be replaced) and encouraging market developme nts that threaten to erode t hat low- 路 income housing stock through gentrification? It provides actions to encourage market development and defers the low- income housing action plan to staff "working on implementing the Housing Plan" through t he DTES LAPP committee. The Housing Plan says that 1 for 1 SRO replacement in Chinatown is unlikely and to expect for replacement to take place in other DTES sub-areas. (pg. 56, 2005 HP) Replacement then, rather than destruction, requires that the city ensures that the housing is replaced before it is lost , not just that lowincome housing is offloaded to another area due to economic expedience and dropped. The Chinatown Neighbourhood Plan is plotting the destruction of SRO hotels befor e there is even a plan for their r eplacement. The Public places and streets section. It calls for the expansion of throughways with a rail line and to open up the alley to market development in order t o make the area distinctive (competit ive) and attractive to "modern" entreprene urs and consumers. It specifically target s the "clean up" and "safety" improvement o the streets, sidewalks and alleys in and around Chinatown. A pilot alley revitalization project in "Market Alley," which runs parallel to Hastings and Pender between Main and Carrall will set the "tone for
commercial revitalization in the future." The planned "upgrade not only increases the recognition of this unique historic place, it also sets the tone for commercial revitalization of Market Alley in the future ." (page 39) Again there is no concern for the low-income communities who currently call these alleys community spaces. There is no concern for the gentrifying impact of connecting the Market Alley to Hastings St. where hundreds of low income people live. The Community and economic development and Economic revitalization strategy focus on attracting new entrepreneurs, cleaning up and tenanting storefronts, and developing a more tourist friendly heritage base and walkable Chinatown. The active storefronts program has already given incentives and support to six new businesses in Chinatown. The only one mentioned, as a model candidate for the program, is the high-income and nonresident oriented Sao Bei boutique restaurant on Keefer near Main St. The conclusion of the report is as telling as the int roduction. The challenges, taken from the AEC0\11 consultant group's report, include: "~eed more people on the street at night and on weekends" without saying direct ly which people need to be gotten rid of (not "displaced") and which are desireable. - That the "revitalization strategy must lead with restaurant sector;" That Chinatown "needs to be clean and safe," and that; "Renovated heritage buildings ... could provide a unique competitive advantage in the long term" because "renovated heritage buildings and revitalized laneways =unique, walkable neighbourhood (competit ive advantage)". â&#x20AC;˘ Where are the low-income people? Why is the city not recognizing the assets and legitimate tenure of the low-income community? This report could represent a serious step backwards in Downtown Eastside planning. CCAP' s recommendations
1. Any restoration and renovation of society buildings must not risk eviction of SRO tenants of the buildings. The city should develop a zero evictions policy for SRO hotels before supporting further renovation efforts. 2. Replacement of SROs must happen before losses are allowed to occur. The city should not permit any market development in Chinatown until potential ripple effects of market real estate prices and rents can be controlled and low-income housing protected, and tenancy guaranteed. Losing hotel rooms before they are replaced is not replacement, it's against city policy. It's displacement. 3. Public space development must not come at the cost of low-income peoples comfort and safety. Feeling a sense of belonging in the streets is a key asset of the DTES (including Chinatown) lowincome community. We cannot afford to lose this to overzealous tourist and retail development. The city should incentivize low-income serving shops and businesses and non-profit industries for
a low-income friendly revitalization of Chinatown. All market businesses should go through a social impact assessment of their proposed business before being given a business license. 4.
Market alley and the bout iqu e-ization of any alley in the Downtown Eastside should be put on hold until low-income community housing and other assets are protected and secure. Although this report does not ment ion t he Pantages condo project, the Market Alley redevelopment is inconceivable without it. The DT ES low-income community and many others have gone on record agai nst the highly destructive Pantages condos proposal and we strongly recommend not basing any city plans around this development, which the community is committed to stopping. We recommend t he city buy the Pantages lot at 138 E Hastings and build 100% resident controlled social housing wher e people o n welfare and pensions pay 30%of t heir income for rent.
5. Finally, t he Chinatown Neighbourhood Plan should be deferred to be coordinated with t he rest of t he DTES community, particularly as key aspects hinge on cross-sector cooperation. Currently the plan calls for "sharing" t he recommendations of t he Chinatown plan with the DTES LAPP committee in t he fall of 201 2 (page 53) so that the LAPP can learn from the Chinatown plan. We believe t hese plans must be integrated and enrich arid challenge each other by being finalized and implemented a longside each other.
Hello Ivan, Wendy and Jean, T hank you for undertaking this exceptional assessment of the Chinatown Plan. Your work is of major importance as documentation of the primary issues facing the DTES. The concerns you describe so clearly are key to the solutions that the ongoing, city-sanctioned Local Area Planning Process is searching for. The City must deal with these issues objectively, carefully and openly if it is to avoid the potential social disasters of the continuing gentrification process that is occurring now. This highly relevant report deserves the attention of everyone who is concerned about the long term future quality of life in Vancouver. Thank you for your continuing efforts to make thi s city a better place. Ray [Ray Spaxman, former director of City Planning]
[Editor's note: These 3 people have been giving their full time (2 at half a salary, 1 volunteering) to better lives for us on the margins for several years. Ray is so impressed with their work - analysis, organising, clarity of purpose -that his praise has warmed us all. When he was Vancouver's director of planning, Ray criticised Gordon Campbell's Vancouver: Executive City utopia as classist & stupid and was summarily fired.]
Hbmeless in London & Homeless in Vancouver Saw my first homeless person in London in '76; at least 80 years old standing in a doo rway mid cardboard and newspapers. It was late at night.. cool for May. We were returning to our rooms from the pub. The elderly E nglish lady drew herself up and spoke to me. I admit to staring. "My," she exclaimed, " how rude!" I inadvertently had breached the etiquette code of the street. She was homeless, however she was a 路 lady and expected some respect. 路 Late in the "Tube" I met a young man playing guitar. He had green hair and safety pins for earings. He was doing something illegal. He had no licence. In this way he could make a few pounds t pay for his supper. Now it is 36 years in the future. Homelessness and/ or poverty has grown like a fungus or the giant ragweed. The church[ es[ and society used to look after marginalised persons. Government has taken on the job in 201 2. Is the government doing a better job? Do we care? Yo u tell me. Wilhelmina M Miles
HOMELESS SHELTER BILL OF RIGHTS You have the right to feel safe You have the right to be treated humanely with respect at all times You have the right to be free from discrimination in all forms You have the right to understand the rules under which you live You have the right to have written policies and procedures clearly communicated to you You have the right to due process You have the right to help from an outside advocate of your choice You have the right not to be discharged without a viable option presented to you You have the right to privacy and personal property You have the right to have your medical needs and doctor's orders respected The Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council Committee on Homeless Shelters aims to promote resident input into their gov· ernance, defend due process and dignity for shelter residents, and aims to promote/defend the homeless shelter "Bill of Rights."
An Outdoor-Visotai-Arts-1\-"ldrket In the N<.~J>~! r Gre•mway
Shyla S -$75, Sonia M -$25, Elsie MeG -$100, JuJie B -$100, Sue K -$40, Terry H -$250, Van-Mt.P NDP$200, LV -$10, Jenny K -$100 Richard M -$100, Eleanor B -$60, Marsha D -$50 to the memory ofSandy Cameron, Glenn B -$100, Margaret D -$40, Sheila B -$200, Harold & Sharron D -$100, Leslie S -$ 175, BobS -$200, Michael C -$50, Michelle C -$20, Lazara Press -$100 to the memory ofGinger Richards, Solder & Sons Cafe -$50, Bake Sale at BC Cancer -$405, Lou-$5, Naomi N -$20, Peak House -$40, Learning Centre Tutors -$25, DE Literacy Roundtable -$1000, CUPE Local15 -$1000, Wilhelmina M $65, Patrick F -$90, Phoenix W -$60, Robert MeG -$65 , Alexandra L -$60, Maxine T -$60, Jill I -$20, Brenda B -$8, Joan T -$50, Colin C -$50, Connie H -$100, Elizabeth M -$200, William C -$ 100, Alas tair C -$100, Valerie B -$100, Mel L -$200, Essop M -$200, Harley R -$200, Penny & Tim -$200, Joanne F$25, George H -$50, Paul 0 -$50, David S -$150, Barry M -$100, Neil N -$100, Jean B -$200, Donald F $200, Gabor M -$200, Tri-City Capital -$200, Susan S -$100, EveS -$ 100, Bruce MacD -$100, Phyllis T$200, Valeris R -$100, Christopher R -$8 50, Kevin W -$100, Danielle A -$100, Nancy H -$50, Shirly R$50, Nathan E -$200, Margot B -$100, Gail C -$20, Kyla R -$10, Stephen A -$ 100, C.S -$5, Jasmine G $ 50, Marion S -$200, Janet W -$150, Bonnie McD -$1!0, Ethel W -$ 100, Libby D -$ 175, Ann T -$100, Jaqueline L -$75, Wendy P -$SO~ Sheiia K--$25,-Y~kiko T -$30, Dave M-$20, Laila B-$40, Rob D -$25, Anon -$161. Advertising revenues: JK -$460, HiS -$200. 2012 Fundraising (January through July): Total revenue realised = $11,999
International Remembrance Day- 21 July 2012
PROHIBITION IS DEADLY! Every year people who use drugs around the world take this day as an opportunity to remember their friends, and members of our community who've died needlessly of overdose, of complications aris ing from Hepatitis-C, from HIV/AIDS, from contaminated heroin, and from the depredations of prohibition. This is our day to remember those who have fallen victim to the war that is being waged, systematically, globally and deliberately upon our community. This year too, we remember especially those who've died in those detention centers that masquerade as 'rehabilitation' facilities around the world; most notably the 27 who died in the February fire at the 'Christ is Love' center and the 14 who died in a fire in a similar facility, the 'Sacred Heart of Jesus' center in May, both in Lima, Peru - held against their will, behind bars, and often chained. The roll call of egregious, and often lethal, practice that claims the mantle of drug treatment, or that is carried out in the name of drug control, is too long and varied to document here. We know, and the much welcomed report on the 'War on Drugs & HIV/AIDS' from the Global Commission on Drug Policy, makes it abundantly clear, that there is a direct correlation between repressive legal environments in which drug use is criminalised and: - Higher rates of stigma and discrimination against people who use illegal drugs -A lack of access to necessary services including NSPand OST - Inordinately high rates of HlV amongst injecting drug users We also know that such repressive legal environments make it less likely that those who witness over-
doses will call the relevant emergency services, and still less likely that those services will be carrying Naloxone. In this light, we welcome the resolution passed at this year's Commission on Narcotic Drugs that called upon governments to scale up measures to prevent overdose, including critically, a call for Naloxone to be made easily avai lable. We remember on this day that overdoses are easily reversible and call for Naloxone to be made readily available and universally distributed along with other injecting equipment at NSPs. We remember too on this day that in those countries with the most repressive legal environments for people who use drugs, most notably Russia, the U.S.A., Thailand and China, which have ignored scientific evidence and resisted, or actively refused to implement evidence-based HIV prevention measures for injecting drug users, that the epidemic is claiming lives daily, and runs rampant with prevalence rates of up to 85%, whilst in countries that have relaxed the level of repression and fully implemented harm reduction measures either early or comprehensively, and preferably both, have managed to keep HIV amongst people who inject drugs at low levels. We know that in Russia, in which methadone is illegal, and whtre NSP is only provided by a few brave NGOs at a level far below that which is needed, 1 in 100 adults are now infected with HIV. In a highly retrograde step, the American Congress recently reinstated the long-standing ban on the use of federal funds for NSPs. On this International Remembrance Day INPUD calls for: - A recognition that the war on drug users legitimized by global prohibition has failed by every metric and only resulted in harm, needless death, corruption, and human rights abuses on a systematic scale -A transparent review of alternatives to punitive prohibition -The decriminalization of drug use -The immediate universal provision of Naloxone - An unequivocal demand from the UN that member states implement the UNAIDS/UNODCIWHO technical guidelines and provide NSP and OST - A recognition that repressive drug control policies are the major driver of the HIV epidemic amongst injecting drug users & immediate action to redress it. Transmitted by Ann Livingston
Dear CrYStal, I love you, I want you but you have me no longer, I need you. I want you. but you have me no longer, Here's a few things I need to say: You've been my best friend until this day you hurt my family you brought me down you made my head hit the ground, you killed my values you forced me to drown you promise happiness but that' s not what I found,
I start to come down All I see is pain around, now I find myself crashing down, the pain I felt before is doubled now I hurt myself by letting you in, Crystal I love you but this has to end I'm tired of the misery, this is what you say: 'I kill your fear. I numb your pain Inhale and it will all go away." now that J realize you're all full of lies
you no longer have me, by my crying eyes, I'm breaking away taking off these chains but so many times I failed my clean time .. this time is forever, so I must say goodbye it's now life and death so I'm not going to die it's a new life starting with dry eyes my family is back it's time to be free from the pain you caused me this time it's real Goodbye Methamphetamine Stephanie Sotlar
BeSt Friends ----------~~路~--~----------------~ I'll welcome myself into your life. Maybe you'll need me for your aches and pains or maybe you met me at a party? I promise I'll make you fee l like the royalty you are. You'll begin to worship and praise me, you'll introduce me to your friends and we'll all be best friends. Your family won't like me; in fact they will hate me .. you won't care. You'll scream and argue and call it quits but I'm not worried because I know you'll come running back to me. I plan on ruining your life, but you don't know that yet. Now we're best friends. You've been saying how you want nothing to do with me ... unfortunately that isn't an option. I've now made you sell your clothes, your car, your life and even your body. I don't want to treat you nice anymore. Your body knows if you leave me you are going to suffer the worst pain you could ever imagine. Now you're thjn.king, "Maybe we shouldn't have become friends?" It's too late now because you are stuck with me ... Your friends and family want nothing to do with you because you lied, cheated and stole from them. It's just me, you and the streets. Today you broke the chains. You're free from me now. You cut your losses and found it in you to run ... I called your name but you kept running. Looks like I have to move on and find a new best friend now .. Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Oxycontin Just remember where you came from, because you might have to go back one day. Jaymee Belton
l
An or.iginal by Tryston Addiction causes lots of friction My life has turned into fiction Left feeling lost and hopeless eventually I became dopeless I committed a crime I might be serving time I found the room it's time to bloom I'm leaving the dope In return I receive hope This life can be turned around I need to put my foot down even though I don't wanna I have to say bye to marijuana
COCQl~n~e~------------------------颅 farewell, so long, goodbye you tried, too bad for you that doesn't work for me, today or ever, hmmmm raise your standards I call a spade a spade - ur fading fast as a fading bullet whistle while you work you're a FUCKENJERK Nora Kay
Home Home again from the mild mild West Koots nary a toot nary a substitute high and dry only soakin' wet in the Queen City water's all you get DOCTAsaid not one pill or he'll kill my methadone Rx bloody hex no mercy for such wrecks as lonely old me so i buggered off back to the city where i can be free
At Carnegie we find food That is very, very good \ In fact we really should Spread the word, 'knock on wood'. It sure beats free food lines And the beers and the wines And all other alcohol Remember protocol is found in our Carnegie staff And here we all have a laugh When we pitch in & work together ln all kinds of weather We have a reason to live and others who can make us happy in the process.
without Dr Demento punishing me zero tolerance on all manner of high i just can't get by once in a while gettin' high but Dr Demento said it's bye-bye if i even try to lie or he catches me trying to get by what a freakin lie his own daddy was a Dr type yet he's a hype So Sonny Boy wants to whip all the hypes that are still hip
Mikey VanVliet never tasted the street education incomplete yet he cuts off anyone so rash to get wasted at some bash maybe get high some kinda way You're cut off the Dr. Say So out from under the jackboot of this prick before the Dr. makes me sick I dunno why but I just hadda fly so good-bye good-bye AI
Cost-effective computer and IT support for non-profits VCN TechTeam http://techteam.vcn.bc.ca/ Call 778-724-0826 ext 2
With access to others who have made a success of their individual lives, they have even found wives! Remember one who9 strives will always reach his goal and when you find the one who makes you not half but whole, you redeem your very soul. Here's to everyone in town, let's wear a smile, not a frown, and forget about renown or a white wedding gown. Love, Joyce Morgan PS: However, if your love prevails, maybe you will wear a wedding gown nonetheless!
LOST Lost in the city I'm out of my mind Isn't it a pity Love is so hard to find Lost in the world Slowing down time Look over my shoulder To find the next crime Lost in my eyes So hard to see A II the dragons Rushing after me Lost in the city Losing my mind Looking for someone Who's so hard to find Anne Thrax
Don't Be Alone
Komance
as I go thru life I find it hard to be "alone" Alone means lonely, empty & nothingness Alone is that place We call a void, a shallow fakeness
It's a matter of concern How us girls often do yearn All we want is a turn But the boys, they do spurn.
Friends
Try to be more of a social person Be aggressive in your search friends Do not give up Keep searching & looking To meet like people of your character. I find that life isn't meant to be for strictly one And the sights can be more enjoyed with an agreeing companion; and finding another person to contemplate life with is a good philosophy!
You'll be happier with other people The sharing and give & take of conversation teaches that we can see the sameness & diversity of life in others. Also you can laugh off the bad times together Enjoying talk is also the highlight of life! Jennifer Talia Stelmacker
And how our hearts do churn What really do we earn? Let us not forget our dear ones Not much, in the end That have passed But as each day we do spend Remember the good & bad We find that if we lend Always treasure your friendships A helping hand to another They may have passed We can find a kind brother But, always remember Who will really be a friend. They are no longer suffering You can be to him a sister We are the ones who are! And help him with his blister That friend is the only one So my dear friends Who will bend like a willow, Let them go to their resting place not an oak, . Don't let them suffer And no longer is life a joke; All my relations, You don't even need a tokeBonnie E Stevens You have a friend for life You're even called his wife. I Have to Believe Joyce Morgan. Have to believe the extravagant words love you -lovely - make you a star - take you to the star Maker, mayb~ state occasions Nasty thoughts, worse words, like Welcome to everybody's Nightdream
l!/'aO 6eM!J 81U11me1"8afÂŤMw Nlpllt Music booming from the Crab Shell Smell of hot dogs, stink of barbeque starter in my nostrils Pretty women on the grass texting & talking about boys And shoes, Too loud I move to the memorial rock and fix a filmy blue scarf To a rose bush It flutters in the breeze. No rest here no peace For the lost women or for me. Except for the gentle sloshing of the waves against the pebbles And the sand Tide's coming in one more time. Wilhelmina Miles
I ponder these conflicted utterances Do not delve too deeply I am not a stranger to misfortune This planet's purpose My own purpose A grand scheme veiled Genetic privilege, time and Place between now and then My father's homemade brew- apples and raisins EJSploding in the basement heat Our noses black with furnace soot Yung street Halifas gray Warden of the North Canada British North America the Mic Mac loyal Shubenacadie, Stadacona, Land of Evangeline And Lunenburg, the Bluenose And so I try to understand using my primitive science Still I notice the patterns over and over And Mystery and magic draw me away from the ordinary, from realty back to the past and maybe forward
IGNITE The convoy of Terrorist countries begin to filter on in with their hatred, ill will and plans so evil you just know they are true. take a tip from a harmless country land-locked to what a lot believe to be out Earth's police, yes, the United Prisons of Red, White & Blue. Now I am just stating a fact they are Number One on the Hit Parade to be attacked let us hope that our Red & White just stays attached to our flag, yet there are no ground rules other than be polite go on out and inspire and ignite imaginations but remember the bodybags, it's every 4 years that th world's best compete with their competitive peers but there are sick minds at work that want to turn dreams into streams of blood and tears, of course the masterminds will be half-a-world away anywhere but here as they communicate their demands how brave cowards are these days; for those who don't win it's not the end of the world You've already accomplished something most will never even begin .. now show your true colours (don't hide them until they've begun to decay), now back to reality others run marathons that turn out to be full of roadside bombs very scary business this living can become annoying but that is what living is, unimaged horrors com e pouring out of football fieldsized screens talk about twisted selfish human beings but then again what is life without risk? like those strings of roadside bombs waiting to be turned on they just wait as long as it takes ' til they are gently touched ... if your life means very little your worthlessness is in demand Selfishists love using people who stick their heads under the sand they call themselves Saviours but they are terrorists and the more you are their crutch. they kill the bigger they feel Protestors die but Protests live on tear down the fences to their continent-sized waxed lawns there will always be human scum that need a good slap across their vacuum-sealed face, be it promises or threats selfishists will always be hedging their bets on who will come out on top of the human race - like being told you're overqualified for welfare I'm only 3 Y2 grades plus college from being there only in my dreams woulod I have a degree, my resume like time will have its hands full of empty praise this is not a crime yet terrorists strongly disagree; expectations of Gold, Silver or Bronze mean nothing if you don't leave with the same suit of skin you had on ...... . I wouldn't be cutting no ribbons Big Ben could come crashing to the ground, that's the legacy pure evil
wants remembered- sorry but go fuck yo9urselves they'll need dental records to figure exactly who lost . face as well as their temper, LONDON 20 12 could be the day we avoided the beginning of another World War and in some insignificant way Canada could shake off the horrors of2010 but probably not I'm just making a calculated guess other countries would be dancing in the street to be stuck with our Mess I guess the trick is to make the most oof what you have and haven't got. By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY "Dig within, within is the wellspring of good, and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig." Marcus Aurelius PS: If Land Destruction were an event or Synchronized Evictions 'cause you have tripled the rent Marc Williams (Owner & Breeder of dog-sized rats a~ Pantages) would be winning Mold & Slivers and Blackened Lawns his expulsion from our human race would be vastly welcomed Stop tearing so much down or don't we get a say?!!
Missing out ... or look who's artsy now ... I don't know how many times or how many hours I waited by the swamp While my ten year-old stood chest-deep looking for frogs and God only knows what else. When he was an older teen I took him to a one-man play
on C.S . Louis He kept falling asleep 'What did you think?' I asked on the way home, 'It was too bombastic for me and uh, you're so artsy.' I bet not one of you has been in a swamp in your lives My swamp became a serious actor & bird photographer.. look who's artsy now. Just last week he built a huge scaffold in the woods so he could stand on a board on top and photograph barred owls and their young 'til midnight nite after night They dive-bombed his head drawing blood so he wore a hardhat and safety glasses after that always on the hunt for nests tlie little birds don't bother with him mostly Once in awhile one of them will tell him offbut that's about it Dorette
Hello people, Today I'm an Elder (80). Came to Van - 1938 had to pass to go to Residential School on Vancouver Island. It was pretty fascinating for us Indian children. We always managed to stay in China Town, where people were people and welcomed us. My home town has many origins of nationalitiesmenanites- French- Chinese- Greeks ... We all survived and got along. Those days everyone helped. Your neighbour nowadays is different Chris PS: I don't bother with phones- like past tense- we always went to source or location of so-called Dr's, Schools or wherever!! People are lazy now!
SUMMERBBQ Community Celebration Come and enjoy food, drinks, live entertainment, arts and crafts, and everyone's company at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre's third annual end-of-summer BBQ.
12-3pm, August 22 Crab Park Women and Children only Please
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Meade
THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association. WANTED Artwork for the Camegie.newsletter • • • • •
• • • •
Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry. Cover art - Max size: 17cm(6 %")wide x 15cm(6')high. Subject matter pertaining to issues relevant to the Downtown Eastside, but all work considered. Black & White printing only. Size restrictions apply (i.e. if your piece is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit). All artists will receive credit for their work. Originals will be returned to the artist after being copied for publication. Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets
Next l~sue: SUBMI SSI_ ON DEADLINE MONDAY, AUGUST 13TH
Jenny Wai Ching Kwan MLA Working for You 1070- 1641 Commercial Dr, VSL 3Y3 Phone: 604-773-0790
Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.
carnnews@shaw.ca email www.carnnews.org website
http:/I chodarr. org/taxonom y/term/3 Index FREE LEGAL ADVICE Law Students Legal Advice Program (LSLAP) All cases checked with lawyers; confidential Monday & Thursday 10am-4pm; Tues 2-8pm Carnegie's 3•d floor. Call UBC for info: 604-822-5791
GET CLEAN! .
ATTENTION,
HOA"RDERS
Select your favourite community organisation, and ask for their WTSH LIST to be emailed to the Carnegie Newsletter. Then choose a wish or two and fill itfor them! Ask for someone with a vehicle from their group to please pick up any awkward or heavy items. Offer to bring light ones. Please make sure all items are clean and work well. (Take broken items to Regional Recycling on Evans Ave across from Home Depot or at the Salvation Army store, 12th & Cambie) Complete the cycle of treasure hunting by making someone smile© You' ll feel so great.
St]ower up at the Lord's Rain
327 Carra II Street (just off Pigeon Park)
HOT SHOWERS (towels, soap, shampoo, the works! & coffee) Monday 7-lOam; LADIES Only!; Tues to Fri 7-8:30am; Saturday 7-lOam lei on parle Francois; Hob/amos Espana/
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION • • • • • •
AIDS POVERTY HOMELESSNESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN TOTALITARIAN CAPITAUSM IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR