December 15, 2001, carnegie newsletter

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NEWSLETTER 401 M a i n St.,Y a n w u v a r .

BC Y 6 A 2T7

DECEMBER 15,2001 Email: crranews@direct.cr

In honour of International Human Rights Day (Dec. lo), and in keeping with the tradition of supporting g a d neighbours and eminent organizations in The Downtown Eastside, DEKA [Downtown Eastside Residents Association] presented the StatT, Board and \'olunteers of'lhe Dugout drop-in center at 59 Powell St. with a Certificate of Merit in honour of their 34th anniversary on December 12th.

Recently a number of unfortunate comments and issues have arisen which has cast this fine organization in a bad light and we feel there is no better time than this to let them know how well appreciated they are by us at DERA and by those members of the community who have relied on their recreational. spiritual, and food services over these many years. The Soupline which begins at 7:OO A.M., long before any other services are available, has been a fixture there for many years. Recently, a number of complaints from local business interests and some new residents have prompted the City to place new restrictions on this sewice. We believe the existing service procedures are more than adequate for the needs of the drop-in patrons and we would only endorse any changes if they had been requested by the patrons themselves.

We believe that much if not all of the criticism of the soupline is merely a not-so-subtle resentment of the facility itself and the people who use it on a daily basis - not just in the mornings. We believe that there is a very real risk of losing this site unless we demonstrate strongly our solidarity with the people who use it and operate it.

Neighbourhood News Where to start? How about asking everyone to think clearly.. to breathe.. to remind ourselves that things happen for a reason.. that it's better to learn and grow than curse and die. * Last issue there was a short piece on the future of the Dugout. Contained therein was a bit about the harping of a few people in Gastown who give themselves airs (or at least fancy names) and have gotten a concession from the City of Vancouver to make the facility a sit-down space. What had been happening for years was that people, mostly men and all poor, would line up for free coffee at 8 am, then it got pushed back to 7: 15 am. The morning line would start when the fiee stuff got going a few days after the welfare cheques were issued, with about 20 or so people. As the month went on and money ran out, numbers increased until, in the few days before the next cheques came out, there would be over 200 people waiting at 7: 15 for a fiee coffee (soup & bun at 8:OO). Nothing else was open and surrounding residents learned to live with it. Trash was picked up and the disturbance was minimal.

Not so for the Gastown Business Improvement Society, or at least for the self-appointed spokesperson for all that is acceptable and sightly, Leonore Sali. Apparently it was the unsightly-ness of people lining up that most got her goat, but any and all problems perceived as pervading Gastown have blame laid at the foot of the Dugout. Crime in the area had the Dugout acting as a safe-house for the perpetrators; drug & alcohol use (and users) of course were born and bred at the Dugout; public urination and even somebody shitting in a doorway was, you guessed it, the Dugout's fault. ' h e concession was to have the inside renovated to allow a few more people to sit, then, after all seats are taken (and the seating capacity will be no more than 50 people at a time). anyone else lined up will be told to walk a couple of blocks and line up

else. 'l'he ongoing rant W a s that a "prospeclive investor rniglit see poor people lining u p at 7 or 8 in the ~iiorningand decide not to.. ." [:act is that a l l the slimy manipulation by Sali, 211ways hiding behind the name Of (;rlstowIl I ~ L I S ~ ~ C S S Improvement, has an 'oversight committee' ofthe stakeholders. I-irst ~:hurchand the [ h g o ~are t consciously olltnumbered. with Major Fame of the Sally Ann and others all now maneuvering fbr a b i g e r piece ofthe pie with "alternatives" to the Dugout being slammed down by Sali at every opportunity.

So why belabour this?

The movie industry is always doing its thing in the neighbourhood. Every week, and in the summer every day, there are up to 1 2 different 'shoots' arid collateral disturbance of streets, 'no-go' zones, noise & lights & gunshots & car crashes.. . Rules (guidelines) were agreed to over the years as DEKA arid others took the industry to task for some of the more insensitive stufl'- like dot1 'r put tables of food out on the sidewalks for crew but under the noses of local residents who might get one meal a day ..like being respectfill of disabled people, like not 'taking over' streets and parks that local people and kids use for recreation.. . and the movie industry began to hold giveaways of food and clothing and gilts at Xmas, in recognition of the people here.

No, 1 haven't wandered far afield. Movie industry professionals wanted to provide a holiday feast for the community - a sit-down turkey dinner for over 1000 people, with gift-bags and stuff- and wanted to shut down one block of Abbott Strcet fbr a few hours on a Sunday. This is the space that DEKA used last year for a huge barbeque of moose and elk and 1600 dinners. The movie people had donations coming from Seattle's Best CofTee, Wm [:.White, the Union of BC Performers and the BC Film Commission; they had the whole thing in gear. went to the City for the permit to close the street, and Leonore Sali ran her mouth and got a few frien.. . sorry, wrong word.. . others of her ilk to harass the City bureaucrats and councillors (in the name ofthe Gastown Business Improvement Society) and the permit was denied. Her bullshit reason that made the news was that Gastown would sufl'er irreparable financial harm if people couldn't drive down ~ b b ~ t t Street for those few hours on a Sunday afternoon, It was Sali and her cohorts who tried hr years to

stop the harm reduction stuff now underway - as highlighted in the article "BIG TKOUB1,E in Chinatown" and they (Bryce Kositch. Sue 13ennett. 1,ynnc Dryson et al) are the local NPA.. sorry again, .local Coplniujty Alliance buffoons. 13ecause o f this bunch pulling s o t m ~ t l ~at i nCity ~ 1 lall, the idea o f the movie people was last heard o f as seeing daylight in February. maybe. "So we delay Christmas till f:ebr." * Went to a workshop on tlie new Security Laws Bill C-36 (35.38 Kr 42) and lieard again o f the extraordinary powers that will be at the disposal o f hack politicians and police. It gets scary with the general definition o f what constitutes a terrorist act - and many o f the actions are used by protestors and unions and organizers in civil disobedience and strikes and rallies. One new one gives somebody the power to declare an area a military zone, meaning anyone being there witliout 'permission' can get I 0 years in jail or maybe even sliot. l'hese Rills got so much heat from the legal community and university departments that they had a lightning-fist foruni and produced a book to dctail what they saw as wrong with this legislation. I t ' s called 'l'he Security of' Freedom. publislied by the University o f l'ororito Press. It was sent to all MPs and Senators, but is being ignored. Find it and read it. * Daytox cou~iselling,education, medical support. acupuncture and other alternative therapies are part o f this new strategy, announced by the Vancouver/ Richmond llealth Board. It's for addicts who have relatively stable lives and a social support network. who want to keep working and living where they are rather than going into a detox for weeks or months. llaytox i s at 377 1l.t-lastingsand gets a hopeful okay tioni some users. * Ileads up! The provincial government, as part o f -

what it calls Core Services Review, is tendering bids fbr consultants to "redeline weI1:dre". to deliricate various options on what should remain the govern- 3 ment's responsibility and what couldlsl~ouldbe contracted out to tlie private sector. 'l'his i s at the Resources is same time that tlie Ministry of 11~1man mandated to reduce its budget by 20-50%. In real terms, it means elimination ofthousands o f people from being eligible. tlie implementation of private businesses getting paid fix den] ing people income assistance, o f core need being so narrowly defined that tlie destitute and homeless will burgeon everyw!icre.

Bill l'ielernan writes a column in the S/r.r~i,~.$/ and was a consultant with the NDI' government for awhile. tle's got a good perspective and gave some round numbers: 'The provincial budget is $23-$25 billion. With the tax cuts and reduced revenues lrom tirestry. fishing and mining they can expect sums o f rnaj be $17 hillion. They've already froyen the health and Education spending. but costs in both sectors go up by 0-7% a year. They are going to have a shortfall each year (tor the next 3) in I lealth alone ol'$540 million even before dealing with doctors and unions. 'l'hej've offered the doctors $200 million in salary increases; doctors want $1.5 billion. l'hey have conceded to corporate demands to influence curriculum in most post-secondary education, but have simply stopped construction at several facilities to allow corporate dominance to dictate iflwhenlhow school\ get needed ti~nds.S h o r t t i l l in 1;ducation may exceed $ 1 billion in the next 3 years.'

The next 3 years is mandatory f i r getting the budget balanced because o f a law (passed this year) requireirig same. I t is this approach that ~nakescuts to tlle

Ministry of Children and Families, the Ministry of Human Kesources, programs for disabled people, health ilirir.<iivesand educational opportunities and so much more all irrelevant -as to the target- in the eyes of this government and especially the premier. rrhey have no intention of getting wealthy corporations and people to pay their fair share of the cost, or oftrying to cushion whatever outrage ensues. It isn't the point of this piece or even the paper as a whole to provide readers with a litany of horrors - that's a little too melodramatic - but neither is it sutiicient to just say "oh well." When the Great [kpression started with the Stock Market crash of 1929, many of the former-rich killed themselves; the poor just starved.

Our hope is to hone skills and talents and to talk to each other. The fi~tureis not set.

As silly as it sounds, the dark side cannot win.

Of Food, Love, and Dreams ..

Our Celebration of Life in the Downtown Eastside CALL FOR ENTRY IYfIiS artists led by the poet, K.'l'ylman, and K. Penner, invite your participation in an evening celebration of our kitchen, the food they offer, the people,. the volunteers, the staff and patrons who help make this service possible.

This event is sponsored by the Carnegie community Centre Association.

Submissions by December 30,2001 Do you hove poems on /he ~ u b j e c (ffi)od t~ uric/ love in prtrise of the ('urnegie Kifchen s r u j f t ~ t f volunteers? This specicrl rrurfing will he held in the ('urnegie 771etrfre

A LETTER TO SANTA CLAUS Give little kids th right 2 talk th time 2 B heard & th space 2 B themselves, not wlio we want them 2 become

Leave a message for Richard at front desk, or e-mail him at fylmcrn@vcn.hc.CN or, call at: 604-633-2595

Give th alcoholics someone 2 listen 2 them & love them 2 take away th pain Give all th porn merchants a snuff movie of their mother

Date: Wednesday, January 30,2002

Give all tli incest survivors knives 2 disarm their rapists & return tickets home & pardons

Rika, at: 604-665-3003

Give all th men demanding their inalienable ridit 2 have a child their life 2 live over tiom th age of 1 1 - 19 as a female trynta tind a safe means of birth control Give all women th right 2 hold who they want in their arms & say "yes" or "no" & not h a h question th status of their love Give all th men th right 2 hold who they want in their arms & cry & not question th status of their love Give all of us a clean tomorrow cuzza th power we have 2 clean up th garbage today D.W

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Open mic marathon to follow the catered event

Watchfor details, and get involved!

A Special 'I'hank You

I'd like to thank everyone who attended Nomadic Sanctuary's gig at the Silvertone Tavern on ~ e c . 6 " ' .

Wayne really appreciated the number of people who had very little money giving the band a great deal of support. It was Sim seeing them dance up a stor~n.

Nomadic Sanctuary's music may be heard on Co-op Radio CFRO 102.7FM. 'l'hey have beautifill facilities in the Sunrise Hotel. Don't forget to visit the Radio Station Cat5 as well in their relaxed surroundings.

- Irene Schmidt

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Playing footsie with the Liberals means getting kicked while you're down Ilard times often impose hard choices on us. We may be forced to pick between what is right and what is expedient. Not everybody makes the same choices, of course, and this can cause divisions among people who are struggling to maintain their standards of living when the pie is getting smaller and smaller.

That's what is so troubling about the letter by the so-called Vancouver Inner CityIEastside Special Coalition that appeared in the last issue of the Carnegie Newsletter. 'T'his group of mainly social agencies is appealing to the 1,iberal provincial government to play nice as it slashes and burns the social programs that have been achieved by so much etl'ort over the years. 'l'he 1,iberal cuts will have a devastating effect on many, many low-income and working people. Yet the coalition is otfering to collaborate with the Liberals in the cutting process and actually take over delivery ofthc reduced services from the province.

What's more, the letter even sott-soaps the cuts and legitimizes them by calling them "changes" and an attempt to "maximize the effectiveness and elticiency" of social programs. .Ihis . is a total distortion of the I,iheralts destructive agenda. And to add insult to injury, the letter even touts the advice of the far-right-wing Fraser Institute on what is best for our community. - as if the Fraser Institute is so concerned about the plight of the poor

and not just helping its tiiends in big business.

5 This currying of b r o ~ n i epoints with the Liberals and spreading of hlse consciousness might have some cynical justification if' it would produce beriefits fhr the community. AAer all, we have to survive under tough conditions, and that sometimes means trading with the enemy. But what's the pricetag for these benefits? And what are the prospects of the 1,iberals agreeing to accommodate us?

Let's start with the hct that the M.C. Liberals are the most radical, right-wing government in Canada. already going fi~rtherthan Klein's Alberta or tiarris' Ontario. As political commentator Bill 'l'ieleman told a recent Community 1)irections workshop. the 1,iberal government has three features - it is meanspirited, ideologically bent and flat broke. 'l'hat's a deadly combination for anyone in their power. l'he 1,iberals plan to return this province to the 1950's. said 'l'ieleman: "li'you are poor, you can go to charity."

As for expecting them to be nice to anyone who collaborates with them, that's playing right into their hands. "They (the Liberal.;) love this stuff. it's great for them." said I'ielcman. "(1 luman Resource.; minister) CcxII will say to the community - '&'11veme ideas on how to cut 30 per cent and I'll do it, and I'll say I consulted with you." ('Pieleman's comments were in general. lie hadn't read the letter.) l'he coalition's approach can only uliderrnine the efforts of the Peoples' Opposition. the 1:mergcncy Coalition and other resident-based groups, a\ well as the seniors groups and unions afl'ected, to educate the public and prepare a fight back. It's going to be a long, hard slog, and surrendering before the first shot i b fired can only make it lon~er and harder. While some groups may gain a temporary advantage, the overwhelming ma.jority of' people will suff'er.

When you look down the list of signers ofthe coalition's letter, you will see a ma.jority of'them are paid staff of agencies that dcpend on government firnding for their existence. Nothing wrong with working tbr an agency; you can do a lot of' good there. But it is wrong to purport to be speaking for the community. to seek special deals and to sprcad defeatist sentiments. 'l'his community has more self-respect and fighting spirit than that. f3oh Sarti

Christmas Eve At Muskrat Lake On Christmas Eve

the entire village went tobogganing on the sloping banks of Muskrat Lake.

Everyone was bundled up in mukluks parkas mitts and scarves.

Some came to watch, others to ride on this festive night of clouds and stars.

Some toboggans scooted down like otters.

Others slide sideways, and still others turned over.

Tiny children with wide eyes were held firmly by parents who rode with them.

Everyone who wanted a ride found a place on a toboggan.

No one was left out.

Jeremiah, who was six, tugged on my arm.

Come for a ride, he said, and 1 rode with Jeremiah arid as many of his friends as would fit on the toboggan.

Down the hill we went with shouts and screams and the toboggan skidded sideways and we all fell off and Jeremiah jumped up. eyes shining, and ran after the toboggan.

Big, fluffy flakes of snow began to fall from the dark sky.

Children tried to catch snowflakes on their tongues, and d d e r folks stood still and let the large flakes land on their heads and outstretched Ilands.

Gradually people sbarted to go home.

There were children to put to bed, and hands and feet to be warmed.

It stopped snowing, and stars were visible among the clouds.

111 the distance a wolf howled, and the dogs at Muskrat Lake took up the call.

Sandy Cameron

a glaring, proletarian menace embodying an infirnous future exactly like me blissfully careless a fairly safe esislence frightening fascinating prepare for the brutality mean pinched hand in glove a whimpering puhlic the writing's on the wall anonymous cryptic obstinate fanatical a dream come true desperate,stubborn refusal total rejection promising the end of the world unwanted unloved

CarnPgie Chris [mas Calendar December 15 - Saturday C'hildren's

_C_h_ristmas Party

- Brunch, music, puppet show, crafts and a gift from Santa! 1 I

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3 in the Theatre

December I7 - Monday Cultural SharingBolstice Celebration

- with "Traditional Mothers" Wear your regalia

7pm - l0pm

December 18 - Tuesday Learnin~C'entreParty - l'hird floor.

12-3pm Christmas Cabaret

- Holiday Music.

December 2 1

6 - 10 in the Theatre

- Friday

Karaoke

- Christmas Special

7 - 10 in the 'lheatre

Ilecemher 22 - Saturday

C-nnie Theatre Workshop presents: "At 'I'he Wit's End Hotel" -a set of scenes on the theme of SRO's 7pm in the Theatre Ilecember 24 - Monday Christmas Eve Celebration Carnegie i s open all night to 7am. Music, videos, pool tournament, snacks, late dinner ( 1 I pm?)

December 25 - Tuesday

5am -* mBreakfast * Traditional Turkey Dinner

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2"" floor

5pm in the Theatre (Tickets on sale at concession Dec. 19"' - $ I S O )

December 26 - Wednesday t3oxinz Day D i n q - A C'arnegie tradition!

Music, great tood, good fiiends &: a gifl from Santa Four seatings: l pm; 2:30; 4pm; Ss30 (Tickets available at Info Desk Dec.20"')

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kelowna recycling eighty-eight we work a rehab progam for bums and cons under the derision of minor bosses "your lucky to be here you bums!" picking through nmountains of gdrbaye for scraps of cardboard 'nd salnpron showin' us all works the cardboard hailer like four men after work one day we're all invited to sampsor~'s we white guys show with overproof moonshine sampson raises a glass teetering "this is for all my friends" he knocks it hack then follows out cold on the floor his pretty pregnant gal polite while we leave hey i know you you're robert sampson hopelessly livin in the new zealand rooms in love with a coke-hearted frenchie named sophie tradin' stones to do tricks on your bed we drink ruby and rice and sl~areall our rock bin a circuit out by metrotown mall and one day three years ago with a hole in your lung yah right! the doctor gives you ten days to live Sanipson with whiplash scars across his back and bullet-hole scars on his chest and gut hit by the same train that killed his grampa, sat lour years in attica just thr bein' a indian savage his long black hair thickly blows in the wind he points and speaks with weight to the sky and he's rip roarin' smashed and he's gushin' hate and love like a coyote running with dogs florence spenser

December 28 - Friday _V_esieFeast (Tickets on sale ai concession ~ e c . 5-' $1 ~ 30)

December 31 - Monday New Year's Eve Dance - two peat bands: *"Hastings Five" 7-9pm

*"Fleetwood Mark" 930- 12:30 -Snacks, prizes, goofy hats 7pm- lam I'heatre

January 1 - Tuesday

* N_e_-Yex's (

[)a) I)_inyr 5pm in thc 7 hcatre I'icketq available at corw5sion lkc.26'" - $ I $0)

6 0 g0 g o @ o 0

**Note: . I h e Carnepie Newsletter does not publish on January 1 .The next issue is on January 15

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BY Rick Nordal

Tenants must act quickly to protect their rights, warns X ' s tenants group

In response to the BC Liberal government's intention of "modernizing" tlie Residential Tenancy Act, the Tenants' Rights Action ('oalition ('I'RAC') is urging tenants to make their voices heard so that their rights are not eroded in a reccrite of the Act. "While we comrnend the governlnent lor honouring it's commitment to put into plain language legislation which is ditlicult for the average person to understand. we are concerned that tenants rights L must not be eroded in a rewrite." said Vanessa " Orsstinps a1 the Ssascm and Enst Wshes tor the New Year ! " Geary. TRAC coordinator. Geary callcd o n Premier 'The Twelve Rounds of Poor Bashing ('amphell and Solicitor (ieneral <'oleman to keep Sung t o the tune ot I welve Days of('1iristmas promises they made during the provincial election to On ~he,fir.stround ~ f ' b u d x eL.UI.Y t ( 'tunphcll putv I O rr.\ not weaken the existing rent protection legisla 1'1011. (and) A threat to our declining economy "Wit11 vacancy rates at all time lows in many areas On I ~ L second ' round o f . h ~ r d xC~L~I lI .(~'utnphc~ll<yutlcJ to ~1.s across t3ritish Columbia, it is now more important A cut in educatior~ tliali ever to ensure that legislation tlial protects On the third round of'hucfgetrrit.~ ('~nnphcll gcrvc lo rrs tenants is preserved and that our current system of 'l'housands of starving fanilies rent protection is maintained," said (ieary. 'l'wo of' On ~he,fi)urlh round ~ f ~ b u d g ccu1.v t ('urtiphell gtrve to us the most common issues that 'I'RAC' hcars li.o~n Ghost towns in H.('. tenants phoning it's liotline are landlords witliholdOn rhq fjflh round of hudgct c i m ('u~nphc~ll ~ u to Ut S ~ ing security deposits and rising rents.

An altered medical plan (for the rich) For several years, 'I'KAC has been calling 011 the On thc sixth round ~f'hudgctculs ('utnphc~ll,yclvc to 1i.v government to put tlic Residential 'l'enancy Act into A loss ofcivil services language that is easier for both landlords and tenants On the sevenlh round (?f'hudgercuts ('utnph~dlX ~ V to L ~us to understard. I {owever. tlie process announced hy A hundred thousand homeless people the Ministry of I'uhlic Safety and the Solicitor GeneOn the eighth round of h u d ~ c L*LII.F l ( 'utnphell ,yutlc to us ral includes a review of key aspects ofthe law which A message lie's a poor baslier currently provide security oftenure for tenants.

On the nirzth round c!f'hutfgi/cuts ( 'clrnphc~llgtrve to 11s While stakeholder groups and the puhlic will have More job losses an opportunity for input, 'I'KAC' cautions that the On the rerirh round ( ? f ' b u d ~L*UIS q ~ ~ ('utnphcll f gclvr to u . ~ government consultation period, ending .lanuary 3 1 st More welfare cutbacks 2002, is very short and tenants should mahc their On the efeventh r o u d c?f'bud(tqet C U I S C'utnphelI p u ~ 10~ U, S voices heard quickly.

A hundred percent rise in crime The draR rewrite of the liesidential Tenancy On the twelfih round of'hudgc>tc.utc ('trnlph~7llg t r \ ~10 I,.Y legislation can be found on the Residential I'enancy Nothing but despair and poverty Oflice wchsite www.pssg.gov.hc.ci11rto. . Tenants can call 'I'RAC's Hotlines at (604) Kris Ilavcnport 255-0546 or 1-800-665-1 185 for information.

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[ l ht.jollowrng urtr~.leuj)/wursrtr the Vancouver Magazine, written by Charles Monlgomery. it's nice that (he wiring, editorials and cartoons in the Carnegie Newsletter have proven to he dead on.]

BIG TROUBLE IN CHINATOWN CITY HALL'S PLAN T O SAVE T H E DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE IS MEANT T O BE A G O O D THING. WHY DID IT T A K E MONTHS FOR CHINESESPEAKING RESIDENTS T O LEARN T H E TRUTH? Chinatown was still cloaked in shadows, early one

morning this February, when a security guard noticed something strange on the Pender Street doorstep of the Chinatown Merchants Association. Someone had rolled a red carpet across the sidewalk, and placed on it two plastic pillars and a Plexiglas display stand. Like a Lind of altar. There were candles, flowers and eggs.

Three plastic fish. And on an overturned basket in the middle of it all, a golden crab. It was plastic too, but the chicken feathers and blood littering the sidewalk were real enough for Association vice-chairman Charles Lee. Lee called in the local media and gave the ominous scene a timely spin. It was clear, he told a reporter for the Chinese-language daily Ming Pao, that the altar was drug-related and that someone was trying to send the association a threatening message about its firm anti-drug stance, in advance of public hearings on new health centres the following Monday.

If you'd been following Chinese media coverage of City Ilall's plan to help the drug-addled Downtown Eastside kick its habit. you would have been able to chart the trajectory of Lee's accusation. Last year, Lee and other leaders of community and business groups in Gastown, Chinatown, Strathcona and Victory Square formed a coalition they called Community Alliance.

Some of those leaders, such as Bryce Rositch of the Ciastown tlomebuilders Association, had already spoken out against the expansion of low-income housing in the Downtown Eastside. Now the Community Alliance wanted police to step up arrests of drug pushers and users, and demanded that governments stop prokiding any new social services for drug addicts in the area. (When contacted. Rositch argued that the Alliance had in fact called for law enforcement equal to that in other areas of the city, and a better balance of market and non-market housing.)

Their opponents in the debate? Politicians, drug users'9 advocacy groups and social workers at the Carnegie Community Centre at Main and Hastings - ground zero of the city's open drug scene. The conflict had already become heated; for instance, a trio of angry activists 60m the Carnegie Centre had stormed a Community Alliance press conference the previous summer.

The Ming Pao story (and a similar piece in Sing Tao, another of Vancouver's three Chinese-language dailies) reported Lee's vague accusations about the altar, but nobody bothered to ask Carnegie Centre employees or drug-user activists ifthey'd had anything to do with the prank. The stories added one more brick in the wall of fear and misunderstanding about drug issues that rose in Vancouver's Chinese community over the last year, a wall reinforced by biased and inaccurate reportage.

Chinatown is under siege by drugs, make no mistake.

There are approximately 4,300 intravenous drug users in the Downtown Eastside, according to Vancouver1 Richmond Health Board. Ninety percent of those users have hepatitis C. Nearly one quarter have HIVIAIDS. Surrounding neighbourhoods, including Chinatown, are overwhelmed by drug-related crime. Businesses have closed. Long-term residents are terrified. Everyone agrees that heroin and cocaine addiction is flushing lives and communities down the toilet.

Police and health officials have long argued that simply arresting addicts and tossing them in the drunk tank doesn't work. Last year, after decades of dithering, the City of Vancouver and the provincial and federal governments agreed on a "four-pillar" approach to fighting the city's drug problem. Called the Vancouver Agreement, it would com bine prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction. That last pillar, which can involve anything fiom subsidized housing to safeinjection sites for drug users, was the flashpoint.

Just as public-health experts, doctors, social workers and English-language journalists lauded the Vancouver Agreement as a first step towards ending the city's addiction epidemic-and resuscitating the Downtown Eastsidethe Chinese-language press was heralding the beginning of Chinatown's "nightmare." That nightmare, they said, was an expansion of drug treatment services. They paid scant attention to all the other reasons Chinatown was withering.

This summer, Andrew Yan - a Vancouver born former UCLA graduate student in urban planning who has researched relations between media and Chinese communities - released his research on the changing Chinese demographic in Vancouver. He concluded that the health of Chinatown was threatened at least as

much by suburban Asian malls and supermarkets as it was by the emotional issues of crime and drugs. When Yan tried to explain that to his Chinese-speaking parents in East Vancouver, he ran into a brick wall: "They think that the city is going to be putting crack houses in Chinatown!"

Journalists on the other side of the language divide haven't done such a good job of attracting Asian readers to address these misperceptions. Members of the Chinese community say the English-language media consistently fails to cover issues they feel are important. "The Chinese community is virtually invisible in Vancouver,"said Yan. "Chinese New Year, Hong Kong investment and Asian youth gangs-that pretty much summarizes the Chinese presence in Vancouver, according to the Cirncoznw Sim. " The Sun did run an in-depth series on the drug problem last fall, but some commentators accused the paper of having too cozy a relationship with City Hall.

Vuncouvcr Courier columnist Allen Garr. for one, suggested that the City leaked Mayor Philip Owen's four pillars "draft discussion paper" to the Slrn before other media outlets last year.

However, no coverage of the drug issue has drawn as much criticism as that provided by the Chinese media. particularly newspapers and radio. Bureaucrats, planers, social workers, health professionals and politicians have all expressed frustration with inflammatory, inaccurate coverage, which helped some comnlunity tigures whip up opposition to new Vancouver Agreement initiatives.

The first step in these initiatives was to plan new health and resource centres to get addicts off the streets and into treatment. Staff at the Vancouver/Kichmond Health Board planned to get the ball rolling with a lifeskills training centre at 4 10 East Cordova. They wanted to expand their Downtown Community Health Clinic, and move it to a bigger site at 575 Powell Street. They also wanted to move the Gastown Clinic two blocks south to 59 West Pender (a few metres from the site of Chinatown's new Millennium Gate). And, in the Roosevelt Hotel near Main and Hastings, they proposed a "contact centre" to otTer referral services and counseling for people needing refuge from the street scene.

The health board applied for development permits for those sites last December. The reaction in Chinatown, according to the Chinese media, was horror. In Ming Puo and Sing Tao, and on Cantonese open-line radio shows such as Philip Yung's Muinsrrc~amh n r m on CHMB (AM 1320), community leaders railed about the safe-in,iection facilities the city was planning to

open h r drug users.

But those who had actually read the original applications were flabbergasted.

"None of the sites proposed by the health board were safe-injection sites, but the Chinese media gave the community that idea," said George Hui, a social planner with the city's Downtown Eastside Revitalization Project. "Many Chinese seniors don't have good language skills, and they rely on the Chinese media.

They think everything being reported by the media is honest and reputable. So much damage was done."

For instance: on February 27 Bryce Rositch, the former Community Alliance co-chair, was quoted by Sing Tuo as saying that the Carnegie Centre had asked police "not to bother" drug users at Main and Hastings.

Sing Tuo ran with the story, even though the Carnegie Centre and Vancouver Police had issued their OM press release clearly refuting the allegations a whole tbur months earlier.

"People were deceived," said Ken Doern, the Vancouver Police inspector in charge of liaising with Downtown Eastside partners before he left the force in September. "We had to buy fi~ll-pageads to counter some of the misinformation that was getting out about our health and safety initiatives."

Hearings were held on the health board's development permit applications. On February 1 8, Charles Lee was quoted in Ming Pao as saying that opponents of the applications were afraid to speak out for fear of being harassed and threatened by drug users. There was no space given in the story for a response from "drug users" or the social workers who interact with them. As for threats, well, Sang Lee. president of the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association, had his house broken into in January. "Not a coincidence," Lee told Ming Puo on January 16. 'The inference was not questioned or investigated, but everyone knew Sang Lee was referring to so-called "pro-drug" activists.

The message was loud and clear: drugs were killing Chinatown, and it was time to stand up and fight. More than 1,000 people joined an "anti-drug" march down Hastings Street in September 2000. Thousands more signed the Community Alliance's anti-drug petition.

About that petition: Sing Tuo reported that the Alliance had gathered 6.000 signatures from people opposed to new drug facilities, "especially the contact centre at Rmsevelt Hotel" in mid-February. Never mind that many of the signatures had actually been collected in Richmond and Coquitlam. The Alliance claim was especially hi7arre because the Roosevelt tlotel plan was introduced month$ after the petition hit the streets.

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Early signees would have had to be clairvoyant to be upset about the city's proposal for the Roosevelt. Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Jenny Kwan complained that every morning her staff had to scan the Chinese papers, then call, write or visit to correct misinformation. "It happened regularly. A community group was purposehlly trying to fear-monger people, especially old people," said Kwan.

Wendy Au, manager of the Downtown Eastside Revitalization Project, was equally frustrated. "The immigrant community was not getting the whole picture. I heard them on the radio complaining about us giving away fiee drugs. Well, nobody is talking about giving away free drugs," said Au. Sometimes it was what wasn't said that did damage.

On February 6, Sing Tao ran a photo of Community Alliance chair Richard Lee (no relation to Charles Lee of the Chinatown Merchants Association) speaking with Carnegie Centre's boisterous Muggs Sigurgeirson at a public meeting. The caption cryptically stated that Lee had been threatened before. There was no mention of who threatened him, and no response from 57-yearold Sigurgeirson. Sing Tao reporters never called her.

Why was there so much bad information floating around Chinatown? The answer is complex. First, consider the journalists. Columnist and commentator Gabriel Yiu said reporters for Chinese-language media in Vancouver are generally inexperienced and overworked. "'They have too many stories to write and no time to check facts," said Yiu. "They just have to use whatever information the so-called community leaders give them."

Next, consider the influence of certain self-appointed community leaders. It may have been hard to get good information, but it was all too easy to gather bad information, particularly from the Alliance.

The Community Alliance isn't incorporated and doesn't have a membership list. But by mid-2000, its leaders claimed to represent 30,000 people from a broad range of ethnic backgrounds. They said they had signed up 150 community organizations, fiom the Victory Square Property Association to the Chinese Cultural Centre.

Whether or not the Community Alliance can back up those numbers, its lobbying helped convince city council to slap a 90-day moratorium on new socialservice projects in the neighbourhd in the summer of 2000. But the alliance was most successful when it lobbied at the grass-roots level. By last fall, the alliance had worked the Chinese community into an anti-addict

furor, with a flurry of press releases, interviews and speeches, dutihlly reported in the Chinese media.

These strategies convinced many people that authorities were focusing health and social-service dollars in their neighbourhood in order to keep the riffraff out of Kerrisdale. They also succeeded in stalling approval of the new health board sites for months.

Alliance leaders. particularly Bryce Rositch, Richard Lee and Charles Lee, were always available, quotable and outspoken. Rositch dropped his alliance co-chair title after anti-poverty activists began staging weekly soup kitchens - punctuated by yelling, fires and general harassment -on the sidewalk outside his Gastown architectural office.

The situation' was so bad last winter that the city launched its own ethnic media relations campaign. The drug action plan was translated into Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese and Punjabi. City Hall took out full-page ads in Chinese newspapers to rehte rumours and give details about the Vancouver Agreement. They held focus groups. Chinese-speaking planners put down their pencils and started calling the Chinese-language media.

"We tried to establish relationships with the [Chinese] media, just so they would call us when they have questions," said city employee Wendy Au. h he media want a story and they want it now. Well, now they know us, and are starting to call us and ask ifthe things they hear are true."

Au's comments are remarkably diplomatic, considering that the alliance began taking shots directly at her 1 1 months ago. This January, Au told the Courier that some "business interests" in the Downtown Eastside were only interested in more police enforcement, rather than other strategies to curb the neighbourhood's drug problem. The Alliance took the remark personally. In a press release calling for Au's resignation, Richard Lee wrote: "Au continues to alienate the majority of the community whb are still hoping that the city will act in their interest,.and not just the interest of the dealers, the addicted and the agencies that served them." in fact, Au h a already formed a committee of 27 Chinatown stakeholders to shepherd the city's Chinatown Revitalization Project. (Richard Lee was-and still is--on the comrpittee. Au kept her job.) This was about the time when the Alliance's credibility began to crumble. Chinese-language journalists started to question the Communitf Alliance's statements, said Gabriel Yiu. "They are getting wiser. Chinese reporters are learning that what Richard and Charles Lee are telling them simply isn't always accurate."

The city realized it even had support in the Chinese community after its bureaucrats took the time to explain the conlplexities of the approach to residents of Chinatown and Strathcona. In spring of this year, focus groups in Chinatown showed strong support for the four-pi llars approach.

"After that, nobody cared what the Alliance was saying," confided one Vancouver city councillor in August. "It became clear that these guys were so offbase from where the rest of the people were. The battle was over.''

By this time, most seniors in Chinatown had learned that the Roosevelt Hotel was not being turned into a multi-level shooting gallery, said James Pau, a 55-yearold registered nurse and acupuncturist who runs a Chinese medicine clinic at Pender and Abbot. Pau, who is also on the Carnegie Centre's board of directors, claimed that most of the Chinese people in the neighbourhood disagree with the Alliance's stance on the drug plan. '-People had been misled."

Interestingly, neither Charles Lee nor llichard Lee lives in the neighbourhood, though both men say they work there.

There's no doubt the Community Alliance leaders are genuinely passionate about the drug debate. Charles Lee i s still lobbying for a scheme that would see the old armed forces base in Chilliwack converted into a massive detox and treatment camp. Richard Lee, on the other hand, i s so consumed that he spent more than $9,000 on an ad campaign attacking the allegedly "pro'

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drug" MI,A Jenny Kwan during the most recent provincial election, according to Elections BC records.

(The ads, accusing Kwan of handing out free needles, were withdrawn after calls fiom Kwan's lawyers.) 'l'he Community Alliance leaders' hysteria undtlrmines their valid concern: that the Downtown Eastside may very well be used as a hind of testing ground for a national harm-reduction strategy that includes safein-jection sites. Aller federal health minister Allan Rock came out in favour of harm reduction this summer, that scenario is more possible than ever.

But by the fall of this year, Community Alliance intluence had faded. Their leaders complained that the media weren't calling them anymore. Richard Lee has been banned from the informal meetings on drug issues held with police every Tuesday morning at Carnegie.

The Vancouver Agreement has survived. The city and its partners have learned a lesson in media relations.

Chinese-language journalists have learned to check their sources. And the indomitable Richard I,ee has learned a little lesson as well: about the sting of unsubstant iated criticism. In September, anonymous posters were pasted on lamp posts and walls in Chinatown.

More bad information, but this time it was aimed at the Community Alliance leader himself. The posters screamed, in Chinese only, that Richard I x e had fhiled his community, had a secret agenda and had sold his neighbourhood out to his friends in Gastown.

Now I x e had to call the media in order to set thc record straight.

NOAM CHOMSKY -- SAYING WHAT MEDIA DON'T WANT US T O HEAR "If liberty means anything at all," George Orwell wrote. "it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

From all indications. the gatekeepers tbr big media in the United States don't want to hear what Noam Chomsky has to say -- and they'd prefer that we not hear him either.

Mainstream journalists in other nations often interview Chomsky. Based at the Massachusetts Institute of 'l'echnology. he's a world-renowned analyst of propaganda and global politics. But the chances are slim that yoi1'11 ever find him on a large network here at home.

Chomsky is ill-suited to providing soundbites - and that's not just a matter of style. A few snappy words are sufficient when they harmonize with conventional wisdom in a matter of~seconds.I t takes longer to intelligibly present a very dit'f'erent assessment of political realities.

For many years low, community radio stations across North America havc fkatured his speeches and interviews on political sub.jects. Progressive magazines publish his articles. But at ma.jor media outlets. most editors seem t:nr more interested in hcile putdowns of ('honisky than in allowing space fbr his own words.

Media attacks on him are especially vitriolic in times of international crisis and war. Since Sept. I I . the distortions have been predictable: Although he's an unequivocnl opponent ofterrorism in all its tbrms, C'honisky is portrayed as an apologist for terrorism.

Althougli he's a consistent advocate of human rights Ihr all, Chomsky is accused of singling out the I1.S. govcrnnient for blame.

To some extent, ('hornsky seems to bring the media salvos on himself. Even when the brickbats are tlying the guy juht won't keep his head down.[ le speaks bluntly when I he I'cntagon terrorixs hraway civilians in the name of fighting terrorism. And he points out that citi/e~rsof the no st powerful country on 1::rrth have special opportunities and responsibilities to work against deadly policies implemented in their names nith their tax dollars.

1 lis latest book. titled "9- 1 1 is now arriving in bookstores. It's a collection of interviews, serving as

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a badly needed corrective to news coverage of the present-day "war on terrorism."

The book will be very usetul in the months to come.

Yet "9- 1 I " just scratches the surface. For those who want more depth, many superb Chorrrsky books are available including the classic study "Manufacturing Consent" (co-authored with Edward S. Herman), "Profit Over People" and "The New Military tlumanisni," as well as volumes of interviews conducted by David Barsamian.

In "9-1 1 Chomsky speaks without evasion: "We should recognize that in much of'the world the lJ.S. is regarded as a leading terrorist state, and with good reason." Chomsky cites many examples o1'U.S. actions that resulted in the killing of several million civilians during the past few decades. A partial list of nations where those deaths have occurred includes Vietnam, Laos. Cambodia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala. East Timor, Sudan, Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.

All in the past'? Chomsky rips into the scam of wiping the U.S. government's slate clean. "If we choose, we can live in a world of comforting illusion," he said. "Or we can look at recent history, at the institutional structures that remain essentially unchanged, at the plans that are being announced -and answer the questions accordingly. I know of no reason to suppose that there has been a sudden change in long-standing motivations or policy goals, apart from tactical adjustments to changing circumstances."

C'homsky added wryly: "We should also remember that one exalted task of intellectuals is to proclaim every few years that we have 'changed course,' the past is behind us and can be forgotten as we march on towards a glorious future. I hat is a highly convenient stance, though hardly an admirable or sensible one."

For those whose window on the world is mostly confined to mainstream I1.S. rnedia, some of Chonisky's statements may seem odd or absolutely wrong. Hut you can't make an informed judgment of C'homsky's books and decide tor yourself: >>By Norman Solomon

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CHRISTMAS 2001 Little children, bleeding dying No place to grow - no place to run Bomb them, kill them, let tem die WHY? Mothers birth these children Some, when almost grown, are sent as soldiers.. or suicide bombers to bomb, to kill, and more children die.

AND MEN IN SUITS AND MEN IN I'UKBANS AND MEN IN UNIFORM AND MEN OF GOD choose war..

Women continue to birth their babies To low-paying jobs and a polluted earth.

'I'he rain forests are falling. Fish are rotting.

Scientists are cloning hture slaves Men Rule The World Creating God in their likeness.

They are wrong Someday we will understand why.

Sheila Baxter

Dear San ta

Can you bring healing, enlightenment, I pledge..offer all I receive and more; Bestow upon us joy and keedom so we may give to those who need the gift of love.

Every child in every adult Every adult in every child To grow and express their deepest virtue Knowing we need their special talent To contribute to a world unbeguiled: So.. if these gifts you can bring..

Dear Santa, we promise to fulfill a spirit of renewal.. hope shall spring resplendent, radiating in every face's strengthened and determined will.

P i k b u r y Dough Boy passes away It is with the saddest heart that I pass on the following. Please join me in remembering a great icon. 'l'he Pillsbury Dough boy died yesterday of a yeast lrifection arid complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was only 71. Ilough boy was buried in a lightly greased coflin. Uozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Rutterworth, the California Kaisinq, Retty C'rocker, the tlostess l'winkies and Captain Crunch.

The grave site was piled high with flours. as Iorlgtime fiiend Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy, describing Dough boy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Dough boy rose quickly In show business but his later life was filled with turnovers. I le was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he even still, as a crusty old man, was considered a roll model for millions. Toward the end it was thought that he would rise again, but alas, he was no tart.

Dough boy is survived by his wife, Play Ilough, two children, John Ilough and Jane Ilough, plus they had one in the oven. tle is also survived by his elderly father. Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:SO for about twenty minutes.

Submitted by Gram

D e a r Editor:

Mr. Campbell has put the poor in a position where he is creating a dog eat dog society.

1 have seen how we treat each other and we wonder ifwe will be at peace. I see that we have to pick on

A call to arms. I get a phone call tonight from a young mom who had to visit the Salvation Army food bank yesterday .She is really [and understandably] upset. She works part time as a bpecial needs educator at the local elementary school. She went to the food bank. The lady there, Bobbie-.lean Siska, asked her to sigh a release ...she photocopied all her intb: SIN, medical cards for her and children, bills, etc. The release is pretty invasive and authorizes the SA to " make all necessary investigations and obtain conlidential infbrmation about the above mentioned] She did not sign the release, but took it and left.

While she was there, the woman was entering all her information into a computer....C.lthe woman] objected ...said you cant do that [for the photo copying] etc, BJ said ...l have to help you ....client said no... give me that back and the SA worker refi~sed..The worker photocopied her personal info and entered it 311 1 the computer against the woman's wishes.

The client is really upset, as she put it, "they have all sorts of cons, pedophiles etc working there and now

the weak and the defenseless people of the world and the rest of the world sits on their collective butts and thinks that it's someone else's problem. The reality of it all is that we as humans must help those who need it and not find a victim, to say "It's your fault, not ours". This game must end.

I'm sick of government and the Gordon Campbells of the world saying all the social problems are the poor's fault. What cowards are those who attack the weak and defenseless. I have been crying out for a reality check for the western world and for B.C about the way that they have stomped on the poor of the world. You think that you can live in the fancy glass houses and not hurt those poor kids who you see from your windows; they don't care if your house breaks and falls all over you.

To Gordon Campbell, if you take what we have, you will find out what people with nothing to lose will do when angered enough. We on the lower rung of the economic ladder have been pushed to edge of the cliff, and we will push back harder to make sure that no one is forced to jump over the edge. With this I say unite against the bullies of the world like Gordon Campbell and his corporate buddies or they will bury you.

TAL BOUCHER they all have access" to info about her and her kids, where she lives, bank info etc.

What is her legal stance here? I find this to be a major assault. I advised her to go to the woman at victims assistance and talk to her, perhaps as a precursor to pressing charges against them.

Any legal opinions out there ...

She would love to go to the newspapers. She says that she is also willing to stand in line out Front and hand out photo copies of any civil rights etc info that we can come up with Help please Marlene Toth Sunshine Coast Unemployment Action Centre Sechelt, BC marlene_tothtdsunshine.net Donna Thomas feels that this incident reminds her of a scene a George Bernard Shaws play "major bararbera", the quote that stuck with her all these years was" l h e Bribe of Bread" and the fact that people can use another's hunger for manipulation like this.

MP LIBBY DAVIES SLAMS GOVERNMENT HOUSING INITIATIVE AND LAYS OUT TEN HOUSING SO1,UTIONS

- MP Libby Davies slammed the federal government's initiative to address housing and homelessness as the equivalent of using a bucket full of water to douse a forest fire. Ms. Davies leveled the criticism in a report on housing and homelessness that she introduced in the House of Commons .

The report, 'Housing & Homelessness: an (Innatural Disaster!", is the culmination of a seven city fact-findingtrip on housin that Ms. Davies undertook in the Fall. It's the 2 time Davies has crisscrossed the country on housing. 'Two years ago, she met with people living in shelters and in substandard housing. This time she met with front-line housing activists, experts and local politicians and had specific objectives in mind: to see if the disaster had deepened; to see if Liberal solutions on homelessness were working; and to learn from these front-line experts how to move from quick fixes to long "Everywhere I went I heard about a growing divide between those who have secure access to shelter and those who do not. And the crisis is worsening." said Ms. Davies. "Instead of bold leadership from the federal Liberals, we've seen band-aids billed as solutions to homelessness and woefully underfunded down payments billed as housing strategies."

'The Liberals created the housing crisis when they pulled out of social housing in 1993. Since then, their approach has been the equivalent of using a bucket full of water to douse a forest fire," said Ms. Ilavies. "That applies to the Housing Framework Agreement signed in Quebec City as well."

Last week, the Ministers responsible for housing signed a Federal/Provincial/TerritorialFramework Agreement in Quebec. llnder the Agreement the federal government has promised $136 million on new housing each year for five years - that's less than one tenth of what experts say is needed. In addition, the government's promise of 5,400 new units per year doesn't even meet one percent ol'the estimated need. More than 833,000 tenant households in Canada pay more than 50% of their incomes on rent and an estimated quarter million are homeless. The Agreement fails in many other areas as well: it doesn't even mention the crisis in Aboriginal housing. it lets the provinces off the hook in terms of

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accountability and targets; and it includes a "tenyear-clause" that guarantees housing built be geared to low-income tenants for just ten years. After that, this subsidized housing can be converted to highcost market housing that pushes poor people back onto the streets.

Ms. Davies released her report at a press conference held in the oftices of the United Native Nations of HC. Along with its critique of government policies, it contains I0 concrete housing solutions that should be part of a National Housing and f lomelessness Strategy. Copies of the 15 page report are available through Ms. Davies office. [604-775-5800]

Pre-Detox blues

Goin' into detox, walking into hell Whether 1 come out alive time will only tell.

I'm scared, man, Scared as I've ever been Been to heaven and hell Looking for the space in between.

Going into detox, gonna lose control Let some evil muthafbckas take hold of my very soul Going into detox.. they say it'll be alright Going into detox, if l don't kill myself tonight I'm going now, maybe 1'11 be back Don't complain if I'm never the same I'm going into detox in the pouring rain.

Al

.a smile on my face a song in my heart a gun in my pocket i am of the dark doubt laughter rage the night will come it's been thought, said and done

wishes fears fantasies fill in the silence part of time socially determined glimpsed in destruction severe unfinished dissatisfied charles fortin

***There were posters up in early L~eceniberfor a local I -day event and the topic was: "COMP1,ICITY" I tnissed it. If you have a poster, or good contact info fhr the presenter, please bring your info to the Carnegie Newsletter. I am very interested.

Sandy MacDonald Dear Briarpatch, Following the devastatingly, successful snake march on October 16th of'over 2.000 people in Toronto's financial district, organized by the Ontario Common Front (OCF), news has emerged of a secret meeting between cops and politicians. Enraged that their massive police mobilization could not stop it, the Toronto Mayor and Police Chief held a meeting at City llall with Ontario's Attorney General and other members ofthe Provincial Cabinet to discuss how to put OCF member, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) "out of business." The A.G. apparently undertook to have his office scour the Criminal Code for any tools that might be applied. This gathering was brought to light by C'ily TV According to their own codes and standards, it is, of course, highly improper for political figures to directly influence police activities in this way. It was exactly such behaviour that is believed to have been behind the killing ot'Native protester Dudley George at Ipperwash by the Ontario Provincial Police. Prominent allies of OCAP are discussing their collective response to this distressing development. OCAP shares their sense ofoutrage and concern but also sees the extent to which this whole development shows that the work of the OCF has touched a nerve that needed to be touched.

John Clurke, Orgunizer, OCAP Toronto, ON

the Ring Uncut diamond In a world of polished jade Who would shape you None that would succeed You shape yourself To great estate Everything beware But what of gold It can be cut and cast But not diminished What better conrast.

Sam

NOW I love you It kels good. to love you like I should.

F:very whim & want Every attempt Every bold undertaking Every recognition that I'm like you Trying so very hard to love you, now.

A.Kostynuik

Star of Bethlehem At this time of year it's hard fhr a single mom to see the star of Bethlehem.. . or hear the Christmas bells.. . or sing the carols.. or walk past the plush store windows. Believe it or not, in our troubled times it takes courage to live through / survive the Christmas spirit .

Sam Roddan

PROTECT PUBLIC SERVICES Jean Swanson was at Carnegie on Friday, Dec.7, at DEKA's General Membership meeting. Jean had offered to speak at the public event but also to hear fiom local 'experts' on a sub.ject of mutual interest and experience - poor-bashing.

Jean put 25 years of experience into writing a book, Poor-bashing: The politics ofexclusion. and has traveled across Canada to promote it and raise awareness. Her opening question was to the point: 'The average income has risen by I 1 %. Does anyone know how that's distributed'?' The answer - the poorest 20% of Canadians lost $600 while the richest 20% gained $ l 12,000.

The corporate agenda is about this kind of disparity. Laws and government programs and policies are all used to keep the wealth and power flowing one way, to those who already have more than anyone else. It's part and parcel of wealth distribution to continuously and consciously bash the poor with terms like "lazy, shiftless, babymachines, worthless, 2"d class.. ." and people do it to each other, and even to oneself.

The audience participated throughout the meeting and the conscious nature of poor-bashing was apparent to all. The terms used in government - poor people needing an "inccntive to work".."the cycle of poverty".. "calling recipients of income assistance users, equating all with drugs andlor alcohol .. people in poverty need rehuhilitution.. . and the lie is that poor people need to learn how to behave better, that lessons on budgeting or dress or bathing or whatever will solve everything (or at least make you and I less obvious).

Jean spoke of the history of poor laws - and the recent obscenity of a Fraser Institute hack calling tbr the re-creation of Poor Houses.. . maybe to just lock 'em up (or gas 'em). She had treated the language and perceptions fostered by these people with humour by applying the concepts to the rich: "They (the rich) need incentives to do meaningful work" .."How can they break the cycle ofwealth? but the sobering reality is what is termed 'poornography'.

Thhis happens when media or some pious do-good program wants to highlight a 'needy family' or have a poster (poor) child.

The poor-bashing language and techniques are

STOP THE CUTS! Rally

Saturday, December 15, I:00 pm At The Mound at Granville Island (Between Performance Works & Granville Island Hotel) SPEAKERS, MUSIC, THEATRE

STOP THE CU'IS!! (a bus will vick uv at Carneeie at I I & 12) inherent in all reports and lobbying of the Fraser Institute, the CD tiowe Institute and the Busincss Council on National Issues. Jean named these and their corporate buddies in international trade deals as all stamping a global order of colnpetitive impoverishment. 'l'he last bit oftime was spent in people talking about how to fight poor-bashing, how to confront the ideas and concepts that are used every day. The most enlightening thing is to realize that "it's not just me who feels powerless and angry wlien I hear this kind of thing." Speak up.

PKT

Comments?

Concerns?

Contact jenny Wai Ching Kwon, M I A

1070-1641 Commercial Dr., VSL 3Y3 Phone: 775-0790 fax: 775-0881 Offlce hours: Tuesday-Frlday gam-qpm

Sustainability 101 Graduation and Openhouse Saturday, December 15,2001 at 1 pm-Spm Humanities Storefront 49 W. Cordova (across from Army & Navy) Entertainment, food, and projects provided.

Evetyone welcom~!

This course was a complete study of the environment.

Putting on Airs I f you're going to put on airs these days You should not tread upon stairs; be afraid It's a charade, the way you act at times You can never allow your persona to crack. be sublime When you allow this travesty to be a purpose in your life You know you're causing misery, upheaval and especially mental strife So take a break.. step back a few paces.. it's time to reassess Why don't you ease on down a few rungs and fall in with the rest 1 decipher your cryptic, coded messages though hard to coniprehend Yet your riddles and deceptions will be your downhll in the end So why not dismount your fragile high horse bcfbre your term expires And consider other people's wants, needs, necessities and desires.

Kobyn I,.

SANTA CLAUS IS A CAPITALIST PLOT Father Christmas works one nite a year & gives a 10th Santa impersonators jobs 4 a month or so also a lotta teenage girls in green leotards & elf mini skirts at less than minimum wage Mother Christmas works 365 days a year washin Santa's clothes, cookin his meals & keeping th North Pole clean Who do U think makes all those Christmas cookies? not Santa Some people don't call cooking, washing & cleaning Real Work but then they're not th ones who do it The elves w r k 365 days a year in some kinda Free Trade Zone called th North Pole & Santa gets 2 take all th credit Pretty feudal 4 this century, wouldn't'cha say?

'The don't even have names - "Th Elves" Snow White's dwarves had it better than that R they unionized'?

They gotta medical plan 4 frostbite'?

Don't need 2 worry about maternity leave, as far as 1 can see. they're a huncha white guys Pretty discriminatory hiring practices, eh?

Santa Claus is a capitalist plot Ile was invented by Coca Cola & all th kids R told there's a Santa C'laus Is he th most popular guy around, or is it Ronald MacDonald? or is it Jesus Christ'?

Is t h Man Who Gives [I What lJReally Want created by a company 2 sell liquid amphetamine? created by a company 2 sell dead animals & potatoes ti-ied in animal fat? or created by organized religion 2 sell real estate in tli here-after? t lninitnrnm When people say "kids don't know what's good 4 them" U gotta wonder where they're getting their ideas from Diane Wood

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE YOUTH ACTIVITIES SOCIETY

S'rD CLINIC - 219 Main; Monday to Friday, loam - 6pm NEEDLE EXCllANCE - 221 Main; 8:30am - 8pm every day NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN - 3 Routes: - 5:45pm - 11:45pn1 Overnipht - 12:30am - 8:30arn Ihwntown Eastside - 5:30pm - 1:30am

2001 DONATIONS Libby I).-$69 Sam K.-$30 Nancy W.-$4 Wes K.-$I00 Margaret D.-$25 Shyamala G.-$30 Pam C.-$20 Val A.$20 W m B-$20 Harold D.-$20 Pam-$20 M a r y C-$30 Rolf A.-$7.5 Bruce 5.-$34 Peggy -$45 Kettle -$20 Sonya S.-$120 BC"TF-$~O Nancy t1.-$19 B i l l G.-$130 Eve E.-$2.5 [IEYAS-$150 Raycam-$70 LSS-$230 John S-$34 Paddy -S60 Sarah E.-$20 Rockingguys -$30 Anonymous -$283 T ~ CEdge -$200 Celeste w.-$22 Jo's Mom -$25 Charles F.-$ 10 Mennonite CC -$60 Rosemary Z.-$60 Joanna N.-$50 Jenny K.-$18

.I'IIE NEWSI.E'I"I'EH IS A p l l t ) l . l < ' ~ ' I ' I O N OF T H E CAKNE(;IE ('OhlhlllNI I'Y (:ENTHE ASSOCIA1 ION.

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

Submission Deadline for next issue:

Welfare problems; Landlord disputes; Housing problems; Unsafe living conditions; m e to the Dera office at 425 Carrall Street or hone us a t 682 0931 ERA has been serving the Downtown Eastside *

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