JULY 1, 2012
-....a rEn•Y e gi e N E W S LETT E R
~
carnnews@vcn oc.ca
is
"6
CtJmmunil't
Thank you!! The fundraising campaign has been, to put it mildly, a success. The Crude Cash Concert, held at St James Community Square in Kitsilano, was enjoyed - literally - by all. . The program had a sentiment shared by hundreds 1f not thousands of res idents and natural members of the Downtown Eastside community; ·This event is dedicated to the memory of Sandy Cameron who, more than most, knew the true value of communication and community.'· There was no head count, so observational skillshowever limited or dreamed up -had over 125 people in attendance. There was even one toddler, maybe 2 years old and out for a stroll with his parents, who heard the Carnegie/Hastings Street Band and was onlv inside to check it out. The parents, very goina b-surprised, asked if it was okay "Oh Yeah!" an~ the litt le guy went up to the stage and began swaymg back and forth with the raunchy sound.
- Sandy Cameron When the Band was exiting the room the guy playing the big bass drum got the kid to play as they walked - he was ecstatic! The evening began with Dalannah Gail Bowen singing from her heart and soul, sharing personal stories and the coming together of kindred spirits. Bud Osborn gave a spoken word performance, and few who have ever heard him can be unmoved. Then Phoenix Winter, coordinator of the Fire Writers here in Carnegie, presented a few pieces of her poetry. The next music was from the Street Band, mentioned above. It was great- I'd never imagined jazz on a tuba! Spoken word performances came from Jackie Humber (afterwards she said she'd lost her stage vi rginity) and rockin' Robyn Livingstone. (There's a piece in this edition by him that gives the how & why of his eternal presence volunteering at fest ivals, demonstratio ns and literary events al l over the city. Fraser Union is a band that's been around for about
25 years; with political folk tunes and awesome music entertaining to everyone. Following them was, or l should say were Earle Peach and the Solidarity Notes Labour Choir. Very professional and volunteers to boot! The incredible ariwork of Gamet Tobacco, I think 7 pieces in all, were available for bids in a silent auc~ion and one piece (all originals by the way) was the pnze in a raffle, so anyone without much cash could have a chance to get one. Now to thank you's: (and ifsomeone's name is not here, take away my typewriter ..) Lisa David, Barbara Morrison, taylor stewart, Fraser Stuart, Phoenix, Gena Thompson, Pat McSherry, Sam Snobelen, John and other staff/volunteers at StJames, all the singers and speakers who contributed their time and talents, Robert from Solder & Sons who gave his time and made the great coffee he gave, the Carnegie kitchen staff for making a tray of date squares, adding strawberries and having it ready the day after being asked (on the day before the conceti), Sheila Baxter, Jean Swanson, and, leaving the first until last, MEL LEHAN!! Mel's name came up when ways to get money to keep the Newsletter afloat started th in and got thinner. He immediate ly said s ure, he'd be glad to. Mel got the Hall and all the musical people within about 2 hours, for free, then called back with a wild idea to set ticket prices at $100 per!? l could count the number of people I know who might have an extra hundred bucks on the fingers of one hand. Mel was undeterred . "What usually happens" is the people who will buy such do so that someone benefitted directly can go in their stead. Okay. He committed to selling ten, and expectations (for me)were fo r maybe $2,000. This was about 2 months before the concert. Well, Mel is so well-liked, well-known, and like a 111 friend ly pit bull, that by Friday June 15 he'd brought in almost $4500; the Newsletter had another $ 1400 in donations and on the evening of the fu ndraiser over $3300 was given . .. all told over $9000 was raised!!! And this won't be complete without telling you of another incredible piece of good news: Help in the Downtown Eastside, a resource guide for any and all 0 find out what's out there and how to call or get it, 'S been struggl ing for funding for about 3 years now. '} ad been coming out twice a year for over 20 years ust once in 20 I 1 (#44 September). It was an ethi-
r .
cal matter; almost all donations were for the Carnegie Newsletter but, despite having those 2 words on its cover, the Help booklets are a separate publication. Mark Townsend and the people at the Portland Hotel Society have generously agreed to pay for the new edition of the revised and updated guide. I'll save telling you of an even more generous commitment until the Fall. It was personally much appreciated that both Jenny Kwan, the Member of the Legislative Assembly who has the Downtown Eastside as part of her VancouvetMt Pleasant riding, and Libby Davies, Member of Parliament in Ottawa representing Vancouver East, came and spent the entire evening with us. It's decent to have people to vote for. So to one and all, deepest thanks for your support, energy and commitment to keeping the Carnegie Newsletter alive and well. Respectfully submitted, PauiR Taylor
......~
Ca rnegie Newsletter Concert Fund raiser - 17 June 2012. Financial Report:
REVENUE Donations - Cash Cheque TOTAL
Specifics Silent Auction Sales: books & COs Raffle Coffee & date squares I
Revenue - Expense Addendum Pre-Event Revenue
.,.. f Total Realised Proceeds
EXPENSE 2069.32 1610.00 3679.32
5
--
Sound Engineering Transit passes Supplies Taxi to TOTAL
225.00 42.00 25.82 20.00 312.82
475 + $70 165 130-$65 ~60
= $3,366.50 4295 (Mel Lehan) 11OS (Paul/Office)
$5,400.00 $8,766.50 (as of 18 June 2012) $9,336.50 (as of2~ June 2012)
Pledged
$1000
Shyla S -$75, Sonia M -$25, Elsie MeG -$100, Julie 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 0 -$50 to the memory of Sandy Cameron, Glenn B -$100, Margaret 0 -$40, Sheila B -$200, Harold & Sharron 0 -$100, Leslie S -$175, BobS -$200, Michael C -$50, Michelle C -$20, Lazara Press -$100 to the memory of Ginger 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 Local 15 -$1000, Wilhelmina M -$65, Patrick F -$40, Phoenix W -$60, Robert MeG -$65, Alexandra L -$60, Maxine T -$60, Jilll -$20, Brenda B -$8, Joan T -$50, Colin C -$50, Connie H -$100, Elizabeth M -$200, William C -$100, Alastair C -$100, Valerie B -$100, Mel L -$200, Essop M -$200, Harley R -$200, Penny P -$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, TriCity Capital-$200, Susan S -$100, EveS -$100, Bruce MacD -$100, Phyllis T -$200, Valeris R -$100, Christopher R -$850, Kevin W -$100, Oanielle 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, Bonn ie McD -$110, Ethel W -$100, Libby 0 -$175, Ann T -$1 00, Jaqueline L -$75, Wendy P -$50, Sheila K -$25, Yukiko T -$30, Anonymous -$120, Advertising revenues: JK -$460, HiS -$200, Silent Auction -$545, Books/COs -$165, Raffle, coffee & snacks -$125 2012 Fundraising (January through June): Total revenue realised = $12, 6 5 8
DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE HEART OF THE CITY FESTIVAL
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION FOR DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE INVOLVED RESIDENTS
Vancouver Moving Theatre/DTES Heart of the City Festival
POSTER EXHIBITION Featuring 18 posters from all Heart of the City Festivals, major productions & community celebrations produced by VMT & partners in the last 15 years.
CARNEGIE THIRD FLOOR GALLERY- Month of July
Do you have a project or activity you would like to be considered for a future DTES Heart of the City Festival? Meet with Terry Hunter (Artistic Producer) and Teresa Vandertuin (Associate Artistic Producer) about your project or activity over coffee/tea on Friday July 6, between 2pm- 4pm, Carnegie Community Centre, Third Floor Gallery.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Every F riday at Carnegie Community Centre Gym 3:30 -5:30 June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; J uly 6, 13 Every W ednesday at Audain Gallery SFU Woodwards 3:30 -5:30 149 West Hastings Street -Entrance from the street June 6, 13, 20, 27; J uly 4, II Free and open to all residents of the DTES of all levels of experience, stud ying the basic elements of dance throug h rhythm and improvisation
All are welcome! Come and discover the joy of dance! '
Please see Rika Uto in the Carnegie Program office fo r mo re information Kare n J amieson Dance at 604.687.6675 -kjdance.office@telus. net -www.kjdance.ca
RESOLVE Even though I get pushed and shoved and kicked around figuratively on a daily basis, so to speak, and even though my body is beat up broken down in aching pain, I soldier carefully placing one foot in front of the other, sometimes popping aspi rins to somewhat quell that pain. Uphill, downhill I go trying to stay off main drags in o rder to avoid the noise, the smog, the mayhem on a seemingly endless pursuit of peace and tranquility. Sometimes I grab a bus on a long or short hop, in a psychic state of whimsy, getting away from it for awhile; maybe trying to bump into some sort of festival/barbeque/cou ld be a fi lm or literary event to briefly eclipse my rutted guttering reality. These are usually free affairs, considering that I am often extremely short of cash; good deal, right?! Most times not many people would attend or crash these events, if they had to cough up real doe. But most of these deals or shebangs are on th6 house and ya can't beat that. For a whole lot of folks these are real hard tight times - even though I'm not flush l don't usually as a rule pick up cigarette butts, bum papers or scout for bottles and cans and such. But l have sometimes been known to do these necessary things when times get desperate and survival gets tough when it comes to my needy 'lecessities. In point of fact becoming a d umpster <fiver is a most noble profession, an occupation that is good for the environment, the recycling trade & sanitation .. plus it's cash on the barrelhead and tax free to boot! The economic trends many are facing down in these parts (the Heart of the City) are almost terrifying but we' re resilient people, able to roll with the punches of red tape and gentrification and bounce back, more resilient than ever. Now that's impressive. That's the way we have always been down here. So it's nothing new to us and we just keep plugging away. We know the ropes and when & where to pull them. You' ve come to the right place: whatever predicaments and situations we find ourselves in (especially in these times) we can certainly handle it in every which way, whatever the case may be. Whatever it takes, these continuous & ongoing battles are extreme necessities for us to quell and/or tight off We have to be extreme ly careful and exacting when the powers
that be muddy the waters 'cause it can get really confusing. However we never lose our focus, get tunnelS vision or are ever deterred or lose control of situations sticking hard to the Downtown Eastside Master Plan .. This is our current plan, with our resolve and strength to succeed ... sometimes things don't work o ut exactly the way we want them to .. maybe a little give 'n take .. so what, big deal, as long as we come out on top at the end of the day. And if it doesn't take shape as we pictured in our minds, we continue to try to reshape them. Our dreams of a better world are also unrelent ing - if it doesn't add up to our liking, we correct it. ROBYN LIVINGSTONE.
.R\JP.U. I'VE1RAVELLED
JUfiANVS OF MILES
llll~~~~SE, 1RlllW
,
"Voter suppression is as old as the hills." Yesterday, Arthur Hamilton, lawyer for the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), uttered these very words in Federal Court. He said this wh ile arguing the CPC's shocking motion to have the legal actions contesting the outcome of the May 20 II election in the robocall scandal th rown out - before the Federal Court has an opportunity to consider the powerful evidence of widespread fraud that has already been filed with the court! It may come as news to the seven Conservative MPs who won those elections, that never in our country's history has there been evidence of a widespread, deliberate, targeted and effective campaign of voter s uppression. Council of Canadians update -June/ ' 12
Rocky Baptiste's Memorial Pool Tournament Dear Paul .. . with 16 competitors that included two nephews & what an amazing night .... so much talent so much love and respect for you and the work the paper has Laura (Rocky's sister) as a spectator. All who attended maintained silence through-out the games ... done for so many years. You volunteered ..... outside of a few ooh's and ahhs. You could hear the I was so proud to be part of that amazing his tory ..... cue ball roll across the fe lt of the snooker table. you are so loved and respected ... fight on don't give up The 16 players had a single elimination knock-out. you must be doing something ri ght for {THEY} The winner was Dan R., 2nd was Pablo P. and 3rd to want us gone ...... .It's something like we are the flea ' was Marvin, Rocky's nephew, truly the crowd's fabiting the elephant(GOVT) - we can make you itch vourite. and we are hard to catch .... It was a tremendous tournament. All players and hugs shei la 1 spectators were appreciative of the respectful silence \ that was maintained through-out. } Wow! Just like a professional event. On behalf of all The Value of Volunteers ! spectators and participants, thank you for a wonderful i experience. Our Executive Director, in her Annual Report to the J Brad Hurlburt, Pool Room Volunteer ; Carnegie Board of Directors, states that "500 volunWtt5"'E { teers contributed approximately 75,000 hours of proi me and my gypsy god gram support, including 18,500 hours of kitchen work ! ~ over the past year[ June I,20 II- May 3 1, 20 12]." : god of vagabonds and dreamy eyed poets lfthe volunteers in question had received $12.00 per wandering this aimless vast earth hour for their work, the total amount paid to them your temple is the outstretched road would have been$900,000. If the volunteers in quesJ god of adventure, new conquests and good fortune tion had received $20.00 per hour for their work, the finding poetry in misfortune total amount paid to them would have been $1.5 mil1 god of untameable spirits li on!! J rogues and pirates drumming to their own beat Sam Snobelen with black oysters and maidens ofthe sea t drinking the wine of a new covenant finding music in the call of the wi nd
.j
j
1
i
Religious Commentary (Part Ill - the last one) Note; this was to ld to me by Brian, the #3 Main Street bus driver! Pagans were generally the villagers who farmed the la nd so the rulers could stuff their faces. If they couldn ' t pay the Tax or refused to fi ght for him, the ruler would throw them off his land; they' d starve. These Pagans worshipped the sun, like most other people on the planet then. The uni versal belief was that, at the Winter Solstice, the sun "died" a nd then rose again three days later. This was deliberately 'misinterpreted' [the idea was stolen] by the new priesthood as the "Son" (meaning Jesus) who died, then rose again three days later Have a nice day. H ave a nice life .. this is Larry Mousseau signing off.
•f
•
J
god of punkers and metal-heads black boots of dissidence screaming skulls of resistance offering social justice and electric worship
god ofthe sane insane popping pills in padded rooms talking to ghosts and playing chess caught between a waki ng dream and a sleeping life { seeing the other side of mystery f
~
i •
i
• I l
under a half yellow moon eating grapes and writing songs wide-eyed and mystified high on the sweet life just me and my gypsy god
erika katalin
Missing Women Commission of Inquiry
I
Mandate: (a) to conduct hearings, in or near the City of Vancouver. to inquire into and make findings of fact respecting the conduct of the missing women investigations; (b) consistent with the British Columbia (Attorney General) v. Davies. 2009 BCCA 337, to inquire into and make findings of fact respecting the decision of the Criminal Justice Branch on January 27, 1998, to enter a stay of proceedings on charges against Robert William Pickton of attempted murder, assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and aggravated assault; (c) to recommend changes considered necessary respecting the initiation and conduct of investigations in British Columbia of missing women and suspected multiple homicides; (d) to recommend changes considered necessary respecting homicide investigations in British Columbia by more than one investigating organization, including the co-ordination of those investigations; (e) to submit a final report to the Attorney General or before December 31, 20 II .
FINAL ORAL SUBM ISS ION----------------VANDU was granted full standing to participate in this inquiry and then denied funding for a lawyer. fhe Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users is a group of some 2000 people who use(d) illegal drugs, who work to improve the lives of people who use drugs through drug user-to-user su pport and education. We are humbly funded by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority to provide support, educotion and advocacy to our large membership and have I full time and 2 part time employees. VANDU and its predecessor organizations, IV Feed and the Back Alley Drop-In have been holding education and s upport meetings for people who use drugs since 1995. Of the 60 murdered and miss ing women, we estimate over a dozen participated in our grassroots drug user organizations. The fact that the missing and murdered women were known to be addicted to illegal drugs, to have lived in the DTES of Vancouver and to have used heroin, cocaine or both, for many years, has been largely ignored by this inquiry. Although they are referred to as sex workers (or more derogatory names), it is understood that almost universally, they sold sex to get money for illegal drugs and that they were severely, desperately addicted. They were known to be on welfare and to live wretched conditions in squalid single room occupancy hotels. They were called druggies and junkies and junky ho's by police, by hospital staff and by the media and public. They were relentlessly harassed, arrested and abused by police, they were turned away from hospital s, detox/d rug treatment facilities and excluded from community center programs w ithout even being able to use public toilets or phones. Addiction is a diagnosable illness and is recognized as a chronic, recurring disability. Once diagnosed, addiction can be treated by a physician. Many, many of our beloved miss ing and murdered women were not recognized as ill and were instead arrested and charged numerous times by police for crimes such as communicating for the purpose of prostitution, for theft, possession of drugs and possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking charges. Many of our women had warrants for their arrest, not just for actual crimes, but for missing court dates, for violating bail conditio ns and for missing probation appointments. Most Canadians, lawyers and police do not understand how unfairly the criminal justice system works for poor people or they would act to end the injustice inherent in it. When even a tiny offense s uch as jay walking or vending is ticketed by the police, a crisis is created for a person too poor to pay. They end up wrestli ng a system that efficiently and relentlessly pursues them for this puddle of debt. When we think 路why not just go deal with a warrant for you r arrest for missing court dates?' we need to understand that people end up in remand cells. B. Krazyck describes remand in 2006:
"You're locked down for most of the time. There's no natural light. You're only allowed out for an hour a day, and that's onto a cement court. You never touch grass or touch anything green growing. You're served rotten food in a sick environment. The women come in therefrom off the street and they're suffering different stages of withdrawal. The ones who are too sick to hold their heads up are dependent upon others who are coming along in the withdrawal because there really isn 't enough staff"
As we speak, our MLA's are passing new laws that'll ensure that women who have sky train tickets are pursued for the debt they have incurred for riding public transit without fare on our publicly funded system. They plan to collect such fines going back ten years. There is also I 00 million dollars being spent constructing turnstiles to prevent people from entering the public transit system without a fare. The~e are the ex_act initiatives th~t put poor, marainalized and drug-addicted women at further risk. If women cannot nde the transit system. they wil l be forc~d to hitchhike to get around the lower mainland. Ironically, women, criminalized because of their addiction issues, will find themselves even more unable to get to the mo re than 12 court dates each criminal charge generates. These court dates are either preceded by or followed by jail time and then the dreaded probation order. If there is anything useful to come from this inquiry let it be a thoroug h review and critical analysis of the current "mining of the poor and ill" to fuel overtime hours for police, to fill our new and privately owned and operated prisons and to ensure their return to these prisons because of violations of conditional sentences. It is almost impossible to avoid another warrant for your arrest given the conditions women live in. This same criminal JUStice system will not "help" women when they need help for serious offenses committed against them like; Forcible Confinement, Rape and Attempted Murder. Additional ly, women who go to police for help cannot be assured that they will not be arrested for warrants outstanding from their inability to pay fines for offenses they simply s hould not have been ticketed for and charged with in the first place. It is my understanding that recent changes in Legal Aid, which most vulnerable women rely on when they go to court, rewards lawyers with cash incentives if they convince their client to plead g uilty to the charges against them without going to trial. T his will put vulnerable women at furthe r risk as they will be incarcerated more frequently without access to medical treatment for addiction. Addiction is not well understood as an illness but seems to be more commonly diagnosed amongst people who have suffered trauma. Because addiction is so poorly understood, the treatments offered to addicts range from "surrendering their lives to a higher power" to ingesting methadone dai ly under strict, even punitive, g uidelines which include peeing in cups for drug testing under the watchful eye of medical personnel. The fai lure rates of drug treatment programs are very high with as many as 90% of those entering some drug treatment programs using drugs within a few months of entering "medically supervised" treatment. This drug treatment failure can be catastrophic for women, resulting in the permanent removal of their children w ho are lost to the foster care system and to permanent adoption. This family di s location results in increased drug use for the women overcoming the wrenching Joss of their apprehended children and also for the children torn from their families and placed in foster homes; who are at extreme ri sk of experiencing mental health and addiction issues themse lves. It is tempting for those in the legal system to see Drug Courts as the middle path, acknowledging people who use illegal drugs both as criminals and as people in need of medi cal treatment for addictions. Drug Courts are expens ive and ineffective and have very poor outcomes for extremel y marginalized and vu lnerabl e women. Our Community Courts at first g lance appear to be a good idea but we have seen the same problems of multiple delays in proceedings as regular courts. The failures in implementing social s upports for sentenced participants is from there s impl y not being social housing; tax dollars being invested in building prisons has taken precedence over social supports for those who find themselves destitute, homeless and addicted.
Police Behaviour and Culture We cann ot in good conscience conclude this inquiry without acknowledging that the current drug laws of Canada did contribute to the failure of the police in Vancouver and around the province to take seriously the disappearances of these 60 women. We can go on to say that the majority of Canad ians support changing our drug Jaws. The terrible behavior of the police toward women who use illegal drugs and sell sex is partiall y due to the entrenched police culture that rewards traditional performance measures such as arrests. Furthermore, drug-related arrests are very easy for police with hundreds of available, obvious, marg inalized drug users on our streets. Commendations and promotions for pol ice are often the result of high arrest statistics and because court time earns officers large amounts of publicly funded o vertime pay, police are encouraged to view drug using women as easy targets. We have heard and are certa in that the police refer to people who use drugs as hypes, druggies, junkies
and women who use as junkie hos, whores, etc .. To be fair, many other professionals are guilty of this same language which, of course, leads to the compounding of hopelessness and self-hatred that many people who use illegal drugs feel. Drug users who have been unable to find drug treatment other than rigid, poorly run, abstinenceonly treatment, and have been unable to succeed. are especially vulnerable to becoming HIV and Hepatitis C positive .. and to overdose. We need to oversee our police closely. l) They need to be accountable to civilian overs ight. 2) They need to be transparent with how they spend tax dollars- how police spending priorities are set. 3) Police need to be stopped from "mining" certain neighborhoods and populations for crime to advance their already bloated budgets and their personal incomes with huge overtime payments. 4) Closely scrutinized arrest statistics and breakdown of arrestees by income, race and gender should be public. 5) Our police need to be integrity-tested and the police, court and jails' systems need to be "mystery shopped" regularly. 6) Police need to be properly trained and to be polite to the public .. kind and considerate to people who are mentally ill and/or addicted. And police need to be fired if they are not well behaved. lam both the relative of a missing woman who is Native and who used illegal drugs and a resident of the DTES for 19 years. I have worked extensively with people who use illegal drugs and have observed closely how the police investigate missing women. I observed the changes made by police as the enormity of the problem of our missing women grew. I have concluded that police should have only a partial role in looking for people who go missing. The people the police look for are often avoiding them because, despite the stupidity of arresting and re-arresting vulnerable addicted women, the police refuse to stop targeting them with sweep after sweep; to remove them from the public eye in order to help increase property values in the DTES. A better approach to finding missing people would include clauses in welfare, pension, medical and court files to alert a trusted fami ly member or friend when someone does not show up to get their welfare or pension check, or misses multiple medication pick-ups. This would pin point the time of the disappearance and the police could get involved after that. When the police are the only people who can get information about a missing person who may be avoiding police, the families are stuck in a sustained panic. The fam ilies do not know what has happened to their loved one and are not able to get information from police. My family reported Elsie Sebastian missing for 8 years before we were able to have her added to the missing women list. I urge this commission to examine the problem of resource allocation in understanding how and why so many women went missing and to prevent such a horror from happening again. The province we live in currently spends 40% of tax dollars collected on the healthcare budget- over 12 billion dollars. Shockingly little is spent on ensuring people do not get sick in the first place: on adequate income for families who find themse lves destitute, on safe affordable housing and on programs where people who have problems can regain dignity and inclus ion in society. What we have seen instead is no money for housing and income programs for people living in poverty but a large amount of our tax dollars going to build prisons; not just prisons but remand centers. And not just remand centers but private-for-profit remand centers that suck up tremendous sums of tax dollars. All evidence shows that going to prison damages people- with poor health outcomes, poor ability to cope in society when released. Incarceration breaks up families, creating the predictable negative consequences of foster care and more imprisonment. Children in foster care often have children who end up in foster care, as do the children of prisoners end up in prison. We know that our missing women and many of our vulnerable women on our streets today are not helped with the increased arrests we see the police engaged in and most of our municipal tax dollars squandered on. They are often rejected by women's programs and community centers and homeless shelters. It is now indisputable that people criminalized by their drug use can be welcomed to low threshold programs such as opiate and stimulant substation programs, drug consumption rooms and member run drop in facilities.
These well researched initiatives are extremely cost effective. But there exists NO funding for them as it appears that billions are going for new prisons and increased policing. We heard again and again in the forum sessions on 路'keeping our vulnerable women safe" that drop in, advocacy and support centers in the community are facing cuts to already inadequate fu nding while bil lions are spent on treating preventable illnesses such as HI V and Hepatitis, repeated ambulance trips, repeated emergency room visits, increased policing, increased court costs, and worst of all, maximum security cells where ill people are sent to await trial for being addicted and poor and unable to avoid police. To state that the police, the courts and our community has fail ed the mi ssing women and their families is a huge understatement. So it is important to move forward to deter such failure in the futu re. And we do not have any such reassurance with S isterwatch and the new procedures for missing women or the police policy of support for initiatives they have been forced to accept such as the injection site; Insite. A brief visit to Hastings street wi ll expose you to police who are aggressive, rude, unrelenting and unable to stop exploiting the very people they are tasked to protect. On top of this, you may see a film crew, accompanying our special DTES police force, making a for profi t reality TV series called " The Beat". Despite repeated requests to VPD management and vigorous demands by VANDU that they stop filming people the VPD's Beat E nforcement Team inte racts with, they have refused. So I urge you commissioner, to not just take our police at their word when they say they work closely with the commun ity, but to create a legal and enforceable way the police are actually accountable to the communities they serve. O ne wonders where and how the families, especially the children, of the missing women will proceed with their lives, feeling that the terrible suffering they have experienced can be put behind them . I cannot help but think that there needs to be an acknowledgement to each child, and each grandchild, from you directly. A kind gesture. An acknowledgement. And we need a legacy fund. The police say they are sorry. Are they sorry enough to ensure that there is a college/ education fund for these children and their children? We see the Odd Squad raise millio ns for their fo undation which messages that needle exchange is "a fai led social experiment," that lnsite " promotes drug use" and that addicts are " making bad dec isions". This ideo logical war with police must end before more people die. BC has bee n a leader in the world fo r innovative, wel l-researched drug treatment, such as methadone and heroin prescription programs, and has taken a charter case to the supreme court of Canada challenging the prostitution laws. The idea that a rogue band of police officers can chal lenge the medical research on add iction treatment and be given full power to terrorize the men and women who find themselves on Hastings Street homeless and addicted is unacceptable; it points to a terrible flaw in the accountability and governance of police. The board and the brass of the VPD support treating addiction as a "medical problem" and embrace harm reductio n. The police on the street enact " harm production" . In c losing, the telling of truth of these women' s lives rest with your repo rt. I urge you write it and to te ll the truth.
Recommendations in the following areas are being made Poverty Reduction; Addiction Treatment; Best practises examined & implemented; Drug Laws in Canada; Current drug laws revoked; End Drug Prohibition & implement reg ulation of currently illegal drugs Policing; 6 demands independent civilian oversight; Integrity-test police; Proper po lice training; Stop ' mining fo r crim e' campaigns; Community representatives on police boards; Deter overtime with proper system. Missing Persons Investigations; Police should not be looking for mi ssing persons; Resource allocations; Living wills. Compare budget for healthcare to welfare; Compare budget for housing to budget for prisons Compare budget for policing to budget for res ident led community g roups Children of Missing Wo men ; Do not force families to sue to get$ Offer appropriate re inforGements for wrongful death and sufferin g; Create a Legacy fund fo r children and g randchildre n for educatio n, train ing A nn Livingston
Still Traumatized Childhood trauma never fades away in shadow of darkness For young babes who've been terrorized, tortured and beaten me rciless ly, H e never sees Iight - by natural instincts he remains a nd hides in utter darkness. Nothing seems real- nothing seems normal- 'cause he/she is still traumatized. Shockingly the perpetrators never ad mit accountability a nd rema in in utter denial. They were child killers of Indian Residential School babes - unsafe and dangerous. These schoo ls were a diabolica l institute of death - no escape. As adults, alco hol, drugs and suicide linger on 'cause still they're traumatized. Physical, sexua l, emotional and spiritual assault -on kids in utter terror. Many attacks were unprovoked - no reason to torture those angelic babies. Genocidal intent- "death sentences", kill ing was evident- yet the perpetrators s till today remain unpunished . S hame, blame, oblivion crippled these survivors' true emoti ons and dra ined one's heart dry. Still there is no admittance of truths by these church-run Indian Residential Schools- ev il flooded their contaminated hearts, flooded with li es. Why won't those hundreds of known pedophiles be crimina lized -are these native children just an entity? What!! K idnap, rape, phys ical abuses are crimes aren't they? Perhaps, or rather, it is British spo ils consiste nt to a cover-up, a direct act of assimilatio n. People? World? Did you not get the non-Ho llywood picture yet? Are you in a fantasy world? Thousands of baby chi ldren were murdered, disappeared - never returned to their loved o nes. I need to plead with my broken heart, and l'm down on my knees in prayer in dire hope that people will get invo lved and painstakingly help bring baby braves home for proper burial. Look with true insight into the aftermath of still-traumati zed survivors and resist turning a blind eye o n steadfast, honest truths. These children were stolen, forced into the devil's nest and were entangled into a cobweb of eternal lonel iness. Youngsters, they were, practica lly babies, aged four years to somewhere around 16 to 18 years of age. The aftermath of trauma cri pp les the ultimate good ness of Spirit- they are still in utter darkness, these adu lt braves of Indian Residential Schoo ls struggle day-to-day, trying to surv ive. Sadly, trauma took its toll as these victims of abuse turned to drugs, cr ime, alcohol and s uic ide. Most, or a ll, psychologists I've met don't want to hear o f the most severely traumatic endeavor undertaken sexual abuse. Trauma, trauma how can o ne surv ive or hea l ifhe or she cannot verbal ize the dreadful truths of sexual abuse? Evidently they still rema in -still traumatized like a caged animal, denied freedom . Indian Residentia l School wasn't a Ho llywood scr ipt o r a drama. It was a cursed endeavo r of assimilatio n and genocide - a way to eliminate and destroy the native ways and renounce them undignified and STILL TRAUMATIZED! All my re lation s, William Arnold Combes
What's been happening in the Carnegie Learning Centre this Year!!! I can't believe another year has gone by in our awesome learning centre. On Wednesday we celebrated at our_end-of-term party. It was well attended and eve;ybody enjoyed the poetry and writing provided by the Fire Writers Group, which is led by Phoenix Winter every Wednesday morning. Nga Mui gave an impassioned reading about her life, really showing the improvement in her English skills. Then Adrienne showed one of her digital stories, leading to everyone enjoyed cake and beverages. Good ending to another g reat year. We had many highlights this year (now that lam trying to remember everything). We had a great Xmas Party in December. I wrote a play about getting our new computers in which tiny Bao was so sad about not being able to do her Power Point presentations until our new VPL computers showed up. Well they just did this week a nd we are ecstatic about it. Be sure to come in and check them out. We have three ESL classes that have been going strong all year. The students have all worked hard to improve their Engl ish skills and love to participate in Carnegie activities. We also have regular ongoing one-on-one tutoring in math and English. Our computer tutors are always wi lling to help you out with your computer needs. The First Nations Journey classes were well attended and enjoyed by all. We were all so sad to lose Gary towards the end of the year when he obtained full-time employment. We are currently searching for a new First Nations instructor for next year. On the Grand Opening Day of the Carnegie in October, we gave an inspiring presentation in the Learning Centre called "When l came to Vancouver".
Various students and tutors wrote their own individual stories which were put into a book. Some of the presenters read their stories to a packed house. It was very moving and interesting to learn about all the ways we have ended up living in Vancouver and meeting here at the Carnegie. During the Heart of the City Festival the Learning Centre presented a show of digital stories by Adrienne and Bob called "A Keeper of Memories". Bob gave a workshop on how to produce them using Windows Movie Maker. The show inspired many to learn how to make their own stories. In May, Stephen Lytton won "The Distinguished Alumni Award" from Capilano College which he attended through our Learning Centre. He gave a moving speech in front of200 people at the Pan Pacific Hotel and impressed everyone with his words and passion. We love you, Stephen and thank you for all your volunteer hours as a receptionist. . Everybody enjoyed a wonderful trip to Fort Langley tn May. The weather was wonderful and it was great to get out of the c ity and enjoy lunch and museums for a day. It's impossible for me to report on everything that happened this year in the Learning Centre but I think I got the main points. We wish everybody a happy summer holiday and remember: the Learning Centre will be open all summer from 9 to 5 Monday thru Friday and Saturday afternoons from 12 to 4 with the help of our dedicated volunteer tutors and receptionists. Happy summer to all from the Carnegie Learning Centre!! Written by Adrienne, the intrepid LC Reporter
(,Upon the shores \ \
within my heart Lies our leader With music in heart From the past it's been a blast! Until we meet in the morning dawn.
...
Stephen Lytton
OLD JOYCE ROAD As Rod Sterling once said we are put on this planet to die time and method never you mind, but this rhythm of cruelty called cancer is the saddest and sickest depth from Hells well than all the other depths combined, like raising a family with one hand tied behind your back or selling life insurance to people on death row, I take a fistful oftranquillizers so as not to forget my father, not that this would ever happen trust me. I know because I used to believe everyone had a mom and a dad be it good or fair or extremely bad .. I lucked out and got the greatest father, don't ask me why, with so many tragedies in the making pardon my soul for super-sized shaking what does one do when he misses his father's last breaths by 3 bloody hoursrun out the door and scream why??! This misery that has brought so much havoc down on man has been going on since the beginning of the ending began to â&#x20AC;˘ expand how does one watch helplessly as they disintegrate in front of ocean-filled eyes, filled up buckets are quickly emptied outside if there is a God have mercy for my dad and push me to the side ya know I think they left out suffering when they said the two sure things in life are death and taxes but did they forget the lies? Like half-mast apologies from doctors and their latest discoveries but when instead the patient goes blind, he just wanted to repair his receding hairline fracture the Doctor wants his cash that's all he is after the only colours that man will ever see are the ones inside his mind so much knowledge on their hands but unless they have it they will never understand life is for learning and giving oh that's right they see even less than that patient who because of ignorance became blind, if I took out the anger I thrust upon myself every cure hoarder would be on their knees begging to be somewhere else I'd tear your soul to pieces as I have done mine .. dead souls rarely bleed, I've always been in awe of straight black hair my own was my Achilles heel now I haven't the time to care DAD you always put Herculean effort into everything you could excuse me my tears seem to have turned red and that i do not heed , you taught me so
much right from wrong maybe not everything yet I knew it all and at 15 I was gone . I knew nothing but punk rock was all I wanted so I left it all putting anything else on hold , while I was playing gigs drinking and getting high your 9 or 10 sisters had begun to die I'd give what' s left of my life to be a little boy with his father, visiting grampa on old Joyce Road, Whether it be putting together and coaching a soccer team full of kids no else wanted near their own or all the times I ran away or was brought back in ha~d cuffs, for some reason I was allowed back home I lost count of how many times I wished that I had never been born, sometimes silence was the only language between you and me so much anger somehow became compassion now life is dark this I guess was meant to be that old house on Old Joyce Road weathered oh so many storms, ashes to ashes tomorrow I've thrown so many years away I don't need to borrow I have no idea where I'll go but I take solace in the fact you do you will never be bothered or cold, the words I paint cannot describe that 9the day of June where the sun pored up and down like a Japanese red tide no matter who I am I will always be closer to Old Joyce Road. By ROBERT MCGILLIVRAY
.fknock upon heaven's door \ complimentary fascination \ as the sun cheers you on \ go go as pertains to the flow , & thank ya, would you like ' <\ a chocolate?! -don't tempt me make new memories have a heart \ ~how :em how it's done- peace \¡ ts attamable you don't know it but my heart skips a beat and the past must stay passed. I cannot condone anymore torment taunting mind control .. .plaza of the nations ... going places never imagined that you'd never ever dream up striving to get to heaven as I knock upon her doors Nora Kay
Published by Common Dreams[.com]
Capitalism and the Mad Uncle in the Attic Listen. Can you hear the Mad Uncle in the attic? His muffled shriekings are getting louder as the delusions, deceptions a nd myths we've been living on evaporate one by one when faced with reality.
Can you feel that s ickening thrill as we poise atop this Sisyphean peak we call capitalism, right before the inevitable, nauseating plunge back down into reality? Can you smell the stench from the soon-to-fa il Rio plus 20 meeting as we con ourselves into believing we can snatch a bit more time at the peak if only we could steal yet more of our children's children's children's birthright? Ah, but we- plutocrats and people alike-- all ?eg, can't we keep this damned Uncle locked up for JUSt a li tt le more time. Maybe until this election is over.. or until we've extracted a little more money from a fossil-fueled economy based on greed and exploitation. Or until ... oh, I don't know ... until we've bled the last iota of money from the 99%? Or at least until ... 1 get mine? Can't we pretend for just one more generation that capitalism- pure, unconstrained capitalism, the kind Reagan promised us would bring morning to America -isn't instead bringing mourning to America, and to the world? Can't we just pretend, for one more generation, that the whole infinite g rowth on a finite world thing isn't just a giant, tragic Ponzi Scheme designed to sell out the future?
Can't we pass this problem onto them? Can't we use buzz words and sound bites to drown out the lunatic? Words like socialist or redistribution or- most dreaded of all- communism. Can't we keep pretending that capitalism is the necessary handmaiden of Democracy, the only path to prosperity, our only source of happiness? No. We can't. Because deep down inside, in places we don't like to visit, we know the Mad Uncle is right What we're doing now isn't making us all rich. It is impoverishing us. Ultimately, all wealth comes from natural capital. Things like fertile soils; viable forests; intact gene pools; abundant minerals; clean water and living oceans; sustainable fish stocks; flourishing ecosystems; a stable, life-sustaining climate. We are liquidating these essentia l sources of wealth as if they were so much junk offered for pennies on the dollar at a desperate garage sale. Our current version of capitalism is good at generating more currency, not greater wealth. And we forget that currency is merely a surrogate for things of real value, with no tangible value in and of itself. And even the currency isn't being distributed equally. It's being siphoned off by the richest and most powerful in a spiral of inequity. It isn't making us happy, it's enslaving us to a life spent pursuing more and more stuff we don't need for reasons we don ' t understand. Bigger; more; faster becomes biggest; most; fastest. But easy, easier, easiest becomes fatter, sicker weaker. It isn't making us free, it's creating a tyranny of the corporations and plutocrats. T hey weaken government in the name of freedom, only to turn us into indentured servants to a system that's designed to take from the poor and middle class and give to the uber rich, even as it liquidates Earth's treasures. But the rea l tragedy isn't our own alienation or our economic and spiritual impoverishment. It is the diminished legacy we leave the rest of humanity and indeed, the rest of the biosphere. It's our willingness to consume the future in an orgy of gluttony, drowning out the Mad Uncle's protests with the noise of our own slurping, chewing, smacking, munching, crunching as we inhale our children's birthright. Hyperbole? Not really. Every li vi ng system is in decline, and the rate is accelerating.
In the case of climate change, we are at the threshold of igniting feedbacks that will usher in an inevitable and catastrophic set of changes that wi ll make life difficult in some areas and impossible in others. It's time to admit that the Mad Uncle is right. Pure, unconstrained capitalism is the problem, not the solution. What, then, are we to do? There are alternatives. We could tie currency to sustainable eco-systems. Instead of a gold standard we'd have a green standard. Thus, destruction of a nation' s stock of natural capital would deval ue its currency, and make it poorer. We could adopt systems of production and ownership such as Co-ops that emphasized cooperation, equitable sharing of revenue and stewardship of our natural resources. It's not pie-in-the sky to consider this. Cooperatives already produce more than $1 trillion in assets, enough to make them equivalent to the 1Oth largest economy in the world. We could insist that trade agreements contain real, enforceable requirements for equitable treatment of labor and serious environmental protections, so that globalization ceased being a race to the bottom for humans and the planet. Yes, these ideas are unrealistic, naive, politically impossible and all the other labels that will be affixed to them and other ideas like them. But it is worth remembering, that the only thing more unrealistic than junking our current bastardized system of economics is supposing we can continue to liquidate the Earth without consequence. That's what the Mad Uncle is telling us. We continue to ignore him at our peril. By John Atcheson
I used to be the Captain of my so ul seems to be now I am an island in the way the way of my own voyage flotsam and jetsam perhaps bobbing and weaving to the tunes the nmes of tide and windsong waves up and down back and forth no direction, no compass, no hearth or water windless Still and sterile in brackish swamp torch in canefield out standing in that field of fire and rain Willows bend in the breeze, swaying, trailing their branches on the ground feet in water- head in the Sun dancing the days now long and cold here at forty-nine s leepy hollow waits for the horseman to RIDE at the edge of our flat world suspended over the dragon in the abyss the bottomless pit of pond & quicksand the monsters and windmills waiting waiting Soon summertime will bring the peanuts and popcorn Coney Island on the inside gentlemen and germs 'start your engines- place your bets' the little lady in blue wins the giant Panda! The noise and dust are ahead on the road Dead the feral critters Subject to DDT and Agent Orange Fits all sizes, Kills all animate Dusty bowls in buddhist courtyards unattended God may not be dead; however he ails Wilhelmina
Carnegie~ NEWSLETIER
- "It
"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
• •
I
THIS NEWSLETIER 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 Carnegie 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 Issue: SUBMISSION DEADLINE THURSDAY, JULY 12TH
Jenny Wai Ching ~wan 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 \vww.carnnews.org website http://chodarr .org/taxonomy/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 3rd floor. Call UBC for info: 604-822-5791
Carnegie Services for Members include: Basketball; Tai Chi; Yoga; Shiatsu; Dance; Run Club; Soccer; Nature Hikes; Floor Hockey and more. See Monthly Program Guides Membership is $1. Open to all!!
G6T CLEAN! Shower up at the Lord's Rain > 3-27 Carrall 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 parte Francais; Hob/amos Espana/
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION • • • • • •
AIDS POVERTY HOMELESSNESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN TOTALITARIAN CAPITALISM IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR