June 15, 2017 carnegie newsletter by Carnegie Newsletter

JUNE 15, 2017

carnhiegie t: N E \IV S LE TTÂ·E R

carnnews@vcn.bc.ca

401 Main Street, Vancouver BC V6A 2T7 604-665-2289 email: carnnews@shaw.ca Website/catalogue: carnegienewsletter .org

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Oppenheimer

Park

NatlOnaL

ABORIGinaL Day

10 am - 4 pm, Saturday June 17,2017 Oppenheimer

Park (488 Powell Street)

On Saturday June 17, the National Aboriginal Day Celebrations are taking place at Oppenheimer Park! Join us for a fun-filled day of music, celebration, activities, and food for all at Oppenheimer Park. The event will run from lOam - 4 pm. Bring your hand drum to participate in the drum drill, and wear your regalia! Performance

Schedule:

r---------------------

10:00 am Welcome

Just image my drawings in a cave - it'd be labelled

10:30 am Starchild

"HyroglifiCS"

11:00 am Coast Salish Drummers

11:30 am Harmony of Nations

12:~5 pm Urban Haida 1:00 pm Drum Drill

_____________

1:30 pm Traditional Grandmothers 2:00 pm Love Medicine

and Mothers

2:30 pm Molly Billows 2:45 pm Michael Nardachioni

Thank you to event supporters Carnegie Community Centre } Association, Canadian Heritage, CUPE 15, RBC, Sunrise Market, Bean Around the World Powell Street, Trumps Fine Foods, and Costco. c.O\{er

by Geo~t

Ph.otD

vS e..bp_ Jenny Kwan, MP Vancouver East NDP Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Critic 2752 E Hastings 5t Vancouver,

BC V5K IZ3

T: 604-775-5800 F: 604-775-5811 Jenny.Kwan@parl.gc.ca

Mu~i~ 2..Hug~

OI)I)enbeiIne.r Park Now open 7 days per week 9:15 am - 5:00 pm baseball/gardening,

3:45 pm Closing

L'Z7t . : 5s~

Indigenous

Join us for summer favourites

3:00 pm The New Marauderz

<:'o.fe-r ""T Kanata

including bocce, and more!

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(Canada) I.iO years

Prior to colonization, thousands of Indigenous people lived off the land trading hides, roots, berries & more amongst each other. Then settlers arrived, which introduced smallpox, few treaties, the Indian Act, Indian Residential schools, foster care systems and reserves. Yes, assimilation has lost some of the Indigenous ways of living but many still have the languages & teachings within. Indigenous people are the caretakers of the land. As Aboriginal people we have endured many barriers. I would like non-aboriginals to honour & acknowledge the territory they are living on. We are just as human as you. Canada, remember you are on native land. Priscillia Mays

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Vancouver Moving Theatre Gets Grant

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VMT is thrilled to announce we have been awarded a Canada Council New Chapter grant to develop, rehearse and tour Weaving Reconciliation on a Spring 2018 National Tour. Weaving Reconciliation is a multi-disciplinary production and cultural enpounter that gives voice to those who have lived under Canada's long shadow of colonialism. Led by Renae Morriseau (Cree/Saulteaux) with writers Rosemary Georgeson (Coast SalishlSahtu Dene) and Savannah Walling (US-CON), Weaving Reconciliation features a diverse cast of urban aboriginal actors, Downtown Eastside poets, elders and culture carriers. VMT is honoured that Weaving Reconciliation was selected as a New Chapter recipient along with 200 other exceptional projects. With this $35M initiative, the Canada Council supports the creation and sharing of the arts in communities across Canada. "i

VMT is also thrilled that the Playwrights Theatre Centre and the exceptional dramaturge Kathleen Flaherty are partnering with VMT and the writers in the development of the WR script. Last March, writers Renae, Rose and Savannah travelled with storyteller/facilitator Sam Bob and dramaturge Kathleen Flaherty to the En'owkin Centre on the Penticton First Nation for cultural exchange and script workshops with En'owkin students, staff and local elders and knowledge keepers. In April, Savannah and Renae traveled to Winnipeg to consult with knowledge keepers and meet with Columpa Bob/Urban Indigenous Theatre Company (UlT) to develop the groundwork for a Weaving Reconciliation residency in Winnipeg as part of the 20] 8 Spring Tour. Then in May, a Weaving Reconciliation script reading workshop was held at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre with some of the original cast, elders and culture carriers from Storyweaving (2012), the precursor to Weavii Reconciliation. Joining these readers were urban aboriginal spoken word artists and actors.

Carnegie Community Centre Association Board' of Directors for 2017/18 Back Row (left-right): Emrna Price, Gilles Cyrenne, James Pau, Mike Tapp, Adrienne Macallum (Secretary), Debra McNaught (Member-at-Large), Lisa David, Phoenix Winter (President) Front Row (1- r): Margaret Teng, Pat McSherry (Treasurer), Priscillia Tait (Vice-President), Thelma Jack

Thank you to all the card-carrying Camegie members who participated in our Annual General Meeting on June 1, 2017. Thank you also to the staff of the Camegie Community Centre for the support they provide to the Board on a daily basis. Sincerely, Lisa David

Block Party at The Balmoral On Sunday, June 11, there was a block party to highlight the conditions in and diaspora of residents from a SRO hotel in the Downtown Eastside - the Balmoral. As the work of the SRO Collaborative, coordinated by Wendy Pedersen, hammered at the "see-no-evil" strategy of the Sahota-owned dive, media joined in with exposing the decades-long neglect that Sahota had relied on to make his money, Confirmed reports from other Sahota-owned hotels, like the Regent and Cobalt and others, show that the same "No money on maintenance" policies are in full force. City Inspectors should be called on the carpet in a public inquiry to say why such enforced neglect has been permitted for years. Blaming it all on the residents won't wash! The city's inspectors may even be filing reports detailing the conscious decisions of slumlords like Sahota thatperpetuate the disgusting conditions and that would be the focus of a public inquiry. Where does the buck stop? Someone, some department, some advisor has continually made decisions not to pursue these rapacious slumlords. Why?!? The City of Vancouver could no longer turn a blind eye, apparently, or be blackmailed by Sahota, more likely, and ignore conditions. The City gave 10 days for the building to empty, and Sahota made statements that he'd pay for moving expenses and compensation .. but it's also a way for him to legally empty the structure and start into real estate seams to cover his minor expense while selling it off. Perhaps he'll write a book called How to Capitalize & Exploit Forced Evictions. The Block Party - local activists, residents & interested people joined together to celebrate Sahota's humiliation. One offue speakers was Miloon Kothari. He is a former United Nations Rapporteur on Housing and visited Vancouver officially from the UN in 2007 and said then that governments should act to end the housing and homelessness crisis.

M:t"o,\

~ "I want to say that I've been coming here regularly but I came here on an official UN mission in 2007 to _?tudy the housing situation in Canada. I was in Vancouver just before the Olympics. I was here in the DTES and I am truly truly shocked that the conditions of housing & living conditions have become worse. Theres' more homelessness in the city and we have a , situation, a completely unacceptable situation like the

Balmoral Hotel, and I would also recall that in 1993, that's almost 25 years ago, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and Canada was a member at that time, unanimously adopted a resolution called Forced Evictions and they said forced evictions are a gross violation of human rights. This is a gross violation of human rights. And I'm very happy to be part of this incredible gathering. We are all here to support the very fundamental and very valued struggle of the tenants of the Balmoral but I also want to say lets use this struggle to raise a voice, a collective voice and not stop before the housing crisis across the city of Vancouver is solved. The Balmoral should become a symbol of the struggle for housing all over the city. I am here in a private capacity but I want to assure all of you that what is happening here will reach the highest . level of the United Nations and the highest level of the government. It's very important. You know, Canada keeps talking about going out and helping poor people in Ethiopia, in Somalia, all over the world, but they're not doing anything to help the poor people in their own country. In a similar situation in a country in the south or in Syria or somewhere, you would say we need international assistance . Well, lets call for international assistance to assist the Balmoral people. If the different levels of government in Canada-are not doing anything, lets get support, lets get-solidarity. And I know that there are housing rights groups around the world who support "your struggle. I'm part of those groups, and whatever we can do we will assist you, but your struggle is valiant; it's correct; its the right thing to do. And I wish you all the very best in your struggle for the basic fundamental human right to housing and housing human rights. Thank you very much."

City Should Prove It Learned From The Balmoral Disaster The Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) is calling on the City to prove that it has learned from the Balmoral Hotel fiasco. "If the City is really concerned about the Balmoral situation and doesn't want another repeat of it, they should immediately issue orders under section 23.8 of the Standards of Maintenance bylaw for the Sahota family to repair the Regent and Cobalt hotels," said Lenee Son, CCAP Coordina-

tor. "If they don't repair, the city should do the work and bill the owners as the law allows." "In addition, the City must guarantee that the remaining 28 tenants who have no place to go get decent and suitable permanent housing at welfare shelter rates," added Son. "Just because the City found housing for most ofthe Balmoral residents doesn't mean the evictions are ok," explained Maria Wallstam ofCCAP. "The City now has to do the necessary repairs at the Balmoral and ensure that the renovated units rent for the welfare shelter rate. If the City allows the Sahotas to charge higher rents in a renovated building, they will have rewarded the slumlords for their negligence." "We need to hold the City, Province and Federal governments to account for allowing the Sahotas to build wealth on the backs of impoverished tenants," said Bill Weir, a CCAP volunteer. The City has allowed several rental properties to deteriorate to the extent that tenants have to be evicted. These include the Burns Block on Hastings, an apartment on Pandora S1.and the Clifton Hotel on Granvi\1e. The time is now for the city to learn from its negligence and stop rewarding slumlords by closing their buildings for them. While the City did acquire 60 more rooms for homeless people because of the Balmoral evictions, 173 rooms have been lost for a net loss of 113 rooms at a time when we have 2138 counted homeless people in Vancouver. "The city needs to stop talking about 'a range ofhousing options' and a 'continuum of housing' and start prioritizing homeless people and SRO residents for all new social housing," said Son. The provincial aad federal government need to step up . now with rent control based on the unit, not the tenant, and build at least 10,000 units of social housing in BC a year until homelessness is ended. Senior governments also need to help the city acquire and improve SRO hotels until decent social housing is available. "Homeless people have half the life expectancy as other British Columbians & it's cheaper to house them than leave them on the street," said Jean Swanson, a CCAP organizer. "Now is the time for all levels of government to decide that low-income and homeless lives are worth as much as richer and housed lives."

VICTORY: Chinatown's low-income residents & community groups celebrate historic victory as City Council rejects. condo project at 105 keefer Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories - The Chinatown Concern Group (CCG) and Chinatown Action Group (CAG) applaud the Vancouver City Council's 7-3 decision to reject Beedie Living's rezoning application at the 105 Keefer site in Chinatown. This decision is an important victory for the Chinatown community, but CAG and CCG vow to continue the fight until 100% welfare-pension rate social housing and a public intergenerational community space are secured for this site. Council echoes the needs of the community to look for deeper solutions to the housing crisis in Chinatown instead of another condo project that would provide a measly 25 units of social housing "We commend Vancouver City Council for choosing the side of Chinatown's low-income residents over corporate profit, but the fight is not over. There is a housing crisis for Chinese seniors and other Iow-income people in the neighbourhood, and we are unwavering in our demand that this site can only be used to meet the pressing needs of our community," Beverly Ho, CCG Organizer, says. Together, they vow to continue their efforts to bring together low-income residents to implement the People's Vision for Chinatown, a collaborative effort between youth and elders that has been several years in the making. The People's Vision is a strategy for social & economic development in Chinatown that centers on the needs and aspirations of working class residents. The report outlines the top issues as defined by community members, which are lack of affordability and housing, increasing social isolation, lack of safety, racism and lack of democratic decision-making. "The People's Vision is a community response to the crisis in Chinatown that 105 Keefer has revealed, which is the crisis of affordability and housing for poor people and seniors. It is a call to action for the Chinatown community and people all over Vancouver to take our future into our own hands," says Sophie Fung, CAG organizer. CAG and CCG will be organizing a series of actions in the upcoming months to call on all three levels of government to implement the solutions in the People's Vision. We invite community to join us in our efforts.

members and residents

Contacts:

Chinatown Concern Group Beverly Ho Cell: 778-321-7027

LIVES LIVED -- The Woman in the Well

by Debra McNaught

On the 13th of June 1886 the freshly-incorporated city of Vancouver was essentially wiped off the map by a fire so ferocious it obliterated pretty much every existing structure. As best determined over two dozen people lost their lives; the flames were so intense and the remains so badly charred identification was largely a process of elimination. All stories of pre-empted life are sad, but the unknown woman reportedly found sheltering -- futilely -- in a well, is the one that has stayed with me. For years. Found with her dead baby in her arms, apparently. A young mother, not identified, thinking to save herself & her child from the oncoming wall of fire by climbing down into a well, not realizing the intensity of the fire would consume all the oxygen, suffocating them in their desperate shelter. The eyewitness accounts describe the devastation as explosive, that the fire moved "faster than a man can run." The fire burned the clothing off people fleeing, melted the bell in the Methodist church, incinerated some poor sod in the middle of Hastings Street, the flames racing enthusiastically up the wooden sidewalks to devour everything in its path, reducing the infant city to a pile of smoking ash in something like half an hour. So how is it this woman was not identified? The primitive local-and-not-so media operated to different standards, an era when inconvenient things like facts were dismissed out of hand if they got in the way of a good story. A woman found dead in a well? Let's make her young and pretty, let's put a baby in her arms. Was she Caucasian? Aboriginal? Chinese? Vancouver might have been the furthest outpost of the British Empire but the British Class System was nonetheless enshrined and upheld, and most stringently by the wives of men employed in the quasi-official posts, positions which historian Robert A.J. McDonald stated, "generally belonged to white men of British cultural heritage." The fledgling industries in the province -- lumbering, salmon canning, and mining -- required mill managers, accountants, bureaucrats, engineers, blacksmiths, fallers and teamsters, mechanics: men with skilled trades that tended to have career as-

pirations and the families that went with that picture. Birdie Stewart and her Ladies had arrived in 1873, offering sporting entertainment for the bachelor set, but until settlement began in earnest with its designation as the west coast terminus, Vancouver was not much more than a collection of sawmills and wooden shacks housing a young and mostly male population. The shortage of marriage-age white women had necessitated a relaxation of social standards. "Marriages" between white men and Indigenous women were common in the early days of settlement, but when the "civilizing" influence ofthe acutely socially-conscious wives arrived they enforced the rigid class distinctions thought critical to preserving the British Empire. In the beginnings of.fvery British colonial possession, everybody got along just fine with the locals until the wives arrived to force adherence to Britain's social order; the wives oversaw the school and both churches - the aforementioned Methodists and St James Anglican both had a toehold -- they controlled what cultural offerings could be had, they hired and trained nonwhite women to be household servants, and actively snubbed the locals. And all this pretension took place in what would become our neighbourhood, hugging the waterline and in some cases --- such as the Sunnyside Hotel -- actually extending (on stilts) out onto the water. The Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR), in anticipation of massive real estate profits (sound familiar?) began clearing the surrounding old-growth forest for

building lots, eagerly clearing land from Water Street to False Creek and up into Mt Pleasant to Broadway, from Main Street (then called Westminster Avenue) to Cambie and into the West End. After the felled timber had been hauled down the "skid road" to the sawmill, the remaining undergrowth and broken branches and stumps were piled high and set alight. The smoky haze from burning slash fires was a constant, and it was one of these numerous fires that got out of control in a sudden wind and burned the city to the ground. The mystery remains, then: who was this woman? The wife of one of the local Nobs? Doubtful, because then she would have been named and lamented, the husband publicly condoled for the loss of his domestic arrangements for, as social historian Sylvia Van Kirk states, "the circumstances of [colonial frontier life] underscored the value of female domestic labour; many men now had to pay for services that they would normally expected to be provided free by female kin." Never underestimate the luxury of a clean shirt and a warm meal. A single mother? One of Birdie's Ladies perhaps, saddled with an occupational "accident"? Doubtful, then, in that case, that she would have been mentioned at all. Had she been Indigenous or Chinese? Non-whites were not afforded status enough to be mentioned in a newspaper unless they were being arrested. Then again, we have to consider that the media of the day only had one perspective, the male point of view. As Van Kirkstates, "Traditionally, the fron-

tier experience in Canada's 'farthest west' has been defined almost exclusively in male terms." Just for speculations sake, let's err on the side of . probability: she was white, the wife of some low-level quasi-official not important enough to be mentioned in a newspaper (even dead), newly transplanted from England. Had she left home reluctantly, with a sinking heart at the thought of living so far from loved ones at the far edge of the world? Then again, maybe she been totally excited about making a new life in a pristinely green environment, with people as enthusiastic about the idea as she was. Maybe her only view of the Indigenous population was healthy curiosity and not the racist bullshit they had tried to spoon feed her from birth. Maybe she had a grand vision for this new life, had planned a flower garden, loved the taste of salmon, would one day send home for rose cuttings and a piano, eventually arranging afternoon teas with the other ladies of her set. Pause and consider what it must have been like to run a Victorian household. No Home Depot's in Victorian England. Now envision a Victorian household minus even the modem conveniences afforded her sisters back home where even the lower middle classes had at least one overworked and underpaid housemaid. Maybe the Woman in the Well never existed to begin with and some long-dead Editor has been yanking my heart strings. It's just sad that a 6 month journey around the tip of South America -- no Panama Canal

yet -- is a long way to go only to die at the bottom of a well. Was she happy? Was her marriage a good one? Did she love her new life despite having to work hard just to survive? What were her thoughts as she realized she and Baby were not going to make it out of that well? That's the part I keep coming back to. Or maybe she never-existed to begin with and some longdead editor has peen yanking my heart strings. It's just that a 6 month journey around the tip of South America -- no Panama Canal yet -- is a long way to go only to die at the bottom of a well. I just wish we had a name for her. .. PS: It should be noted that despite being tossed off their own lands, Indigenous peoples relocated to the north side of Burrard Inlet paddled over on their ea.noes and rescued people from the water. The photograph that accompanies this article is very rare panorama, courtesy the Vancouver Sun, taken from the Inlet of the entire city of Vancouver in 1884. It's in rough shape and in 3 pieces and the reproduction not optimum but it gives you an idea of what a miserable collection of flimsy wooden structures Vancouver was pre-fire. The panorama extends from roughly Dunlevy on the left to Abbott on the right. A forest presses close behind the edge of settlement. Quotes are from Readings in the History of British Columbia, Eds Jean Barman, Robert AJ McDonald and Jill Wade, 1997.

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PORI(f[SlIVOl

Vancity NAnVE

OPENING CEREMONY PLUS SPEAKERS VANCOUVER PARKS BOARD COMMISSION ER & DON LARSON

JACOB'S WELL FUNDRAISER A

HUGE SUCCESS

it is the power of 'attraction' not 'promotion' but fall short of this statement. I learned that through donations and the silent auction of donated art and other times that $10.000 was raised! And that they are close to half of their goal of 50 thousand . . If you wish to donate to a great organization whose genuine people are doing good things to a great degree your few dollars you can cough up will be used wisely for sure. I feel as a member of the community it is our duty and responsibility to also take reciprocal action and give what we can. For info on how to do this go to the website www. jacob'swell or simply drop it off at the Main St site (between Cord ova and Powel!.)

On Friday May 26th, Jacob's Well on Main St held a fundraiser at their bi-annual Music Night. This was a very special night, however, as it was to be the last By Johnny Jaworski Music Night at this location. After 16 years they are being evicted by a new owner who has other plans for the building. LEARN TO Making a decision to carry on with the center in a Laugh at adversity similar way, the good people there need to relocate at Smile at insults a suitable venue. They have discovered that the rent Learn from harassment alone of such a place could double. They require an Spit on all Racism' open kitchen concept for community meal participaDistrust negativity tion and space for their arts and worship programs. Heckle corrupt politicians! Their immediate goal is to raise $50,000 by June 15. Tickle smug untruths I was invited as one of the performers for the second And walk proudly past all of these! time to play a short set. I was happy to do so as I have been accepted there as I am., a sort of 'elder' advocate -+_~ J_o~h_nA_la_n_D_o_u.:::g_las ~ _ for this special place and what they stand for. I was The trees are drawing me near. I've got to find out why. given permission to share what I call a 'Wow' moment -The Moody Blues I was witness to last summer on a Wednesday night Major Obvious praise/worshipibibliodrama gathering. A moment It is not too sensitive 'people who are the problem but, where I observed a young woman who courageously rather, those at the other end of that continuum. and fearlessly welcomed a man who came in the open The difference between abused, traumatized children door-a man who was scruffy looking, unwashed and and those who haven't been is that only the latter beprobably under the influence of some intoxicating lieve the sky. substance. This man interrupted us in a brash, gruff The time has come to accept the fact that plants and manner, announcing he wanted to learn about F---king animals understand more than we. For those of a philÂˇ Jesus! The young woman calmly touched him on the osophical bent, thesis & antithesis synthesize only at shoulder and asked him to sit and join us all please. eternity. An example is Mendelev, the Russian who With her prompting and no 'backtalk' from all of us intuited the Periodic Table, ushering in modem scipresent the man became a participant and was singing ence big time, was looking for God. along with us within a short time!! Finally, just for the record, the most underrated/overFrom my experience at other "Christian' organizalooked unjustly ignored novel of the nineteenth centions, being church groups or AA meetings this man, tury is August Strindberg's "The Scapegoat." coming in as he did would have simply been 'confronted' by an aggressive person or security staff and ejected. Organizations that state in their traditions that

Thank you for your indulgence. -Stephen Belkin

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Schedules for-free workshops and events are llVHilable onlino; . UJ happens httI)s:1I9~heringfestiyaLwordpl'e5s.colll on the third Friday of each month at 7'30 PM at IlfacebooK,cornlvllI1!JlJuverfostivaJ MountPleasant Neighbourhood H~use.·It's a f;iendly 1hiH~VC!thlMdep{jas'i1le. Ii+&l P.,Wj~ ''-Du&t-t. tlml\iqhtltegen(,(~tt,Sl!p?OfM!I! !I! He"age C2.00d"", t':mi1 acoustic open stage featuring all kinds of performers, open to everybody. This month on March 17th the feature act will be the Digitary Do's, an instrumental group self-described as English Country Kewl. If you'd like to perform it's a good idea to get there before 7:30 as we tend t fill up! This event is by donation; for more info, 604874 1256 or earlepeach@yahoo.ca Bye Krispy Clark The Madrigalians, AKA the Quasimodals, will give a free concert of renaissance songs from various parts Krispy and fickle, like a Krispy Kreme. of Europe with an occasional taste of the 20th century, 8 seconds in the microwave and no longer, or else at 7:30PM on Friday June 23rd, at Grace Memorial it gets everything messy. Church, 803 E 16th. There will be a tea and treats reKrispy like sweet revenge, melts in your mouth. ception afterward. Both parties take a bite and no one's satisfied. Intlhoiring Minds, that intrepid choir of Mount Their roots are made through mass production, Pleasanters and elsewhereians, will offer their end-of instant gratification and success. term performance in the community garden at the corDown the assembly line they go. ner of 4th and Scotia on Thursday July 6 at 7:45 PM; Go, go, go. they will be joined by the Highs and Lows Choir. This Bye Krispy! is a free event, with snacks afterward; in case of rain Ray Stewart we'll move to Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, 800 E Broadway. For more info: Earie, 874 1256. ea'l-;'Jdia,,:

PovNet is Celebrating 20th Anniversary

Can you believe that PovNet is celebrating its 20th anniversary??!! I remember when I first heard about PovNet. I was working as an advocate in Williams Lake in the early 2000's. I met Penny [Goldsmith] at a conference about federally funded community access computer sites, and as they say, the rest was history. I can't remember if she signed me up for the emaillists that day or very soon after, but I do know that they changed my life and made a huge impact on the service I was able to provide to my clients. Suddenly my small community didn't feel so isolated anymore. Suddenly I had hundreds of people I could turn to when faced with a difficult situation. I have been a dedicated PovNetter for 17 years and am so proud of the work PovNet does and so inspired by the work that you all do. Over the past 20 years, PovNet has built an online community of advocates, front line workers, lawyers and caring people who feel passionate about doing what they can to ensure that those most marginalized in our community get access to benefits that they rightfully deserve, support & tools to challenge those who are treating them unjustly, and help with navigating the many complicated systems that exist. PovNet manages emaillists for advocates to communicate, strategize and share knowledge and resources. We continue to develop and deliver free online courses and webinars designed with advocates' busy schedules and limited resources in mind. We remain committed to finalizing and launching a legal wiki which will provide access to an enormous wealth of information, templates and guidance to advocates. We are in the process of finalizing a new "find an advocate map", which will make it easier for the public to find someone in their community to support them and for advocates and other front line workers to provide referrals.

Funding is challenging, but we remain committed to the passionate front line, who dedicate their days to helping those facing adversity. June is the Great Canadian Giving Challenge month. This means that for every $1 you donate to PovNet, we receive one entry

into a draw for $-10,000 towards the free services that we provide. If you have ever thought of giving back to PovNet, now is the best time. Help us continue to do the work we believe so strongly in. Help us increase our chance of winning $10,000. Help us celebrate our 20th anniversary!!! *To donate through Canada Helps please follow this link: https://www.canadahelps.orglgcgc/99172 * info about the Great Canadian Giving Challenge follow this link: http://givingchallenge.ca/ Nicky Dunlop, Executive Co-ordinator PovNet (nicky@povnet.org)

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Cannabis Indica

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Cannabis Indica is another type of land race strain. This is where we get our favourite Kushes, such as Afghan Kush and Hindu Kush. Originally native to the Kush mountain region on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Cannabis Indica evolved to withstand much colder and more turbulent conditions than its Cannabis Sativa cousin. As the short and stubby Indica adapted to the harsh mountainous climate, it also developed the ability to produce thick cannabinoiddense resin to protect itself. These plants are the best resin producers and are often very potent with naturally high levels ofTHC. If a sativa is like a strong cup of coffee, an indica is like a natural sleeping pill. Indicas are great for people who struggle to get to sleep and can produce very sedative effects. lndica smokers can often feel sleepy, relaxed, and have a strong desire to eat (the munchies!). Indicas also have a distinct skunky odor. Keep an eye out for the next issue where we will be looking into where hybrid strains come from and what makes them so special! By Cait & Daryl at The Farm

and Annual Summer Solstice Coffee House: Solstice/Equinox Coffee House Series Sun June 25, 2017 7-9:30 pm In the 55+ Centre Featuring Chicken-Like Birds. Deanna Knight & Members Of The Hot Club Of Mars. Professor Banjo. Poets Mary Duffy & Chelsea Comeau Free Admission

COMMUNITY

Britannia

SERVICES

CENTRE

Community Centre, 1661 Napier St, Van BC tel (604)718-5800/www.britanniacentre.org

"Before you go to war you must consider the expense" Sun Tzu, author The Art of War

YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO US

Like living a safeich life thru someone else's optical gun lens night&day gunsight rules get broken bribes are just a token of how so many things get bent did god almighty promise any light? wrong is wrong yet in an insane world a madman or several are allowed, like political giftcards collect 'em all they need that final push do not let their memories fall give until it hurts waiting 5 hours for Emergency Room service your pain&misery would make the people back home so proud, like kids playing "London Chinatown is Falling Down" when one needle will suffice go down town & score be alone how placid & beautiful evil can always take your breath away now let us roll up our sleeves & dice like American immigrants crossing Zero A venue how swell, In half a century plus I have seen atrocities educated people would say it is nothing compared to every name buried under a piece of land take you pick if god is in attendance he will still not stop what we began like blowing people&things to bits I truly think we are at least at times in a man-made mankind hell, Vancouver was so beautiful when I still believed in things like Santa Claus it truly blew me away it seems that every morning I awake our leaders seem to be fine with little medium & big pieces processed under our own governments compliments the vomit in my throat it has begun to sway (I never imagined such intense fear) Like if the people of China town & China itself would stop destroying North America's second-biggest Chinatown but common sense let alone dignity has repeatedly been ound & unfound yet the yellow page of courage has from time to time never diminished if the Girl Guides of Canada can still sell their cookies let's get it together we need the strength to see past the mirror, like blind lovers seeing eye-to-eye why is evil so easy to obtain when pieces of your city are obliterated the wailing is not a problem when you do not live here and have everything to gain progress has me at a disadvantage for god's sake don't destroy what we have endured & lived with suddenly you do not want change, Now I realise Vancouver is not young yet it is not old, . I may have missed the baby boom & rage by eleven days oh well tears for another deadline people are dying two-a-day from shite I used to buy thank god if

I were to die it would be the exact opposite of a headline if! were to murder myself would god put me for all eternity in a cage, the Ho Restaurant was so godlike they killed it & oh well just another group of people out of work it's just like playing a scarecrow when it is not even Hallowe'en someone angry at something will light me on fire someone like a fired border guard I guess you'd call him sick&tired they feel betrayed & hurt I know only 2 ways to control my rage, like planting dirt we'll never run out of a gravedigger's tool of trade they just may hit something this is nobodies faultline but ours let me fall graves have already been built for me I shall fade I may as well travel thru this gothic city we call Chinatown if torn down I shall fall under another bus, Like all the keys to City Hall everything else they can open planetariums to watch th beauty of aurora borealis & the Wonderland unfortunately these views like a Ken&Barbie doll war will never ever stand as soldiers are in place to kill anyone who has thoughts of freedom I am a coward yet I will fight & write the so simple yet uncoded message which is You Can Not Do This To Us! Ever! By ROBERT McGILLIVRA Y

Telling Stories

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We need to tell our own stories. If we don't tell our stories people with power will tell our stories for us. And we won't like what they say. When we tell our stories we reach out to each other and build community. We share our pain. We share our hope. We share our laughter, and determination. When we tell our stories we draw our own maps, and we question the maps of the powerful. Each of us has something to tell, something to teach. We speak the language of the heart-here in the Downtown Eastside-the soul of Vancouver. Sandy Cameron

ATTITUDE

Losers

He tells me he sees losers upon riding through the Hastings street-scene He's like every other anus on an acreage that moved me to move ~ away from his piece of the world Privilege entitles him to judgement

From the Library The situation of housing: in our city has been in a state of crisis for some time, and I'm grateful that there are honourable people & advocates, especially the CCAP team, demanding accountability. On behalf ofthe Carnegie library team, know that we hope for positive change, in particular for those who call the Balmoral home! Further reading: In Defense of Housing: the politics of crisis (2016) by David Madden. This British sociologist states how in every major city worldwide homes are being transformed into commodities, creating further inequalities and gentrification. A radical response is offered as the only solution.

Evicted: poverty and profit in the American City (2016) by Matthew Desmond. A collection of anecdotes that examine how poor renting families and individuals are spending more than half their income on housing, and how eviction has become the norm.

Exiled in America: life on the margins in a residenmotel (2016) by Christopher Dum. A portrait of

Itial

those living in the "Boardwalk Motel" and the vibrant community that is formed in an attempt to overcome stigma and survive. Dum believes in meaningful pol- ' icy changes to address the "societal failures that lead to the need for motels" as last resorts.

Clearing Spaces: inspirational techniques to heal your home (2017) by Khi Armand. Purifying techniques with the intention of protecting and blessing your space, such as smudging are explored in this visual guide. A kind of tool kit to bring positive vibes into your life. The Death & Life of the Single-family house: les-

sons from Vancouver

Oil

building a livable city (2016)

by Nathanael Lauster. Vancouver most "livable" cities in the world, sacrificed to renovations, upgrades feels that other cities should learn

is called one of the and yet it has been and greed. Lauster from these mistakes

Your librarian, Natalie

. as if addiction to money warrants superiority and capital renders one better than and us less than him. so sold and bought and owned ~ by. property and money boxes he won't spend a penny on quality Such cheap poverty of spirit wants me to build on top of a dilapidated structure over foundations of shifting sand He's selling it anyway will let the next guy \VOITY rill a loser living on Hasrinz's edzes but not such a Ic~serthat I \\~uld build on rot I "lose" in a community that cares about a wee bit more. than owning stuffreal estate values stock portfolios a community where humanity trumps money where every encounter makes me a winner

We have soul to spare around here . We don't measure faults pass judgements against one another Wc have love around here I get more in a day than] got in twenty years living on the propertied side oftown Money's nice and thanks but no thanks What I create with heart is square plumb level sound elegant whenever possible worthy of roots and spirit in m)' cornmunitv What I build is worthy of the father and uncle who taught me carpentry Gilles Cyrenne [From Emerge]

THE SANDY CAMKRON MEMORIAL WlUTIN6 CONTEST KNTRYFORM Please print as neatly as you are able to. Name of author Contact information:

Today's date Phone

_ _

Leave Message at:

Guidelines for Writing Contest 1. Writing must be original & not fiction (if plagiarism is recognised the work will be returned). 2. Entry forms, for contact information, are available both at the Community Centre's front desk (Main floor) and from the Newsletter office (2nd floor) .

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3. Essays are the focus of the event. This means writing in sentences, with grammar and structure attempted. Not in' the "free-form" of poetry. 4. Subject matter is open to the individual author. It can be about most anything relevant to readers. The only caveat is in this example: writing about having a pet while having a lowincome or living in a hotel/rooming house is fine; writing about nothing but what kind of food it eats or its colour(s) is mostly just boring. Good examples of essay-writing are most anything by Sandy Cameron, reprints of which are in April & May editions. 5. The length of the essay can be 250-700 words, basically what can be printed on 1 page in the Newsletter. 6. Help with form, sentence structure or grammar, length, flow, etc. can be obtained in various writing venues. There are the Camegie Firewriters (meeting on Wednesday mornings on the 3rd floor), the Thursday Writing Collective (meeting in Oppenheimer Park) and from.tutors & staff in the Carnegie Learning Centre. 7. Deadline for submissions is September 15,2017. Results will be announced at a special event during the Heart of the City Festival in October.

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.; this Newsletter, are occurring on Coast Salish Territory. ',,:.. ", ",:-".'. '.

THIS NEWSLEITER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION

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"Never doubt that a small group ofthoughtfuJ committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Meade

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

tsLAP (Law Students Legal Advice program)

WANTED Artwork

•

for the Carriegie Newsletter

Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry. Cover arJ- Max size: 17cm(6 :y..")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 (Le. if your piece is too large, iI will be reduced and/or cropped to fit). All artists will receive credit for their work. Originals will be retumed to the artist after being copied for publication. Remuneration: Camegie Volunteer Tickets Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor. The editor can edit for Clarity, formal & brevity, but not at the expense of the writers message.

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WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION • • •

AIDS POVERTY HOMELESSNESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ABORIGINAL GENOCIDE TOT ALlTARIAN CAPITALISM IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR

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2017

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