June 1, 2005, carnegie newsletter

JUNE I,2005

FREE - donations accepted.

www.carnnews.org carnnewsOvcn.bc.ca 40 1 Main St, Vancouver V6A 217

Homelessness: an issue too important to ignore In the days immediately preceding the recent provincial election, both CanWest major Vancouver daily newspapers-The Vancouver Sun and The Province--ran editorials endorsing the BC Liberals as worthy of another term as ruling party in government.

On Sunday, May 15, The Province even had this quote in its editorial: "The Province supports a second term for Gordon Campbell's Liberals. In that second term, the expectation is that the Liberals will attend to the needs of seniors, families and the less privileged of our great province. It is thispaper S promise to you that we will hold the Liberals to accountfor those expectations." (italics mine) Well, I have a great place for The Province to start holding the BC Liberals to account: homelessness, BC-wide.

On April 28 and 29, The Vancouver Sun ran two stories titled, "Homeless rate doubles in 3 years: Number on the street and in shelters jumps from 1,049 to 2,112" and "More homeless sleeping outdoors, finding a place takes longer: survey: Numbers of beds in shelters fail to keep pace, forcing more on street, count shows."

Michael Goldberg, of the Social Planning and Research Council of BC-which conducted the one-day count on March 15--said, "There's something wrong with our safety net if the numbers are doubling. Terribly wrong. . . . This is an undercount - it always is.

We can't find everybody."

BC Liberal Lorne Mayencourt-originator of the infamous Safe Streets Act-said, "there are people who fall through the cracks." Well, like Carnegie Newsletter editor Paul Taylor wrote a little whle ago, 2,112 isn't a "few," except in "Liberalese."

Tim Stevenson, Mayencourt's NDP opponent in ( the election, believes the increase in the number of homeless people is directly related to the Liberal government's social assistance policies.

Cheryl Prepchuk, chair of the Greater Vancouver regional steering committee on homelessness, said, "Simply building more shelters is not the answer to the homelessness problem. ... We also need to focus on prevention, we need to help people who are at risk of homelessness maintain their housing and maintain a lifestyle that helps them be secure in knowing that they have a place to live."

On Sunday, May 1, The Province ran an editorial that (at first) surprised me. Titled, "A civilized society must look after its poor and homeless," it seemed to be an exhortation to the government to take action, at first glance. But when I read the editorial, it blamed homelessness on the mentally ill and the unemployed, and completely left the government's bad actions (or no actions) out of the equation. It ended, "All deserve our deepest compassion, our kindest help and our f m e s t guidance. The measure of any civilized society is not only the way it generates I wealth - but also the way it treats those who are hav- . ing a hard time calling it home," which sounds more like a call for increased charity-the govenunent, big 1 business, and the wealthy's cop-out-than anything else. This is a great indicator of just how well The Province is going to uphold its "promise."

More than a few of us are aware of BC Liberal social policies that have caused more homelessness: cutting back on the number of new subsidized housing units being built; malung social assistance harder to obtain; enacting user fees for previously free services that most affect the poorest members of our society; bringing in a law to crack down on panhandlers, instead of offering them more help (in effect, . punishing them for the government's draconian socia1 ~olicies);and cutting back the dollar amounts of welfare that people on income assistance receive.

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These policies don't just reflect in increased homelessness in our society; food bank usage is up by an unconscionable amount (that's assuming you don't think food bank usage is unconscionable in the first place).

So 19m'throwingdown the gauntlet to The Province and any other mainstream newspaper: hold the BC Liberals accountable for the inexcusable homelessness in BC's society, and do it now, while they are still eager to make a good impression upon being reelected to govern again.

By Rolf Auer

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE HOUSING Will there be enough low-income housing in the future?

How big will individual housing units be?

Come and check out the City of Vancouver's proposed housing plan for the Downtown Eastside at a special workshop:

Monday, June 6 at 1:30 pm In the Carnegie Theatre

Why Do We Feel We A h 'Loslng Control' Of Our Lives?

Why are rich people getting richer and ordinary people getting poorer? Why are decent jobs disappearing? Why are wages falling? Why are social programs being eliminated? Why are schools closing and teachers being laid off, Why is our health care system under siege? Why is our air polluted and our forests shrinking at record rates?

We seem to be losing control of our lives, and we are afraid. In our fear, we sometimes strike out at those who are less powerful than we are - at unemployed people, homeless people, people on welfare, immigrants, refugees and women. Yet I think most thoughtful Canadians have a good idea of what's going on. A vicious class war is going on throughout the world. Noam Chomsky wrote, "(Corporate) business tastes blood. They think they can roll back the whole social contract that's been developed over the past century: labour rights, human rights, anything other than making profit tomorrow." (1) hat's what Gordon Campbell has been doing in British Columbia for the past four years. I hope the NDP can slow him down in the next four years.

The system that is oppressing us is called free market capitalism. It should be called monopoly capitalism. For the world's working people it has meant job losses, lower wages, deteriorating working conditions, environmental degradation and the loss of social programs. For the wealthy owners and managers of capital, it has meant enormous financial gains and the centralization of economic and political power in the boardrooms of transnational corporations.

Transnational corporations play one country or region against another under the euphemism of business confidence. The corporations say, "Unless you lower your wages, lower your employment and environmental standards, and lower your taxes on our business, we won't have business confidence in you, and we'll take our money elsewhere." You can see that this is really business blackmail. Playing poor people against each other to obtain cheap labour is competitive impoverishment because it takes from those who have very little, and gives, in profits, to those who already have too much.

Another phrase corporations use is "strictly a business decision." Wal-Mart used it recently when it closed a store in Quebec that had a trade union. What does "strictly a business decision" mean? It means that the company is making a decision based solely on maximum profit, and to hell with the workers, to hell with the community, and to hell with social responsibility. It means a total separation between business and ethics, and that's madness because human beings cannot separate business from the basic values they live by. Business is part of a living community that provides business people with an infrastructure stable enough to enable them to operate in the fust place: Business does not simply operate in the abstract world of mathematics.

CEO's and corporate politicians often use the phrase "We have to be competitive." What does that phrase mean? It means that business leaders are required to eliminate all barriers to maximum profit, including other businesses that would compete against them.

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Ironically, competitiveness leads to monopoly, just as it does in the game by that name. To be competitive in a sport, like soccer, is fine, but when we are competitive in our economy - that is, in the way we manage our earth's resources together - we unleash violent, anti-social tendencies of a profitdriven system. We declare war on each other. We turn community into commodity. We prey on each other "like monsters of the deep." (2) We become like Kurtz in "The Heart Of Darkness" who wanted to swallow the world. Competitiveness is the opposite of co-operation, and our world desperately needs co-operation. Competitiveness does not provide any ethical foundation on which we can make socially responsible decisions about our life together. We feel alienated by the inhumanity of this competitive system, and we feel that we are losing control of our lives. These feelings can make us pretty damned angry. As Langston Hughes said, "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or does it explode?"

By Sandy Cameron (1) "ClarsWurfure,"by Noam Chomsky, Common Courage Press, 1996, page 50.

(2) "KingLear,,"by William Shakespeare, Act 4, Scene 2.

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as usual

Day Late, Dollar Short

Got to be such a hardass livin' here in the 'hood try to have a heart but don't know as much as I should Could be a whole lot nicer show some tenderness every now and then I keep saying some day 1'11-be better but I don't know where to begin Got so busy doing basically nothing I've lost sight of what's really goin' on keep meaning to get it together but I've been meaning to for so long So you'll have to forgive me for all the things I've never done Got so busy doing basically nothing lost sight of what is really goin' on A1

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Pivot Legal Society Advancing the interests and improving the lives of marginalized persons through law reform, legal education, and strategic legal action.

PIVOT HOUSING GROUP Mandate: Recognizing how essential housing is to people's lives, and that a lack of housing affects everyone in society, PIVOT will empower, consult, educate, and seek legal reform on housing issues in order to help marginalized people gain access to quality housing. .

Background: There is overwhelming statistical and anecdotal evidence showing that marginalized persons in Vancouver are experiencing a grave housing crisis.

Homelessness. In 1998 there were more than 800 homeless people in Vancouver, with only 400 temporary overnight shelters. Since then, homelessness has risen by nearly 300%. The Social Planning and Research Council of BC estimated that 2002 social assistance levels only covered 45% of the minimum living costs for a single person. Government cuts have since reduced social assistance even more, contributing to discrimination against the most marginalized members of society. Landlords often refuse to rent to sex trade workers and others who are unfairly viewed as "suspect tenants". Landlords flout tenancy laws, as many DTES hotels impose illegal "guest fees" on their tenants, forcing poverty-stricken visitors to pay $10-$20 for entry. Arbitrary evictions and the improper withholding of damage deposits are also common practices.

Runaway rent increases. The Residential Tenancy Act allows annual rent increases of 4.6% without arbitration. This is making housing unaffordable for many of the poor. Gentrification. Vancouver's Olympic economic boom is fuelling gentrification of low-income neighbourhoods; as a result, people are being pushed out of their homes with no place to go.

Project Method: Educate Avenues do exist for tenants to challenge many of these injustices. However, marginalized persons often lack the knowledge, social integration and resources to utilize these services in a meaningful way. Pivot will facilitate 12 educational community workshops to inform the marginalized about their housing rights and tenant support resources.

Provide a Voice - Pivot recognizes that those people experiencing a housing crisis are experts on the state of their housing experience. Pivot will give a voice to these individuals by collecting information in affidavits.

Promote Social Change - Based upon research and aflidavits collected from those directly affected, who know first hand what is needed to obtain suitable housing, Pivot will create a final report that will identlfy key areas for reform.

Timeline: May 2005 to April 2006 - Collect expert witness affidavits from people in housing crisis April 2006 - Publish the Pivot Housing Report

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For more information on the Pivot Housing Project, contact: David Eby at david@pivotiegaI.org

PIVOT HOUSING AFFIDAVIT CAMPAIGN Become part of the solution and help to improve your situation. Drop by and swear an &davit on your housing or homelessness experience. Pivot will use these affidavits to bring about real change

EVICTIONS, HOMELESSNESS, DEPOSITS, GUEST FEES, HOTEL CLOSINGS AND MORE!

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Every Sunday in June, 1 3pm, 3ifloor of camegie Centre

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u n d e r n e a t h t h e stars i n t h e park."-Vancouver police spokesperson Const. Sarah Bloor, on a small community of people squatting in Iericho Park East, where one mident was allegedly killed by another

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Letter to the Editor of The Georgia Straight After reading the three letters trashing Debbie Krull and the human right to food and shelter, it's easy to understand why politicians in all the parties in this upcoming election don't have the guts to use the word poverty or talk about what they will do to reduce it. They're afraid to lose the votes of bigoted people. If we want a just society we need to expose the prejudice, not cater to it. Food-bank use by B.C. families has gone up nearly 42 percent in one year, according to the Canadian Association of Food Banks. Is this because 42 percent more people are making poor choices? Homelessness has doubled in three years, according to at least two studies. 1s this because the number of people who make "poor choices" about housing has doubled? Of course not.

In this case, the poor choice was made by our government. It decided to cut welfare rates and benefits and deny welfare to people in need. This saved them hundreds of millions of dollars so they could reduce taxes for the wealthy and corporations. Two of the letters were sexist as well as poor-bashing. I thought 't took two to make a pregnancy. Yet in these letters men are let off the hook.

And what's tlus idea that only women who aren't poor should have a love life? More poor-bashing.

And the idea that children raised in poverty always m out to be a drain on society? More bigoted rub~ish. . rhe author of the letter about rights versus entitlenents has his facts wrong too. It seems that he's .I<\ ;I ivoked at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which lists medical care, education, and adequate income, among others, as basic human rights.

Perhaps he's been too busy reading Fraser Institute tracts about how the poor are not entitled to welfare but the rich are entitled to massive tax cuts.

Jean Swanson I author of Poor bashing: the Politics of Exclusion 1 VANCOUVER Two acts of Parliament in 153 1 and 1536 developed the fust comprehensive English system of poor relief. These laws began to form the positive elements of poor relief that would continue for centuries: gov-

ernmental criteria about who is legitimately in need; governmental obligation to search out those in need; government registration of need; definition of what government should do for the needy; and construction and administration of a system of contributions for the poor. These laws also continued aid expanded the previous system of punishments for those who were able to work.

While fragmented categorization of the poor had already begun, these acts were the first comprehensive.lega1attempt to distinguish between and legislate different treatment for the poor deemed unable to work and those who were able-bodied.

Earlier attempts, dating back to 1388, had started to differentiate between beggars who were impotent or unable to work, who would be treated more leniently, and those who are able-bded. Women great with child, and men and women in extreme sickness who were vagrants or caught begging were given more lenient punishments in 1495. And in 1504, persons being impotent and above the age of sixty years were to be given special consideration.

The Poor Law of 1601 f m l y established relief of the poor as a local responsibility of the parish, which is by now a traQtiona1 unit of English local government. The parish was to raise money and administer relief directly to the poor who were unable to work and to provide work for those who were able. The state filled the vacuum left by the elimination of the Church system of poor relief and adopted many of the same structures and procedures of that prior system. The law directed the local people to annual elect two or more overseers of the poor. The overseers were to work with the justices of the peace to administer poor relief.

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The main part of the statute was the creation of a system of general assessment to provide a consistent source of funding for the activities of local officials in relief of the poor. Taxes could be levied on every inhabitant on a weekly or other basis for the support of the poor. Further, if the parish or locality proved unable to raise enough funds for poor support, the justices of the peace were allowed to look to other more prosperous parishes in the same locale for support. Imprisonment was the penalty to pay assessments.

There were four types of activities or support allowed to be performed by the overseers under the law. First was the setting to work the children of all such whose parents shall not by the said church wardens and overseers, or the greater part of them, be thought able to keep and maintain their children.

Second was the setting to work of all such persons, married or unmarried, having no means to maintain them, and no ordinary daily trade of life to get their living by. Third, to levy taxes on everyone and everything of value in order to provide materials for the poor to work on such as flax, hemp, wool, thread, iron and other necessary ware and stuff. Fourth, to levy taxes towards the necessary relief of the lame, impotent, old, blind, and such other among them, being poor and not able to work. Lastly, to do and execute all other things ... as to them shall seem convenient.

The local authorities were empowered to build' housing for the impotent and poor of the parish. The mutual legal responsibility of parents and children was expanded to make grandparents responsible for the support of impoverished children and grandchildren, and vice versa, by establishing the principle of primary family responsibility which stated, The father and grandfather, and the mother and grandmother, and the children of every poor, old, blind, lame and impotent person, or other poor person not able to work, being of sufficient ability, shall, at their own charge, relieve and maintain every such poor person .... This principle of primary family responsibility became a firmly entrenched rule of law.

The Poor Relief Act of 1662 is frequently called the Act of Settlement. This law gave justices of the peace the power to remove any person from the parish if someone complained that they had arrivcd within the last forty days, and was determined to be needing relief or might be needing it in the future.

The process called removal sent back the person to their previous location or settlement. Once removed, they had no right to go elsewhere, that was now their permanent legal settlement place.

The Poor Relief Act of 1722,9" George, Chapter 7, allowed parishes, either alone or with others, to provide houses forth indigent where they could be housed, supervised, and put to work. This act was a reform of the prior system of providing relief to the poor in their own homes. It also established workhouses, called indoor relief, and allowed parishes to make living in the workhouse a mandatory alternative to the prior system of providing assistance to the poor who still lived in their own homes.

Housing the poor was not a new idea. There had been poorhouses for some time but they were much different than workhouses. Poorhouses had been in existence since the sixteenth century. They were often nothng more than a few cottages owned by the parish and used to provide shelter for the aged, disabled and sick of the parish.

There were two main reasons for the creation of the workhouses: first, to find a way to reduce the costs of poor relief by having the poor perform work that would hopefully pay for their keep; and secondly, to make public support for the poor less attractive in the hope that fewer people would apply.

The workhouse provided sufficient food, clothing and shelter but restricted socializing and family relations, movement, clothing, consumption of alcohol and tobacco, and so on. The purpose was to make the receipt of aid so psychologically devastating and so morally stigmatizing that only the truly needy would request it-thus preventing starvation and homelessness without creating work disincentives.

At first, the workhouses effected a reduction in parochial expenditures they deterred the Poor from making applications for relief. Workhouses were to be closely supervised and controlled and provide shelter and lodging in return for strict discipline and strenuous work. They differed from each other in how those in charge prioritized the various purposes for the workhouses, of which there were may: profitably employing the poor; penalizing the idle; deterring others fiom applying for relief; housing the impotent poor; and as an asylum for thc insane and sick.

Their employments are various: the men are generally employed out of the house; the women spin, and weave Kendall-cottons, & c. children and generally sent to the different manufactories; where they e m about $1 a week each.

While there were as many as 700 workhouses by 1732 and probably as many as one out of every three parishes had a workhouse by 1782, outdoor relief slowly returned. Criticisms of the workhouse munted: In 1795, Speenhamland, Berkshire, was the cite of a substantial reform of the English poor law system, a change which provided relief for the working poor through the supplementation of wages. The local Berkshirejustices of the peace responded to the increased economic &stress among the local workers by fashioning a new wage formula which tied wages to the price of wheat and the number of people in the family. Workers were entitled to receive this amount of compensation, and if their employer did not uav them that-muchthey were to be paid the differAck

fiom the local poor relief.

The manner of supplementing wages varied by locality, with four main methods employed. First, the justices gave an allowance in support of wages to those who were already working but whose wages fell below the scale. Second was a roundsman system where the unemployed were sent by the parish overseer to various employers who paid the worker a minimal wage which was supplemented by the parish. Third was the labor rate where the parish forced local employers to hire on the unemployed for specific wages or have a tax levied directly upon them.

Fourth was public employment on roads and gravel pits.

This system was not roundly criticized until after 1815. Farmers kept wages low, knowing that they would be made up from public funds, while labourers, realizing that they and their families would always be supported, made little effort to work. The result was increased costs for supplementing the wages of poor workers and a reduction of decent paying job opportunities in nual areas as employers refused to pay decent wages knowing their workers wages would be supplemented. But even as criticisms of the rising costs of the system mounted, there was reluctance to end the system because the farmers had come to depend on the cheap labor, and it was feared that if farmers had to pay higher wages to the workers, they would not be able to pay parish taxes.

In hindsight, one of the major philosophical practical weaknesses of the 1834 reforms was the refusal to reconsider the plight of those poor who sought work with less than total success. What was clear was that the reformers of 1832 completely missed the large numbers of poor who were not permanently unemployed but who were having trouble keeping steady work; as a consequence, the reforms of 1834 never addressed this issue at all. Sidney and Beatrice Webb point out that the Royal Commission chose not to concern itself with the struggling workers.

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Downtown Eastsiders want action on Homelessness Lots of people from Carnegie spoke to City Council about its Homeless Action Plan on May 25th. The Action Plan has over 80 recommendations that boil down to - ending the barriers to getting on welfare and increasing welfare rates; building aEordable housing providing health and social services.

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Muggs Sigurgeirson, vice president of the Carnegie Community Centre Association, told the Council that it was a "relief to read a report that talks about the devastation of welfare cuts and rules." She added that it was good that "some government in Canada is willing to stand up and say something is wrong and we want to fix it." Muggs urged Council to "use your power-inevery single way you can to make these recommendations move forward."

Chryse Howes of the Carnegie Learning Centre also said that City Hall "should bring as much pressure as possible on federal and provincial government."

Lucy Alderson, a st& person in the Learning Centre, said Council members should be aware of the details of government welfare polices that are making it hard for people to get on welfare. She noted that "Forty per cent of our community has difficulty with literacy," and then pointed out that the welfare orientation process involves "first getting a number, then getting a computer, then getting a tutor" to help read through 14 pages to learn what your work responsibilities are if you get welfare. She noted that people with no phone and no transportation have a hard time looking for work.

Anton Philipa said the city was creating homelessness by forcing the eviction of tenants from certain buildings. He gave a list of people from these buildings who could not find housing to the City's housing relocater. Kim Kerr of the Downtown Eastside Resdents Association said that hotels were getting government money to renovate, then raising rents and throwing tenants out.

Another Downtown Eastside resident who had been homeless noted that some people have two or three homes while others have none. She said, "Our society is infatuated with wealth and greed." She added, "Maybe we can get the Liberals to fix what they broke."

Stephen Lytton, who is on the Carnegie Board and active with other groups, said that implementing the Action Plan was a priority. "We can deal with it now when it's affordable or later when it's monumental. I commend you for the plan but we need more action," he said. Stephen also urged Council to help people get paid employment.

Several representatives of Aboriginal gfoups said that Vancouver needed a shelter for Aboriginal homeless people specifically and a representative at City Hall to ensure that their interests were being taken into account. About 34 per cent of homeless people in Vancouver are Aboriginal.

Other speakers made these points: children live with foster families when they could be living with relatives because the relatives don't have adequate housing; - the Ministry of Human Resources must shift its focus from "how not to help people to how to help people;" Council shouldn't be seduced by the cheapness of stopgap measures.

City Council is expected to approve the Homeless Action Plan in June.

By Jean Swanson

May 16,2005 Tony Burman, Editor-in-Chief CBC News, Current Affairs & Newsworld PO Box 500, Stn. A, Toronto, M5W 1E6 Dear Mr. Burman: We would like to bring to your attention misleading and hurtful comments regarding the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver in the CBC Newsworld documentary film "Woodward's: The Comuetition", and in the news release advertising the film.

We are sure that the CBC has responsible standards of research and respect, and we believe that the film and the news release which unfairly demonize the Downtown Eastside, Vancouver's oldest community, with its diverse population of residents, do not meet the standards that our Canadian Broadcasting Corporation would like to maintain.

The film presents the Downtown Eastside as just a place of derelicts and drug addicts - "a nation of bedlam" - "a boil on the bum of the best looking city on . the continent" It states that the occupation of Woodward's (from September to December, 2002) was simply the work of hard core political activists and anarchists. It suggests that 6,000 drug addicts live in the neighbourhood. None of these statements is true.

The film depicts the community as just skid road, and this presentation is slanderous and hurtful to the

The CBC Newsworld news release repeats some of the negative comments made in the film, and creates a few of its own. If refers to the Downtown Eastside as "Canada's worst neighbourhood", as "a neighbourhood mired in drugs and poverty", and as the "noto- * rious Downtown Eastside". It also states, in a sensa- . " tional manner, that Woodward's is "the centre of a controversy involving 6,000 drug addicts". The entire population of the Downtown Eastside is about 12,000 people. Most residents in this stable community are neither drug addicts nor alcoholics, and research by the Vancouver Injection Drug Userst Study ~ 1,300 injection (VIDUS) in the late 1 9 9 0 ' ~involving drug users in the Downtown Eastside over four years, found that 68 percent of drug users lived outside the community. For a long time, the media has been suggesting, quite wrongly, that at least half the residents in our neighbourhood are addicts.

The Downtown Eastside may be Canada's poorest postal code, but most residents here would object strongly to it being called the "worst neighbourhood" It is a multicultural community made up of seniors, youth, families, children, single people, First Nations people, immigrants, refugees, people with physical and mental issues, and people with addictions. Many residents live here because they want to live in this supportive, non-judgmental community that has the closeness of a small town. The majority of residents are law-abiding people trying to do the right thing, and the vicious media attacks on us, and our community, hurt us badly.

Poverty is a common bond for the great majority of residents in the Downtown Eastside, and most people live in stressful conditions with a dignity and caring that giveâ&#x20AC;˘Ë&#x153;the neighbourhood great strength. The Carnegie Centre alone has around 350 volunteers who make the Centre function smoothly, and thkre are resident-volunteers all over the Downtown Eastside working to make things better.

The Downtown Eastside is the heart of Vancouver in many respects. It is where Vancouver started. It has a long history of struggle for dignity and human rights. It has a dynamic artistic community, and the Downtown Eastside Community Play that celebrated the Carnegie Library's 100th birthday was a magnificent testament to the energy, creativity and caring of our community.

What is most disturbing about the CBC Newsworld film and news release is their ignorance of the community, and their contempt for all the people who live there.

In the film, the real community is invisible. It's as if the only players in their drama are a few politicians, developers and archtects. In fact, Woodward's would never have been this close to achievement if not for the efforts of so many residents over the years - going to meetings, petitioning, writing letters, and making the desires of the community known.

Unfortunately, suffering and tragedy attract viewers, and we cannot help feeling that the film and the news release have used the tragedy of the street scene in our neighbourhood to deliver an audience to the advertisers. CBC-TV did something similar with its

sensational marketing of the film "Through a Blue (December, 1999) in which the Downtown Eastside was described in shrill tones, with pictures of very ill and powerless people shooting up in alleys, as a "marketplace of drugs and despair".

When the media labels an entire community as skid road, it commits a violent act because it devalues and dehumanizes both the local residents and the community itself. When the only thing the media can see is the skid road image, it can't see the caring community that exists behind that negative faqade.

We want to CBC to stop demonizing the Downtown Eastside. We want the CBC to see our entire community, and not just the tragic street scene - a scene which community members work very hard to address through support services, harm reduction services (including more social housing), andthe struggle for a more equitable society. We would like to meet with you, and other responsible people at the CBC, in order to discuss how a fair portrayal of our community might take place.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely, Muggs Sigurgeirson, Vice-President

S t a e n e sieht "We have made the neighbourhood a safer place to live in ...You can now see drunks on the street.

We have not seen them here'for years."-Vancouver police Sgt. Torty Zanatta, quoted in the Globe and Mail on the effects of the department's crackdawn a the Downtown Eastside

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CAMPBELLAND: PART I1 Here we go again! How short is the public's memory? For the last four years, hundreds of thousands of people protested, rallied, organized to stop Campbell's wrecking ball, and promised to remember come election day!

It came and went and "s~rprise!'~ Campbell is back in! All over Campbelland, he destroyed schools, hospitals, healthcare, the minimum wage, etc.. .

What disturbed me the most during the campaign, was that none of the parties publicly addressed the welfare cuts that doubled homelessness, food banks, and hospital, shelter, court and jail costs. The same thing happened in the USA with Bush's re-election.

Too many secret powers at work behind closed doors, creating a false sense of economic boom. It , happened with Raygunomics in the early 807s,Mike Harris in Ontario in the mid 80's and Klein in Alberta.

They never learn; tax cuts to the corporations and the wealthy do not create stable economic growth, only a short-lived boom. What we need is a steady and sustainable economy that is all inclusive.

During the campaign, Campbell claimed Ghandhi as one of his role models! How dare he? Ghandhi always made sure that any new legislation affected the poor fairly. He always thought of ways to improve the life for the poor, women and Dalits (for-

merly called "untouchables" or "pariah"). We in the DTES are the untouchables, always were and are still.

Is he going to raise the rates for PPMB, single employables, and reinstate a fair earning exemption, instead of using the disabled as a pawn by giving a big raise and promising new programs for them, just to show the public how caring and compassionate he is, and ignoring the rest, including cutting all child support and earnings exemption for single mothers?

But now, there may be some hope. With the NDP7s reblrth, a fair balance may force Campbell to reinstate the programmes for and improve the lives of the most vulnerable. I hope the NDP also learned a big lesson. As a strong opposition, they can stop Campbell's devastation. In the past, their performance was hardly better, the Joy McPhail fiasco of reducing the rates in the 90's to 1980's level. Then the support was $191. Today, 25 years later: $185!

We, all of Campbelland, have to stay awake and send a strong message to the powers that be, we are going to watch you both! Behave as mature adults, not petty spoiled brats!

Christiane Bordier -

Come to a screening of

'The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror' After spending three months in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the producers of this new documentary, Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy, assess the results of the U. S. attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan.

They expose the human cost and examine the bigger geo-strategic picture of these invasions that may lead the world toward the next global conflict.

'The ail Factor' is filled with solid facts and figures, clear, illustrative maps, original footage shot in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as many interviews with a large array of prominent personalities including top US officials.

Discussion will follow the presentation.

Everyone welcome.

Wednesday, June Wth, 7:30 PM in the Carnegle Theatre Sponsored by CESAPI - Coalition in Solidarity with the People of Iraq .

Descending into the fear.. trickle up, tumble down, kick around, just being the clown; are you put upon, stomped on, can do no right, uptight? freefalling, freedom's lost, add up the costs, then you'll se who's boss; bodies pace streets, swervin"round testosterone police; release tensions -a slackened sigh- is this the end? to die.. to die.

I've felt the heavy shroud of oppression, in a trance I walk the tightrope of decisions, mysteries unsolved; sucked head over heels into a rippled harsh funnel of finality, crawling steadily yet unaware of making no substantial progress, supposedly gaining on nothing more than 'Nowheresville"; untidy. I, unrepentant, plodding on knowing nothing more or of any answer other than hating is useless and quitting is expiring... ..are you dying to know, too?

Robyn L.

CCPA Editor:

27 May 2005

Having just read the cover story of the May '05 Monitor, an aspect to this ongoing softwood lumber dispute seems to have been missed, or, more likely, deserving of its own research and likely expose. I refer to the possibility cum probability that the Canadian companies, over time and certainly throughout the 23 years of the off~cialwar re duties/taxes/legal wrangling, have been shedding whatever Canadlan ownerslup they have, and replacing such with international (read American) ownership and control.

It seems perversely logical: the figure of $4.25 billion paid in tariffs - that the Americans vow will never ever be "returned" - and the hundreds of millions spent on legal fees are all draining on the pocketbooks of the Canadlan companies, even that un-

known portion that is, inevitably, coming out of the public purse. The internationalization (read sell-off) of these companies is putting them in the hands of the very people who are behind the "pit bull" tactics of the public dispute, while the private outcome is for the American owners to gain control for a fraction of what such are worth and get continental power over the entire industry.

And this quiet blitzkrieg is certainly not confined to lumber. Thlnk of the cattle industry, mad cow disease, and the odd media factoid that no such case has ever been rgpokcJ in the USA, indisputably (but of course it would be ad injnitum) in American born and bred animals. Think of how much money the Canadian industry has lost over the last 3-5 years and how ready bankrupted companies/farmerswould be to take a cash offer of ten cents on the dollar, even if the only light such provided was to come out even.

There are dozens of examples, and naming different industries will likely strike a strong chord with any readers having a connection with same: dairy farms and products; wheat and grains and agriculture; telecommunications and various computer fields; and of course the most private being banking and financial "services".

This letter isn't to invoke doom and gloom, but to call on someone, or a group of someones, to investigate and see how much of various industries jammed up by US trade laws are becoming more and more American subsidiaries.

Respectfully submitted, PaulR Taylor, editor, Carnegie Newsletter in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

PS: It was almost comical when an American lawyer was on CNN saying how obtuse Canadians were who, having lost some legal battle, had changed laws, gone back to court, and lost again. Her tone of ultimate disgust at such brazen stupidity, at trying to "beat us at our own game" still brings a sad laugh.

From the humblest of beginnings..

In 1987 or '88, Ken Lyotier put some structure on his passion for the 2nd 13rd14th use for stuff- for recycling. He started a group with himself as the only member and called it Save Our Living Environment (SOLE).The main points included learning to re-use discards and keeping such out of landfills.

A few years later he founded United We Can, the Downtown Eastside's recycling company. Ken worked with the many binners, social agencies, welfare (so the bimers wouldn't be seen as criminals defrauding the public) and various levels of government, through many edge-of-destruction points along the way, to make United We Can such a great opera' tion. The binners themselves say, "This is the best in the city. No hassle, no limits, no bullshit."

Ken and others involved lobbied the provincial NDP government to make many more kinds of containers redeemable, and was successful. Not only are beer bottles and pop cans.worth money to the industrious scavengers, but juice bottles, tetrapaks, water bottles and more are now redeemable. Ken also started some small businesses to employ and pay local people for their time and efforts - one is a bike repair shop, another is for building working computers from discarded or obsolete units, and a third (and most visible) has teams of street, alley and graffiti cleaners raking, sweeping and washing down the areas in the neighbourhood often or always not done by the City of Vancouver. It's a testament to the civic commitment of CUPE, the City workers' union, to agree to let local residents do this work at lower wages than the union has won in collective bargaining, and not demand that everyone working for Ken's business be a member of CUPE. All this is to get to this highlight: Ken is going to be in Ottawa soon to receive a national award for all his community and innovative work in putting recycling into full swing here. As of today he's reportedly in Italy at some international conference on waste management and recycling so I can't c o n f i i with him what, exactly, this award is called or how he came to be chosen to receive it. The best rumour is The Order of Canada, but we'll all have to wait until Ken gets back. As per his usual low profile on personal stuff, no one else at UWC knows the details either. Stay tuned PaulR Taylor

RAFE MAlR EDITORIAL Mav 11,2005

It seems that Premier Gordon Campbell will not be coming on this show prior to the election, as promised.

The reason, no doubt, is that he might actually have to answer some tough questions backed up with crossexamination. I frankly couldn't care less. Contrary to what politicians would have you believe, they are not good for ratings and, at any rate, we're not in ratings.

Let me this morning simply speak as a voter, and if he were here, I'd make the following comments.

I voted for you in 2001, Premier but there are a hell of a lot of things you have done and left undone that make it impossible to vote for you again.

I didn't expect you to ignore the Auditor-General's report and the report of the public servants in the Finance department, made available to you immediately after the election, demonstrating that the NDP left a surplus of $1.57 billion ...and since you knew that, I must point out to you that when you said "it's worse than we thought" and the province is in "a serious deficit" that you would tell such a clear falsehood. Moreover, when you gave the well-off, a $2 billion tax break on your first day in office, you gave the NDP surplus to the likes of me, not the homeless, the sick, the,elderly in need of a long term bed or to those who badly need a helping hand.

I didn't expect that you would hire a kissing cousin of yours, Doug Walls, who was an undischarged bankrupt under investigation for stealing $1 million, to look after $600 million of our money in the Children and Families Ministry ... I didn't expect you to deny you knew the man, even saying that your wife doesn't know all her cousins when in fact Walls was a prominent Liberal, a man you had stayed with and that you had gone all the way to Prince George so you could lease a car from him. '

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I didn't think you would be so mean-spirited to instruct your Speaker to refuse party status to the NDP. When I voted for you I didn't expect that you would renege, twice, on a deal with Crown prosecutors where both sides would accept the arbitrators' decision.

I did not expect the Campbell government to increase the public debt of this province by 4.3 billion dollars so that they could arrange a surplus in the last year to bribe the voters with.

I took you at your word when you promised you wouldn't sell BC Rail .. now are we to accept your word that you won't sell ICBC or BC Hydro?

I didn't expect the homeless to increase by 75% under Gordon Campbell.

I didn't ever expect to see my province as a place where a poor person, often mentally ill, could go to jail for begging.

I didn't elect the Campbell Liberals to see food banks increasing the number of children it serviced last year by over 41% and the adults by 16%.

I expected the Campbell government to keep its promise to build 5000 new Long Term Care beds. As listeners will know, this is likely the single most important Health problem because as the baby boomers get older, the shortage of long term beds becomes more important - the presence of long term patients in acute car beds is the main reason surgical lines are so long so we have this curious result - because older people who need long term care are in acute care beds, their seniors colleagues; perhaps family or friends, can't get the elective surgery required because there are not enough acute care beds.

I can't believe that the Premier, his health minister and his minister in charge of long term beds would make a promise to build 5000 long term beds and to make that promise on my show several times then renege. I cannot believe that suddenly, out of the blue, comes an excuse that there were too many LTC beds in bad shape so they had to look after them before building new beds ... an excuse that we didn't hear until Shirley Bond was made minister and she had to scramble for an excuse to get out of the credibility mess the government was in.

I didn't believe that Gordon Campbell would lift the moratorium on fish farming and then, after two Pink Salmon runs in the Broughton Archipelago were all but wiped out, would refuse to save this year's run by fallowing the fish cages which produced the sea lice that have been destroying the smolts as they migrate to sea. I honestly didn't believe my ears when you told my audience on March 1st this year that not only would he not help the wild salmon but that he would take no responsibility when the run fails next Fall!

I cannot believe that I heard the you in the leaders' debate boast that you had reduced unemployment in an aboriginal Village from 85% to 30 % ... that instead of being ashamed of yourself, you would boast about coming to the aid of native villagers by bringing in a filthy business like fish farming, thus insulting them, and further datnaging wild salmon stocks the absence of which is what caused the villagers the problem in the first place.

And this leads me to the future - I cannot support a man and a party that is going to hand out fish farm licenses all up and down the coast as soon as he is elected and will open up the British Columbia wilderness to his pals, both here and abroad, so that tourists can shoot our Grizzly bears and Mountain Sheep.

Moreover, I don't believe that the present prosperity has much if anything to do with the Liberals and everything to do with the increase of commodity prices over whlch the provincial government has no control whatever.

This premier and this government, with a couple of exceptions, have been mean-spirited, philosophcally opposed to helping those who need it, destructive in the extreme of the environment and come to the people with no vision except to say elect us, we're better than the NDP.

Music Program R

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Hello again, I'm back, like that summer that seems to be almost upon us, with a few reminders and other stufT Stephen Leacock might like.

As you may know, the Carnegie music program has reinstated monthly features at the Tuesday evening cabaret, and the past few months have seen Carnegie regulars like Rick Lavalle, and Bharb Gudmundson pull off sizzling sets. Keep up the good work guys. Next month (June) there will be features on the 7th, featuring Mae Kossoff, and on the 14th Mike McArtney will be taking the stage at 8 sharp.

Don't be late. Doors open at 6:30, with sign up for any musicians who wish to throw their names into the hat at 6:45.

That's right folks, any Tuesday of any month there's always something interesting going on at Carnegie. Tell a fiend.

Tuesdays aside, also remember that Carnegies music program is multi-faceted; there's a stage band program run by Carnegie alumni, and regular kinda legend Earle Peach, for those musicians who want to blow their own horns and sound good at the same time. Friday mornings in the theatre see an informal gathering of musicians without microphones for a program called 'The Song Circle'. It's hosted by Dave Botten, percussionist extraordinaire. Instruments are supplied for all Carnegie music programs, so feel flee to drop by.

June 15th. Wednesday, 12:OO noon. in the Carnepie theatre. Carnegie musicians who are interested in becoming a part of a proposed second CD project should remember that date, time, and place.

Regulars of the music program know that Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons are usually reserved for what are loosely termed jams'. On the 15th of June though, the regular program will be postponed for a general meeting of all Carnegie musicians, to dlscuss a format for a second CD project. If you are interested in becoming a part of the project please attend.

Your input matters. If you are interested in helping with the actual production of a CD, again, please attend. Your expertise in any area that may help us may also be solicited.

That's right, Wednesday, June 15th, 12:00 noon sharp. Musicians welcome! naysayers, stay at home, or get a hobby.

If you wish to see a preliminary, informal format proposal, come to the theatre any Tuesday, or Wednesday, and speak to me, Mark Oakley, directly, fll make the proposal, or 'suggestion summary'available to you. The 'summary' is basically a start point for discussion at the general meeting of musicians, any discussion of points raised in the summary, changes to, or additions are welcome in the context of furthering the goal of putting together a viable, marketable CD. Again, nay sayers, and people whom are only interested in pointing out what we can't do, are not welcome. Might we, the musicians of Carnegie, suggest basket weaving as a viable thing for critics, and non-musicians to occupy themselves with, while mtrsicians attempt to do something constructive.

Till next time: Joey Simpleton, aka, Mark Oakley

A smile is a curve that can set a lot of things straight.

No one is perfect.. .that's why pencils have erasers.

FREE Workshops for-and-by

Aboriginal Women

HEN PARTY The Hen Party, a sewing circle for women, has been running weekly for a year now. In one of the third floor display cases is our second show, with works

by Fong Sum Chan Tseng, Lee Ping, Dai Di Liang, Guen Choi and Yin Mei Chan. These women (and more) have made my life an absolute delight when every Thursday morning they show me the pieces they have completed or are working on. These ladies do their homework, often incorporating designs from Chinese periodicals, calendars and shopping bags! I encouraged innovation and originality. I didn't want to use complicated and precise traditional patterns where there was a right or wrong way to do things.

There's a colourful quilt in the Carnegie library you may have seen. It was made by mei Chan, a 78 year old woman who'd never sewn 'ti1 she came to this @"-P. The combined vision of four women - Roseanne Gervais, Marlene Trick, Lucy Alderson and Elaine the Lunatic Artist - as well as myself - resulted in a 62 panel-quilthanner the whole DTES community participated in creating. We carried it in the Valentines' Day March to commemorate our lost sisters, daughters, cousins and loved ones. Some of the photographs Sandy took of it are included in the display.

Fridays 1 9 0 p m t o 330pm from May 13th. to September 29th.2005 D o m t o m EastrideWomen's Centre. 302 Columbia St.

For information and regbsrrarm call Carol at 604 â&#x201A;Ź81 8480exl.233

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News from the Library

New books In Plain sight: reflections on life in downtown eastside Vancouver - edited by Leslie Robertson and Dara Culhane. (362.8 ROB) This is a collection of seven life stories fiom women of the Downtown Eastside - the words of people who are publicly visible yet, due to many misconceptions about the inner city, remain unseen and unheard.

Five Quarts: a personal and natural history of blood - by Bill Hayes. (612.1 HAY) Tlus is Hayes' lyrical, rueful & humorous meditation on blood, touching on history, religion and science. We each have five quarts in our bodies, and this book describes this life force which unites us all.

Collapse: how societies choose tofail or succeed by Jared Diamond. (304.2 DTA) The author of

"Guns, germs and steel" delivers here a devastating statement of how things - horribly wrong in - can go human affairs, even when intentions are good.

Blue trust: the author, the Ianym, his wife, and her monty - by Stevie Cameron. (921 CAM) This is a Canadian "true crime" story - of ambition, excess and revenge; an intimate portrait of a marriage and a complex tale of high tragedy.

Eleven minutes: a novel - by Paulo Coelho. (fiction - C) This is an "adults-only" fairy tale; the story of Maria, a young Brazilian girl who becomes convinced that she will never find true love.

Trawler: a journey through the north Atlantic - by Redmond O'Hanlon. (9 10.09 HAN) O'Hanlon, a veteran of travels in Borneo, Amazonia and the Congo, now ventures into the wildest waters of the Atlantic aboard a deep-sea fishing trawler fishing even as the hurricane threatens to wash the crew overboard. A rollicking, manic adventure.

East Van (a novel) by Chris Walter. (823 WAL) The Vancouver Sun writes: "the writing is smooth where the subject is jagged; and the story, a deceptively simple one, is full of nuance". The language pulls no punches, and it qualifies as "outsider art".

Robbing the bees: a biography of honey, the sweet liquid gold that seduced the world - by Holley Bishop. (638. I6 BIS) Bishop reveals the fascinating secrets of beekeeping, both ancient and modern-day, describing the long romance of humankind and ho eybees.

All of the above new titles, and many more, are available from the Carnegie Library - just come on in and ask the stafY how to get them!

Also -don't forget that on JUNE loh, 05, in the Alma VanDusen Room of the central library, there is a Camegie-sponsored program from 7-9 p.m. entitled ANARCHY TO ACTIVISM. Local authors discuss the subject, it's FREE, and all are invited to attend!

Carnegie's own Bob Sarti will be presiding.. .

S A M POOOAN'S APTWOPK ,

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down

VOLUNTEER TRAINING - PERSONAL PROTECTION SKILLS WORKSHOP This workshop is upbeat and interactive. This high impact and very humorous training motivates participants to adopt behaviours and strategies that increase safety on the commute (public transportation or on foot) and in their personal lives. You will learn how to avoid becoming a target of crime through awareness and realistic street safety strategies (with the focus on prevention). You will learn safe disengagement strategies in order to defend yourself in the event of an unavoidable attack. Where hands-on training is involved, participants can observe rather than physically participate if you wish. Both men and women will find this session of huge value.

WHEN Monday, June 06,2005 7pm - 8 :30 pm TIME: Art Gallery 3rd Floor (...or Gym WHERE: depending on number of participants) Please sign-up ahead of time with Colleen in the Volunteer Program Ofice 3rd Floor

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH

Kris Gibson, Chess Instructor and 2nd FloorLane Level Receptionist Kris is our weekly Chess player, leader, supporter, encourager, instructor who provides free chess lessons for not only beginners but also for those that are more advanced and would like to increase their knowledge of strategic moves. He is also encouraging women and children to get involved. His classes are huge and his prep time is immeasurable. He is a member of the Canadian Chess Federation. Need I say more. Kns, we are all so lucky to have you as part of our volunteer Team.

Davor Zizic: Coffec Scller Carnegie ~enior'scoffee sellers have been selling beverages to Carnegie participants for over 15 years.

The coffee sellers started out as a small fundraising operation on the main floor to help pay for the Senior's Program in the centre. In the early 90's the parking lot at the lane level was removed to make room for a Pool Room, Senior's Lounge and social area for building participants. Today the Coffee Seller's annual sales are over $50,000 with approximately one half of the revenue returned to purchase coffee supplies. The Coffee Sellers have a coffee monitor who is appointed from among themselves. Davor Zizic is the current coffee sellers monitor and as you can see, it is a huge job and one which he is fully committed to. Thank you Davor.

Volunteer Program Committee Meeting Wednesday, June 0 8 , 2 0 5 Classroom 2,3rd Floor @. 2:OOpm All Volunteers welcome to voice your ideas and concerns, or just sit, listen and learn.

Gassy Jack and Raymond Burr, the B.C. Pen and Woodland School, the Fraser River and Brunette Creek & an awesome free Camegie picnic lunch!

Friday, June 3,9am to 4pm Open to all who have Carnegie memberships.

Pre-register at fdjloor offie.

I Karaoke with our Karaoke Chieflain,Darrell 1

Fridav. June 10th. 2005

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: We are building up a library of songs to smt every-

body's musical needs and desires. If you have a particular favowite that we do not carry, please let Colleen or Darrell know, and we will see if we can add it to our list. Talk to us for customized assistance in choosing the right Karaoke song for your particular voice range.

Cultus Lake Campinp Trip Monday June 13" - Friday June 17& Thank you to all who participated faithfully in the pre-planning meetings. The problem with no-shows has reduced almost to a succulent zero. The Participant List is posted on Marlene Trick's window plus the Volunteer Program door. This is our first camping trip in 2K5 - in the meantime don't let the bumps eat your lunch.

Staff attending: Marlene, Colleen, Ian the cook, John D. security (this is John's first trip so let's initiwink wink.) ate him in the way we do best DON'T FORGET - MEET AT THE INFO DESK MONDAY JUNE 13& 9:OOam SHARP!! !

VOLUNTEER DINNER - 2 " fl cafeteria!

Wednesday, June 15th, 2005,4:30pm SHARP!!!

This is a dinner for all Volunteers with a minimum of 16 hours service for the month of April. This dinner is one way Staff show our appreciation to all of you for all that you do for the community. Many of us will be at Cultus Lake and I want to extend a huge thank you to all of you staying behind holding the fort. We will be thinking of you as we canoe down the lake in the sunshine (ooops, sorry).

Stay weil, Stay strong, Keep your heart so& Colleen "The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery, If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer - they think they have, so they stop thinking. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."

Ken Kesey

The Art Studios 2005 East 44th Avenue The Art Studio at 44Ihand Victoria will be having an Open House and Members' Sale Thursday June 9 from 2 - 7 pm.

Tel: (604)871-9788 Admission and refreshments will be free.

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE YOUTH ACTMTIES SOCIETY 49 W.Cordova

FMED EXCHANGE SITE - 5 E Hastings NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN - 3 Routes: &C - 5:45pm - ll:45pm 604-685-6561 Overnight - 12:30am - 8:30am Downtown Eastside - 5:30pm - 1:30am ~

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Aflicles represent the views of individual contributors ad rnt o f the Association

Editor: PaulR Taylor, cover drt & layout, Diane Wood. ..

2005 DONATIONS Libby D.-$40 Barry for Dave McC.-$50 Rolf A.-$45 Margaret D.425 Christopher R.-$50 M a w C-$30 Bruce 5.430 U'mista $20 Heather S.425 RayCam-$30 Gram -$lo0 Paddy 4 3 0 Glen B.-$50 John S.-$80 Penny G . 4 2 1 Jenny K.420 Dara C.-$20 Sandy C.$20 Audrey-$20 Wes K.450 , Joanne H.420 Rockingguys -$20 The Edge Community Liaison Ctt -$200 Pam B.425 Wm B420 Janice P.-$20 Michael C.450Anonymous-$2

What a send ofl.

It was a privilege to have worked and played and fretted and celebrated with the Carnegie community these past 5 !4 years. Thanks to everyone who helped organize the highlight of my working life on April 15 and to all who came, and to all who extended best wishes whether present or not.

You are a wonderful collection of special people from whom I learned much and who let me turn my imagination loose.

I'm sure Andrew Carnegie had no idea what he was unleashing when he put up that $50,000 in 1902.

Michael [Clague - the last director to ride ofinto the sunset (sob sob (chortle chortle))]

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The Downtown Embide R e s i d e o b Auochlion DERA helm with:

1070- 164 1 Commarial Dr. VSL 3Y3 Phone: 775-0790 Fax: TIS-088 1

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I Newsletter, are happening on the Squamish Nation's tenitory. I

Phone &-&re Miilborcs

Welfare problems; Lndlord dbputm; Horuiog problems Urnale living condltlolu

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At 12 E Hastingr Street, o r call 604-682-0931.

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Nelson is Forever You were my friend The best I've found Sometimes even a lover The turmoil of life Turned all that around And now we're estranged From each other.

My friend, my heart My soul, my love, There's an aching place that's you, Can't you please forgive This lonely old heart And let's begin anew.

Ten years we fought And yes, times were hard But the joy outweighed the pain, Let me be with you, Feel the wonder of your touch Let our souls rejoice again.

Unconditionally, MARIE

The Teara I have seen capable people shed tears of despair, and in reprisal, torment other human beings for those tears of their own weakness.

That is not the way to seek relief.

Turning tears of despair into bursts of redirected anger won't help a grown-up resolve their own misfortune.

Thus, being upset is like opening the gates of an emotional prison and walking into it, in shackles of dissatisfaction.

The tears of despair are like walls that keep the resolve out while on the way in.

Even the happiest of people cry from the overload of sadness caused by the delay in having their needs fulfilled.

True happiness does not stop the tears from falling. That is perhaps why happiness is so hard to define beyond doubt; although, the ways leadmg to such an ultimate destination turn away from the cries of despair.

There are the tears for mistakes made in our one-time assessment of what our basic needs might be.

It is because we must assume such needs long before we get to find out what they are and aren't they blunt in contrast to what we've been made to believe?

There are tears of loneliness that flood the streets of our city as if brought on by a curse out of some Coast-Indian legend.

They make me thlnk of all the gentle hearts that can't be fixed, like your own gentle heart, frequently mistaken as a sign of weakness.

Your tears make me thitik of my own heart yielding, and for such an act, being so eagerly mistreated.

Passing moments of happiness, made to extend upon one another, cease to be momentary; but, make for a pattern that helps everyone cherish even the smallest of achievements and hope for more of the same to build a happier lifetime.

Happiness - by far - is the most honest of feelings, and as such, it can't be chemically triggered or measured against somebody else's standards.

I'd say, it is worth the presence of tears if tears are what it takes to treasure moments of happiness.

Richard Tylman

Do you wftlllllftmake her swoon a poem or sing a trme

Drink some coffee without a spoon On Saturday the 4* of June?

By the light of the silvery moon a t 7:00 pm

I n the Carnegie Theatre