March 1, 2016 carnegie newsletter

MARCH 1,2016

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NEWSLETTER

website carnegienewsletter.org

401 MainStreet, Vancouver V6A2T7 604-665.2289

carnnews@shaw.ca camnews@vcn.bc.ca

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THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS:

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PEOPLE'S ULTIMATE RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS IN CANADA

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lames LymBumer will lead a discussion on Saturday, March 26, at 2:00 pm

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Camegie Community Centre in Classroom II

For everyone, pre-conceived notions automatically colour, label, categorise & limit what is perceived. An attempt to see. hear, touch, taste or smell something with one sense only is virtually impossible.

Common sense. however, is something else entirely.

Let's start with the CRUNCH cartoon on the cover of the February 15. 2016 edition. Verbal reactions have been negative: "it has no artistic merit, none! -Ir's just a bad joke. -It doesn't focus on anything! -It should not need an explanation. -It looks like a vagina!"

"A Downtown Eastside Valentine" The words are the first clue to insight - under which is a shape vaguely heart-like. ken with chunks. blocks. even pooled & dried blood. In our neighbourhood the Annual Mernorial March for the murdered & missing women happens on Valentine's Day. Flowers, boxes of candy etc aren't really the order of the day here.

This year, the Anniversary of the Memorial March, cartoonist Jim Dewar captured a profound expression of the life of women in this communitywithout faces, without names or a montage of any individual's tragedy limiting the depiction. Predators and sick individuals have continuously sought release for their depravity 011 the women and even girls who call here home. Any pictorial representation ofValentine's Day in the DTES has to include the reality that these women & girls have experienced and endured

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1. The Canadian Charter of Rights: OriginsMagna Carta and Common Law; Positive v Normative Concepts in Criminal/ Common Law,The Supreme Document: (,Charter Cards') - What are they?

2. Relationships: DTES,Vancouver, BC & Canada Government & Their Employees - Politicians, Civil Servants, Police: Professionals and Others.

3. History & the Current Environment: 1688 Features & Today: Now on the streets of Vancouver and the streets of the world.

4. The Concept of Informed Decisions: The History of Democracy & the IndividualJohn MacDonald, Snowden (Techie); Control Tools of Human Rights/Civil Rights, Technology as Enabler.

Information as the true power - Internet, Google/Apple/Microsoft 5. Summary and Handouts East Vancouver Charter Rights & Protections Slate.com - 'Loose Cigarettes Today, Civil Unrest Tomorrow: The Racist, Classist Origins of Broken Windows Policing' 1688: First Modem Revolution,. Pr. by Steve Pincus 6. Questions (Refreshments & snacks) Presented by: Eedy LymBumer FOUNDATION year after year. There are no dear. bright renditions by anyone with a shred of conscience. "Happy Valentine's Day" is not something that can be said without an immediate add-on of "and remember the women:' Two people expressed their thanks to .lim Dewar for capturing the spirit of this day in the 'hood. Whenever you see or hear someone (likely not from 'round here) venting their disdain or crude view of women, part their hair with the nearest brick or bottle. Be sure to say. "She's my sister. asshole!'

By PAULR TAY LOR.

Vancouver. Unceded Coast Salish Territory

After 9 Years, It is Time to Raise Welfare Payments Raising social assistance rates would help nearly 180,000 British Columbians as well as thousands of new refugees.

Raise the Rates is calling~ on the BC tozovernment to raise welfare rates substantially in the upcoming budget on February 16th.

"Rates have been frozen at $610 a month for basic welfare and $906 for disability since 2007." said Fraser Stuart. "After nearly 9 years of no inc\:ease, it gets harder to survive every year."

A single person on either disability or the basic income assistance has only $375 a month for rent.

"Where can we find a place to rent for $375?" asked Fraser Doke, living on disability. "Thousands of people are on the BC Housing wait list. I challenge Clark to find me a place 10 rent for $375 a month."

As the amount of support that refugees receive when they first arrive in Canada is tied to welfare rates raising rates would also help refugees get a better start in Canada. "Refugees wouldn't have to go to food lines and scrimp on their children's school needs if welfare rates went up," said Bill Hopwood, Raise the Rates organizer. Welfare provides only $700 a month for a family of 4 people for shelter.

"The vast majority of people on welfare find it very difficult to work because of their disabilities or other issues. Of those who are expected to work. we have to remember that our economy is not creating enouzh jobs for all who need them. Tilere are over 160.000 to . people unemployed 1\1 BC - this is nearly as many as ~ll the people on welfare. There is a lack of good jobs, 111 the province." said Terry Hunter, a Raise the Rates'; member.

The Dietitians of BC say that a single man needs about $250 a month for nutritious food. However, , people on welfare in BC have onlv about $21 a week left for food after paying for other necessities, accord- . ing to calculations by Raise the Rates. . "[low can the government of a wealthy province deny human beings in need their basic requirements.l'asked Diane Wood, a Raise the Rates' member. We can . only speculate that it is because of discrimination and: poor bashing against people who are most vulnerable.

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Contact Raise the Rates: Bill Hopwood: 604738-1653, biIJ50@vcn.bc.ca Jean Swanson, 604 729-2380, jean.swanson@gmail.com http://raisetherates.org

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*Raise the Rates* www.raisetherates.org *VancoLlver**. Unceded Coast Salish Territory" BC Budget: Is tiny disability increase being used to hide destruction of bus pass program?* BC has a bus pass program where people with disabilities and low income seniors (who receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement) can buy an annual 3 zone bus pass for $45. Most people with disabilities who have a bus pass have this $45 a year pass.

The BC Budget, ha~ announced that, beginning Sept 1. people on disability benefits will get a $77 increase minus the $52 a month cost of their bus pass. But people on disability don't pay $52 a month for their bus pass. They pay $3.75 a month ($45 divided by 12) The Liberal government rationalized the deduction of $52 from the disabilitv .J increase 'b., saying they think it is "unfair" that some people get the pass and some don't What is really unfair is that people with disabilities, whether they get the pass or not. have to live 011 such a miniscule amount of money. $906 a month going up to $931 for people who get a bus pass.

Does this deduction of the $52 from people with disabilities mean that the Liberal government will next want to take the bus pass from low income seniors. saying that its "unfair ., that they get more money (about $1344 a month for the basic Old Age Pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement) than people with disabilities?

Jean Swanson, 604729-2380 jean.swanson!@,gmail.com

others with low or fixed incomes.

"We're confident that working together, the Province and the federal government will help us solve the coop housing crunch. Itwouldn't make much sense to invest in 2,000 new affordable homes only to ignore the desperate situation facing up to 4,000 low-income co-op households."

The rent supplement program proposed by Cl-IF BC would cost the province of BC just $3 million more this year than it already spends help low-income co-op members. By 2025 the extra cost to heJp thousands of low-income co-op households as their federal rent subsidies expire will reach an additional $18 mi llion per year. This is a modest amount by any measure. especially when shared between two-levels of government.

For more information on our campaign to protect the homes oflow-income co-op members, please visit

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"Affordable" Housing CHF (Co-op Housing Federation) BC welcomes todav's announcement of the Province's plan to invest $355 million over the next five years to create 2,000 new affordable homes.

"We applaud the Province for taking concrete steps to tackle the crisis in housing affordability." said CHF BC executive director Thom Armstrong, "Investment lays the foundation for an even stronger partnership with the co-op and non-profit housing sectors that will play a key role in making these new homes a reality in communities all across the province:' Arrnstrong points out that the provincial investment will be even more meaningful ifit is leveraged by a matching federal contribution.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for the new federal government to make an impact by partnering with the Province to double the planned number of affordable homes. We hope the upcoming federal budget will include a commitment to match the Province's investment dollar for dollar:' While optimistic about the good news of an investment in new affordable homes, Annstrong sounded one note of caution: "Let's not forget that up to 4,000 low-income co-op households in British Columbia are facing a crisis of their own. As federal housing agreements expire, so does the rent assistance that keeps their homes affordable."

CHF BC has proposed a rent supplement program, funded bv the federal and provincial governments and administered by BC Housing. to protect those lowincome households, which include seniors, people with disabilities, single parents, new Canadians and

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Dear Ms Kwan, I live in vour riding of Van eo liver East. T am writing to let vouknow that a crisis is looming for lowincome households who live in co-op housing III trus riding. Their homes will soon be unaffordable.

Federal funding agreements that assist these households are coming to an end in large numbers. Tens of thousands of low-income households across the country, including seniors. newcomers. lone-parent families, people with disabilities and others are in danger of becoming homeless without federal reinvestment in co-op housing.

There are 34 housing co-ops in Vancouver East, with a total of 1669 units. Low-income households living in these co-ops in our community are at risk.

The solution is simple. We propose Ottawa use the savings from the expiring funding agreements for a new rent supplement program for low-income co-op housing residents that the provinces and territories will deliver.

As our MP, will you do your part to ensure this solution is included in the 2016 federal budget, so that the homes of low-income families in our community are protected?

You can learn more at www.protectcoophousing.ca 1 look forward to your response.

Paul & Lisa

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WHERE YOU START GIVING DIRECTION AND NEVER HAVE TO ASK WHEN PROSPERITY IS LIKE BREATHING AT LAST YOUR TEAM AND YOUR FAMILY FLY AND NEVER CRASH Michael

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We wf/nlto hear from you!

Submit questions to The Farm or the Carnegie Newsletter

Q. Are dispensaries going to remain open? What

DISPENSARY THE GRAM A Q&A FOR CURIOUS lvflNDS Over the last few years, cannabis dispensaries have popped up all over the city. A year ago, The Farm reached out to the D1'ES community and opened its doors at 369 Colwnbia Street. We have learned so much from our members and want to keep growing the dialogue.

Curious about cannabis news? DOII't know where to start? Concerned about dispensaries?

happens if they didn't get a license?

A. The City has ruled that all unlicensed dispensaries. regardless of allocated Appeal date, close their doors 011 21 Apri I 2016. The A ppeal process is for each individual dispensary to present a case in order to get a license, stay open and remain active in their community.

Should they lose their appeal (not receive enough endorsing votes by the Board of Variance) their dispensary will no longer be able to serve its members.

Q. Where does my information go when 1 sign up?

A. Your personal information is provided for a few reasons. First, we have to have record that our members are over the age of 19. Second, we want to know a little about your use history and present needs. The better our communication. the more we can peer support. Your information is always confidential and documentation is stored in a safe and secure location with no government tracking.

Volunteers of the month- February 2016

Bill Wong- Runner/Dishwasher Tyler Brincombe- Dishwasher Congratulations

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both'!

Volunteer Committee Meeting Wednesday,

March 9th

@ 3:30pm. Classroom 2

Volunteer Dinner Wednesday.

March 16th

@ 4:30pm, Theatre

Burrito Dinner Monday, March 21, 5 :OOpm, Second Floor, Kitchen

Benefits of Volunteering-

What it can do for you?

One of the better-known benefits of volunteering is the impact on the community. Volunteers are often the glue that holds a community together. Volunteering allows you to connect to your community and make it a better place. Even helping out with the smallest tasks can make a real difference to the lives of people, and organizations in need. And volunteering is a two-way street: Dedicating your time as a volunteer helps you make new friends, expand your network. and boost your social skills. Volunteering helps you make new friends and contacts. it increases your social and relationship skills, it increases selfconfidence. it provides a sense of purpose. it combats depression, it helps you stay physically healthy and can teach you valuable job skills.

Volunteer Orientations every Monday/Saturday @ 2:30pm. 3rd floor Volunteer Program office. Learn about the Centre and what opportunities we have.

We LOVE our volunteers!

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n Night Before the Opera

7pm Wednesday, March 2 - Carnegie Theatere The first 90 people will receive free tickets to the final dress rehearsal of the opera .

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From "the Library Do you or a loved one have a story to share? There'~ a n.ew program at the Central Library in their "Inspiration Lab" called The Big Listen. Two people call book a one-hour slot, have a conversation perhaps a~out a. memorable time in history. and if you bring a USB stick. the recording is yours to keep. To register, call: 604-33 J -3603, and check out the poster in the library for all of the dates.

Speaking of sharing history, I've been thinking about the preservation of wilderness skills & so have several ~ibrary patrol:s. We've made book requests for campmg, bushcraft & survival...

Here's some good ones:

B,ecoming Wild: Living the Primitive Life 011 a West Coast Island (20 14) by Nikki Van Schvndel. I was a bit skeptical of this bio. where a young- woman abandons her modern comforts to spend 19 months in the wilderness with her feral cat. It seemed a bit hokev.

But as you read her story. and realize she is the real deal, ifs actually pretty impressive.

Bushctuft Survival (2005) by Raymond Mears. Rav is a long-time BBC host with extensive survival skills. having travelled the world and learned from the locals. This book travels from the wilds of Canada to Tanzania to Britain, featuring a variety of crucial skills like fire-building, machete use.campstte construction.

The Bushcraft Bible: the Ultimate Guide to Wilder:" ness (2015) by James Henry. This is an illustrated guide considered to be an essential tool for. building shelter, hunting and gathering in a respectful manner. and of course a chapter 011 First Aid. Noali's Last Canoe (2008) by Doug Evans. The art of Cree birch canoe building is fascinating. This visual book shows us the tradition by First Nations Elders from sewing the bark, to pitching the seams with hot spruce gum, and finally taking it to the river. This is true bush craft.

The Solace of Fierce Landscapes (2007) by Belden C. Lane. For the more spiritually-minded, Lane explores the impulse behind seeking out deserts and mountains as refuge and healer. It's a kind of mernoir and acknowledgment of writers like Kathleen Norris and Thomas Merton.

Your librarian, Natalie

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Park NEWS FROM OPPENHEIMER PARK WINTER HOURS Tuesday to Saturday, 9:15am - 5:00pm PROGRAM UPDATES *lnternational Women's Day is March 8. Join us for a celebration & special treats to honour the occasion. *The Oppenheimer Park Cherry Blossom Festival runs from March 15 - April 9. Take part in special events, activities, and seasonal food treats. Visit the park to pick up the full Blossom Festival schedule. *We're going green on St. Patrick 's Day on March 17. Join us for music, treats and fun!

OTHER PROGRAMS RUN-WALK PROGRAM WEDNESDAYS: IOAM- 12PM We're getting ready for the Sun Run! .loin us for a run or walk with a friendly team. Learn some tips and tricks. and enjoy the outdoors. Everyone is welcome!

MISHMASH OF AGTTVITES TUESDA VS: 2PM - 4PM Mix it up with games. arts&crafts, seasonal surprises!

Hi everyone For those that haven't heard. MSDSI is currently conducting a Service Satisfaction Survey about service delivery: http://www.sdsi.gov.bc.ca/mvfeedbackl.

It will run from February 22 to March 29. 2016, & is open to all income assistance and disability assistance recipients. It is anonymous. and will not be linked to clients' MSDSI files. Unlike previous MSDSl surveys on service quality, this survey is available over the phone by calling toll free, 1-877-223-8078 (weekdays 8:30am - 4:30pm, excluding statutory holidays), and a paper copy is available upon request through the same number as well. Please encourage your friends/clients to complete this survey!

(Big thanks to Becky Quirk for alerting us to thisl)

Erin Pritchard, Staff Lawyer BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre

Open House March 8: Policy planning program - the new St. Paul's Hospital & Health Carnpu DU~iSMUlfl VIAOUCT GEORGIA

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The City has launched a policy planning program that will guide the redevelopment ofthe new St. Paul's Hospital and health campus site on Station Street. Come to an open house and help us explore emerging principles for open spaces, mobility and connections, site planning and design, and sustainability:

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Tuesday, March 8, 2016, 4:30~7:30 pm Creekside Community Recreation Centre, 1 Athletes Way Multipurpose Room 2 Note: This open house and planning program will focus on the new St. Paul's site only. The current St. Paul's site on Burrard Street will be discussed through a future planning process.

A questionnaire will be available (both at the event and online) from March 8th to March 20th.

If you would like to stay informed on policy planning for the new St. Paul's Health Campus, please sign uj for the newsletter at vancouver.ca/newstpauls.

For more information on policy planning: vancouver.ca/newstpauls newstpauls@vancouver.ca or phone 3-1-1 For more information on health programs and services: Providence Health Care is concurrently developing a clinical plan to guide the programs and services that will be established at the new St. Paul's health campus. To be a part of discussions and learn more, visit www.thenewstpauls.ca.

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In March 2016,

Gallery Gachet is pleased to present:

*EDZY EDZED-30 OBSESSION-COMPU

YEAR RETROSPECTIVE

LSION-DECONSTRUCTlON-INVENTlON

Exhibition runs: March 4th-April l Oth. 20 J 6 Exhibition preview: Fri. Mar 4th, 2016. 12-9pm Closing party: Fri, April I st, 2016, 6-9pm "This exhibition will grow and evolve throughout run. Multiple visits are encouraged."

GallerY Ga'chet's

Salon Shop is proud to feature -Ronald Flatman Exhibition runs: March 4th-April 10th, 2016 RonaJd's work was selected for its vibrant, highly stylized depiction or animals and nature. Aesthetically each ofRon's artworks can stand on their own. however the 'works collected for this exhibition make for Cl compelling composition not to be missed.

The Salon Shop is Gachet's micro-exhibition space and shop that features artwork of local community members, as well as Gachet volunteer, associate and collective members. We invite you to enjoy a sampling ofRon's art & welcome him as the latest Salon Shop exhibiting artist.

Gallery Gachet 604.687.2468 communications(a),gachet.org

www.gachet.org

"Art is a means for survival" Yoko Ono, 200]

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EOZEO's art production extends from the exercise of obsessive-compulsive impulses. lt is the application of his hands and mind to a painting problem. That interestled him to years of independent study and the completion of an Honours BFA from the University of Victoria in 1992, and a subsequent 30 year quest to understand painting analytically.

His thousands of works manifest as a personal visual meta-Ianguage that can be described as "Deconstructivism' in painting, as articulated by Jacques Derrida in The Truth in Painting (1987).

This is a study of non-objective (abstract) painting in "western art historv" throuzh the filter of deconstruc~. . tion in an effort to realize uninvented painting forms.

This exhibition will explore possibilites of new forms that emerged through the artist's diligent practice.

Throughout the ntn of this show, Edzed will intensity the exhibition by adding more work to the gallery's exhibition space. This action reflects the artist's obsessive working process. producing an exhibition that will both overwhelm the viewer & beckon them back for more. Visitors are encouraged to return throughout the exhibition to witness it changing.

Despite his practice spanning 30 years, Edzy Edzed has rarely exhibited in public galleries. Come get a glimpse of a collection that until recently has been concealed in storage units throughout Vancouver.

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Spring Flamenco at Carnegie on Saturdays

March 5 - April 23: 1 - 2pm Beginner 2 - 3pm Intermediate Learn history, rhythms, dance techniques of southern Spain. No experience necessary for the beginner class. DIe! Instructor: Kelty McKerracher

Before a Lantern Green ...

"No evil shall escape my sight" - Green Lantern Oath

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I am the whiteness of bone I am the memory of injustice I am the point of hone.

I can sense a future where only the rich are free Enough of the rich can sense it too.

It was the hormonal stench of their anticipation that revealed their vision to me.

Not to 'worry though: I read a poem when I was eight. ..

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A call into the Disability Alliance of BC didn't get a response by press time. The question: "A couple of people I know have been told that their Care Aides can no longer help with household chores, no longer do laundry, no longer assist them with things they cannot do themselves. Is this cutback of services

province-wide?"

Tone Perfect: Reflection on the friendly Giant "Eight miles high ... " The Byrds The true gentleness of his self spilled out into the world when he spoke.

Hearing him as it child does was unavoidable Having heard him while a child. I am saved whenever I hear the tone of his voice.

Stephen Belkin

As the cartoon (reprinted from a DERA Guide from the late 70's) shosvs, landlords used to claim that their "maid service" exempted them from the Residential Tenancy Act regulations. And it did until people got organised. How many people living ill SRO hotels have ever seen a maid?

A more detailed article on this will come next issue.

If you are disabled 8:.. get some attention from a Care Aide. let us know if this crap is affecting you. If your aide's hours &/or what they are permitted to do has been cut back or restricted, there needs to be a public outcry. Christy Clark is doing this kind of garbage right now with the Budget announcement of more money for the disabled that is getting clawed back by cancelling the Bus Pass program and making BC Housing raise rents based on the new rates. Talk about vindictive ...

PRT [PS: IS all the money being "saved" going to pay for luncheons & consultation fees for her LNG owners"]

Carnegie Community Action Project March, 2016, Newsletter BC Budqet: Is tiny disability increase being used to hide destruction of bus pass program?

Guaranteed Income Supplement) can buy an annual 3 zone bus pass for $45. Most people with disabilities who have a bus pass have this $45 a year pass.

Victoria Bull at ACORN rally for higher disability rates, Feb 2016.

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BC has a bus pass program where people with disabilities and low income seniors (who receive the

The BC Budget has announced that, beginning Sept 1, people on disability benefits will get a $77 increase minus the $52 a month cost of their bus pass. But people on disability don't pay $52 a month for their bus pass. They pay $3.75 a month ($45 divided by 12).

The Liberal government rationalized the deduction of $52 from the disability increase, saying they think it is "unfair" that some people get the 1

pass and some don't. What is really unfair is that people with disabilities, whether they get the pass or not, have to live on such a miniscule amount of money, $906 a month going up to $931 for people who get a bus pass.

that the Liberal government will next want to take the bus pass from low income seniors, saying that its "unfair" that they get more money (about $1344 a month for the basic Old Age Pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement) than people with disabilities?

Does this deduction of the $52 from people with disabilities mean

BC housing announcement mostly spin and little substance In February the BC government announced that it would spend $355 million over the next 5 years to build up to 2000 "affordable" housing units. The government claimed that this was an "historic" announcement.

However, the money referred to in the announcement is not a new investment by the BC government, it is the expected revenue that will be gained from the Non-Profit Asset Transfer Program i.e. the sale of BC Housing buildings to non-profits in the coming years. This reinvestment was already announced in the 2015 BC housing Service Plan. At that time it amounted to $418 million spread out as follows: $35M for 2014/2015; $174M for 2015/16; $140M for 2016/17; and $69M for 2017/18.

The press release further claims that since 2001, the Province has added more than 24,750 new units of affordable housing. However, most of this support in recent years has been focused in three areas: rental assistance supplements, new emergency shelter beds, and the purchase of existing SRO (single room occupancy) hotels. While shelter beds and maintaining SRO hotels are necessary, they do not create actual new low-income housing units.

Building up to 2000 "affordable" housing units over the next five years is not "historic." In the 1980's between the mid 1970s and early 1990s, BC built between 1000 and 1500 units of social housing a year.

Furthermore, "affordable" housing does not necessarily mean that people who are homeless or low 2

income will be able to afford the housing. According to the new definition of social housing used in the City of Vancouver, only one third of social housing has to be available to single people whose income is under $36,500.

With rapid gentrification and high housing prices causing more homelessness in places like the

Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Victoria, Maple Ridge, and Abbotsford, and with homeless people having half the life expectancy as others in Vancouver, BC needs a housing program that builds at least 10,000 units a year in order to meet the real need and end homelessness. $355 million over 5 years is a pittance compared to the dire need.

New social housing may exclude low-income people Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is asking the federal government for half a billion dollars to build social housing on $250-million worth of city-owned land. We welcome the City's plan to put aside city-owned land for social housing, but we are worried that this plan will exclude homeless people and low-income people on fixed income: the very people who need housing the most.

That's because the City changed the definition of social housing in 2014.

The new definition means that not a single unit of "social housing" outside the DTES will be required to rent at the welfare shelter rate ($375).

Worse still, according to the City's definition the majority of units don't even have to be remotely affordable to low income people.

The new city-wide definition of social housing states that social housing is rental housing where at least 30% of tenants have incomes below the BC Housing lncorpe Limits. HILs represents the income required to pay the average market rent for an appropriately sized unit in the private market. In Vancouver, the income required to afford a bachelor apartment is $36,500. This means that if an affordable rent is deemed to be 1!J of a person's income, the HILs market rent for a bachelor can be up to $912 a month.

The HIL's also changes with the market conditions. In 2014, the HILs rate for a bachelor unit was $875 and by 2015 it had risen to $912.

The only requirement for the other 70% of units is that they are rental

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units owned by a non-profit and governed by a housing agreement with the City. There are no upper caps on rents for these units.

While the City's proposal to the Federal government would only provide 225 units in the Downtown Eastside over the next 6 years, of those, only one-third, or 74 units would have to be at welfare rate.

That's a mere 12 units per year to deal with 836 already homeless people and hundreds more people

being forced from SRO hotels because of high rents.

According to CCAP organizer Debra Mcnaught "We need social housing, yesterday." "Why is the city not listening to the needs of the people in the Downtown Eastside, who need housing at the shelter rate?" Fraser Stuart, also volunteer with CCAP, says "social housing that rents for $900 will not end homelessness in Vancouver."

The City's definition of Social Housing

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Our Homes Can't Wait: Campaign Proposal CCAP is working to get DTES groups focused on ending homelessness and getting better housing for people stuck in SRO hotels. After two town hall meetings, 2 meetings of the housing campaign organizing committee and consultations with different DTES groups, this is what people want the goals of the campaign to be:

1. We need ten sites of social housing at shelter rate ($375)

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The City should use other city owned sites for the remaining four buildings or purchase new sites in the Downtown Eastside to meet the urgent need for housing.

This year saw record high homelessness in the Downtown Eastside, with 836 people living on the streets and in shelters. Despite the intensifying gentrification pressure and the worsening housing crisis, only a handful of new welfare rate social housing units will open in

2016. To stem the tide of displacement and to end homelessness, we need at least 10 sites of social housing with about 100 to 150 units on each site. These sites should be developed in collaboration with the low-income community and community groups.

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2. We need measures to improve and preserve SRO hotels In the Downtown Eastside over 300 affordable SRO rooms were lost in 2014. With new condos opening up across the Downtown Eastside we expect to lose hundreds more SRO units in the coming years as gentrification pushes up rents. The

existing SRO are inadequate, poorly maintained, bedbug, cockroach and rat infested. We need immediate action to protect SRO hotels, bring them up to livable standards and make sure people on welfare can afford the rents.

3. We need a rent freeze and rent control Low-income people across the city and province are continuously evicted and displaced by rising rents, renovictions and demolitions of existing affordable housing. We need stronger protection of all existing affordable housing. We

need to tie rent to the unit, instead of the tenant, that way landlords can't increase rents between tenancies.

We also need a rent freeze until welfare, pensions and minimum wages are increased a lot.

Next Meeting of Housing Campaign Organizing Group: 6-8pm, Wed, March 2nd, third floor of Carnegie

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Our Community Vision for Mental Health

The Carnegie Community Action Project is hosting weekly community planning meetings for a participatory research project on mental health in the Downtown Eastside (DTES).

These meeting follow 2 similar meetings and a Town Hall meeting in January.

Through the project we are hoping to shed light on how colonialism, racism, sexism, multi-generational oppression, poverty, SRO hotels, homelessness, low welfare rates, lack of supports and housing affect our mental health.

Some of the questions we will discuss are: why do we need our own community vision of mental health, how do we define and understand mental health and illness, and what are the most urgent

concerns regarding mental health in the community? To get involved and find out when the next meeting is, call Jean at 604 729 2380 or come to the CCAP office on the second floor of Carnegie.

Phoenix Winter is one of the people participating in the research project.

The Downtown Eastside is one of the least stigmatizing places for people with mental illness," she says. "That's part of our community vision for mental health. It gives us strength."

We want a community vision that centers and builds on the voices of community members with experiences of mental illness. We think that people with experience of mental illness are not just patients, but also experts on their own health.

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CCAP members to City Council: Homelessness to go up by hundreds On Feb 24th several CCAP volunteers went to city council to speak on a motion put forward by Green Councillor Adriane Carr. The motion was called "Urgent Actions to combat the growing homelessness crisis". In the end all the action in the motion was referred to staff for a report later in the year so nothing much happened, and it took 7 hours of waiting to have our say. But that didn't keep Joanne Shaw, Harold Lavender and Tracey Morrison from being eloquent when they spoke to Council.

Joanne Shaw

.â&#x20AC;˘.loanne Shaw: "You need to build .housinq. Make sure there's enough for people with wheelchairs."

Tracey Morrison: "A healthy city for who'} The developers? Change the definition of social housing to welfare, disability and pension rate."

Vancity Support for this prqject does not necessarily imply' Vancity's endorsement of the findings or contents of this news/etler

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Tracey Morrisson

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To the editor [Ottawa Citizen] An old Chinese curse goes. "May you live in interesting times." It certainly was interesting yesterday in Ottawa, the new centre of Canada's post-federalelection universe--riding the OC Transpo Bus #97 ~outh Keys (#6550) along Slater Street about 4:30 pm just before the Mackenzie Street Bridge stop (in front of the federal Department of National Defense and the Rideau Centre Shopping Mall).

An Ottawa Civil Service Mandarin got on my crowded bus and loudly tried to throw his weight around. no doubt something to do with the quality of bus service resulting from the giant snowstown which had hit Ottawa=sorry, I mean, Centreville, Canada (and definitely not Torontoj=a couple of days earlier, and was rewarded for his kind efforts by being evicted from the bus by a cool, calm, no nonsense driver obviously tired of getting an earful from irate, self-important. obtuse passengers having no idea of the difficultv of handling an articulated bus in the dead of Canadian winter and therefore unloading their frustrations on the overworked, all-too-convenient, public service sector bus drivers.

1 have witnessed this same type of inconsiderate, puerile drivel over and over again in formerly Toryprivileged Ottawa, my home town, to a disgusting. nauseating degree. Some stupid a$$hole who thinks they are second only to the Prime Minister because they know someone in the PMO imagines they can have a lowly civil service worker fired for refusing to publicly metaphorically "suck his cock" and thus render what they believe to be appropriate service to them, such as drive them to the front doorstep of their house. help th路m get their jammies on. and tuck them into bed with a goodnight kiss and a mint on their fluffy pillow.

The crybaby Ottawa Mandarin who was sorelv thuslv inconvenienced had all the ordinary, tired ofti~e . workers=including me, on the way to a life-and-death medical appointment-on the bus thrown off outside DND. and the bus halted in the middle of a verv cold and very busy rush hour, while they no doubt \~hil1ed on the phone to their PNIO buddy that they'd "never been so insulted on all their life" by such an obviously lower class plebe, and why aren't they fired immediately, they're lucky to have a job, and on and on ad nauseam.

Lord, please spare us meddling. narrow-minded, clas- .

sist idiots with no concept of respect for their fellow man beyond what is immediately purchasable with a fistful of loonies. The overworked driver thanked me for trying to save his job. while the arrogant. conceited little nobody second only to the f;-rim~ Minister was laughing to his power-buddies about how important he was by comparison to a lowly pawn here in Centreville, Canada. the Worker's Paradise.

Yours truly, Rolf Auer, poet

Torture Many years. ago me and some friends were invited to go to the Washington Hotel by this man. He was East Indian and very obese; anyway we went.

When the wine was all gone I was the last one to walk out the door. That man grabbed me, pulled me back through the door and locked it. He threw me on the bed and said there was a large basket under the bed with a reptile in it. He said if 1moved he would throw that reptile on the bed. I was terrified.

I went through a terrible ordeal. He bit me all over my breasts and chest and my abdomen. I was in excruciating pain but 1 didn't cry or yell.. I didn't want t~ gi:'e that sadist the satisfaction - that was why I didn't make no noise.

The torture went on for hours, then he let me go. 1 was black & blue with bite marks half an inch thick.

I didn't report him because I didn't want Welfare to take my son.

Two months went by and that man was outside the Washington going to his room and somebody slashed his throat from ear to ear. The police never did find out who did that.

Be Careful Out There.

Marlene Wuttunee

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THE SILENCE AGE Portraits of vanity in every held high hand these mortal coils brag of being wireless yet they power up eleventy gadgets ( will never understand the ink police are looking for St.Minus again, just when you think it's safe to take control they put your head back into a toilet bowl remember whose is on first second base is taken by when, other countries would simply have me killed-what an entertaining thought the thugs & cops would be absolutely thrilled barkeep give me a zin & tonic with all atomic blast & Mr Clean chasers for the evil ones, naysayers are rumbling in the aftermath of non-existent glories (they are very quiet) that is to say tomorrow they'll be gunning for anything . with a pulse & a spine tv.elj s-peil.k>. wLtv. LOil.clecl guvvs, _ rh human race's taking donations as accomplishments are few & far between the displaced feel betrayed being harassed every morning'noonn night fear triggers aggression now that is simply evil you motherflickers know what I mean your Helen Keller routine don't worketh here, where/when pens are the equivalent of automatic machine guns the race for peace will be obsolete just a date in future history books people will be pawning their Nobel Peace Prizes for a dollar or two when one&once&forall mean nothing no one at least in public will feel sorry for you by then there will be an entirely new svstem to fear Kingdoms come then they go the House of Lords will be what they always have been Extortionists Inc. swell guys with more- sleeves than tricks this will be a third-hand world if we continue to shower radiance on these repugnantly expensive minds full of inad miss ible alienation that would make the devil himself sick -let the dramatist'the miscastthe outcast speak, this delicate balance has to grasp hope & learn how to release regret or soon every single seasonll be regreeted with worrisome discontent as the ever-present Sun begins its pattern of glorious sunsets over 4 & a half billion years & it's never let LIS down or sprung a leak, Silence can start an end-of-the-world retirement fund with all proceeds going to the empty-hearted ones who've everything to say but no one to say it to let alone to listen to the problems they've made clear they don't give a shite about -People in Need- let 'cm all die, like trying to pick up a date where women go to confirm the deceased was their husband before the final act of pulling the sheet over his face this place's not so silent as the bereaved scream ya know other

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than screaming silence will rule this land (can empathy keep pace") I wish this weren't true but my conscience will not let me lie, selfishness is breaking records as the next generation believes the only number that matters is their birth year -as for every other letter'sign'rnonogramdesign & every other number can be shredded then scattered in the area beside the garbage can Fuck this planet someone else can clean it up if not it will biodegrade in a couple hundred thousand years environmental cases aren't so popular as this toilet with unlimited garbage space grows by population not brainwave creations to no end will! stop writing about a planet I love as for its people: kill us all: radiation from below & above There are times when the only thing ( can offer this beautiful planet are my pure & honest tears, like the captivity fashion statement trying to stem high tidal flows with a bigger plunger or a Tour de China bicycle race where looking through the smog is harder than biking upwards for 12 or 14 hours Mankind just cannot keep pace Mankind's stupidity is my one true & soon end of our world fear.

"How far that little candle throws its beams. So shines a good deed in a naughty world," -Shakespeare

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FIGHT THAT LANDLORD To the tune of: You Can't Always Get What You Want 1 saw him today in the flophouse; A rent increase in his hand.

He's practiced in the art of eviction.

Sometimes, you've just gotta take a stand.

Chorus: You can't always get a fair deal.

You can't always get a fair deal.

You can't always get a fair deal.

But if you fight him in court, The judge might find, He's guilty as hell!

Set up a meeting with your neighbours.

Learn the Tenants' Bill of Rights.

Create a list of all the awful problems: No hot water, no heat; just bedbug bites.

Chorus You are 110tjust a victim.

Stand up for what you know is right.

Let the greedy owner know you won't take it.

You won't go down without a fight!

Chorus The above song was written during the Zipper Song Workshop at the Carnegie Community Centre on Feb 13. .

COPSHOP DEATHSTAR* GENTRTFICATlON TECn HUB: A STORY OF BETRAYAL Part 2

By Formerly Homeless Dave Last Carnegie Issue I explained how Mayor RobertSOI1. the Vancouve Economic Commission and Vancity Bank were plotting to develop a TechHub at the old Copshop -312 Main St- by stealth if 1 you prefer. by gifting us a Trojan horse, not of our wanting or needs.

This would be a precedent setting model developed by the City and Vancity bank. But those are the overt overlords. who is the invisible hand behind this gentrification & displacement push in the DTES? It is the Development Industry who can no longer depEnd on foreign money to buy high priced Condos & Houses.

So they devise a plan to turn Vancouver into a worldclass Tech-Hub. Why? Because the Tech sector generally makes a lot more average income than other economic sectors. Hence. it is a prime mover of Gentri-

fication and Displacement in cities across north americaincluding San Francisco. New York and now Vancouver.

Bloornberg news recently described Vancouver DTES Gastown as "Gastown, the city's equivalent of San Francisco's startup-heavy Mission District". Mission 20yrs ago was a poor, working class heavily Latino Hispanic neighborhood. It has been described as "ground zero in the war against gentrification and displacement and the fight for the Heart and Soul of San Francisco". They lost-vir now costs nearly $3000 a month for a studio apartment there.

This future awaits the DTES including Chinatown. if this TechH ub precedent goes through--pressing the speed dial button 011 gentrification and displacement.

Tech start-ups across Canada, the US and China etc will be clamoring to get "cheap space" in the DTES. As this issue comes out iwould of met Andy Broderick a senior executive at Vancity Bank who is in charge of the project. The meeting was arranged by Vancity's CEO Tamara Vrooman. [ would of told him these things and alot more. And I would of reminded him of the promise he made me 3yrs ago when we had a meeting over my Hunger Strike demands concerning the Copshop. He promised me that he would not do a project, especially a gentrification project, at the Copshop without cornmunity approval. I asked him to define community approval. He said 98%. My witnesses were Fraser Stewart and Wendy Pedersen, who are willing to sign a sworn affidavit. Catherine Ludgate of Vancity was also there.

Lastly, 1 found out that, as of now there are NO LEASES signed attached to the project. So it is especially important that our Famalia, PIVOT LEGAL. BC CIVIL LIBERTIES ASSOC, ECO.lUSTICE, THE VANCOUVER DISTRICT LA BOUR COUNCIL, use their collective financial, political, moral and ethical clout to stand in solidarity with our majority Low-Income community and say they will not take space in theCopshop unless the Techl-Iub is scratched.

Furthermore I will be demanding that the Techl-lub be replaced by an Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Center and the 5th and 6th floors be used as Emergency Social Housing connected to the I Iealing centre.

The Fight for our Heart and Soul has begun ...

Lamentations twenty-one May You Live in Interesting Times: Welocome Bienvenue to Vancouver, Canada

Welkomrnen

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Everybody wants to buy our land To tear down some big new houses To construct something more cost-effective Cost nexus being the measure of a man Nowadays

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Used to be deeds or valour Those shining knights on steeds white or goldeI Decemb~r 2008, Jason & Jasmina, who started the filmproject with me Wearing their lady's delicate lace scarf ~ Usually winning the prizes-At least in the stories we children were fed Ah, the Middle Ages! r=:': --"....-.....' _.._----l \ Realities kept at bay

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But now we're toe to toe with the "real world" Nature (ours) red in tooth and claw The old food chain Dog eat dog world of hospitality But, dogs were never this vicious Unless trained by "humans" to be so We "humans" are more cat-like Vain and solitary of spirit.

.

Tigers, lions and just plain ole alley cats Looking out for their own comfort And their kittens ...

So now we have "the Pigs" ruling Apparently "they have the technology" Our friend the cow Our friend the Ja b Our friends the camel and the horse Taking a back seat on the bus to Mecca & Pretoria We still eat them -- our porcine brothers BLItwe have to get them before they turn and rend LIS. West Coast Spring?

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Somewhere Else (By Marina Leblhuber:

I'm writting this letter from Vienna - the place where 'I live and work now.)

In 2009 I started a filmproject with my friend and artist Jasmina Hirschl in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. I lived nearby at the time and learned about the community's history and its social and political struggles. Facing the event of the Winter Olympics in 2010, gentrification speeded up and Iow-income people would loose their homes due to speculation and high end condominium development. Residents feared that the political climate towards them would worsen and that the City might remove the homeless from the streets to forcibly bring them out of the city, as it happened during the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996. The bashing of the socially marginalized was noticeable in Vancouver's media. I remember a newspaper article that headlined how much a homeless person costs the City.

I also learned through conversations with residents about initiatives in the neighbourhood that offered services to people in need. I was impressed by the work done at the Supervised Injection Site, an institution that significantly downsized the infections of HI V To open the doors of the First United Church to offer people a place to sleep in the sanctuary showed a radical understanding of spirituality. I met people with mental health issues that managed to receive and keep a decent place to live with the help of Rainbow City Housing. Carnegie Community Center seemed like a living room for the neighbourhood, where residents would meet friends, have lunch, play games, read books from the library or participate in a course. The committment of the lawers & non-lawers working at the Pivot Legal Society fighting for the rights ofmarginalized people certainly is outstanding. In 2013 they helped sex workers living in poverty get listened to at the Supreme Court of Canada and as a result struck down harmful laws.

The unique approaches of offering community services through initiatives run by the Portland Hotel Society show what could be possible. Clients could as well be workers or volunteers, help can be unbureaucratic and therefore effective in the right moment. People who cannot particpate in a regular work environment can produce goods and contribute to society if their specific condition is respected. In the end it seemed to me that the Downtown Eastside has an economy of its own. It consists of receiving and contributing -, lik~ any other economy - but is capable oftranscending regulations that marginalize and harm people. This kind of economy is partly not bound to money, but it depends on the wider society willing to let them operate their own way.

Last summer I was in Vancouver for a visit. I didn't work on any new project. It was nice to meet acquaintances and friends, whom I haven't seen for five years and also to get to know about new initiatives in the DTES. Sarah Common introduced me to her project Hives for Humanity. I'm very fond of this project that trains folks to become beekeepers and also connects people through producing honey, soaps, candles and other products that are sold at the Window-Shop on Hastings Street. Am Johal from SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement guided me throug the facilities at the university. I learned about projects and open classes, which intend to connect academic and community knowledge. At their modern theatre they host speeches and screenings that often are related somehow to the DTES. In 2014 they organized a screening of Somewhere Else is Here. While I couldn't be there in person, Hendrik Beune introduced the screening, as he was part of the film. He was a speaker in front of the camera, but also contributed his own film material. I didn't manage to meet everyone who participated in the film during my visit last summer. But I did meet Helen Hill at the Potluck Cafe. She wore flowers in her hair and she still welcomed people in her own refreshing way as ifno time has passed. I feel lucky to have had the oportunity to work with people, who inspire me to this day. I would like to thank everyone for their unique contribution and their trust. A few have left, they are now somewhere else.

The conversations I had with people living and working in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside resulted in a filmcoIIage, titled Somewhere Else is Here. [Our website: www.somewhereelseishere.com/If interested in a dvd please contact Hendrik Beune: hendrikbeune@gmail.com]

CRUNCH

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cites

NEIGHBOURHOOD SMALL GRANTS Welcome to Neighbourhood Small Grants in 2016. We are very excited about the year ahead, and look forward to keeping you up-to-date with our work as small grants become available throughout the lower mainland and beyond.

Lower mainland communities open for application!

Vancouver Foundation and our local community partners are very proud to announce that Neighbourhood Small Grants and Greenest City Neighbourhood Small Grants are back for communities across the lower mainland. We are excited to give local people the opportunity to bring their community building ideas to life.

Grants of up to $500 are now available for residents living in 17 communities throughout Vancouver, the North Shore, Burnaby, North Surrey, New Westminster and Richmond.

Looking for inspiration?

You can come up with all kinds of creative ideas to bring people together and build community. Previous grants have supported street theatre, block parties, community gardens, arts and craft workshops, habitat protection, and much more.

You could check out the stories section of our website to hear from project leaders who have run great community projects in your neighbourhood. Or watch the videos on our homepage to take an even deeper dive on a few projects from 2015.

Applicants are encouraged to think about ways to help communities build strong connections between residents, share skills and knowledge, build a sense of ownership & pride, and respect and celebrate diversity. Anything that makes your neighbourhood a better place to live!

Vancouver Foundation, 200-475 W Georgia, Van 6B 4M9 vancouverfoundation.ca info@vancouverfoundation.ca - Neighbourhood

Small Grants team

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Indigenous women played a key role in defeating the misogynist and racist Harper Tory government. (Photos on this page by Ed Bil)

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AIDS POVERTY HO~ELESSNESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ABORIGINAL GENOCIDE -TOTALITARIAN CAPITALISM IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR.

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