May 15, 2015 carnegie newsletter

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MAY 15, 2015

NEW SLETTER .401MainStreet. Vancouver V6AID

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604-665.2289

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The Doors of Perception are older than dirt There was an article in one of the free morning weekday papers where the columnist was outraged at the concept, just entering reality (hers, anyway), of new condo buildings having a separate entrance for the "social housing" units mandated by current permits.

You know, where the developer can only get perks like greater density, more floors, not having to waste as much space on green areas or parking or whatever in exchange for including a minimal number of units for the "less fortunate" - a condescending monikor as putrid in said developer's mouth as "social" anything.

Behind all the rhetoric about treating people as people and other obvious infuriations is the great void in that writer's consciousness: HELLO! Maybe you'd get a better picture if you go to the Woodwards complex & see that the housing for poor people isn't even close to that for the wealthy; none of the luxurious amenities provided for those able to scrape together $300,000 to $2.4 million out oftheir stashes are even seen by anyone from the neighbourhood.

Ditto for the string of highrises at the Main & National area (the old Expo lands). To satisfy the permit system in the early '90's the developer had to include 50 units (out of over 800 condos for $400K & up) for low-income people. There the playground for kids is fenced off so children from wealthy families don't have to play with or even mix with those from nonwealthy families.

Of course such distinctions are based on class, which doesn't ever happen in enlightened/classless societies like ours! The blatant point here is that such things as class are never talked about in media, be it radio, TV or newspapers, unless it's everybody's favourite - the "middle-class."

This is beginning to read like a rant. Maybe the work in 24 or Metro is ground-breaking; maybe it's a breath offresh air that such advertising-dependent media is printing such a piece exposing this callous trend. It is rare to say the least... Who knows? Maybe the next article will talk about how the rich speculators create & perpetuate poverty; maybe even support taxing those who buy condos just to leave them vacant until they appreciate in value enough to make a bundle and get out. 'Fuck this "housing crisis"!!

It's estimated that over 13,000 condos are vacant in Van alone ...

By PAULR TAYLOR

DTES Small Arts Grants

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Opening Reception Wednesday, .Tune3,2015,7 - IOpm Artwork & performances from 45 recipients of the 2014-15 Small Arts Grants Program.

Please come and enjoy the video, literary and theatrical performances.

~TYor VANCOUVER

Vancity

THE LATEST STORY EVER TOLD Like a school of sharks on a hunger strike or slavewage workers denying they would like a pay raise! hike in a decade or 3 just maybe they will see actual monetary gain, our Prime Minister can't even spell British Colombia's name how sad yet when writing out cheques for his friends he is not half-bad & even if they bounce he always has us to blame. When it comes to happiness & unconfused minds we're not even known but when certain jobs are on the line we become the most wonderful people to behold yet, once the spotlight dims, we are cornered&branded defective then taught their version of right&wrong, Like a car on fire in line to get gas or playing a game of Rock Tag in a house built out of glass there are questions stuck in my mouth that have waited so long, now there may be only one world to be sold also may be just one story to be told but we will be the ones telling it far from the graves you've built for us .. we watch as black flowers grow in the sky their stupidity&futility helps the rest cif the world to hear our cry the strength to demand answers will take on a life of their own to discuss Now this is not a snap math quiz - mistakes will be made as mankind lingers along we are all human & have been sentenced to exist if god did create us it musthave been the day he was off finding financial

3 backers to invest in his Next Best Day. When it becomes sights to behold we are not very popular in this backyard we crawl in at a snail's pace but you must remember we are a simple yet complex entity we are the human race and some of the lower income tax bracket people have so much more to say, Now there are people who think ISIL is a pop group (close) but they have obviously passed their insanity exams & now can claim the truth which is they are insane(!) let's give them brain tumour phones as armour & send thedi to the Middle East (trust me, it will be our monumental gain) Saint Minus has warned us that over time our ideas & solutions will only make things worse, like designated drivers hitting their golf balls right in your kitchen sink or a newborn writing their memoirs talk about a head-start coming into this world Oh So Pink! Get used to it this is our zone of the universe.

By ROBERT McGILLIVRA Y

"That man is great, and he alone, who serves a greatness not his own, for neither praise nor pelf: Content to know and be unknown: Whole in himself." -Owen Meredith

HEAR YE, HEAR YE!!!

THE CARNEGIE BOARD ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD IN THE CARNEGIE THEATRE ON THURSDAY, JUNE 4TH 2015 @ 5:30 PM

Nominations were held on Thursday May th

To vote at the AGM on June 4

,

2015 your membership

ih, 2015 in the Theatre

card should have a date no later than MAY 5, 2015

No,y)' :f\~'7 .-----'

Mike Tapp Wilson Liang Phoenix Winter Priscillia Tait MargaretTeng

Adrienne Macallum Thelma Jack Gary Moore Debra McNaught

Lisa David Pat McSherry James Pau Fraser Stuart Sharon Kravitz

Shelters shouldn't be consideredbousing Re: "Homelessness goal in jeopardy," March 6.

Not that I Wish to add even more anguish to Penny Ballem's woe about insufficient housing capacity for the homeless, but if she wants to bring substance to the issue, albeit at the expense of self-congratulatory high-fiving with the mayor, she can remove from her calculations of any shelter beds she deftly lumps in with housing numbers.

Housinglhomes are places people come and go to at their leisure with a private entrance and a lock. It's also, with a few sad exceptions, a place where one can cook, bathe, sleep and entertain friends. Try that in a shelter.

It's frustrating indeed when people who should know better insist on manipulating definitions to satisfy the needs of bean-counters' projections at the expense of the value of human needs. If you remove shelter beds from the equation of Vancouverites without homes you'll come up with two things: Numbers that are enormous and depressing and an unsettling feeling that, for the foreseeable future, on the provincial government's watch things won't soon get a lot better.

Ian MacRae, Vancouver

CRIME This happened many years ago. I was living in the east end with my boyfriend and we got evicted when he wasn't home. I went to Oppenheimer Park to look for him. I was crying on a bench in te park because he wasn't there.

There were two people there, a man & a woman.

The man had a cane & they didn't like me crying. The next thing I woke up on the ground & they were gone.

I took a bus home; Larry still wasn't there. Management came & told me I had to leave so I packed my clothes in a shopping bag, got some money for a taxi & went to the Women's Centre. There I got money for a shelter a long way away. When I got there dinner was going on but I couldn't eat. The lady at the shelter asked me a lot of questions that I guess I answered right.

In the morning a man took me to Surrey Memorial Hospital where they put me in a kind of straight jacket so I couldn't leave. What I didn't know was that I had an aneurysm (blood clot) on my brain from the man in the park hitting me in the back of the head with his cane. I died 3 times before it dissolved itself. When I woke p the nurse said that as soon as I could walk to the Nurses' Station I could go home.

Every day these twp policewomen from Vancouver bought me a newspaper. After trying to walk to the Nurses Station day after day I finally made it but it was difficult.

I got a place to live and was grateful to be alive; not so many do live through that.

When I got to Vancouver I found out the names of the two in the park. Three months later that woman was murdered in Vancouver. I never saw that man with the cane again.

Marlene Wuttunee

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Full details at dtesnhouse.ca Or adrnin@dtesnhouse.ca Deadline Noon ~onday,Junel,2015

Death Makes a Phone Call Attention: You don't have to' be smart to sit where I'm sitting You just have to sit and guard the phone and on either side of this shabby second floor desk ~body can sit, pretty much At the Carnegie a lousy loonie includes access past the Charon guarding the 2ndfloor phone you can call anywhere you like as long as it's local and you don't even have to be dead But Her, I don't think she got that memo skin actually mauve Mauve. and grey Dripping sweat, shiny with it Eyes underscored by dead black flesh I need to call Buddy to get a ride to DETOX, she said Open-mouthed and with due haste and horror This Charon scrambled to back away from the Ferry No questions asked, No pink card required I hope she made it dmc

Cut Ftowers Taken from the Garden, Your beauty confined, against your nature, indoors.

Under glass, on display for any passerby to see, Every part visible to the world.

Yet open to each new day, Heads turning to follow the passage of the sun.

'Closing only when the light fades, ~~C-""'I \ \(' At the end. ~ife sustaining water drawn through severed stems, 'Unaware they are already dead.

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Christine David

DTES Small Arts Grants 2015 Recipients:

Create your artist page Oil our website! vancou verfou ndationsma Llarts.ea We encourage this year's DTES Small Arts Grants recipients to consider creating an artist page to share and showcase your art and projects! It does not require computer skills.

If you are interested; please visit Kay on Fridays (by mid-June) at DTES Small Arts Grants office (Basement) between 1pm-5pm to get more information!

I told you long ago I came back here to die Maybe not today or tomorrow This big land of ancient trees Trees that have witnessed the rise & fall of many peoples The Native aboriginals The European explorers The settlers with axes end crosscut saws To destroy the forests of redwood, pine, tamarack & spruce To divert the sparkling waterfalls To dam the might Fraserfor power Later the refugees from foreign wars A Western whales tail from China, Japan, India and on I was intimidated Having grown up among small evergreens and hardwoods The Atlantic Ocean was the source of my intimidation The cruelty of the Canadian people Their fear of diseases we may be bringing in Plus ea change, plus le meme chose.

At five years old I suffered under the vicious "strap" Administered by an adult teacher My pudgy fingers felt real pain for the first time I had no friends as the neighbours kept their children away from us We "dirty refugees" My cousins became my only social contact Apart from school To be continued ....

Wilhelmina

D eborah Littman's superpower is connecting people' to people.

On any given day, she's juggling any number of issues - introducing union members at Inglewood to sympathetic church members in West Vancouver, taking a delegation of leaders to meet with the mayor, or hosting a forum on the transit referendum in Richmond. It's her passion for building relationships and finding solutions that drives Littman. She takes that passion into her work with Metro Vancouver Alliance The Alliance is a non-partisan group of over 50 labour, faith, community and educational organizations, believing that by working together we have the power to change our communities for the better. But according to Littman, developing the trust needed to make that change among uncommon allies takes time. She has a long-term vision for the possibilities that can be achieved through making these connections. Littman says the organizations that people are part of outside of their workplace are the bedrock of the Alliance: "The mosques, temples, churches.community-centres, unions and other groups are the organizations that build the Alliance, which in turn builds stronger communities for all of us:' [The Camegie Community Centre Association is one of the founding organisations of the MVA. Deborah has done ongoing workshops with the Board & yet some are hoping for evidence of effectiveness.]

Littman's perseverance - she's been workirig with community leaders to pull the Alliance together in Vancouver since 2011 - recently reached a tipping point, when 800 people from 50 organizations turned out for a municipal election accountability assembly last October. And it demonstrated that working differently by focusing on people, has the power to make a huge impact. "Often groups go to a city council and ask politely for something. Politicians may tell you they'll have a look at your proposal:' says Littman.

"But if 50 organizations say they want the same thing, with one voice and one position, and there's a commitment to work together to make it happen, you get a different reaction."

Littrnan's philosophy is based on an international model of community organizing which operates on the principle of "power before program:' making Iistening a priority and directly asking people what they -need as a key first step. "If you miss listening to peopie, you don't ever focus on the issues that really I move people forward:' says Littman. "If you miss the I face-to-face time, you have a lot of empty action."

The process of creating personal ties and deepening I understanding across differences allows members of I the Alliance to agree on areas they can work on to' gether. This develops sustainability over the long haul, ensuring that members are working on the issues that matter most to them. Locally, the Alliance is campaigning on key demands related to housing, transit, poverty and social isolation. Once bonds are formed, Littman is passionate about getting people to the bargaining table, turning up the heat on employers, and holding politicians' feet to the fire. "The noI tion of making those in authority accountable to their 'communities is a powerful one for me:' says Littman.

Littman's work has significant potential to shift the way we think about coalition efforts. "Coming together to win something teaches diverse communities how to build bridges, and combats the corrosive influence of the right-wing press that tell us to blame each other for our troubles.

[This appears in the Hospital Employees' Union Newsletter, edited by Mike Old.]

7

National Aboriginal Day Planning - Oppenheimer Park is looking for volunteers who are interested in helping out during National Aboriginal Day Celebrations June 20th. If you are interested, please contact our volunteer coordinator Tina Eastman to secure your spot. Call her at 778-986-7301.

If you are interested in a table for your organization, please contact 604-253-8830 & talk to our staff.

"Please welcome new staff, Franklin Alexcee who successfully completed 14 weeks internship for Langara College recreation leadership diploma program with honours. He will be doing some recreational activities at the Park. Stay tuned!"

"Our weekly programs offer diverse activities - e.g. art workshops and open studios, soup, coffee, bingo, and movie For more information, please visit the Park to check our schedule.

Oppenheimer Park - DTI~:S Communities' Back Yard

To my dear Carnegie People: It's a wonderful day in May when we still know some people pray. It's a privilege to say that everybody here can have their say. If you care about others besides yourself you can forget about the day when you were put on the shelf.

Here you can find anew start & keep up the wonderful art & find new meaning in a life that was abandoned a long time ago. This family accepts everyone; that is why I love it so much.

I love my dear Ethel & Sindy & Sharon --especially Nicole- & last but not least our dear Paul Taylor.

They have the right touch. Never forget our dear Carnegie Centre.

Love, Joyce Morgan

The paradox of our situation is that knowledge has not made us conscious. Instead, we've sought refuge in a world of illusion where language is cut off from reality.

John Ralston Saul. 1995. the Unconscious civilization.

Community Interruptus: behind the rhetoric of community by d.b.d.

I t

To my dear Carnegie people, On our way, when we find a friend, we're so happy.

We never forget - it makes us rejoice 'cause we're his choice & we don't mind his voice that counts: we never let anything come between us we don't get!

When they try to disparage us we just take heart and encourage our friends - all of them!

Here's to Colleen, our beautiful Mother, our Queen of the Carnegie. She recognized this girl as Chuck's good wife - he'd given joy in life; she also cared about Sharon & her Heidi. She made our lives successful ones. It's to her credit that we are still alive.

God love her forever for what she did for us.

Love, Joyce Morgan

!

Compliments for volunteer labour are appreciated.

Some people ha~e more time than others to do this type of unpaid labour. We all need praise, not judgement. But let us not get carried away by our masks of magnificence. We get enough of that b.s. from the U.S. Of Amnesia. Following is my humble attempt at a dose of constructive criticism. Please remain open without resorting to a scenario of vindictive drama.

I am careful to avoid public displays of pretty personal words like so-called "community" that falsely portray a masked solidarity. The word community is bounced around with a rhyme until it begins to sound like the jingled sound-bytes that we hear in much advertising. Personal platitudes that are meant to protect one's own turf can become a betrayal of the need for a larger political and collective struggle which is not without some chaotic challenges both within and without.

Both on a personal and collective level we need to be cautious about who can become our genuine allies.

Some people will wear a mask of pretty graciousness in order to cover up their shadow side. And we all have a shadow side. We need to be aware that the

Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) JJQ Jti~*±~

{TtJJ§tlu NEWSLETTER Ji§R http://ccapvancouver.wordpress.com

May, 2015

Street Market to move to Powell St.

This site at Powell and Jackson will be the new home/or the Street Market.

It looks like the city will be getting its wish to move the Sunday Street Market out of a gentrifying part of the DTES and put it in the low income part, on a lot kitty corner to the north east corner of

Oppenheimer Park. Zoning in this area makes it difficult for developers to build condos.

(Continued on the next page ... .)

Page 1

The city has bought this lot for the Street Market and for a garden to be run by the Portland Hotel Society. Sometime, years in the future, the plan is to build housing on the site. The lot is big enough for 2 buildings so one building could be built first with the Street Market staying on one half of the property. Then the street market could move inside the new building and the second building could be built. But housing is years away and there are no commitments for funding and no commitments that people on welfare and disability or seniors on pensions will be able to afford the units.

The City held a meeting on May 5 to discuss future plans for the site with some community members. At the new site the Street Market will be able to operate more than its current one day a week.

The next steps for moving the market include setting up a community advisory group, making the site ready, and getting a development permit. Roland Clark of the Street Market said it could be 3 months before the market is set up on the new Powell St. site.

Some community members are concerned that when the market moves and opens more than one day a week, the city and police will crack down on vendors who sell on the street and not at the market. According the Mary Clare Zak, a city representative at the May 5th meeting, the city "has a right to manage vending." But, "before any ticketing we have to do as much as we can."

Many in the community are wondering what impact of moving the Street Market will have on the unsanctioned market on E. Hastings in front of the old bottle depot.

Austerity is a fancy word that hurts Austerity is a fancy word, like gentrification. But austerity hurts almost everyone in the Downtown Eastside. So we might as well learn what it means and how we can unite to fight back against it. That's what happened at a meeting of over 100 people on April at the Vancouver Public Library Main Branch.

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Page 2

Audrey Siegl of the Musqueam Nation opened the meeting, saying, "I'm extremely angry, frustrated, but also extremely motivated" to fight for justice. When we "connect as human beings," said Siegl, "We become unstoppable. " (Continued on the next page ...)

Austerity continued ...

Harsha Walia said that the closing of the Coast Guard station in Kitsilano is an example of austerity. "That's what austerity means, cutting services to people," she said. When there are cuts to women's centers, health care, education, and housing the money goes to provide for more "security", prisons and corporate bailouts. Austerity affects us all differently so we need to "be attuned to the differences while working together" to build a national campaign to stop austerity.

Austerity isn't just about cuts for ordinary people and breaks for the rich and corporations. It's also about creating vulnerable groups of people. So cuts to Employment Insurance make the unemployed vulnerable. The Temporary Foreign Worker program makes foreign workers vulnerable. Young people are vulnerable because of education cuts and lack of decent paying jobs. And, this is a key part of austerity: because these groups are struggling, they blame each other and not the government for creating their situations. One group is considered deserving and another not deserving. And when one group of workers blames temporary foreign (Continued on next page ... )

Governments justify austerity cuts by saying they have to control the deficit, said Reilly Yeo of Groundswell Economic Alternatives. But at the same time that they are cutting services, they are also cutting taxes for corporations so they don't have so much money to pay for services or to pay down the debt.

Yeo said that government could get $31 Billion more to pay for services by bringing in some new taxes that would hit the rich and corporations. These include an inheritance tax, ending oil subsidies, closing corporate tax loopholes, stopping tax evasion, and restoring corporate taxes to the same rate they were a few years ago. Yeo said that governments use technical jargon to explain these changes so that people's real, lived experiences won't determine what happens.

Page 3

Austerity continued .... workers for "stealing their jobs," for example, they are not uniting with these workers to work for a system where everyone has a decent job. Or when young people blame seniors for getting the good pension while they are stuck in low paid jobs, they aren't uniting with the seniors to fight for what's best for all. Or when some workers blame other workers who go on strike, they aren't uniting to ensure that all have fair pay.

Comedian Sean Devlin of ShitHarperDid, told the crowd that what's really happening is that we "are being asked to shrink hearts, not budgets."

Arielle dela Cruz Yip of the Philippine Women's Centre talked about the Live in Caregivers Program (LCP) where women from the Global South come to Canada to care for the elderly and children. .She called it the "privatization of health care for the upper and middle class" while there are no solutions for the working class. She said the Philippine workers are put into a situation like modern slavery which is racist and unjust. The Temporary Foreign Worker program and LCP "are working class issues and we need to build solidarity together," said dela Cruz.

Page 4

"Austerity is a cover for government to shift wealth from many to the few who hide the wealth from taxation," said Adrienne Montani of First Call. "Then government says it has .no monev."

As " austerity proceeds, wages go down, services are cut, users have to pay for more services, like health care.

"Indigenous people have been dealinsc .

WIth austerity for many centruries," Grand Chief Stewart Phillip told the group. "Europeans looked around paradise and told us they could manage things better. After a several hundred years things are getting worse. There's been a devastating impact on the . vulnerable and on global warming and climate change."

•

"We all have a duty to share our knowledge, energy and gifts and do something about it:' said ChiefPhillip.

The meeting ended with small groups talking about how to unite all the groups affected by austerity to build a movement for ajust society.

Vancity Support for tnie project does not necessarily Imply. Vancity's endorsement of the findings or contents of this newsletter

Raising the Rates is about Justice

Raise the Rates folks on the steps of the Victoria Legislature. Front: Fraser Doke.

Middle row left to right: Harold Lavender, Wilson Liang, Terry MacDonald, Victoria Bull, Phoenix Winter. Back row left to right: Fraser Stuart, Bill Hopwood, Thelma Jack, Samantha Truong, Rene Flamand, Dana Burgess.

"Raising the rates is about justice."

That's what Wilson Liang told a committee of provincial NDP members of the legislature on May 6 in Victoria.

the Rates who went to Victoria to try to talk the NDP into putting forward a strong message that welfare rates need to go up substantially.

Liang was one of 13 people with Raise

(Continued on next page ...)

Page 5

Raise the rates continued ...

"People have no housing, can't make ends meet, and sometimes have to make terrible choices to survive," Harold Lavender, told the NDP members.

Victoria Bull talked about raising her granddaughter on welfare and having to volunteer in the neighbourhood to get food for herself so she'd have enough money to buy food for her granddaughter.

Two people who took the Welfare Food Challenge last October told the MLAs that they had a really hard time living with just $21 for a week's worth of food.

They talked about being hungry, losing weight, and not being able to socialize with their friends.

Bill Hopwood of Raise the Rates explained that its actually cheaper for governments to end poverty than to maintain it.

Michelle Mungal, the NDP critic for welfare responded that they would do what they do every year, and highlight that the rates are not enough. The Raise the Rates delegation responded that they wanted the NDP to actually come out and say that rates should go up substantially and that the NDP would raise them if they were government.

Page 6

The most positive response to the Raise the Rates delegation came from Judy D' arcy, an MLA from New Westminister. She said people came to her constituency office every day saying it's impossible to make ends meet on welfare. "I can't say what we'll do," said D'arcy. 'We'll talk about it. We know something has to be done. It's unacceptable. " Raise the Rates also met with people from two Victoria anti-poverty groups, Together Against Poverty and Faith in Action, to share stories of what we have been doing and what we might do together.

Raise the Rates complains to Global TV Raise the Rates has sent a formal complaint to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council about Global TV's coverage of the Walk to Raise Welfare on May 31. The news item said that people on welfare were "takers".

The Raise the Rates complaint says, "To lump all aspects of a person who happens to need welfare or disability into "tax taker" is a false_stereotype and encourages discrimination against them."

Nine groups ask Ombudsman to investigate welfare service reductions ACCESS

DENIED SHUT OUT of BC Welfare

ACCESS

DENIED

people of critical income support to which they are legally entitled."

Lobat Sadrehashemi, staff lawyer with PIAC, told the news conference that the barriers include closing welfare offices, centralizing phone service with inadequate staff to answer phones, and requiring people to access more and more services on line rather than face to face with a real person.

"There has been virtually no response when problems are pointed out to the Ministry," added Chris Sutherland, an advocate at The Kettle in Vancouver.

Left to right: Chris Sutherland, Lobat Sadrehashemi and Amber Prince launch their appeal to the Ombudsman to investigate welfare ministry service reductions.

Nine service agencies have asked the BC Ombudsman to investigate service reductions at BC welfare offices. In a news conference on May 12, the groups, represented by the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), allege that the BC "government has created insurmountable barriers that deprive

"People are turned away from offices and told to call a central phone with no option to leave a message," added Amber Prince, an advocate with ATIRA Women's Resource Society.

Speakers at the news conference stressed that people who need welfare often don't have phones or have phones that use up minutes and can't wait long times on hold. They also said the 90 screen on line welfare application process that is in English only is too complicated for many people.

It could be months before we know if the Ombudsman will review the situation.

Page 7

Yet another crane rears its head in Chinatown Walking down Main St., it's difficult not to notice that another crane has now propped up in Chinatown. It was to be expected, as the Framework project on 231 E. Pender, just east of Main St. had already been approved by City Council.

What is particularly symbolic about this development project is that when the 8storey, 61 condo unit building is built, it will cover the "Welcome to Vancouver's Chinatown" mural, painted in 2009.

It's an ominous sign for a neighbourhood that is rapidly changing.

With 759 unaffordable housing units coming into the neighbourhood but only 11 affordable units, the history and richness of the Chinese community in .Chinatown is being marginalized and at risk of being forgotten.

There seems to be no end in sight for the rapid development of Chinatown, as various sites have been sold and others are on sale.

Meanwhile, regarding the redevelopment project on 105 Keefer St., located by the Chinese Railway Workers and War Veterans Memorial on Columbia St., there still has not been any official public update.

Page 8

Following the petition campaign that culminated with a rally at City Hall on March 3rd, the Chinatown Concern Group has continued to meet, plan, and . strategize on next steps the group will take to address this threat to Chinatown and to advocate for more low-income housing to be built in the area.

If you want to follow the Concern Group's work, we encourage you to join the emaillist; simply send an email to chinatownconcemgroup@gmail.com if you are interested.

mask of niceness can flip over into the expressive undercurrent of a repressed rage which can turn into a vindictiveness - if we let it.

I want to avoid a romantic rendition of a community that does not yet, in reality, always exist. Alienation is rampant and a daily dose of 'good morning, how do u do?' amongst particular members of a turfed out community cannot always overcome this reality. Have you ever noticed how some people will voice this polite formality while they are busy with their own stuff and do not really want to listen to what is going on with you? Ifwe are busy orchestrating our personal issues on a particular turf there is little energy left over for any political collective struggle. We are bombarded with false presentations of a collective happiness by the media, everyday. But having the money to pay the rent and feed ourselves cannot be masked by presentations of togetherness and feel good words like "community".

On a personal level, alone, we cannot allow someone's projection of a longing for a sense of community to be presented as a camouflage for collective struggle. While there are times when we may be required to defend ourselves against false accusations; sometimes we need to contain ourselves so as not to over-react.

I am aware that throughout history we have had plenty of philanthropists - including some well mean- ' ing missionaries. Nevertheless, someone was authorized to put Smallpox in those give-away blankets.

Within the collective struggle we need to recognize that we are structurally designed/desig-nated.

We have race, class gender, etc.; differences which situate us with more or less energy to spare. These differences intersect for 'some more than for others. This does not make for an easy collective struggle against the status quo (the small percentage of greedy rich compared to the rest of us). We put our energies where our prioritized interests are and these interests are dictated. by the time arid energy we have left over from the daily tasks of cooking, cleaning, childcare, eldercare, etc. And we can never forget , that we have to pay the Rent.

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References: Buffy Ste. Marie ''pretty lies" Silvia Federici. Revolution at Point Zero. 2012/ Chris Hedges. Empire of Illusion: the end of literacy bell hooks.

and the triumph of Spectacle. 200Q Where We Stand Class Matters

ALIENS ARE AGAIN TARGETED Not generally known is that Canadian-born women who married aliens. in particular Chinese. lost their :itizenship from 1914 until 2009. One might ask, What was the intent behind the federal uovernmenr's law?" b Recently legislation was passed that would denv citizenship to Canadians described as a "terrorists .: It would ~esu1t in the inabil ity to obtain a passport. vote 111 elections or work for government.

[I' one looks on the Internet for information on Omar Khadr, who has been in custody for thirteen years since he was fifteen years of age the middle-eastern nationality of his mother and father are stated. lt was difficult to find he was born in Toronto. He is described as a terrorist.

There is some difficulty in defining the word "terrorist." One can only construe that it is in some way connected with aliens, those of a different hue of skin. It was assumed that women who married out of their race could be described as "terrorists't.thev owed their ~llegiance to their husband's nation. The new legisla non can only intensify the division between races.

By Velma Dernerson

Nature is energy" It gives us the gas to keep going when life gets hard It takes away all the pain and sorrow It gives us that sense of hope, happiness and freedom.

Maria Teixeira.

Change is a good thing, Challenges in life make us stronger and wiser, So one day as brothers and sisters, we will live in peace with the freedom to roam the universe without the fear of the violence and corruption that man has created.

Amen Wish, hope, and dream Then Inake it happen.

It takes courage & strength to conquer you weakness But at the end you see life is full of possibilities Never under estimate the power of the heart.

Maria Teixeira

r-~ Q: CITY or VANCOUVER

Voe Yes for Better Transit!

From the Library The Vancouver Public Library (Central) has just opened up their "Inspiration Lab" on the third floor at 360 E Georgia St. It is a free place dedicated to digital creativity, collaboration and storytelling. The Lab features high-performance computers, analog-todigital conversion (ie. VHS and cassette tapes), sound studios, video editing and self-publishing software, as well as free access to an amazing learning tool called Lynda.com (with thousands of online video tutorials on design, video, photography, production!). There is a link on the VPL website with FAQs, information on how to book the lab, all the equipment and special events I workshops here:

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Not registered to vote?

Haven't received a ballot?

There's still time!

You have until Friday May 15,2015 to register to vote or request a voting package.

Phone Elections BC at: 1-800-661-8683 or visit an Elections BC Plebiscite Service Office at:

http://www.vpl.ca/programs/cat/Cl0511 Look out for posters to sign-up for a Carnegie field trip to the Central branch to tour the lab. This might especially" interest folks who want to record their story or their music, make a youtube video, publish a book online, etc. A mini version of this lab is also anticipated at the site of the new library, ngca7mat ct Strathcona branch, scheduled to open in 2016. In the meantime, check out: The Magic of Digital Nature Photography by Rob Sheppard - From plants to animals, this book explains how to find the best lighting, create drama and contrast using the digital camera. A vibrant book!

Recording Secrets for the Small Studio by Mike Senior - "Discover how to achieve commercial-grade recordings, even in the smallest studios." This book offers an intensive training course with advice and low-budget strategies to produce quality sound.

Single-camera Video Production by Robert Musburger (6th edition) - The latest edition includes fresh tips on creating video for a target audience, and up-todate digital techniques and production to enhance the quality of your video.

Your librarian, Natalie

vancouver.ca

•

• Chlnatown Plaza, 180 Keefer Street • City Square Shopping Centre, 555 West 12th Avenue Complete you ballot and return it in the mail before Friday, May 29, 2015. Remind your friends and family to do the same. A "Yes" vote will help grow our economy, protect our environment and enhance the region's livability.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: vancouver.ca/transitreferendum ~

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· eotur'ng: fey oie speakers Anne lheriouH and Romilo Borrymore. Opening b}1 Autlrey Sfegl

Wj1h panetists t«l1htyn Gwun-Veen

tennen. Etle-M6ij~T(lilf crhers.cnd Kim VlHcgnnfe (KIMr~ORTAL).

Pcrtormonccs by Youth to r a change.

AND MORE. Register onUne at fiercevoic s.eventbrlte.corn Q!"9orHtcd by;

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Dissolving our primitive past: The Abolition of physical-money - Our Only Solution It is quite easy to see that our present world-system of physical money, and the socioeconomic separation that comes along with it, is the sole symbol and active ingredient in the decline of humanity. It must be both removed and completely dissolved. Each bank-note, coin & plastic card is concentrated epitome of The Great Lie: that our species is not meant to be and act as One cohesive working unit, accelerating progress beyond our hopes and embracing the stars & beyond.

For thousands of years oceans of innocent blood have been shed for money, a physical and mental idol, a Moloch that drains the life out of our veins as a species. It's like a psychic-vampire and parasite that has a place at an ordinary person's common table. Money is murder and is only promoted by murderers!

When one stops to consider our Great Modern Dysfunction, one sooner or later notices that the great bulk of our human suffering is tied to and perpetuated by the existence of physical-money. Our current yet primitive and ridiculous system around it is a delusional system of human beings playing make-believe with paper and trinkets. It is quite absurd when you really consider it, laughable yet also disturbing; a system simply one notch beyond the mouth of our primordial and squalid caves.

All that is needed to end this millennia-old cycle of madness and murder is a single global electronic currency implemented through integrational biometrics.

This- is digitalcredit system that is all-inclusive, bringing together the world's people as equals under a sophisticated and mature umbrella of social and economic balance. It would inevitably strengthen world peace beyond anything which we could imagine. A system where each person's financial data is encoded in a cybernetic chip no larger than a grain of rice, a barely noticeable prick and insertion under the skin of our hand upon birth-registration that would save each person from a life of untold miseries, unfairness and turmoil.

These chips would not only be suitable for financial purposes but also could contain each and every form of regional and global personal-identification, saving people from the arduous & constant inconvenience of losing l.D., having to reapply, pay ridiculous amounts of money to a corrupt government and re-validate

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(once a segment of imaginary time has expired). It's an unnecessary-i and ridiculous game that robs the world's poor over and over again.

So let us truly come together, see the common societal dysfunction, and embrace a new and innovative world in which all people are included and where the madness of crime, war and all the dysfunctions that spring from physical-money are done away with!

As for crime-prevention, this cybernetic-technology could be utilized through a coordinated system of globally-orbiting satellites, each person integrated within the system, monitored by it and protected by it.

These chips could monitor our vitals and gauge acceptable cardiac and respiratory levels, detecting any spikes which would denote agitation, crime or violence. They could send a non-lethal volt through the bodies of would-be violent offenders, preventing crimes before they can even happen!

This alone is our only answer, simply consider it.

Does it not work? Do you not want all people to be One working team and species? Would this not change our world for the better?

A WORLD OF PEACE AND EQUALITY CAN HAPPEN! IT CAN BE DONE!

Broken Branches

CJardening~orkshop with Leah Dunkley Part of the 2015 Neighbourhood Small Grant projects

Friday, May

22, lOam -

l2pm

Meet at the corner of lackson Avenue & Cordova Street vancouver

foundation

Carnegie Newsletter:

Donations & Funding

Donations from 2-Jan-15 to 27-Apr-15: $1750 Revenues from January fundraiser: $3746 Invoiced payments (ad, subs): $ 515 Gaming Commission largesse $4000 TOTAL $10011 1000 (Neighbourhood Small Grant for Help in the Downtown Eastside) $11011 Virtually all copies of the last edition of HIDE, #47 JUNE 2014, have been gone for 4 months. There is an account with GoFundMe.com and a goal of $3000 set to raise sufficient funds to print a revised & updated edition. Current response is $25.

A Neighbourhood Small Grant for $1000 was awarded to assist in going ahead with publication.

The next edition of Help in the Downtown Eastside will be published for June 2015. The cost last year11,000 English; 1,000 French; 1,000 Spanish - was $3003.

Expenses are recorded by Administration. The total revenue to date is $11011. The first 3 weeks of Maywi be going over all contacts & strategies to raise the additional $2000. If $2K is not realised publication will g( ahead with the shortfall made up from existing funds.

Respectfully submitted, UPDATE: Information above was presented to the Finance Committee on May 6. This was to get permission to proceed with 'borrowing' $2000 from Newsletter funds to pay for printing the revised & months-overdue next edition of Help in the Downtown Eastside. Since then an additional $800 has been given in memory ofHarold David. This page has been showing the percentage of money to print all 2015 issues of the Camegie Newsletter as part of an estimated annual cost of $13,000. Actual funds needed but not shown must include an extra $3000 for HIDE. Funding for the paper is now at 83% of $13,000; it is 74% of total funding required of$16.000. Another $4,000 must be raised to pay for both publications until December 2015. Financial assistance is still needed.

X -----------------------:----------------:.-----------Here is my donation for the Camegie Newsletter. Amount: $__ Send the income tax eceipt to:

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Name: Adilless: City: _________________________

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Please make cheques or money orders payable"to the Camegie Community Centre Association and write "Newsletter donation" on the memo line at the bottom of the cheque.

Our address is: Camegie Newsletter, 401 Main Street, Vancouver, B.c. V6A 2T7

Carnegie6 NEWSLETTER

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We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and this News/etter, are occurring on Coast S~lis~ !erritory. .> /'

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THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association.

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

Next issue: SUBMISSION DEADLINE

WANTEO Artwork for the Carnegie Newsletter • • • • • • • • • •

THURSDAY, MAY 28th

Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry.

Cover art - Max size: 17cm(6 Y:)wide x 15cm(6')high.

Subject matter pertaining to issues relevant to the Downtown Eastside, but all work considered.

Black & White printing only.

Size restrictions apply (i.e. if your piece is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit).

All artists will receive credit for their work.

Originals will be retumed to the artist after being copied for publication.

Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets

Jenny Wai ChingKwan MLA ~.

Working for You 1070 - 1641 Commercial Dr, V5L 3Y3 Phone: 604-775-0790

Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.

The editor can edit for clarity, format & brevity, but not at the expense of the writer's message.

COMPUTER ADVICE Vancouver Community Network :ost·effective computer & IT support for non-profits {CN Tech Team :all778-724-0826

http://techteam.vcn.bc.ca ext2. 705-333 Terminal

DONATIONS 2015

Ave, Van.

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WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION • AIDS '.

POVERTY • HOMELESSNESS • VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ABORIGINAL GENOCIDE TOTALITARIAN CAPITALISM IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR

Terry & Savannah -$150 Michele C.-$100 Or Kevin -$50 Leslie S.-$125 Bob & Muggs -$100 Leslie K -$50 Catherine C.-$100 Glenn B.-$200 Sheila B.$50 Vancouver Moving Theatre -$200 Pat 0.$50 Harold & Sharron . $100 Michael C.-$100 Eleanor B.-$25 Elaine & Oavid -$40 Margaret M.-$50 Ruth McG -$50 Jenny K -$100 Jacqueline L -$75 / Robert McG.-$110 Christopher R.-$100 Penny C.-$50 in memory of Miriam Stuart Skateboarders -$50 Wilhelmina M.-$25 .

Jackie W.-$50 George H.$60 Ruth L.-$100 .

Barry M.·$250 Anonymous -$110 In Memory of Harold David - Will/Sharon C.-$50 Barbara M.-$200 Gina F.-$100 Lori /Borys -$100:.--C=Catherine B.-$50 Yukiko T.-$50 taylor 5.-$20 Solidarity Notes Labour Choir -$25 Kevin & Richard 0.-$100 CHIPS -$500 Radiation Therapy Clerks -$40 Jacki S.-$15· Roger C.-$100 Oenise 0.-$60 Lydia McK.-$100

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Vancouver's non-commercial, li-stener supported community station.