May 1, 2008, carnegie newsletter

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MAY 1, 2008 parnnews@vcn.b~.c~

www .parnnewa.org

WSLETTER

40 I Main St, VWlcouver V6A 217

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We are here!

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Jllltat does I lorton have to do with the Downtown Eastside?

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"We are here! We are here! We are here!"

"We are here," shout the people of Whoville as loud as they can. Horton the elephant can hear them, but the other outsiders, especially those with power, cannot hear them, or do not want to hear them. (Horton Hears A Who! by Dr. Seuss. Now there's a movie based on the book, but the book, all thirty pages of it with lots of illustrations, is better than the movie.)

"Shout louder, .. Horton tells the Mayor of Whoville." If you are invisible, you have to find ways to make yourself visible. You have to make a loud noise. "Don't give up," Horton says ... You very small persons will not die if you make yourselves heard!" The persons of Whoville have to be very small. Their community is situated on a speck of dust.

Everyone has to help. This is not a time for invisible people to fight each other. Right now in the Downtown Eastside there is more agreement, co-operation and trust among the groups fighting for human rights than there has ever been, especially on the issues of poverty and housing. The threat of gentrification is bringing people together. The Mayor of Whoville finds one little boy who isn't helping the community become visible. His name is Jo-Jo, and instead of shouting "We are here, .. he is playing with a yo-yo. The Mayor speaks to Jo-Jo, hoping to convince the boy that his help is needed: "This," cried the Mayor, "is your town's darkest hour! The time for all Whos who have blood that is red to come to the aid of their country," he said ... We've GOT to make noises in greater amounts! So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!" (Horten Hears A Who. by Dr. Seuss) Jo-Jo opened his mouth and said, "Yopp!" That one small sound broke the sound barrier, and all the voices of Whoville were heard by the outsiders who then promised to protect the community. The residents of the Downtown Eastside had to fight for seven years before they won the Carnegie Community Centre. The biggest problem was that most of the Vancouver City Councillors couldn't see the community. It was invisible to them, so they thought a community centre wasn't necessary. Then a wonderful thing happened on February 11th, 1976, at' 2:00p.m. in the afternoon. Vancouver's Community Services Committee met in the empty Carnegie Library. Councillor Harry Rank in was the chairman of that committee. Many comrnunity people were present at this historic meeting, including Bruce Eriksen, Libby Davies and Jean Swanson.

The meeting took place in the room where chess is played now, and in spite of the cobwebs and mouse droppings, and the shivering cold, for the building had no heat, the people could feel the dignity and tradition of the old building. It had been a public servant for sixty-five years, and had stood at the corner of Hastings and Main for seventy-three years. It was a link with all that was best in the history of Vancouver. It asked for generosity of spirit, and the people responded.

Speaker after speaker made the community of the Downtown Eastside visible. In essence they said, "We are here. We are here, and we need a community centre." Councillor Sweeney heard their voices, and his vote made it possible to move ahead with the plan to turn the old library into the Carnegie Community Centre. This was a victory for the residents of the Downtown Eastside.

The book "lforto11 Hears A Who" makes two important points about community organizing in low income communities that are invisible to those with wealth and power. The first point is that the people in the community have to work together so their united voices will be heard, making the invisible community visible.

There are many different ways of expressing "We are here". such as lobbying politicians, organizing cultural events. and non-violent direct action. The second point is that help from the outside, fi路om other neighbourhoods, is necessary. Horton the elephant didn't live in Whoville, but he was the only outsider who could hear the people in that very small community. They needed him until they could make their vo ices heard by a wide audience. Horton knew he was needed, and his commitment to the people of Whoville was strong. "I'll stick by you small folks through thin and through thick," he said. ' Thank you, Horton, wherever you are, for your caring and commitment. Maybe you're making a stand for housing on a street corner in Vancouver. or lying in fro nt of the Olympic clock in solidarity with those who are homeless. And thank you Mayor and citizens of Whovi lle for never, ever giving up, to use Bruce Eriksen's phrase.

With people like you, our community will continue the hundred-year struggle for respect and human rights.

By SANOY CAMERON

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NORTH AMERICAN BUDDHIST FRIENDSliiP, EDUCA1.'ION, CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT Dr. James Pau is the founder of the North American Buddhist Friendship Order which was registered in British Columbia in 1998.

However the work of this order was being accomplished in the early 1980s. Dr. Pau has spent more than three decades in helping the poor, the homeless, the drug addicted and the seniors in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. He also has a long history of promot· ing world peace, human rights and harmony between people of different religions.

He is one of the unsung heros who volunteers his time, his tremendous effort and a great deal of his life to helping others asking for nothing in return. His kindness and generosity cannot be overstated.

Dr. Pau is a health care professional, trained in nursing, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. As a health care practitioner, he provided free alternative medicine since the early nineteen eighties to the disadvantaged patients including those with chemical addictions, mental problems, HIV/AIDS infections and those with Hepatitis. Within his practice he sees patients from different ethnic groups with different personalities. With his free treatment he also discusses world events with a view to promoting world Peace and social injustice such as the East Indian dowry system. He also promotes equality between men and women and fights against the Asian custom of viewing women as inferior and submissive to their male counterparts . .He is strongly against torture whether it be mistreatment of prisoners of war or criminals because this will leave a permanent physical or mental scar on the person. Severe corporal punishment like chopping off the hand for stealing is barbaric and serves no good purpose. Dr. Pau believes that punishing the victim, as in stoning women when they have been raped or accused of adultery, should not be practiced. Politicians should leave their positions without having been involved in graft and corruption. Their pensions are sufficient to provide for their needs. Having held public office should not be a defacto assignment to sit on the boards of directors of big corporations.

Judges should pronounce sentences according to the presc-riptions of the law and not according to the financial or social status of the accused.

As Presid.ent of the North American Buddhist Order, he advocates for the poor by asking for minimum wage and welfare rates to

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be raised to an acceptable level so that the poor can have enough money for adequate food and daily necessities. He advocates that the world should be one union and crusades against war and violence in any form. He participates actively in rallys against war and denounces the bias promoted by the media to favor one country against another. He thinks the stronger nations should be fair and just. He communicates with government officials to denounce land mines that kill and maim so many people and denounces torture as inhumane and degrading. He worked to promote democracy in Burma to give the power back to the people through legitimate election campaigns. On October 2, 2007, he has received the Ghandhi Peace Award for his efforts from the Institute for the Humanities of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

According to Dr. Pau people in public office should be upright and live on what they earn. They should be incorruptible when it comes to accepting bribes. Police, border guards, public officials, customs officers, government officials, should work under the law and not abuse their power to turn a blind eye to unlawful activities because they have been bribed. Employers should be fair to employees and pay them fair wages and benefits and treat them as part of the family. Health care professionals and care givers should perform their duties with the interest of the patients in mind and perform their skills in such a way as if creating a work of art.

He also advocates for the homeless so they can access affordable, clean housing which includes private kitchens and washrooms which will help eliminate the spread of diseases. Dr. Pau advocates for handicapped people so that their apartments will be completely wheelchair accessible. He advocates for more mobile hygienic facilities so that those without shelter do not have to use the streets for their basic needs.

Dr. Pau is the founding social spiritual chair of the Downtown Eastside HIV/AIDS Intravenous Drug Users Consumer Board which was founded in 1997. He has been advocating for the drug users and sufferers of HIV/AIDS for adequate education and treatment.

He is very active in the Annual AIDS WALK, now called Walk for Life. He participates actively in WORLD AIDS DAY activities to · promote awareness of AIDS and educate the general public.

He is working hard towards peaceful solutions by eliminating poverty by his example of generosity. He provided free treatment since the early 1980's and he has been prov.iding food to the homebound seniors. He helps the mentally challenged, depressed persons by encouraging them to have a happy and positive lifestyle and to find solutions to their health problems. Dr. Pau counsels depressed persons with mental problems who are prone to violence. This helps to reduce incidence of rage and violent activity.

Dr. Pau shows respect to all the people of all age groups. He does not discriminate between Buddhism and other people of different nationalities, classes and creeds and treats them free with alternative medicine and other holistic approaches such as meditation, Tai Chi Chuan and Martial Arts training. He encourages people to practice what true religious leaders have taught them. He believes that fanaticism in any form makes us less human.

He demonstrates positive ways to be a peacemaker by acting as a go-between while dealing with groups of different ethnicities.

He attends events in the Jewish, Pakistani, Indian, Japanese, Korean, First Nations and Chinese communities to get to know different groups and cultures. He promotes harmonious relationships between members of families so that the young ones do not end up in bad circum.stance on the Downtown Eastside because of conflict, contentions and infighting or abuse by family members.

He gives lectures to encourage community members to be non-judgmental toward the downtrodden, the disinherited, the mentally challenged and the disadvantaged.

Dr. Pau continues to work in the above fields of helping the poorest community in Canada to promote peace, harmony and justice while encouraging social interaction in positive ways to effectively reduce violence, ant-social behaviours and social injustice.

Submitted by Jane Khan, on the occasion of James Pau receiving a British Columbia Community Excellence Award •

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Sun shines in the morning as the gentle wind blows ·

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Behind the house r smell the pink rose

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The waterdrops twinkle my nose

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And the petals fall on my bare toes Vivian Li Ping Liu

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He stood bent over a toilet filling his brain with glass

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The severity of the situation still hadn,t hit me The full forced blow knocked me over when I stared into his vacant eyes .. . .... and got lost.

Laura Kelsey

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Living On Welfare:

a CCPA/RTR report

By Rolf Auer

Living On Welfare: Experiences of Longer-term "Expected to Work" Recipients is a report by Seth Klein of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - BC Office and Raise The Rates, released in April of2008. There are three copies available in the Carnegie Library.

It is a compilation of information taken from five hour-long interviews of 45 "expected to work" (i.e. people receiving regular income assistance) welfare recipients done between 2002 and 2004, at six month intervals.

The information is broken down into numbers, percentages, and categorizations, interspersed with capsule profiles of some of the participants, with their names changed to protect their privacy.

Despite the "statistical feel" of the report, what comes through most clearly are the experiences of the people struggling to subsist on what most people know as the clearly inadequate rates of income assistance given by our provincial government.

The study started out with the intent of following the progress of 62 people surviving on welfare for already extended periods of time. It fin shed with 45, but it was able to track all of the wh ~rea bouts and life circumstances of the people who didn't complete the study. For the record, this is the first time that a study of this sort has been done- not even one like this has been done by the government before.

Reading the study, several things become clear: the difficulty people have living on regular income assistance (even on the higher amount given by disability status); the conditions preventing people from moving from welfare to work; the circumstances of the people studied; and finally, the recommendations on improving the badly flawed welfare system.

Regular welfare rates are so low that recipients typically rely on charity, like food banks, to survive.

Regular income assistance is $610 per month, with $375 of that designated for shelter (but most rental units charge more than that, so that recipients end up taking ~helter money out of their support portion,

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leaving them with less than a pittance to live on). ~ Of the 45 people who participated in the study, at its start, virtually none had had any offering of employment training. BC's welfare minister at the time, Murray Coell, had famously asserted that "a job is the best social safety net" (in response to demands to increase the welfare rates) but little to no effort was made to give these recipients the necessary skills to obtain one. What was actually happening was that the ministry was "creaming" the recipients who were most likely to succeed in finding work, and offering the job training to them; that way, the welfare-to-work program of the government appeared to be working ¡as it should (when, in actuality, these people probably would have found work in any case).

There were other things preventing participants from finding work. A number of them had addictions; or illnesses, like Hepatitis C; or health problems like mental illness; or were homeless; or were suffering abuse at the hands of their partners; or couldn't find childcare. Some number of participants' situations improved by the end of the study, but this was often because they were reclassified • from being a person receiving regular welfare to being a person receiving disability assistance.

Recommendations include: -welfare benefits need to be increased, in the best case scenario, to the Market Basket Measure (more than $1300 per month), and earnings exemptions need to be established for all recipients, not just for people with disabilities -people should be recategorized promptly, not left dangling for years, in danger of being cut off because they aren't able to meet the conditions of receiving assistance -regulations regarding cutting people off welfare must be revised for the better -barriers to accessing welfare must be eliminated -employment supports, like training, must be available to all recipients -"work" should mean more than "paid employment,'' like, for example, caring for children or volunteer work -stable housing must be made available -supports for aiding people with their impediments must be made available -help should be available to meet people's needs, like monthly bus passes -welfare clients should have consistent caseworkers, who are always familiar with a person's requirements -

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Invocation to the Madness (A Midnight Prayer)

Hello Carnegie News,

Oh Frankness 0 Honesty Embody me Intluctuate your voice through the hands of Melody 0 Energy - am I really listening?

Keep words coming .. .

Keep words coming .. .

0 Injustice - how your dirty needle stings 0 Holy Angel Junkies - we've clipped your wings 0 Water hymns and whispered prayers washing away the streets' layers of Sins and Secrets your words do wonders you' II never know.

I call out to the magnetic forces and sound -

Please! Help me heal the lost words that broke when they hit the ground.

Dearest Poetry and Madness All Euphemisms and Lonely Couplets Don' t abandon me now, y'see I'm only just getting started Laurisa "Reese" Blanchette PS: To my beautiful.friends in the DTES, I pray that y ou are well, and miss you dearly.

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A little about me: I was dropping by your office a few months ago with my book of pictures, which were taken in 2005-06 mostly of the area I lived in near Powell and Victoria, when 1 was on welfare and really quite crazy. I would occasionally have access to a camera. After a year, I became a Person with Multiple Barriers, and eventually a Person with a Disability, which has finally let me print out some of these pictures and think about them. And now I don't live there anymore, which helps.

I've also found a bit of the old confidence, and this summer I'm having a show- kind of an art show, kind of a history show, definitely a political show- of some of the pictures I took at the time. Jt's going to be held at Tars Cafe & Galler·y, on Granville St, from June I - 30. It's called "The Best Place 011 Earth ." I hope to raise some ruckus.

I'm not planning to make money (after all, I'm an anarcho-lesbo-marxist nut), I'm hoping to cause a conversation about mental illness, poverty and class, colonialism, invisibility, and using 'art' as a way to get people to look at the real city, not the touristy image of it, to unplug their damn iPods, stop looking a~ the mountains, and get a different perspective on what's around them.

I've never been to photography school or art school or whatever; I have been to some universities and other mental institutions. I've lived in Vancouver since 1999, and I'll finally be leaving this fall, having gone through the wringer. Would you like to see some more pictures?

Sincerely, Karen Ward

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or & Trades Expo May 15 llam-2pm Pathways Information Centre and Aboriginal Connections to Employment invite you to their Work and Trades Expo. Trades, trade unions and trades trainers will all be on site to show where the hot jobs are. Meet employers that hire DTES residents to work

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in the trades and pay good wages. Come find out about apprenticeships. Find out how unions can benefit you. If you are interested in the trades, this Expo is for you!

As always, door prizes, fun and refreshments!

May 15, llam- 2pm, 390 Main St.

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HANSARD

House of Commons

April 17, 2008

Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver路 East, NDJ>):

Honouring Women from our Communities

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Come celebrate the remarkable women in our community! In this 2 ~ hour workshop you will work with an artist to create posters of women you would like to honour in our community- mothers, sisters, grandmothers, teachers, elders, mentors, friends or any other woman who has a significant impact on your life.

The posters you create will be showcased as part of a larger city-wide poster project called "Remarkable Women: Honouring Women from our Vancouver Communities" as a lead up to Women's History Month in October.

Bring photos, drawings or other available images of women you would like to honour. This workshop is suitable for people ages 6 years and up.

Instructor/Artist: Tania Willard Date: Thursday, May 8th Time: 2:00 - 4:30 PM Place: Carnegie Theatre Refreshments and Chinese translation available. . ~~

Walking Eagle seems so hilarious It fits to a "T" Especially our premier Gordon Campbell So many broken promises Lack of affordable housing Seniors are suffering in low-income housing They each need a table home to retire to Landlords should be ashamed ofthemselves Greed is in their eyes They never keep their housing up to par Laws should be passed for them Demolish their house, see how they feel So watch how you vote.

Most concerned citizen, B.E. Stevens

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Mr. Speaker, East Vancouver has suffered from years of government neglect on housing and homelessness: The build-up to the 201 0 Olympics has made thmgs worse. Since 2003, I 300 Single Occupancy rooms have been lost, eliminating most of the last market housing路available to Vancouver's poorest residents.

But the federal government has shown it doesn't c~re.. lt pledged another $25 million for the Olympics ~n the budget, but no new money for affordable housrng.

People have had enough. This week the Carnegie ~ction Project, the Impact on Comm~nities Coalition, PIVOT and UBC students launched a formal human rights complaint to the United Nations.

It exposes how the federal government has failed to uphold the basic human right to housing.

The Conservative government must heed the urgent ca~ls .from th~ community and act now to ensure that ext~tmg low rncome housing is protected and new soctal housing is built. 路 No one should be homeless in this wealthy country of Canada.

Quicl<-to-the-Editor: I could not believe my ears when I heard Vancouver ~ity Councillor Susan Anton arrogantly proclaim,

hke a modern-day Marie Antoinette, that there really truly is no low and/or fixed-income housing shortage in the Greater Vancouver area. She stated (a~ my jaw dropped) "If you have difficulty finding SUitable, affordable housing in the Downtown East~ide, y~u are quite welcome to come up and join us 111 Kernsdale, for example, to rent a beautiful suite."

She said, "It is such a beautiful, wonderful, crimefree area to bring your family up in."

Is this worth investigating or should I just dream on with my (latest) 649 ticket and lay down in green pastures and gaze at my large piece of pie in the sky Stay tuned. This is getting really good. Anton is basically saying (To quote the Beatles): "You've got to admit it's getting better, It's getting better all the time, It can't get much worse!"

Stay tuned for more airy fairy breaking news from the out of touch and out of reach Ivory Tower on scenic, sedate Cambie Street. . Robyn Livingstone

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of related agencies, individuals and government' members and sent Vancouver Coastal Health an urgent message.

Amid visible ro lling closures of hotels and services in the downtown eastside, reopening this vital Centre is a small ray of light. On behalf of the people of the downtown eastside who use the Health Contact Centre, our thanks go to Vancouver Coastal Health for their commitment to reopen. Meantime if you feel like donating a blanket or coat or tent for a client who has nowhere to go until the end of June, please contact mrs@live.ca

A SMALL RAY OF LIGHT REAPPEARS IN THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE The Health Contact Centre at 166 East Hastings is to reopen in six to eight weeks. After suffering water damage on March 19 following a fire upstairs, the Centre faced a 4-6 month closure for repairs with Vancouver Coastal Health giving no immediate and definite commitment to reopen, and no consideration to providing a temporary site in the meantime.

This health service caters to a 'ground zero' population of homeless, addicted mentally and physically ill people, giving them immediate first aid and nursing care, referring them on to welfare and addiction services, delivering life skills and education programs, and providing basic health promotion/harm reduction training to peers as well as an opportunity for "paid" work.

This facility has been utilised to capacity since it opened to fill an identified need in 200 I. Over 500 occasions of service go through the Health Contact Centre every 20 hour day. The staff of three on-site, trained and experienced in addictions counseling and first aid, plus a nurse and an admin clerk, is small considering the depth and variety of needs exhibited by clients. As such, it successfully delivers a vital and diverse service to an unpredictable, unwell and often desperate population.

A grass roots campaign in the DTES gathered over 1,000 signatures, letters and the individual support

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WHAT GOES ON AT THIS CENTRE? The Health Contact Centre has over 500 occasions of service every day, with the needle exchange seeing over I00 visits. From when the doors open at 12.30pm until close at 8.00am, people cycle through constantly to use the services provided. They come to see the nurse, have a foot soak, use the phone, use the washroom, get referred to detox or shelters or recovery, get a change of clothes or shoes, or a blanket, get emergency services help, see a Urgent Response Team or Ministry worker. They come in to have a talk to staff, get some first aid, condoms, tampons and toiletries, get access to Safe Ride, use the microwave, get some acupuncture. They come in to take part in life skills and health promotion programs. They come in to a warm, dry, caring environment where they know staff will do all they can to help them out.

The Health Contact Centre is the bottom point of services in the DTES. People who are barred everywhere else are allowed in. People who are so intoxicated they cannot walk, are brought in by street teams, staff keep an eye on them and call for help.

Sex trade workers come in to clean up, use the washrooms and have a safe haven. People come in with swollen limbs from untreated abscesses, people with pneumonia looking for a safe and dry place to be, people with breathing difficulties who need to get to hospital, women who are going into labor, or who just had a baby yesterday. People have seizures and mental health occasions which need to bemanaged. Homeless people are discharged from hospital to the Health Contact Centre! People with rotten feet are looked after, people who have been bear sprayed, people who have been beaten up, attacked and threatened. Food is found for people who are hungry. People who can't get into a shelter go off to work at 6am after sitting up in a plastic chair all night, with a cup of hot soup and a muffin. People

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who have nowhere else to go are welcome . ..

Impact On Clients Since the Centre has been closed, staff has spent time on the streets catching up with clients. Female sex trade workers have said they feel the area is more dangerous now; there is nowhere safe to go.

They feel women especially are at risk in this area.

One woman said she would do another date just to get out of the cold and wet for 15 minutes. They talked about no tampons, no first aid, ho condoms, and nowhere to go to clean up and change their clothes. Other (male) clients said they were just hanging around on the streets and in the bus stops and doorways. Clients who had a home were worried that they would be evicted for bringing their homeless friends in to their room. Homeless clients on the list for detox are unable to be contacted and peer workers have lost a source of work and income.

The shelters rarely have any beds, the mat programs are usually full every night and the crisis shelters closed down the end of February when the weather improved ........ When the Insite closes at 3.30am there is simply nowhere for anyone to go even tho' at this time of the morning there are still people wandering round the streets, in the alleys, in doorways, trying to keep out of the weather.

In Summary The Health Contact Centre was opened in 200 I due to a clearly identified need. The situation in the downtown east side with regard to homelessness, addiction and mental health has not improved in the intervening seven years, it has become worse. The Health Contact Centre has been used to capacity since it first opened its doors and recently the opening hours have been extended in response to increasing need. This Centre is an extreme low threshold facility which offers a professional nonjudgmental service to a large group of clients whose contact with health services is either nonexistent. or onlv via a serious life threatening incident. (for more infoor 778 230 1696) contact Tui Hill on 路 v

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Uniting the World Through Laughter.

World Laughter Day happens the first Sunday of May (since 1998).

Dr. Kataria (a medical doctor in India) first started laughter clubs in 1991. Most of his patients came in with stress- related problems and he wanted to find another way of treating them besides giving t~em drugs. His first meeting consisted of 5 people taking turns telling jokes and funny stories. By the end of2 weeks the club had grown to over 20 people but some people started complaining about offensive jokes. Dr. Kataria was beside himself and didn't know what to do. Then one morning he woke up at 3am, woke his wife and said "I've got it! Laughter for no reason!!!" Thus started the laughter clubs we know today: over 6000 around the world in over 60 countries.

Laughter clubs are often called Laughter Yoga because when one is in laughter, one is in Meditation.

Mind, Body and Spirit become one. Laughter expands the lungs and opens the heart. It is often referred to as an internal massage. Laughter strengthens the immune system and helps you to let go of stress. The endorphins released through laughter spread throughout the body and give us a sense of well-being and a feeling of connectedness.

Comments that people have made, after coming to laughter class for a while are: "I find myself smiling more throughout the week" "I feel much lighter" "Everyone should do this" "I find myself talking to people I would never have dreamt oftalking to before" "I feel like a load has been lifted from my shoulders.11 The benefits of laughter are endless and have only to be experienced.

In honour of World Laughter Day, we will be holding a laughter class Sunday, May 4th@ 10:30 a.m.

As well laughter classes are on every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in the Carnegie Community Centre gym.

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News from the LibrarY Main & Hastings Book Club The Main & Hastings Book Club have just started reading a new book: All That Matters by Wayson Choy. Set in Chinatown in the 1930s and 1940s, the book tells one family's story, but weaves in politics, wartime, mah-jong and kitchen gods. If you'd like to join the book club, either talk to Beth in the library, or just show up on Tuesdays at I lam in the third floor gallery.

New Books Wild Tales from tile Police Blotter (363.2) is an exciting, entertaining collection that gives the truecrime buff something a little different- a look at some of the weirdest, most hilarious and mysterious cases to turn up in police files. Tales of unbelievable animal attacks, laughable mistakes and celebrity law breakers will keep you turning the page.

The Science of Stephen King (813) shows that much of what Stephen King writes about in his novels is closer to reality than you might think. The authors use examples from King's fiction to explore concepts as diverse as ESP, pyrokinesis, time travel, and the possibility that we'll be visited by aliens or face a global pandemic.

Me Se.x.y : An Exploration of Native Sex and Sexuality, edited by Drew Hayden Taylor (306.7, in our First Nations collection). Is Cree the sexiest of languages? Do Native_people have less or more pubic hair? Does Inuit sex have a dark side? These are some of the questions answered in this witty, thoughtful collection. Twelve important aboriginal voices tackle a variety of previously taboo subjects with humour and insight.

Lucky by Alice Sebold (364.15). Fifteen years ago, at the age of eighteen, Alice Sebold was raped. In the days just following, she promised that one day she would write a book about her experience. Now, on the other side of heroin addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and a decade and a half of recovery, that book has arrived: a starkly honest narrative of violence and healing.

Carnegie Community Centre Association Archives The Carnegie Centre Archives are a collection of materials that have been collected by Carnegie librarians and board members since before the inception of the Carnegie Community Centre. The collection consists of materials documenting the beginning of the Carnegie Community, including a 1978 Downtown Eastside Recreation Users' Survey, which shows the DTES community's desire for the

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creation of a community centre at the Carnegie much like the one that exists today. The rest of the co llection documents and highlights events and conflicts throughout the history of the Carnegie Centre, starting in 1978, and going to present day.

Some of the materials include the Grand Opening pamphlet, a coffee receipt from 1987, the 1987 Carnegie user survey and the 1988 renovation survey, lots of documents about the Downtown Eastside poets' tour around British Columbia, and various versions of the constitution and by-laws.

Thanks to Josh Niemier, the library school student who has worked on the Archives for the past four months, and to the University of British Columbia's professional experience program. Ifyou 'd like to look at anything in the Archives, stop by and see Beth in the library.

Beth, your librariim . . .. \

Writer's Sgndrome

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Negate it!

Sedate it!

Debate it!

Belate it!

Overrate it!

Make it afraid of it!

Of what?

Afraid of fear!

Make it afraid of my voice!

I'm volatile but not by choice. [ won't devote one note You won't get one "Yes! I do!"

Not by coercion or blackmail, Thievery of theft or instigation or hate mail I've stopped writing to put my ear to the ground pencil down, 'clickety-clack' 'c Iickety-clack' The noise of a train on the tracks 'Ciicketty-clack', clicketty-clack' It's the sound of a train that don 't come back Now I hear the sound of water dripping Falling into the basin from the faucet The sound alone reminds me of time it has enough powerIt's like the second-hand on a clock: 60 seconds becomes a minute; 60 minutes an hour; Time's up. It's over. The end. drewjo

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Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) •

Newsletter

Find us in the Carnegie Association office (604-839-0379)

May 1, 2008

Canada is Failing Us; United Nations Complaint Launched

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CCAP, PIVOT Legal Society and the Impact on Communities Coalition launched a formal human rights complaint against the City, Provincial and Canadian •I governments over ongoing SRO housing • • converstons m our neighbourhood in the lead up to the 2010 Winter Olympics. We had a press conference in the Carnegie theatre about this on Sunday morning of April 1ih.

UBC students got the complaint going after touring the DTES as part of their class.

The complaint was filed under Section 1503 with the UN Human Rights Council which is the oldest human rights complaint mechanism in the United Nations system. The complaint argues that Canada is:

(1) Failing to ensure minimum standards of health ~d safety in the SRO stock; (2) Failing to enforce what few ur\t"( ~ . : . hi protections exist to At 111J•I . : . ~··~ prevent conversion of ~>N~Jw ~> SRO stock to other uses; (3) Failing to provide police protection to tenants who are illegally evicted; (4) Failing to require market housing developments in the inner city to include some portion of nonmarket housing; (5) Failing to provide an adequate system for tenants to seek remedies where landlords illegally evict them; (6) Failing to ensure that social assistance shelter allowances are sufficient to permit rental of adequate accommodation; (7) Failing to provide information about the state of the housing stock; (8) Failing to involve the inner city in the redevelopment of the neighbourhood;

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Jean Swanson, WII O Coordinator of the Carnegie Community Action Project said, "Downtown Eastside hotels are the homes of last resort for low /7.50 income people. The study we are also releasing tomorrow, Disappearing Homes, shows that almost half are already closed, at risk, or charged too high a rent. If the city and the province don't act now, the rest of the hotels could push low I ~) 0 income people out on to the street."

David Eby, a lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society said, "I am disappointed that we have to go to the international community for something as simple as getting the police to intervene in illegal evictions, forcing the city to maintain minimum standards in buildings, ensuring that people aren't kicked out for condo development, and getting the health department to address the bed bug issue. But if that's what it takes, we're willing to take this complaint all the way." ,...,press release i

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This graph shows the results of 2900 privately owned rooms surveyed by CCAP as of April2007. It counters the City's Survey of Low Income Housing in the Downtown Core by showing losses of rooms due to rent increases. Anything beyond $425 a month, CCAP considers lost to the majority of DTES residents. Learn more about the survey on Page 3 -wp

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Disguised Renters Find Homes Gone In January 2008, Audrey LaFerrier and I visited 119 DTES hotels in disguise as renters. We looked for rent increases, renovations, closures, student conversions or daily/weekly conversions.

This is a rough summary of what we found to go with the graph on page 2.

Out of the 5000 SRO rooms in the DTES, 650 were purchased by the Provincial Government. We found 480 rooms run by non-profits. We are presuming that these rooms are secure although some would argue otherwise.

That leaves about 3800 or so.

Of these 3800, we found managers for 2900 rooms. Of these 2900 rooms, we found:

This means we have already lost about half, or 1300 out of 2900 privately owned rooms. They are now inaccessible to people on welfare. This is a terrible trend and must be stopped by governments.

To make matters worse, we found many hotels renting daily or weekly. It's legal for hotels to rent out 10% of their rooms this way. We could lose up to almost 400 rooms which is the legal maximum for the Olympics. We could lose more if the City doesn't enforce the l~gallimit.

We don't see that enforcement now.

More danger: o More random closures can happen. o Rent increases as speculation • continues.

o 131 outright closure of rooms in the last year o 121 closures with a technicality last year

,.... Wendy P. and JeanS.

That gives us a subtotal of 252 rooms closed in a year.

We also found 225 rooms in grave danger of closing because tenants received eviction notices or lots of rooms were emptied for unknown reasons.

The biggest surprise was about 900 rooms had RENTS over $425 a month.

CCAP considers these rooms no longer affordable to people who can afford welfare shelter rates ($375) which is the majority of our neighbours.

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Condos at 58 West Hastings Slipped Past

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Downtown Eastside Housing Plan that calls for 75% of the area to be low• Income.

Will it affect the hotels?

Yes, more condos cause speculation which makes hotels more valuable.

Owners hope to flip them. Politicians are pressured to let owners make their money. CCAP found most of the hotel rooms lost to rent increases and closures cluster around Woodwards.

What can we do?

CCAP stalled the condos with a technicality. We need to go to City Hall in June to protest. Want to come? "'wp

Who is this crowd?

They are members ofVANDU, CCAP and many other residents who found out that Concord Pacific is planning to build condos at 58 West Hastings between the Potluck Cafe and the Grand Union Pub. What is the big deal?

We found out that City Hall approved the condos but didn't let DTES community groups know about it. Plus, we have more than enough condos being built. In fact, there are 3 condos to every 1 social housing home being built here between 2005 and 201 0. Way out of scale. Way too many to absorb. Off track from the

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What Do We Need on this Site?

That's one question that Vandu, Pivot, CCAP, the DTES Neighbourhood House, DERA, Streams of Justice and Citywide _Housing Coalition organizers asked people who came to the Emergency Community Consultation at the stalled Concord Pacific Condo Site last week. About 100 people turned out with 24 hours notice.

Here is what you wrote on the giant boards made by the groups named above (unedited): • Mixed housing - kids, family, pets!

• Grocery store • Residence for the people here • Community based green industry • Moratorium on this site until proper consultation- other sites too • Residence for the people here • Non-profits housing and co-ops • Tired of living outside • Enough!!! Leave us what we have left • Go back to DTES housing pJan • Income and welfare • Community to organize itself all together • On site support workers

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Start the whole process over since we've been left out Housing for the homeless Social housing with health on main floor Use 3 pillars-not just enforcement Wrap around services Homes for all Artists space Low income housing Homes for people on the streets Food bank Some housing for special needs Shelter and housing

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Community gathering space • The downtown eastside has a long history. It is a strong community of This site MUST be housing for current caring people. We need housing to residents of the DTES- Period. protect this low-income neighbourhoodUrgent housing now for all homelessthe soul of Vancouver. no condos • Would you remain passive if about 40% Homes for residents-75% low income of your community was at risk of being Continuum of care _'/ ~ lil! ~; lllLHinn• •,-n , displaced? Give House the homeless VV Hf.htlnu.., ~· it a think... and No rich bastards around huuld be on this site'! t·~ · support DTES here - stay in West and { residents.

North Vancouver ' • Lack of money House the homeless and public No rich bastards around. politics is no here - stay on west and excuse for greed north Vancouver to upscale our Housing for people DTES community. with disabilities in the DTES • Ask the community Social housing on this site- for those • Local residents final approval who most need it-the homeless. Take • Fairness and equal rights for housing housing out of the economic system. A • Leave us our heritage basic need.

• More health resources Seniors group and services for first • United we stand nations healing and spiritual well being • Rooms with bathrooms and kitchens This is a community! Stop destroying it• Special needs included build social housing for the people that • Proper funding live and love here.

• Planning and engineering office in the Stop the displacement, house the DTES homeless! (with low income good housing) • No condos!

Access for handicapped • Homes for us who are in the community Public childcare • Jobs for the DTES residents Make it a co-op. 30% minimum social • Low rental homes housing • Community Gardens!

Home sweet home • Council needs to be informed about the DTES Do the rich really need a place to hide?

• Free laundry Facilities "'Wendy P ,.;.

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Those Stands are Happening All Over the Province!

This Saturday, May 3, Eighty (80) street-comer "STANDs for Housing" will be held in about thirty towns and cities across British Columbia from 12pm.

Colleen from CCAP is organizing a Stand. It will be in at the Woodward's Intersection which is close to the Concord Pacific site at 58 West Hastings. Meet us there at 1 p.m. It will only take one hour. We'll have the same banners as all the other STAND'ers across the province.

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Stand at Cordova and Gore happening most Saturdays.

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Planners, Consider This:

( 1) What are you doing to get the DTES Housing Plan implemented (especially in terms of having market and social housing proceed at an equal pace, not having market housing "surge ahead", and getting more new replacement housing built)?

that development pressure is pushing up the price of land enormously?

(3) What tools could potentially be used to stop or slow condo development?

What about a rate of change bylaw like other parts of the city have?

(2) How does the City plan to ensure that SROs remain available to ]ow income people and/or are replaced I for 1 given

(4) If the city believes that the SROs are being replaced 1 for 1, could you please let us know what figures you are using to arrive at this conclusion? "'Jean Swanson

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DIANE AND COLLEEN HOST a

''LOVE IN'' For the

Downtown Eastside Saturday, May 3

7:00p.m.

Carnegie Theatre

Bring your poetry, laments, songs & beauty of our hood ,

®®®®®®®@@@@@@@@@@ LISTEN EVERY MONDAY FROM 2:00-2:30 TO

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Eastside Story

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102.7 FM on Co-op Radio Hosts: Diane, Harley & Ayisha

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Upcoming Guests: Always a pleasant surprise @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Support for this project does not necessarily imply Vancity' s endorsement of the findings or contents of this report."

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Community Groups take Federal Government to Court over Safe Injection Site

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On Monday, April 28, Pivot Legal Society director John Conroy will be representing the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users in a I 0-day trial challenging the Federal Minister of Health's ability to close Insite, the safe injection site in Vancouver.

Joe Arvey, representing the Portland Hotel Society which manages the site, will also be testing the federal government's power to close Insite.

Where: B.C. Supreme Courthouse When: Monday, April28, I Oam Duration: I 0 days Case name: VANDU v. AG Canada and Minister ofHealth; PHS Community Services Society et al v.

AG Canada Presiding Judge: Judge Pitfield It has been more than four years since In site, the first supervised injection site in North America, opened with the goal of increasing access to drug treatment, reducing street disorder, and preventing overdose deaths and disease transmission among Vancouver's drug user population. Numerous scientific studies in medical journals such as the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine have shown the effectiveness of the site in meeting those objectives.

Despite the medical evidence, the Federal Minister of Health has refused to grant a permanent exemption to Section 56 of the Narcotics Control Act for lnsite, which allows the injection of drugs on the facilities. Instead, the Minister has granted to two temporary extensions to the exemption. The most recent exemption is due to expire on June 30, 2008.

After that, the future of Insite is uncertain.

Thank You very much Carnegie. Thank you to the members for the privilege of serving on the Board.

Thank you to the Volunteer Office and Colleen for allowing me to work in the computer lab. Thank you to Paul for the printing my pieces in the Carnegie Newsletter. Thank you to the staff. Most of all I want to say I appreciate having had the opportunity to serve the Carnegie for more than 15 years. It has been an adventure.

I have retired from volunteering sorry to say.

Transportation is a big hassle. I must say my days there have been exciting, interesting and worthwhi Ie. I will miss you all.

Dora Sanders

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Fake Awake

by Laura Kelsey

I, like the rest, followed blindly.

Followed the shepherds, herded behind gates of anarchy surrendered my free will paying with my abandoned soul.

Morals and values were left far behind, for some, still unretrieved Our minds were manipulated and the shepherds turned gods.

My artificial motivation ...

Now that it's gone the severe realization of a contorted reality - mystery of its originsti II Iingers.

Out of character.

Repeated? ???????

I look back in absolute disbelief.

However: No regret.

I learned so much, how sparse sanity is and even questioned its existence Counterfeit people are incredibly numerous.

Really! God's Favourite?

"There are many philosophies which tend to crudify the human mind, and make people violent and inconsiderate. They make people believe that they are God's favourite children, whereas the rest of humanity are cursed. Although these views have philosophical sanction, they do not have the sanction of the A'tman (soul) ... Intellectually such people are certainly slaves, and in the material world also they are slaves." (PNS-1 8, p.l5) Note: This psychic disease is present in fundamentalist Jews, fundamentalist Christians, and fundamentalist Muslims etc. All are bad and guilty of this point; but especially the fundamentalist Jews & Muslims. They feel very negatively towards those who do not belong to their dogmatic beliefs. Muslims brand others as Quafir (demons) and Jews label non-Jews in their own derogatory language.

Thus the status of those fundamentalist Jews & Muslims is like slaves-- intellectually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.

'The Continuous Effort to Promote Universal Welt-Being-- Part 1 '.

Colleen's corner CULTUS LAKE PLANNING MEETINGS

KARAOKE with Steve Fridays May 9 +May 30, 7-IOpm in Carnegie's Theatre Did you know that the first karaoke machine was invented by Japanese musician Daisuke Inoue in Kobe, Japan, in the early 1970s? After becoming popular in Japan, karaoke spread to East and Southeast Asia during the 1980s and subsequently to other parts of the world in its modern state. It is a form of singing available for everyone; a golden chance for people to discover the joy. EVERY WELCOM拢1

VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday May 14th 2008, 2pm Classroom II. All volunteers welcome! You're needed & appreciated.

Volunteer DinnerWednesday, May 21, Theatr~ at 4:30pm SHARP! Your contribution and hard work is appreciated by the many people who benefit by your services. Let the staff serve you! Please pick up your dinner ticket from the Volunteer Program Office on the 3rd Floor (you need a minimum of 12 volunteer hours a month Our annual celebration of volunteering is my favourite time of the year. During Volunteer Recognition Week (April 13-20) we got to thank Carnegie's most valuable earthlings - our volunteers - people who embody a spirit which compels them to do service for the good of others. We got to call attention to all that you do to improve our community. We got to tell you and the rest of the community how remarkable you are . .

Congratulations to our Volunteer of the Year 2008

., Elaine Des jar]ais and the four volunteers deserving of Special Merit Awards: Dora Sander路s, Matthew Matthew, Les Nelson and James Hance. These awards are chosen by your volunteer peers who want to encourage and recognize you for what you do and for who you are.

In keeping with the Academy A ward theme, David Wong received a Lifo Time Achievement Award.

The bright light shining from David's eyes upon receiving this award made all else pale in that moment. In my opinion, the love emanating in the Theatre for David as he stood at the front of the Theatre represents the true beauty of the spirit of Carnegie folk.

Volunteers of the Month- April2008: Mo Blixt, Pool Room Vice President Paul Taylor has put in 30 hours per wee~ for the past 21 years volunteering on the Newsletter. WOW! .

- get out your cougar spray!

Yes! It's that time of the year again .... Spring has sprung the grass has riz, I wonder where the birdies is?! June 16th- 20th is the wild week for us urban campers. In order to be eligible to be considered as a participant, you must attend the planning meeting on

MaY l'lth, lOatn-Noon in the Theatre.

Hospitalization, Medical appointments or volunteer shifts are the only reasons that will get you out of the attendance requirement.. .... but you must let Colleen or Marlene know in advance. We don't care if your rattlesnake ate your favourite gargoyle, if your lizard 's lips got caught in the ceiling fan as it was contemplating its navel AGAIN, nor if Egor's gorilla sto le your bananas ..... be there or we won't (Just kidding, just rhymed is all.) care

SOMETHING ELSE TO LOOK FORWARD TO: 51

Our July 21 all day annual Volunteer/Senior's picnic will be at Hell's Gate this year, with driving to and fro in a deluxe bus with washrooms, air conditioning and dancing monkeys. Egor is very excited!

AUGUST CRAB PARK VOLUNTEER DINNER **please if any of you have any ideas about a sporting event we can do in the after noon, I'd love to hear it. It would be great to have some fun before the dinner under the blue sky.

Smiling is infectious; you catch it like the flu When someone smiles at me, I start smiling too.

If you feel a smile begin, don't leave it undetected Let's start an epidemic and get the world infected!

To My Mom, Elaine This speech is for my mom. Thank you to Colleen and Sindy for letting me be there to see my mom get her Volunteer ofthe Year 2008 Award. And I thank each and every one here to see my mom get her reward. And thank Ada for helping me write this to my mom.

From your son Josh (hugs & kisses)

DOCUMENTARY MOVIE NIGHTS for MAY at the Carnegie theatre

Saturday, 6:00 PM, May lOch

HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD ONE MAN ONE COW: & GARBAGE WARRIOR

Building beautiful homes out ofgarbage.

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HOMELESSNESS- A CLASS ISSUE

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Can a mother lose her child when she loses her home? Faced with eviction because her landlord was taking over his premises, this single mother eagerly accepted an offer of a house of her own from her deceased ex-boyfriend's relatives. The events that followed were unimaginable. Suffering from shock and disbelief she found herself in a strange city without friends attempting to visit her son in the home of her deceased boyfriend's cousin. All close bonds--her son, his father (a daily visitor) and all personal belongings were gone. It was comparable to having a fire with all past existence destroyed.

In an effort to provide housing for herself and her 7-year old child this entrepreneurial woman resorted to renting a large house and renting out rooms. The financial need meant renting to persons who appeared genial but without the expense of background checking. A more affluent group would see this as unsatisfactory. However, while diligence on the mother's part was attainable the financial risk was unsolvable--she didn't have a lease. The owner issued a two months' notice advising he wished to occupy the premises. Accordingly roomers were notified to vacate and no new person could reasonably be invited to rent a room. This was a financial hardship. This powerlessness of a tenant contrasts with the crowded conditions in Toronto during World War 2: Wartime regulations required that an eviction notice could only be issued if a tenant failed to pay rent on time. Had this law existed the following case in British Columbia might not have come before the court.

A member of the deceased's family offered to buy the mother a house if she would relocate in their city. She was amazed at her good fortune--a large close-knit family for her son and the stability of a permanent home! The invitation came at an opportune time. She would not have to look for accommodation whilst grieving over the loss of her ex-boyfriend who had been a constant mentor to his son.

When the brother of the Deceased unexpectedly arrived insisting that her son should precede her to their new place of residence she felt intimidated. She was in the process of packing to move. Ill let him go. My son and I expected to be together again soon. I knew where he was going--he had met the other children in the family's household during the funeral."

The surrendering of her son under a false premise was to be the nightmare of her life. The relatives went to a judge in their own locale with complaints about the child's health and safety. By going directly to a judge instead of the Children's Aid Society the family circumvented the Society's supervisory measures. The deceased's cousin and her husband were given joint custody by the judge and the promised home for the mother evaporated without further mention. Belongings slated for transportation were placed in storage and not retrieved.

In practice the joint custody with the mother did not apply. In order to visit her child the mother borrowed money for transportation to the city where her son was located and stayed at women's shelters. She scoured bus schedules to arrive at the new subdivision where he lived--she was constantly late. The cousin and her husband set the times when the mother might visit her son. Due to the activities of the family which included several children of their own, the visits were an inconvenience--they ~ were brief. Being supervised by the cousin, a much younger woman was demeaning. The mother was not allowed to take her child out because she might say something disloyal to the new caretakers. This restriction was not contested by her legal aid lawyer. She felt powerless to prevent the growing alienation from her child.

Will the mother get her child back? It's unlikely. The relatives are rich. The mother receives a disability pension. She is neither alcohol nor drug addicted nor has she committed a criminal offence. The relatives retained the services of a private lawyer; the mother had legal aid lawyers with limited time. After three years the situation was normalized. The new relatives were given custody.

By Velma Demerson II

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Homelessness, a book by Jack Layton Review by Rolf Auer Home/essness is the self-explanatory title of a book by federal New Democrat Party leader Jack Layton. It was first written in 2000, then updated and re-released this year.

I have to confess, I was taken aback by the scope of the undertaking (although, knowing what I do about the complexity of the issue, I shouldn't have been). In comparison, Ronald Wright's A Short History of Progress, about the history of civilization, was a mere 132 pages long. It was an easy two-hour read. Here, Layton's book is 334 pages long. When I saw this, I thought, "Good God, I'm operating under a deadline, I'll never be able to finish this book in time to get an article on it to Paul (Taylor, the editor of The Carnegie Newsletter)!"

So I admit I cheated. I read only about two and a half chapters out of eight: (2) Defining Homelessness, (6) How Did Things Get So Bad?, and (8) The Way Forward.

Before becoming federal NDP leader, Layton was a long-time Toronto City Councillor. Homelessncss has long been an issue he has championed, perhaps his defining issue.

This book goes back as far as the early twentieth century in recounting the history of homelessness.

It concentrates mainly on the period from 1990 to 2008.

Layton has long been pushing for the reestablishment of a national housing program, since it was unofficially dismantled in 1993 (after years of cuts previous to that by Mulroney's Conservatives).

(Just an aside here: federal NDP MP Libby Davies, long-time parliamentary representative of the Downtown Eastside, regularly sends out circulars advising her constituents of goings-on in Ottawa. I have one before me that tells me that she has been appointed joint Deputy Leader (along with Thomas Mulcair) of the federal NDP. Inside, on the first page, is an exhortation about standing up for afford-

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able housing in East Vancouver. She detm1te1y supports, among many related actions, reestablishing a national housing program, like her leader, Jack Layton. The federal NDP is the only political party making a national housing program part of its election strategy.)

Layton believes much of the other responsibility of establishing affordable housing (I'm including low-income housing here) lies with the municipal government. He doesn't believe in condo towers (height density), a problem severely encroaching on the Downtown Eastside. He does believe in appropriate zoning practices (like allowing laneway housing) and in giving tax breaks to developers to encourage them to build rental housing. A lot of the solutions he proposes for solving homelessness revolve around decisions that City Council can make, and what's the surprise there? After all, those are Layton's roots.

Here is one of Layton's quotes: "Homelessness is a political phenomenon-if we understand politics to be, among other things, the process that determines the allocation of our resources. Housing is one of those resources. Has our society determined that its resources will be distributed so that some community members have no housing?"

If you want to get a feel for what a municipal government can do about affordable housing without going down the wrong turns of something like EcoDensity, I recommend this book. It costs about $20.

On an unrelated note, I recently saw A Downtown Et~stside Romeo and Juliet, a play put on by Vancouver Moving Theatre. I very much liked the entire production. I'm hard pressed to name a favourite scene, but ifl had to pick one, it'd be the one about the reporter from BC Sleazy News, where a group of four DTESiders are standing in the background, chatting among themselves about current events, etc. Each time the reporter ominously pronounces "THE DOWN TOWN EAST SIDE", the four take up garish positions, two looking like out of a chorus line-up, one puffing on a huge joint, and one producing a giant syringe and looking like they are sticking it in their arm. The reporter continues, and the group returns to "normal." (Repeat anumber of times.) I take it that scene is meant to parody the news media's penchant for exaggerating the worst aspects of the Downtown Eastside every time that they mention it, neglecting its community character. It's hilarious! The whole play was so funny!

If you ever get a chance to see it, do!

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in the Downtown Eastside For the last two weeks the Downtown Eastside was blessed with theatre at its best. Gina Bastone, actor, clown, and director, with her band of stalwarts entertained the folks with a humdinger of a play. If you were there you know what I'm talking about. If you weren't, shame on you.

Many of the performers were Downtown Eastsiders and Carnegie regulars. your friends and your neighbors, and 1 must say they did one hell of a job. They all deserve a slap on the back, buckets of flowers, maybe even a parade.

Of course, most of the actors have a few plays under their belts, such as Vancouver Moving Theatre's In the Heart of a City (2003), The Shadows Project about addiction, and the opera: Condemned.

Why go see these plays? You might ask. Well, supporting the arts in the Downtown Eastside is one reason. Seeing some of the concerns you might have about addiction, or prostitution, or housing, or condo development addressed are others. There is a simple truth: plays are fun to watch.

In Romeo and Juliet, a Ia Downtown Eastside, Bastone entertained us with physical theatre. It was mUlti-layered play beginning with a 10 minute Romeo and Juliet adapted

by Mike Stack, which our thespians performed "trippingly on the tongue There was also some beautiful singing by the chorus and one song, sung in Chinese by Wendy Chew, was particularly haunting and poignant. There was a dancing scene where the cast appeared in white wigs, masks and rich, velvety maroon costumes. And when they danced to the music, I almost felt I was back in the Renaissance. Simply marvelous!

Now about the music. Dorthy Dittrich, the wonderful piano player, gave us Grieg, folk tunes, music from the silent movie era, and also some of her own compositions. It added a lot of atmosphere and pace the show. There were also compositions by Jim Sands and Mike Richter The play, written by Bastone with input from the ensemble had a lot in it. One scene gave us a satirical take on reality

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F1rst Nation entrepreneur played by Pricillia Tail. The German tourists are hosed for $1500 plus Ma slum tax". Tait relishes her role, especially when she says: "It's pay back time." The tourists, played by Gena Thomson and Michael Richter, are delightfully raunchy and rude.

There was also the little-boy-lost-scene with Hansel (Jim Sands) robbed by two denizens of the DTES: Carla, (Grant Chancey) a transgendered addict who nods off, and the down-on-his-luck, Freddy (Fred Galloway). Now, Sands ain't little but he stole the show when he complained in a German accent: "I'm just a little boy. I want to go home". He sings, too: My hands on my head- vat is dus here?1 Dus is my think boxer my teacher dear.

Then there was Bastone playing Suzy, an impish little girl who showed us what she found: a band-aid and a safe, no less. Not the best of toys for a kid. She encouraged our friend, Hansel, to take a pee and she promised not to look.

Of course, the little scamp did. The audience enjoyed it when she teased Hansel about liis "fing" and tittered when she flashed this lighter as if she wanted to start fire in the place.

The two-little-girls scene with Suzy and Candice (Muriel) was thoroughly enjoyable. They chatted and made friends even though one was poor and one was rich. This was brought home when Hope asked Suzy if she was poor. Suzy said: "No, I'm just here."

We also had the three-boys-on-the-bench scene with Mickey (Mike Richter) trying to remember who said: "I had a dream". Then he wants to know who wrote American Woman. Freddy helps him out and the boys do a fine rendition ending it with a hearty laugh together and Mickey saying: "I miss being happy." This probably holds true for a lot of Downtown Eastsiders.

There was the rubby-and-little-rich-girl scene, another instance of star-crossed lovers. Here we had Frenchie (Yvon Ch~rtr~nd) an old rubby and a young Juliet (Kuei-Ming Un) falling mlove. They had some beautiful moments together as he sat on the bench watching her dance like a butterfly.

There were surprises, too, like Juliet taking these dead birds out of her bag to feed to these two dangling pieces of toast that came down out of the blue.

I could go on and on with what I thought was interesting about the play but suffice it to say: it was a magnificent effort, one that the cast and director should be proud of. It held the audience's attention throughout. Nobody went to sleep. 1 hope it's mounted again so that the performers can once more strut their stuff and other people who haven't seen it, can.

And one other thing. Productions like this are saying something important. People in the Downtown Eastside need to care about each other as did the characters in the play. Not just when it's convenient. or there's an occasion, or it''s Christmas, but all the time. If we don't care about each other, who will?

By PATRICK FOLEY

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Editor's note: In the April 15, 2008 issue the submission WAR was attributed to Sinead O'Connor.

A native of Africa corrected that, saying the original prose came from the Emperor of Ethiopia and was made into poetry and song by Bob Marley.

subjeCt TO Change screaming streets, alley is louder, humming, hawing, creepy crawling, electric buzzes, blasting, shrill be still, no way, rubber screeches, sheets of water pelting puddles, shallow, slick, flapping winds shooting bullets with back-up slouching & slumping! sliders of bumper-to-bumper coughing cars, belching trucks with trash crumpled, bent&twisting - too big get small shiny rigs standing tall - concern, protect, sustain .. all right, bring your tools (got any smokes ' r papers 'r finish yer butt ... loose change, deranged uncontained pipe dreams in a coma screaming of chemicals n hot toxic belching wreaks okay! alright! turn the page in boiling rage new day good stuff be cool : break regs, bend rules, twist the tape for timed suspension, body heat blowing steam, lungs bellow with suffocating breath .... please touch me, pretty please & mean it; am I unreal?! watch your backs 'cause there's tons of robbing and stealing and love in the afternoon. I hurt so hard - aches, pains, harsh & steady, digging contact, I'm cooking with boiling blood, collapsed veins, static brain, glitching body parts congealing massive mayhemed memories like sterno sludge, coagulating until concealed with the body clock ticking down in a steady slow down to the big sleep (you think?) threats of grim and temples of doom gone to earth with no anchor, no more, no deal, no self-respecting saga to terminate it all :: no time to think computer brain, no doubt is on the blink, the bashing of existence overrated though unspeakable you've got the list so check it off, create bad dreams - you get the point? Oh what's the use .. just stay fast & loose while piles of people are left on display for their whole world [to see to sea, my kingdom to see] ROBYN LIVINGSTONE

Broken Promises A promise is to commit, but why do we convict When in fact it is right to keep promises Broken promises; broken promises When will the world stop cheating And using the system When in fact it's just a lie of broken promises So what's the point of being committed When lie of deceptions are broken promises Love is supposed to be mending Not made of broken promises White man can tell I ies of broken promises When all we want is our lands and rights back The battle continues When we want to endure And no more broken promises Sandra Pronteau

Yearning to Dance The Indians' spirit lives in us For some they can Dance to the drums At Pow-wows It's a treat; it's a tradition For some it's yearning to dance The sounds of drums Make the heart beat faster The adrenaline is rushing The Indians are in us We can imagine or pretend Being a jingle dancer; A traditional dancer; A grass dancer; A beautiful fancy shawl dancer The sudden movement of rhythm Of yearning to be a part But knows it just a dream We are envious, but with great admiration We stand strong, yearning to dance The spirit's dancers are within us being our own role model dancers

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DOWNTOWN

NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN·- 3 Routes:

EASTSIDE

City- 5:4~pm- ll :4Spm Overnight- l2:30am -8:30am

604-685-6561

YOUTH ACTIVITIES

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Downtown Eastside - S:30p~ - l :30am·

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SOCIETY

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CFRO 102.7FM CO-OP RADIO

'04·2~1-JJIO

~~~b•••lsslpll deadline - -·

fur ••exf iss~a~:

Monday, May 12 .

PauiR Taylor has been the volunteer editor of the Carnegie Newsletter since 15 Dec 1986-21 years.

NEWSLETTER THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION 014' THE

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cAnNEG_&~ c oMMUNITY c.ENTRE A~soctATION ... w-;ack;,o;ied(i; th'M-:c';ne;ie· Co'm;.niiY:orntre-;-;,nd'lhl~ 1 AI tlcles retJresent the vtews of huhvidunl I N ' I tt8r·· ;h . . I . ·.-..th'e.Squamlsh:Natfon's 'territory. contributors nnd not of the Association.

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WANTED Artwork for the Carnegie Newsletter

[My apology to Tim for not having a clear photo -Ed.]

TIM STEVENSON CITY COUNCILLOR •

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SERVING THE COMMUNITY WITH PRIDE

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CITY HALL 453 WEST 12m AVE. V5Y 1V4

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Phone: 604.873· 7247 Email: tlm.stcvenson®vancouver .ca

Jenny .

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Wa/Ching Kwan MLA

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Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry Cover art- Maximum size: 17cm(6·3/4") wide x 15cm(6") high.

Subject matter relevant to issues pertaining to the Downtown Eastside is preferred, but all work will be considered Black & white printing only Size restrictions must be considered (i.e., if your piece Is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit) All artists will receive credit for their work Originals will be returned to the artist after being copied for publication Remuneration: Carnegie volunteer tickets

Please make submissions to: Paul Taylor, Editor.

2008 DONATIONS: Barry for Dave McC.-$250 Anne P.-$40 Margaret D.-$40 Paddy T .-$70 Michael C .-$50 Judy E.-$1 0 Alayne K .-$50 Libby D.-$70 C allum C .-$ 100 The Edge -$200 ,Jenny K.-$22 Penn y C.-$40 Wilhelmina M .-$20 Ja ya B.-$ 100 Mel L -$50 Pam B-$50 Rolf A.-$50 Glenn 8 .-$200

Working for You 1.070-1641 f :nmmerdad Ur V51,llt'l

·-·-..l~ft•Ht~i 77S·07?!LI!ft~l.11~·fiiUU ... .....

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uYour Love for Me" (A Dreatn)

When I look into your eyes I get a most wondrous surprise I low can th is possibly be?

The love I see that's just for me It gives me quite a sudden start To th ink I could have won your heart

You can run, vou can hide... but vou can't escapeI

CO ER'S CO SPI Y BOOKSTORE IS Fl AllY OPE

You're so beautiful and kind It really muddles up my mind Who could believe such a thing?

You now wear my wedding ring And here to add to my joy You've given me a bouncing baby boy

Books on: New World Order-The Illuminati-Paganism- Da VInci Code- Cults lsoterlcism-Gnosticism-Freemasons-Kabbalah- free-thinkers Alex Jones-David lcke-MK-UIIra-Depleted Uranium-Ago of Aquarium Climate change -AI Qaeda-Tenorlsm -September 11-Eugenics- 2012 Replilian humanoids- Occullism- Clash ol civilizations- Greenwashlng ...and rnanv more conspiracv-related topics

All of this I could have had I fi had not lived so bad None of this did I gain All it was, was an aching pain I'll miss this life that could have been As I awaken from a wondrous dream ...

Religious lconouraphv. spiritual svmbols, dada an. tarot cards, mandalas. pendants, survivor kits and amishmash of records, comics and DVDsl

Roger Badour

Hoodoo Voodoo

6East Cordova, Downtown Eastside lCordova and Carralll

Durango, Durango And Texas League, the III Lost in the hills ofHoodoo-Voodoo â&#x20AC;˘

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www.dovoutvancouver.blogspotcom

The Canyon hills of Durango White, searing waves of heat Reverberate off the canyon's walls Up on Rattlesnake Ridge, sidewinder trail The white salt, sand, dust and spit Cake to our mouths and eyes Above scawflowers and scawflies And in the blue high, buzzards And vultures slowly circle.

Soon the slowly circling vultures Will have their beaked way They' ll eat our rib-cage 'n bones

They'll drink our eyeballs Tumbling - tumbleweeds and west nile virus Like some yuppie scum drink ing buzzing mosquitoes An olive at the bottom of a martini glass.

Saved you there Texas League III. Yep, badlands. Searing heat partner.

Patui! Sorry! My tobacco juice spit But don't phone the posse for us Hit your perfect Western shirt Save the radio show that crackles.

Yep, badlands ... searing heat Across the searing blue and white sky Beyond the dust-devils and dust-bunnies Save the rad io show that crackles.

Don Larson

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days now Since 1 awoke I had been wasting my energy and time Eyes that refused to hear Lips that refused to speak Instead Deeply buried in the sands of denial Still I want to â&#x20AC;˘.. believe A waste it has not It was for naught Perhaps, my heart cries A blessing and a teaching Only In disguise it came Nor was there need To forgive either My Ia

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Soccer stadium nee s a secon- look .

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BY DON LARSON moms and kids by placing a new Whitecaps Stadium beside a·huge . railway shunting·yard that carries . should keep worlqng-class f~milies : dangerous chemicalst ,. · and young professionals living . . · Do we want even the remote J?O~~ ·n~arby up at all hours. · · . :·· sibility of mixing soccer or ~us1c . · . Vehicle congest~on before and ·fans with "trichloroisocyanuric' · after each event will.be a problem, acid" .during·a half-time.hotdog too. In spite of public tiansit, about .munch? two-thirds of those going to the The 2004 ~mergency response proposed Whitecaps Stadium will guidebook states "inhalation, inges- use private vehiCles. tion by cqn~act (skiri, eyes) with · And what about the $131-million vapours or ·substance may cause vehicle ramp that would have to b~ severe injury, burns·or death." And built to get cars from the stadium this is a direct quote froni the joint' to Granville Street? . publication by'.Transport Canada . . I~ it David J3eckham or Posh and the U.S. Dep~ment of TransSpice who is going to 'pay for this? .. · .: portation.'.- :· . :::. :<·\ :'.~·:. :'.' . , ; . :·: .'. · Oh,·.the taXpayer? ·1 . .~: ~·~-· · · • : . . . N~ <:m the.lisr~f concerns to . . · .' :-Women's groups:in th~ .Dpwn.:: . loc~ residents'.i~'t}qi~~··:At uP. to ~2 · : >:toWn. Eastside have expressed con., ..·.dec1bels, cems apout Carrall p~destn/ . the White(:aps . . Stadium · . . ! Street ..

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~an overp'ass will likely be built over the railway tracks and to the Whi~~<;aps Stadium. . · · Can yo~~~:fi: "New Granville brawl, er, ?" · Libby DaVies. MP for Vancouver East, in her letter to federal Trans. po~ation, Minister Lawrence tannon, says, ·~r believe that core value for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is to develop, sustain and ·.enhance port infrastructure as a . nexus for trade and transportation ·for the lo~g term; and that this value serv~s ,local, regional and , national economic interests none of which is compatible with.. the development of a soccer stadi:. um." ·. .. .,.... . . ~

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': · Don.'I.anon iS ·a comm~nity activist in Vancouver. ·. ·

Schizophrenic - perhaps the term synchophrenic could be designated for this condition. The absence of synchronicity, as in so-called ' normal ', might also be an abnormal condition. The person truly connected experiences a moderate degree of synchronicity and I am suggesting the term synchophrenia for a normal person who is in harmony with his environment but not overwhelmed or underwhelmed, as the case may be, of experiencing synchronous thoughts and events.

What I am proposing is a breakdown of the barriers. We are all "phrenics" of one kind or another.

From the barren "no-ophrenics" to the sick synchrophrenics, to the truly healthy synchophrenic.

There should be an organization called synchoph• rentcs anonymous.

Dr. Harvey Breen

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This photo was taken as a rally of China-supp01ters in the matter of Tibet proceeded to its destination. It could be compared with "My country. Love it or leave it." except the entire cast of characters are outside China and here in Canada. The parallel with the 2010 Olympics cannot be missed, however, as placards and apparently speeches over bullhorns tout the inviolability and sacredness of sport-that must not be sullied by any social issues or protest. One ~~re par~ llel i.s in the .wa~ a one-p~rty c~ntrol ~ver everything broadcast on media and over everything taught to ctttzens smce mfa~cy ts ctted as. bemg faar and mde.pendent and, therefore, always right. Compare to CTY here stating for the record that It (and all mamstream press medta, topped by the Vancouver Sun) will just not cover any more protests against 'our' Olympics. Oh, and by the way, all reports on the situation in Tibet and on how the Tibetan people have been brutally suppre~sed are completely false and biased... and the Dalai Llama is a con man ....... .

The

oney

I think I just heard the Maytag espa1r man are sink half-full or so I'm told, with all those crooked mouths to feed this man has got himself quite a load - let it be backed-up toilets or backed-up ship containers, the 'customers' inside with second thoughts for the thousandth time, if half of them don't die from drowning in their own urine sweat & tears that means Success not Crime let the selfish circus shine & the Money Torch gets passed on, like a disease or virus our role is silence, will it really be that bad if we are all gone?

The remainder of what forever looks like Address me as Master, lines like these scrawled on jail walls we use prisons & use up our phone cards pleading, desperately seeking clues but behind every corner nothing but stalls; the first casualty is news from this inhumane country & their circus of tools, the suffering are here to stay because that torch means Money - what country can't refuse: CANADA, that's who!

Imagine the discus or the barbed wire highjump in the middle of a minefield, CHINA Is the mine the world her field once calm disorder is detained the rest is jest window dressing, let's choose a land in need of command will anyone speak of/for the dead ... I' ll assume there's an outpouring of confessing, â&#x20AC;˘

thoughts er ey us to be qUic der as I am led to the Holy Jail of water & bread. Some of the heinous crimes: comments- conversation imagination - mental illness their cure & kill .. disruption - warfare - increased fares - rallies for the lawn cutters & their pair of scisors; All the result of resolutions that passed no solutions if you know the saying "You're part of the problem. Thanks so much for destroying everything you touch." So lidarity For The Rich - they're evil but human too so you've said, our highly publicized 3 Yz week joke "just follow the smoke from that goddamned Money Torch' just follow the poor: there is usually a reason entire segments of a population don't just stand by and take it any more ...

I used to be a very proud guy - No more CANADA let alone Vancouver are jokes around the globe, back in CHINA there's a new tattoo parlour in town burning numbers in your arm after being hosed & disrobed the bull shops are doing great business only several pieces of what's been shattered on the floor per customer oh well if I get out of this country alive my suitcase will be adorned wi th a new sticker "I Went to the CHINA Olympics & Survived!!"

Robert McGillivray

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