604-665-2289
NEW EMAIL ADDRESS carnnews@shaw.ca www.camnews.org - 400 hits per day! http://harvesters.sfu.ca/chodarr (INDEX)
A recent lpsos-Reid poll found that 72 percent of people believe the BC Liberals willfully deceived the electorate~
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Vancouver Sun, 4 September 2009
contribute considerably to the much desired "re,路italization" of the neighbourhood that city planners gurgle over time and again and will, of course, solidify Wood wards as the undisputed anchor of the DE community. Welcome to the 'hood folks. See ya at the Farmers' Market. Jan MacRae
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CALLING ME
Stopping By Woodwards on a Summer (with apo logies to Robert Frost) The Affordable !lousing Society was selected by B.C. Housing to manage that portion of the 200 subsidized units in the Woodwards complex set aside for families. On passing by the site recently, I noticed a large sign in the window on Cordova St. offering the following: 2BR units from $1285 per mo./3 BR units from $1585; (from is the customary marketing term to disguise something of inferio r quality-like over the garbage bins etc.) Prices presumably go up from there. The Affordable I lousing Society is a large wellestablished organization with a long-standing record of housing people in need in the Downtown Eastside--Europe Hotel, Ford Build ing, Colombia I louse and more. As most hous ing societies have an extensive wait lists for housing, why is it that they have to resort to this sort of carny pitch to !ill these units? Well, the rents required are likely well beyond the means of anybody on that list as they surely are for any of the residents in their current DE operations. All of which is good news to the new condo owners who get palpitations about the swi nish multitude about to join them in their "intellectual property" domain--poor people clearly have no intellect to bring to the table. So, it seems clear thai very few if any of these fam ily units will be occupied by current DE famil ies. We will once again sec local housing needs swept aside as newcomers from out and beyond !ill these suites. This no doubt will
beautiful haunting voices Sing and dance in unison to the beat of the drum in their colorful regalia Open my heart longing to hear voices of the past calling me to have honor and respect for our Creator's creations Water land and air will always be there for our use if we refuse to abuse the Creator's creat ions Betty Ann Spinks
Double or nothing. No more "put in your two bits worth." As if we don't have enough price increases Telus has upped the anti DOUBLE OR NOTH ING. As of Friday Sept. I Ith, (ring a bell?) a pay phone call will cost 50 cents. in case you haven't noticed there are hardly any pay phones in the downtown core. What next? Maybe the kind fo lks at Shitty !_I all might bring back pay toilets. Carl MacDonald.
but I feel an eruption in me about to e\plode like the pile ofD.U.I.'s by the gas pedal on your car floor just a scrape for you let's check for damage like all the other cars, fountains & bus stops paper boxes & of course the people who lost their entire lives! You arc a reckless magnet attracting more allention than the Influenza Peddling Convention, details being the universe's best kept secret (pass it on) a ll will end in drivc-thru crematoriums & Drive-In burials at sea, a child jumps in the air and hot diggitydog sec the arms & legs this is better than TV! Now it's all right to \\ant to be alone even Satan has his umbrella full o f thirsty souls so it goeslike finding certainty in your Corn Flakes or closure in a box of Captain Crunch scriptures don't come wrap-ped & bowed, this down-on-your-luck look is \Cry chic one reason a man lay dead for 2 days at Grandview Park last week, a blossoming future cut short by circumstance? !Icy it's your world too give them a g lance, are those dreams of yours sinking in? Arc accomplishments left unfinished looking cute swinging in the wind? Has the house of cards begun scaffold ing in? Take it like a human they say to deny pain & agony is a sin like whispering into a bullhorn those damn details have fo und a way in, these scriptures of you scriptures from you from above you no mo re pictu res just these scriptures will develop into pictures for Saint Minus' scrapbook beginningâ&#x20AC;˘to*fade*toâ&#x20AC;˘you.
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THESE SCRIPTURES It's me again sucking in the stalenite's air, punctuated with pleasant phosphorous small night nares, a woman emerges hope it's not courage that got you to the emergency spot marked TIIERE, a double amputee evicted for smoking medicine has now died- how selfish can you bastards be, she's dead it's o n your head please let there be a Hell of Infinity in lieu of flowers (ironic, huh?) show your support but very nondescript these scriptures from St Minus' scrapbook, more scriptures like today's condo lences and tomorrow's anger in between a sight rarely seen a helping hand not helping themselves to everything they can sec, now taxes & war may be your god's way of thinning the herd (not so absurd now sweetie, stay off the rich kids' grass (his dad pays with cash)) with valets for their bikes newsmen sifting through their garbage for the front page tonite, like taking a suburb and smashing it into the sky .. what was once :-lo.3 Road is now & forever the Cantada Line with skytrain stations all down the line you forgot one thing now I don't want to spoil it but there's no toilets for people to vomir in, how unkind this destructionconstruction-tax deduction-common sense reduction-boozed up seduction sorry for the interruption
enter
By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY
exit
CCAP t own hall meeting
Learn about CCAP's community mapping project that involved 200 low income Downtown Eastside residents • What are the good things about the Downtown Eastside? • How will condos and gentrification affect them? • What can we do about it?
Time: Place : Sponsored by Carnegie Community Action Project Call 604 729-2380 for info Neighbourhood & Neighbours in Stereotype "The Wood wards development w ill be a 21st century ideal fo r the future of mixed income housing. With a cosmo politan atmosphere, all people from the very wealthy to those less fortunate will share this amazing space in harmony with the s urrounding wilderness!" *An ind ividual, couple or fami ly who are receiving income-assistance or working for min imum wage will not be able to afford the ' low-income' housing at Woodwards; "The Canada Line, for $6.50, joins the international com munity of visitors and destination travelers with an ultra-modem straight shot from YVR [the airport] to fabu lous downtown Vancouver!" *A person who earns BC's minimum wage working ·
at the airport will have to work 2 hours just to pay for trans ortation to and from their ·ob. "At Telus the future is friendly!" *Phonecalls made from payphones are now 50c each "Mindfulness meditation is a way to be here now, to live in the moment and realize the intrinsic harmony of all life and supplant depression with positivity!" *Patients referred for mindfulness therapy to assist with their major depression are required to pay for materials needed to participate in the sessions. (this is another example of2-tiered health care for the mentally ill, who are often on disability assistance and therefore too poor to afford $25 on the spur of the moment). "Even though these hotel rooms are small and temporary at best, they must be accepted as viable lowrent housing. " *Paying $400-$500 for I00 square feet is not low rent. It is obscenely expensive. "The voters of Vancouver could easily live with 2025,000 homeless people and not even notice!"' And from the same Senior C ity Planner, "Building 2500 condos in the Downtown Eastside won't have hardly any impact on that area!" *Condos cause homelessness. Constructing dense,
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very expensive housing precludes developi~g muchneeded soc ial and co-operative housing. Developers see low-income, poor tenants and residents as an inconvenience to the wealthy and/or greedy speculators they hope to attract. Community is unknowable. What is it about the words poor and low-income that the well-paid and, presumably, well-educated people who are charged with the responsibi lity of making decisions on behalf of the public s imply do not understand? CCAP and others would be delighted to explain what it means to be low-income and are experts at what needs to be done to help the economically poor - the decision-makers just need to be willing to li sten and learn. (You I they could start by attending the presentation about the mapping sessions.)
By PAULR TAYLOR
First Nations Journeys with Bonnie Kennedy Wednesdays and Fridays, 1- 3pm Carnegie Learning Centre 3 rd floor, 401 Main Street 604-665-3013
Cong•atulat;ons ! o Act;st G•ant Redp;ents ~
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fl The Vancouver Foundation and the Carnegie Community Center would like to I
congratul.a te the 31 DTES artists who received grants for a variety of projects in the First Round of the DTES Small Arts Grants. Presentations of many of t hese projects will be taking place around the neighbourhood in late fall . A Second _Round of grants began on Friday, August 28/ 09 . Those who received a grant in Round One may apply for a grant in Round Two; however, priority will be given to those not yet awarded. Artists m-ay pick up application forms from the Information Desk at the Carnegie Community Center, RayCam Community Center, Strathcona Community Center, Oppenheimer Park, and the Aboriginal Front Door. Application questions and eligibility information can also be accessed at "dtessmallartsgrants.blogspot.com". Deadline for submission for the Second Round will be 4 pm on Friday, September 1 8 th. For questions, please contact Jason Bouchard at 778-828-7553
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H E A L T H
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Alley Health Fair Nutritional Facts : Thursday, Sept. 17 Serving Size: 12:00pm - 3:00pm In the alley behind Carnegie AlnountPerSenring
Food Hot food Smoothies Health Beauty Night Foot Soaks Haircuts
% Daily Value
O.Skg 100% 825ml 100%
8.6mg 1.2kg 4g Aboriginal Well ness 4.3kg 0.6kg Massage HIVTestlng 2.3mg
Ella
Prizes Drumming Red Fox!!! Other Useful Stuff
1.5kg 0.1t 23j
100%路 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Welfare Assistance 4.2mg 100%
BCHauslng
Seal
100%
Sponsored by The Vancouver Public Ubrary foundation with c:nnnnrt frnm Th1>
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News from -the LibrarY It's back to school at the library right now, and we've got a few new books to get you better informed on a w ide range of subjects. Bon Jo vi Encyclopaedia, by Nei l Daniels (781.57), contains everything you ever wanted to know about Bon Jovi, and probably a few things you didn't. Published by a d ie-hard, opinionated fa n, it contains tour dates, women who have dated Bon Jovi members, and a host of other information. It is worth checking out from the library for the back cover photo alone! Th e /Iandy Geography Answer Book (91 0) helps you learn the answers to intriguing questions such as, Is Mount Everest getting taller? What time is it in Antarctica? Why was January I chosen as the beginning of the year? A nd (this o ne's tricky) Who was Vancouver, Canada named after? If you're more at home outside than in the c lassroom, check out a couple of new nature guides:
Th e Easy Tree Guide: Common Na tive and Cultivated Trees of the Unitetl S tates fill(/ Call(ufa. by Keith Rush forth (582 .1 6), and Animal Tracks of Westem Cwwdo, by Joanne E Barwise (599). Finally, two new titles in the For Dummies series:
Drawing Cortoons & Comics, by Brian Fairrington (74 1.5), a nd Globo/ Wo rming f or Dummies. by Elizabeth May (yes, her) and Zoe Caron (55 1.6). There's a lot going on th is month: check out the Alley Health Fa ir, behind the Carnegie Centre, on Thursday, September 17 from 12pm to Jpm, and Word on the S treet, in and around the Central Library, 350 West Georgia, o n S unday, Septe mber 27 from I l am to Spm. Beth, your librarian
Carnegie Community Centre Association BOARD AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS
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Education/Library Committee Wednesday, Sept 16 at 3:00pm (C lassroom 2)
Seniors Support Group Thursday, Sept 17 at 2:00 pm (Theatre, first floor)
Community Relations Committee Thursday, Sept 24 at 4:00 pm (Association Office)
Program Committee Tuesday, Sept 29 at 4:00pm (Association Office)
Finance Committee Wednesday, Sept 30 at 4:00pm (Assoc. Omce)
Publications Committee Friday, October 2 at I :00 pm (Association Omce)
Volunteer Committee Wednesday, October 7 at I :00 pm (Classroom 2)
Oppenheimer Park Committee Thursday, October 8 at 3:30pm (211 Dunlevy Street, across from the Park)
CCCA Board Meeting Thursday, October 8 at 5:30 pm (Thearre) *u Please no te date Cha nge for this month o nlv.
the rogue pen it wouldn't coopera te at all, doing impressions of north korea, 'stead of black inked 路red 'stead 0' blue, inked fred. t he un tri ed to harsh ly scold it, obbie lectured with silken blurbs; pro feminists asked its gender. golfers asked its handicap. theologians asked its bel ie fs. pollsters asked pure trivia. bu t actions spea k louder than words and it went right on writing unexpectedly until - al as alas, was sent to the pen poorfar m, in outer refill siberia South where it socialized, got in sack, married, had many many inkids 路 who all wrote red instead of black. john a lan d ouglas
revealing, there are heartaches, victories and tales of daring-do; maidens, and men on white steeds with lance in hand, peacefully mounted with gloved hands sparkling, reaching towards us all. There are: however, lovers meetings preordained as 1f etched m stone. How does this happen, if not a cast spell, perplex ing, and magic involved? No one really knows, nor can they ever explain although who cares? So what? Does it really matter? To compare it to the freedom of a feather blowing on a gust is futile, so "There's no place li ke home" as my fairy godmother reminds me. She protects and comforts and is always graciously there for me to put my head on her shoulder and tell her of my triumphs and terrible troubles. With the whereabouts of Cinderella still unknown I' II never ever give up hope because her/your absence keeps me strong in hoping and wishing to be Ill your presence once again then forever. As 1 gaze 1n amazement upon your beautiful face, then as we go on hand in hand in bliss to and through our fu tu~e endeavours, there will seem to exist only us, as If Ill another separate time, a separate space, into an as yet unwritten odyssey. ~ ~.· . .~O~B.·YN LIVINGSTONE :~.. ~. ~ .,., .,. \ '<·;:·~ ••.:.. 'i: .. .-
T~ /?apfuN My dearest Cinderella, where have you gone - into the forest or maybe far beyond? What were your reasons or should I not politely ask why? It matters so much more to me, not that you have vanished and gone but, oh woe is me, alas although l know I must carry on. Am I your Prince Charming (wheth· er in fact or even fi ction)? If love is so blind then whatever could be the difference. I'm not so sure anymore; if only this, that you could understand. 1 have loved. I have lost, I have been sad as well as being so blue .. are you awake, are you asleep in the instantaneousness of this moment? I wish I knew.. . It 's so hard that it hurts in the extreme, subsiding briefly at times when I see you in my slumbering dreams. I will carry on unt il th is is resolved but I truly wish I knew the day and hour I may fi nd you and kiss you awake from heaven knows where. Oh holy ghost, unravel th is puzzling mystery: where is this fairy tale ending at trying times like these? Storybook conclusions arc always happy and most appealing; perplexing at times is my rind-
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LINK Dance Foundation and the Carnegie Centre present T he Br eakfast Da nces An intera ctive dance experience Be part of this rare opportunity to voice your opinion and innuence the outcome of a piece of dance. The Internationally acclaimed Breakfast Dance reveals what is unavoidably true - an audience innuenccs the outcome of a performance event. The show fea tures dynamic and provocative choreography by Gail Lotenberg, alongside spontaneous compositions by all members of the company.
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So there was a plump gal of 10 Forced to recite No End .. Dressed in yellow fr ills - a daffodi l She sings to gatherings Quaking in her orthopaedic boots For she had a certain weakness She smiled and curtseyed (having been carefu lly taught) Pinned posies to ladies ' lapels Gentlemen's pin striped suits Oftimes piercing her fingerBleeding Mother called her "little soldier" But she deliberately walked in water Over her boots Just for the name of attention; and the towelling, Something like love Maybe was love It had to do until the next best thing came around. Willow
Communication
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Communication? Language a blunt instrument Renderi ng partial meaning Often not even Often misinterpretation Tragedies and travesties occur due to words. A nd in the beginn ing was Th e Word Who said that? It ain't necessarily so. "The things that you're libel to read in the Bible."
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----Anyone who is apprehensive about introducing contemporary dance to their communities, your problems are solved! The LINK breakfast dances are a wonderful opportunity to experience highlevel dance pieces and engage the choreographer and dancers in discussion of what you've just seen. It's fun and definitely audience-frie ndly. Check it out! - Peter Feldman, Execwive Director, Canadian Arts Presenting Association, Ottawa Su nday, Septem ber 20'\ 2009, 7:00 PM
So - go figure Pilgrim- this language thing not the grammar not the word not the gesture not the assumption A c lean SLATE- tabla rasa. Unlearn - learn anew Member ole Ezra P., one of those clever fascists "Make it New."
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Six months until Vancouver Olympics: Civil liberties at risk By AmJohal At the very of end of July 2009, the Impact on Communities Coalition filed two new human rights complaints against VANOC,the International Olympic Committee and theCanadian government partners organizing the 2010 Winter Olympics at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. In essence, it was a public declaration that the Inner City Inclusive Commitment Statement has proven to be nothing more than a public relations whitewash and that the vision for the 2010 Winter Olympics as the first socially sustainable Olympics was officially dead. We began raising concerns about tenancy rights and civil liberties issues as early as 2001. By the time we launched our coalition in January of 2002, these were issues that were being hotly debated. We pushed for a civic plebiscite to happen where assurances were given that social issues would be addressed. In that environment, the Inner City Inclusive Commitment Statement was signed. As civil society organizations sat around the table, every attempt at putting hard targets in place were brushed aside by the Vancouver Bid Corporation and the government partners. At the time, the province was building 1,200 units of social housing annually. We asked for an additional 2K social housing units as a legacy over and above the existing program. Not only was the existing social housing program cut, we will not come close to a legacy of 2010 units. If anything, we now have a massive housing gap in the province. There are now over 10,500 homeless people in the province and homelessness has more than doubled in the Metro Vancouver region since the bid process began. While speed skating ovals and luge tracks have been buill, while we plan to spend $900 million on Olympic security alone for a two week party, our most vulnerable citizens are living through a health and human rights disaster. There will be more homeless people than athletes in Vancouver in February 2010. In October of 2007, Miloon Kothari, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, visited Vancouver and released a comprehensive country report on Canada in February of 2008. Unfortunately, many of those excellent recommendations have been left on the shelf. Kothari expressed concerns in his report about tenancy rights and civil liberties issues leading up to the 2010
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Experts such as Glen Bailey from Salt Lake City, Dr. Kris Olds from the University of Wisconsin, Claire Mahon from SWitzerland and Dr. Helen Jefferson Lenskyj visited Vancouver and shared their concerns. A UN human rights complaint was originally filed in April of 2008 by the Impact on Communities Coalition, the Pivot Legal Society and the Carnegie Community Action Project with the help of UBC students which focused on the speculative conversion of Single Resident Occupancy Hotels. Almost 1,400 units have been lost since the bid process began, even with the province's purchase of this important low-income housing stock. There are now at least 16 of these hotels which are double-bunking in substandard conditions. The two complaints filed at the end of July 2009 focus on tenancy rights and civil liberties. Major loopholes in BC tenancy legislation are regularly exploited to evict long-term tenants, particularly around minor renovations. Unlike Ontario, there is no option for the right of first refusal. As the 2010 Olympics approach, there is a legitimate fear that there will be mass evictions. Though the City tried to put in some preventative legislation, it simply does not go far enough nor will it be adequately enforced. II was irresponsible for the City to create a public policy framework that could so easily be exploited. It creates the conditions for mass evictions to take place. During Expo 86, over 1,000 residents were evicted in the
~ In a comprehensive 2007 report on the impacts of megaevents by the Center on Housing Rights and Evictions, it highlighted the main impacts of hosting an Olympic Games on housing rights: -Displacement and forced evictions of communities and/or individuals in order to pave the way for the construction of mega-events related infrastructure; -Displacement and forced evictions of communities and/or individuals related to redevelopment and gentrification processes that are linked to or brought about by the staging of mega-events; -Displacement and forced evictions (particularly of tenants) related to significant increases in housing costs related to the hosting of the mega-event; -Escalation of housing costs have a significant impact on the local population's access to affordable housing; -Reduction in the availability of social and low-cost housing in the pre- and post-mega-event phases, as well as during the event itself; -'Cleaning' operations to remove homeless people from sight before and during the mega-event phases, as well as
criminalization of the homelessness; -lnlroduction of other 'special' legislative or policy measures to facilitate the preparations for or staging of the megaevent: for example, measures allowing for expropriation of private property, or targeting homeless or minorities, increases in police powers, or restrictions of freedoms such as assembly and movement; -Discriminatory and disproportionate effects on marginalized groups including the poor, low income earners, those with insecure tenure, the homeless, ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, the elderly, the disabled, street venors, sex workers, migrants, and other vulnerable groups; -Limited transparency and participation of residents and
civil society in decision making affecting housing issues. In the most egregious violations of housing rights, the Beijing Olympics led to the displacement of 1.25 million people and the Seoul Olympics resulted in 720,000 being forcibly evicted. In Atlanta 9,000 arrest citations were made to homeless people, predominantly African-Americans. In Athens, hundreds of Roma were evicted for the 2004 Olympics. We are expecting hundreds of evictions in Vancouver leading up to February 2010. Regarding civil liberties, there are four main areas that are cited in the UN human rights complaint. First. there has been the use of selective policing methods by the Vancouver Police Department including the use of ticketing to harass low-income individuals. In 2008, there were over 1,100 city bylaw tickets and over 800 provincial statute tickets issued in the Downtown Eastside, a substantial increase from 2007 of 247 bylaw tickets and 342 provincial statute violations. Additionally, the VPD with the City of Vancouve~s Engineering Department have been regularly seizing the belongings of homeless people through street sweeps. Secondly, the Integrated Security Unit has been involved in home visits and visits to the workplaces of social activists. This is clearly a disproportionate and overzealous response by an over-funded organization that should be focused on more important things. Thirdly, provocative artworks have been used as a pretext
to monitor social activists. Fourthly, the C1ty of Vancouve~s 90 page omnibus legislation that has been dubbed as City Councillor Geoff Meggs' 'Olympic Shock Doctrine' rewrites civic bylaws to place the rights of corporate sponsors above those of citizens attempting to engage in free speech and participate in democracy. This was a promise made to the IOC, in order for Vancouver to obtain the corporate Olympic franchise from Switzerland with public money. Megaphones are banned from live sites, there are restrictions on signage and limits on leafleting. It is an Orwellian piece of legislation, implemented only weeks after Mayor Gregor Robertson declared that all of Vancouver is a free speech zone. Under the legislation, City Manager Penny Ballem can make bylaws 'on the fly' without having to come back to council. She will have 'special powers' just like the Wonder Twins. Civil society organizations have been marginalized since Vancouver won the Olympic bid. Despite promises of a funded watchdog group with inner-city representation, no meaningful consultation body has been established. The fear of consultation that has contaminated both the bureaucratic and political circles in pre-Olympic Vancouver is a direct attack on democracy and civil society. Almost eight years after we began meeting to initiate our coalition, there is no table that we are invited to sit on either by VANOC, the City of Vancouver or the provincial government. In their willingness to cite the Inner City Inclusive Commitment Statement, VANOC and government partners have chosen the route of centralized communications and slick public relations over substance and reality. Democracy and human rights should not be suspended for a two-week sporting event. Renters are not secondclass citizens. Human rights are basic rights and they should not be based on obligations. The IOC is not above the law.
If Olympic organizers were meeting the commitments they had made to Vancouver citizens, we would not be filing human rights complaints against the organizers and the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland. Come 2010, the world will be watching. Hopefully, the organizers and the government partners will finally act in the interests of citizens. Unfortunately, based on what has happened in the last eight years, I'm not counting on it.
Olympic evictions co ntinue in Vancouver: residentia l hotel plots mass evic tion The Golden Crown Hotel is a residential hotel governed under the Single Room Occupancy Hotel Bylaw in the City of Vancouver and is one of about 90 pr ivately owned residential hotels that provides the cheapest housing in the city for very poor Vancouverites in Canada's poorest neighbourhood. Last week, the Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA) learned from tenants of the hotel that the owner is trying to trying to evict a ll of the
hotels' tenants for renovations just months before the 20 I 0 Winter O lymp ics. The Hote l has not secured any permits from the City and is acting illegally in attempting to empty out the tenant's hotel. The Golden Crown llotel accepted rent from all of its tenants for the month of September, and is now tell ing them they must leave the hotel as early as Friday, September 4 . The Hotel has circulated a makeshift agreement to end tenancy and is encouraging tenants to sign away their rights under the Residential Tenancy Act. DERA has been advising tenants to stay put and not sign any agreement that jeopard izes their housing. DERA has also contacted the I lousing Integrated Task Team at the Ministry of Housing and Social Development and local provincially elected officials (M LA's) as part of efforts to prevent this mass eviction from taking place. Executive Director Kim Kerr: "This is the first mass eviction of its kind that we've seen in recent months. These illegal evictions, intended to make way for Olympic visitors, must stop now." The Golden Crown is located at 116 West Hastings Street, and is owned by 0627017 BC Ltd. Daniel Jun is the registered director, president and secretary o f062 70 17 BC Ltd. Contact: DERA Executive Director Kim Kerr Tel: (604) 785 0009
Main and Has-tingsVancouver's Crossroads since 1886 A talk by noted Vancouver historian, Bruce Macdonalc Wednesday, September 2~ 7:00pm, Carnegie Theatre
Let me tell you my friend Many a time I thought there would be no end to th1s hell. Finally my place was clean and free. I was finally allowed to live a life for me. I painted, and wrote and lived most gleefully. Ahh that's the life-BUG FREE
This isn't the story's end but only the beginning my friend In a brown spotted dress bearing gifts galore A different friend did appear at my door Of my battle and final victory she knew very well A visit from her I thought swell. A cup of tea and an hour did pass When with me shared some sad news this lass: She has an infestation Yes! she is here to share.
BRINGING TilE BED BUG BLIGHT or HOW TO KILL A FRIEND A visitor to my home many an hour did spend. The visit did end with the off hand comment Bed bugs were plaguing my friend. BUT not soon enough he was out the door. he left behind a little brown gift that keeps giving more. Over a year of hell as the bad bug fight ensued. How I toiled, moving and cleaning for each of 69 weekly spraying sessions. The cost was in the thousands of dollars but that's not the end. Who counts the hours from my life taken to bring this plague to an end. Or how the spray will shorten my life . All from the visit of one inconsiderate friend. For over a year my life was on hold, the countless hours are best left untold. A visit out my door was quite an ordeal. For I did not wish to share such misery far and wide. Leaving home with a bed bug on my side. My clothes from a plastic bag to microwave did go. I then set them to cook very very slow. Fresh from the shower I put them on Then straight out the door I was gone. Every item I owned was zapped, steamed or heated. The rest to landfill before their usefulness depleted.
The next day I kill one crawling over me as I sit in my chair Now the eggs have been laid, young and old alike abound With a broken arm I'm not too well getting around, They crawl up my arm and under the cast, I know they are feasting and having a blast. A white sheet upon my chair Shows me when they are there. Until there are so many brown spots for a view of the bugs the spots compete Physically I'm unable to clean up this mess. It's worse things to come or death at the best. Is my only way out of this bed bug nest. I'VE FOUGHT THE BATILE ONCE HARD AND FAIR BUT HAVE NOT THE MEANS OR STREANGTH TO RETURN AGAIN THERE. Colleen Carroll
Whose Needs? Addiction Housing & Community A Public Dialogue I
l11troduced & Faci/itatedby
Dr. Gabor Mate Author of /11 The Realm o(Huugrl' Ghosts -Close Eucouuters witlr Addiction Co-a uthor of Hold Ou To I'our Kids An opportuni!) to respectfully share con~em~, ideas & opinions on low-barrier housing and serv1ces 111 the DTES and its impact on communities 7:00
Monday September 28
Strathcona Com munity Centre 601 Keefer Street Childminding Provided On-Site Free
More info call 778-230-6099
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II came to me w hile in the Whirloool lfn ya don Jak rna peaches Don shake rna tree 0 tidy One! The ann iversary approacheth The Second one, n'est-ce pas? Also the winter, Christmas, And all that other, o lder jazz.
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Cometh the New year (Auld Lang Synge) It' s a new Dawn It's a new Day, but ... Yeah, change is hard The Magi knew All that flux stuff And the o ld dispensation still real. Nao, my new skin is sensitive yet, The old one there on the sand Still calls to me Getting pale and paler in the noonday sun I fee l the warmth through my sk in And see the pyramid shimmering In the distance Wilhelmina
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Compassionate Communication - Introductory Workshop With Athene Learn how to get heard and understand why we get stuck and what we can do about it. Thursday, Sept. 17, 6- 7pm Carnegie Community Centre, 401 Main Street
Protes ting Va nco uver Peace Summit and Spiri tua l Drea m Team On Sept 26-29, the so-called "spiritual dream team" of Nobel Peace Laureates, new age gurus and maybe even Oprah Winfrey will be in Vancouver accord ing to organizers to "be a catalyst for change in the world." It is headlined by the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Eckhart Tolle with special guest entertainers the Blue Man group. It is in our opinion an elitist non-inclusive, patrician affair of old fai led ways of doing and acting. Tickets are between $200- S I000 for the major events at UBC's Chan Centre for the Performing Arts and the Orpheum Theatre where the Vancouver Symphony orchestra normally plays. An invitation-only dialogue with the Dalai Lama with people from corporate fi nance, philanthropy and spirituality will affect real change in the world, is the hope. Did we mention that the host hote l for the "spiritual dream team" is Vancouver's most elite hotel the Pan Pacific with basic rooms starting at over $300. If the spiritual dream team wanted to affect real change, shouldn't they have put the spotlight on Vancouver's cast side, south side or Litt le Mountain not the Pan Pacific, Orpheum or Chan Centre? We ask where would Jesus or Buddha have gone, the DTES, or UBC's Centre for Performing Arts? We ask why were Nobel Peace Laureates AI Gore and the Dalai Lama completely silent on the Gaza and Sri Lankan slaughters? Think about this- the Blue Man group is a known anti-union multi-media corporation, which ran afoul of Toronto unions in 2005 and also in Las
Vegas. "The spiritual dream team" endorses this by not speaking out. We have a message for Archbishop Tutu. Did you know that your church, the Angl ican cathedral in Victoria, BC is part of the campaign against the homeless in Victoria with many businesses and churches hanging signs on their fro nt lawns or windows stating "No Camping, No Loi tering, No Trespassing and No Soliciting." Why? Last Spring, aBC court ruled the homeless in Victoria have a right to camp on public property includ ing parks. Wi ll you speak out against your church and support the homeless in Victoria? The Dalai Lama goes directly to Calgary afterwards for similar events. Will the Dalai Lama speak out against the Alberta oil sands - China has recently invested big time in the tar sands. These are some of the reasons for protesting at the Chan Centre fo r the Perform ing Arts on September 26 at 8:30AM. Come on out, it's free and you may even catch a glimpse of the spiritual dream team. lvona Vujica, Coordinator, Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance
AJK Moving Lt d.
604-875-9 072
1273 E. 2nd Ave . Is offering a 10% discount to Vancouver, B.C. Carnegie members on moves until December 31", 2009! J us t s how your Carnegie membership ca rd.
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Lu's: A Phum:x, for \l"'omcn
Dear God,
ANCESTRAL CRY the house is quiet except for creaks and groans mingled with the whistling wind adding its eerie quality to the night in the d istanee coyotes are howling making me afraid Is this mood self-imposed feeling alienation deep rooted in colonialism what did I learn what did 1 forget are my ancestors crying in the wind Belly Ann Spinks
The lady writing this is beauti fu l, classy and strong, and 1 love her Help her live her life to the fullest. Please promote her and cause her to excel above her expectations llelp her shine in the darkest places where it is impossible to love Protect her at all times, left her up when she needs you the most, Let her know when she walks with you, she will always be safe. Love you Sis!!!! Now you're on the clock!!!! In 9 minutes something wi ll make you happy But you have to tell 9 sisters you Jove them, including me. Go! (From the memorial table for a woman who died too young- February 16, 2009)
HUMANITIES 101
Getting Older 1sit in the old log cabin Like a sinking ship After rats and mice have left
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1 hea r the drone of the city below Like some giant beast Waiting to devour everyone That wanders its streets. 1 cut firewood all day To sit in front of a Hot fire in the fireplace Till only red coals are left And cold air comes in like Death to envelope me
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September DOCUMENTARlES. Carnegie theatre- Saturdays 6 pm This month features the truth about what realy happened on september I I 200 I, why it happened and who gai ned. On Sept 17 from 3-6pm there will be a special documentary about health to celebrate our health fair.
REFRESH.MEN TS SERVED Sept. I 7. Thursday 3PM PSYCHIA TRY Industry -A must see if you arc a mental health consumer or know someone who is. SEPT. 19, Saturday
911 Mysteries; 91 I GUILT; 911 Revisited Sept. 26 Sat. 6 PM
After all the years I've Bben coming up here I've changed so much
The Great Deception The 911 News Special we never saw. 911 The Road to Tyranny
I'm not the same young man who I used to be I don't welcome old age Where there was pea ce of mind Now there is a lot of rage I wait for the night to end and Aft er I've had my last good look Climb into sheets like a ghost. Daniel Rajala
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Shadow Puppet Workshop with Maggie Winston 1
Saturday, September 26 h, 3 - 5 PM in Carnegie Theatre Please sign up at 3'd Floor Program Office
Vancouver, a new day has dawned Better must come to our way of housing We have sent the o ld school and his crew packing With their Civi l City 'disobedience' A legacy of 4 months of stinking rubbish on the streets of Vancouver Fresh new wind is blowing with a sigh of relief K im-berly Camparri can now fully own a Gucci Shoe franchise Vancouver, you have spoken by the ballot A new page has turned at C ity H all Sam - we w ill miss you You underestimated the spirit of the dead You underestimated the power and daring spirit of the homeless, hungry and angry who died on the streets of Vancouver, in the alleys, our sea shores at the va lley of the bones. Ayisha
GET CLEAN! Shower up at the Lord's Rain There is a shower facility at Gospel Mission, 327 Carra II Street Uust off Pigeon Park). There are towels, soap, shampoo- the works! & Coffee
Monday 10am-3pm; Tuesday Ladies only 1-4pm Everyone 7 - 8:30am Friday 10am- 3pm; Saturday 7 - 10am lei on parte Francais; Hablamos Espanol
-"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead ·~~ ·. . ' -~-"... . _,_:. . . We acknowledge thai Carnegie Community Centre, and this Newsletter, are occurring on Coast Salish Territory. .. _,:. ~., ... .. ·· ··-~... ~ ·._·.· , ;· . .· ' . --~ ..... ·.· .....
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THIS NEWSLE'ITERIS A PUIUCATION OF TB1t ,a.~m COMMtHTY CINI'Il&ASSOC1An014
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TIM STEVENSON .,... CITY COUNCILLOR . SER~NGTHECOMMUNITY
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Mental Health
Action Research Advocacy .. As of Monday, July 6, our new address will be 163 West Pender Street
(it's a storefront at the sidewalk!) ~one # 604-689-7938 remains the same.
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Phone: 604-873-7247
Jenny Wai Ching Kwan MLA Working for You 1070 -1641 Commercial Dr, VSL 3Y3 have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and c~ltur~ ~or their minds, dignity, equality and justice for the1r spmts. I believe that what self-centred men have tom down, other-centred men can build up." Dr. Martin LuthP.r Kinn .lr
Slqad ll'2ller relevarC 1D issues peJtamg 10 1111 DowrDn Easlsida prefened, bt4 al wort . . be wrsidarad; • Bladt & Wille pdi1g lrir • Sim I1I50:Iilns IIIISt be w ?SiiEced [LB. I )UI' p.a is Dl age, ... be nDI:ed andlor aopped Ill II; • Alllltists wl receive aedillor !heir Willi; • Originals wl be relumed to the altisl ... Big~ b Jd*alion; • Ranuaalin Camegia voUnlaer ticbls.
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Please mab submissions 1o: Pal 'riaytor, Edili>r. CEEDS folks -$60 2009 DONATIONS: Barry M.-$150, libby D.-$70, Rolf A.·$50, Margaret D.-$40, Jenny K.-$25, Sue K.-$30, Michael C.-$50, Jaya 8.-$100, Christopher R.-$180, Mel l.-$25, Greta P.·$25, Leslie S.-$25, Harvey B.-$25, Sheila B.-$20, The Edae ·$200, Wilhelmina M.-$30, Anonymous $1500 Anne P.-$50
DEEP WELL deep down in the darkest comers of my mind there arc many layers of pain hurt and anger loss and abandonment self loathing and loneliness fear of rejection these I need to grieve and let go
Vancouver Moving Theatre with the Car negie Community Centre & Association of United Ukrainian Canadians present
The 6th Annual
lines between lines the line between madness and insanity is as thin as the line between religious bel ief and secular unbelief
In another comer of my mind there's a light this is my spiri t which gives me hope so I draw from this well and bask in the love and warmth then one day the light will shine brighter not only in my mind but in my heart as well
or the line betwee n living creatures and ghosts john alan douglas
Betty Ann Spinks
Wednesday October 28- Sunday November 8, 2009 More than 80 events at over 25 locations throughout the DTES With a foc us on the rich and diverse communities of the Downtown Eastside, the 6 111 Annual Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival celebrates the creative and committed artists and activists who thrive in the heart of Vancouver. This year's festival features twelve days of mus ic, theatre, film, drumming, read ings, poetry, food, radio, fo rums, cultural celebrations, workshops, discussions, gallery exhibits, mixed media viewings, art talks, history talks and history walks. The mandate of the Downtown Eastsi de Heart of the City Festival is to profi le and foster the development of community arts in the Downtown Eastside - from community building and bridge b uilding, to ce lebrating artists and cultures, to giving voice to local concem s. The festival involves a wide range of professional, community, emerging and student artists and lovers of the arts. Over I ,000 artists and 500 volunteers participated last year.. The 2009 Festival program is taking shape - stay tuned for details in late September. Get involved. Tell your friends about it. Support the artists, participate in history walks, workshops and forums and have a great time. For more information contact
604-628-5672 or www.heartofthecityfestiva l.com
I~ IWORD !$1 TREETI