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Canadian rugby
Studio 58's new production explores themes of mental health. P4
Canadian Rugby excited about Maori All Blacks' dominance in front of historic crowd. P8
Campus shaming Students and experts discuss campus shaming in this week's podcast. www.langaravoice.ca
Lest we forget PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS | WWW.LANGARAVOICE.CA
NOVEMBER 9, 2017 • VOL. 49 NO. 5 • VANCOUVER, B.C.
Punjabi Market due for action
Retail employees at Mona Cloth House Co. Ltd. in the Punjabi Market fold fabrics on Nov. 1. It is one of the few shops left in the historic area of Vancouver, B.C..MYRA DIONNE PHOTO Retail employees at Mona Cloth House Co. Ltd. in the Punjabi Market fold fabrics on Nov. 1. It's one of the few shops left in the market. MYRA DIONNE PHOTO
South Vancouver's small pocket of culture seeking revival By MYRA DIONNE
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usiness owners want less conversation about future changes to the Punjabi Market and more action. The City of Vancouver, in partnership with LOCO BC, invited community members to meet and discuss the state of the historic market last week. One meeting took place Wednesday at Sunset Community Centre and another Thursday at Langara College. Satwant K. Bunwait, owner of Amrit Fashions, remembers when the market was vibrant and busy.
Since 2010, her business has drastically declined, making her work a second job. “Almost seven years this market is struggling. Rather than doing something here, they come and give a lecture or whatever, but what are they really doing for the small businesses?” said Bunwait, who attended the meeting facilitated by the city about developing a vision for the future of the Punjabi Market. According to Jessie Singer, a planner for the city, the meetings came in response to comments made in 2015 about zoning development on the corner of 49th Av-
enue and Main Street. “People wanted to say great, change is happening to the area... but we also have some other concerns about the general state of the Punjabi Market as a kind of cultural and community hub,” Singer said. For several business owners, the old Punjabi Market died a long time ago. They said necessary changes are taking too long and they hoped the meetings would bring about immediate results. Harinder S. Toor, owner of Punjab Food Center, said concerns about Langara students parking in front of his shop, beautification of
the Punjabi Market, funding for Punjabi festivals and housing are among the problems community members have complained about for years. “We were told this meeting is a three-hour meeting. We came here to spend our time and make sure we get something out of it,” Toor said. “The meeting was done and no results came up.” Singer said the meetings were meant to engage conversation and not results. She said there is no clear date for resolving concerns but is anticipating consultation reports.
Tell our stories when we're gone
Preservation of Holocaust testimonials vital, says survivor By DANICA WALKER
T
he importance of keeping the stories of Holocaust survivors alive for generations to come is important, according to one of the few remaining who can recount their history. Holocaust survivor René Goldman spoke about personal survival in Nazi occupied France and the
importance of preserving the events of the Holocaust at a Kristallnacht commemoration event at Congregation René Goldman HOLOCAUST Beth Israel SURVIVOR synagogue on Sunday night. He wants the Holocaust to be better taught in schools because of the dangers of forgetting such a horrific period of history saying that the world is currently seeing a resurgence of antisemitism so education is crucial. “It is important that people at
large, the populations at large, be aware of what had happened,” Goldman said. “I’m always angry every time I hear about the way history is taught or rather not taught in the high schools.” The event marked the 79th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or ‘Night of Broken Glass’, when Jewish communities were targeted in a night of violence and destruction in Nazi Germany and Austria. Goldman wrote a memoir titled A Childhood Adrift for The Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program with the Azrieli Foundation which looks at educating schools with survivor’s personal stories. Jody Spiegel, director of The Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program, said having first-hand accounts
are an indispensable resource. She spoke of the gravity of preserving their accounts. “When the last survivor is gone and their words can no longer be spoken, it will be up to us to tell their story,” Spiegel said. The program works with schools to teach the younger generation about the Holocaust by having survivors share their experiences. “These students are the last generation of students to actually listen to a survivor,” Spiegel said. Ilona Shulman Spaar, education director at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, told The Voice how hearing a survivor speak affects young people. “The most powerful is when they hear a survivor speaker,” Spaar said.
Home again... for now
Temporary nature of modular housing offers homeless no security moving forward By BECCA CLARKSON
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ith temporary housing for Vancouver’s growing homeless population planned on a South Vancouver site that will be redeveloped in the next five to 10 years, those depending on that shelter will eventually find themselves displaced once again. Ethel Whitty, director of homeless services for the City of Vancouver, hopes more social housing will be built so that people can move into more permanent digs. The Onni Group of Companies is allowing the City of Vancouver, B.C.’s government and the Vancouver Housing Agency to build the two temporary modular housing structures in question at 650 West 57th Ave. this January. Charles Maddison, an architect with Boni Maddison Architects, said using the space for temporary housing is easier to justify when it’s not going to be there forever. “The city is trying to find sites where they will be used for the temporary housing for a certain number of years,” Maddison said. “And then the buildings will be disassembled and moved to new sites when those sites are redeveloped.” According to Breanne Whyte, community liaison for temporary modular housing, the short-term aim is to get people off the street by winter. “It was an exceptionally cold winter last year...and the long-term goal will be transitioning people to more temporary homes once they’ve kind of gotten the support they need,” Whyte said. But Whitty, who was unsure they would be able to extend the modular housing on 57th Avenue beyond five years, said “the hope and plan” is to have over 5,000 units of this kind of affordability — even though it means some people will be displaced again when Onni builds its two residential care facilities. “Whenever a building is shut down, it will have to be that people are being placed elsewhere,” she said. “There's a lot of social housing coming on in the next five to 10 years in the city. As new social housing gets built, people can move into more permanent social housing.”