villagevibe January 2007 : News and views from the heart of Fernwood
Walk for the homeless dead The Ad Hoc Committee to End Homelessness began meeting earlier this fall and n Thursday December 14th, homeless was galvanized on October 22nd – National Housing Day – when members acted as the residents of Victoria and their allies “outer circle” for Craig Ballantyne who squatted held a funeral procession from the Janion Building at 1614 Store Street to Our Place on Johnson Street to the Council protest the lack of affordable housing in Victoria. Chambers at City Hall. Led by a bugle player Since then, the Committee has met every followed by one large black coffin and four smaller white ones, the march was held to mark Wednesday at 7:00pm at Silver Threads and the deaths of those who have died on the streets has become a regular force in Thursday’s City Council meetings. of Canadian cities. After placing the coffins at the doors of City Anti-poverty activist Rose Henry had Hall, the marchers shared a meal and waited for ‘decorated’ the coffins with the names of the the council meeting to begin. dead. “The names on these coffins,” she said, When he addressed Council, Lucas referred “these are people who have walked through these to the City’s “Extreme Weather Protocol” doors (of Our Place).” adopted in December 2005, which sees a Organized by the Ad Hoc Committee to temporary increase in what are called ‘stage End Homelessness, the march was originally two’ shelter spaces when extreme weather motivated by information that four people had conditions are forecasted and all the regular died on the streets of Victoria during the most beds are full. Speaking on behalf of the Ad Hoc recent cold snap in late November. Although Committee, he requested that the City lobby these specific deaths could not be confirmed, BC Housing in order to guarantee funding so the group decided to go ahead with the Walk for the Dead anyway in order to draw Council’s that a minimum of stage two shelter spaces are attention to the need for emergency shelter beds available seven days a week starting January 1st and running until at least March 1st of for the rest of the winter. every year. Second, Lucas demanded that if “The most important thing we can BC Housing in unwilling to provide financial do right now,” said Ad Hoc Committee support, the city cover associated costs using member Philippe Lucas of the Vancouver its Affordable Housing Trust Fund, thereby Island Compassion Society, “is to keep guaranteeing extra shelter spaces for the rest of people alive through this winter.” >> by Lisa Helps
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Layton tours Cornerstone December 21st may have been the shortest and darkest day of the year, but it brought some of the brightest lights in Canadian politics to our neighbourhood! MPs Denise Savoie and Federal NDP leader Jack Layton came to Fernwood to visit the Cornerstone. After a lengthy tour, including visits with our tenants, a stop in the café for a delicious lunch, and an orientation to our innovative geothermal system, Denise and Jack hung out and chatted with Fernwood NRG staff and board members. Many fruitful ideas emerged such as creating a National Alternate Energy Corporation through the feds, (kind of like PetroCan was – but without the greenhouse gasses!) which could directly purchase and therefore develop a Canada-wide alternate energy infrastructure. Stay tuned. Perhaps the feds will help us cover the roof of the Cornerstone with photovoltaic cells, and we can feed sun power back into the grid!
in this issue Meet the Cornerstone Café Baristas Page 3 Feature: UVic’s Barrier Free Learning Initiative Page 4 Gardening Crossword Puzzle Page 6