The Interview - Carnegie Learning Centre governments in the planning of a community. In 1971, a group of mothers from Raymur Place blocked the Burlington Northern Railway tracks because the company refused to act on its promise to build a walkway over the tracks so their children could go to Seymour School safely. Within a few days the railway company reconfirmed its promise and the walkway was built. In the early 19707s,citizens protested against the Four Seasons Hotel site at the entrance to Stanley Park and, in a special referendum in 1973, Vancouver voters authorised the City to purchase the land which became Harbour Devonian Park. These actions by caring citizens showed that Vancouverites were not happy with development that threatened the quality of life in their community. They wanted City Council to know that Vancouver was a place where human beings lived, not simply a product to be exploited. As Bessie Lee of SPOTA said in an interview in the book Opening Doors, "We have to remind the City that when they decide to change things in a community, they must always consider the total planning of that community and the concerns of the people who live in it." The Downtown Eastside Residents' Association (DERA) would agree with that statement. By SANDY CAMERON To be continued.
As J look around the room to see so many learning faces, I wonder who I will interview on this bright and shiny day. I guess it will be at his or her discretion if they will talk into the mike for me, tell a story or two, tell me why they are here and what they want to do. For some it is late in life to learn something new, but they have no choice but to learn and learn until they know exactly what they would like to do. For the young it is still a game to be played. It is out in the streets where they learn. There will come a day when they realise that life has different rules, and education is the key to the rule book, not a lock keeping them out. To learn is to wake up fiom a deep, deep sleep and to open one's eyes to education - to see the light of day for the tirst time. By HARVEY DUCEDRE
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