February 15, 2007, carnegie newsletter

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Mayor Sam Sullivan Councilors Raymond Louie, David Cadman George Chow, Heather Deal, Tim Stevenson, Suzanne Anton, Elizabeth Ball, Kim Capri, B.C. Lee, Peter Ladner

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Dear Councilors, I am writing with regard to the upcoming Olympics and guaranteed Homelessness in Vancouver's very near future. I think our legacy or at least the Olympic legacy will be one of homelessness and silly laws (Civil Cities) that can only hurt our international image. As Vancouver relies heavily on Tourism; I think we could make a long lasting and favorable impression on the world if we were to house all our homeless people as a result of the Olympics being staged here. In our attempt to get the Olympics we stated that there would be no adverse conditions placed on the poor people of our town. I think we are failing in that objective and we should start making adjustments to our goals and aims to take care of these people.

I ask you to please consider the legacy that we want, and that is we want the world to look at and say, "They did it the right way, the only way."

I thank you for taking the time to look at and read this letter.

Yours Respectfully, Harold Asham

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TEAFORONE

I AM ALL ALONE NO ONE TO TALK TO ALL I CAN HEAR IS THE EMPYNESS I CARRY INSIDE 10 YEARS IS A LONG TIME TO KNOW SOMEONE 10 YEARS NOW THERE'S NOTHING LEFT BUT A BROKEN HEARt ,,_ 24 HOURS ADA Y I'M SERVING TEA FOR ONE .·

carl macdonald

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The Obscenity of Vancouver's Olympic Games: Here Comes Frankenstein · No, we can't blame it all on the Olympics. The downtown peninsula was already about to be built up and real estate economics were savouring the asset value of Downtown Eastside property. Oh, but what to do with the poor people? Kick them off welfare after two years, stop the construction of ~ocial .housi?~' p~t in the Safe Streets Act and bring m ProJect Ctvtl Ctty? The surveillance cameras are surely soon to follow? City Councillor Kim Capri asks why people are no longer displaying civil behaviour? Go figure.

Since the Olympics were awarded to Vancouver in 2003, over 800 units of low-income housing h~ve been lost from the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood due to conversions. More property speculation i~ t.he coming years, weak intervention on the part of c1v1c government and inadequate funding for new social housing in the province have essentially created a whitewash around what was purported to be the most well planned and sustainable Olympics ever. Another 800 units were also lost in the few years preceding the bid being awarded as well.

Unfortunately, it's the same old story unfolding.

Global capital meets local greed. Real estate and tou.rism interests trump the needs of the long term low-income community which has called this neighbourhood home for decades. Academics n~ longer engaging in questions related to the public interest. Non-profits worried about funding streams, unwilling to be critical of governments. The sad thing about it is that people in Vancouver don't really seem to care.

Even the Olympic village which was supposed to · have guaranteed social housing is now being taken away. The 'sustainable' Southeast False Creek development has also had its moderate income piece taken out.

All of the negative things associated with these Olympics were to have been planned for. After all, the research had been done on what happens in the lead up to these events -- none of this should be coming as a surprise. Unfortunately, the apparatus of power in this city has set up the usual old boys way of doing things and there isn't anything anyone can do about it.

Later on, as the Inner City Inclusivity Statement was being formed, I asked if a specific number of housing units could be included in the document so that we would have a number we could hold them accountable for in the future. We were told that they couldn't do that. That was when I knew early on that any hope for a sustainable Olympics or a different approach was ostensibly dead -- this was going to be a public relations document plain and simple.

Someone once told me that the great thing about seeing time go by, is that you get to see how things turn out.

The mass media in this city rarely write critical stories of what is happening. As hundreds of millions of dollars is spent on Olympic infrastructure, homelessness continues to increase. Between 2002 and 2005, homelessness doubled in the Greater Vancouver Regional District and will continue to increase leading up to the Olympics unless major changes aremade.

The safe injection site for drug addicts is also scheduled to come up for renewal again in December of 2007. If it is not renewed, more users wi II be shooting up on the streets and will be vulnerable to infectious diseases and an increased risk of overdose deaths.

Raincity is about real estate and 99 cent pizza, depending on where you fall in the economic order of things. The city should erect a bust of Karl Marx and put it up in Oppenheimer Park -- it would serve as a lasting reminder of how this neighbourhood is affli cted by capital flows and disfigured public policy based on the winners and losers of the economic system.

The city placed a moratorium on commercial businesses converting to condominiums in the Down. town business district. The idea that SRO's are being permanently lost at an astounding rate leading up to the Olympics as a conscious part of public policy can only mean that senior city bureaucrats and politicians are working on a de facto policy of gentrification.

Look out for 20 I 0 -- here comes Frankenstein.

-Am Johal

路 From Carnegie's Volunteer ofthe Year

5efore You Met Me for Kelly Flanagan

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I'd like to wish Happy Valentine's Day to * my adult babes: Sheri, Jordan, Shane, Sherman, Sheana and Stephen. *my angelic grandchildren: Brandon, Anthony, Emily and Richie *my family: Doreen, Rocky, Helen, John, Lori and nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews * Jeff A (Honey) * Ronny Rizzetto (my dear one) *my fellowship members ofNA and AA * Harbour Light food line and detox * Aboriginal Front Door "Daughters of the Drum:' Happy birthday to my son Sherman Baptiste.

I pray for all fami ly of the missing women.

Love and kisses, Norma Jean Baptiste

He wishes she wouldn't slice the city in half 路 like an apple or devour its innards like an orange .. eviscerate it without emotion then ride the train home painted in smears of violent red and a crooked smile parting her chapped lips and he wishes she would gaze at him with the same fascination reserved for sunsets and natural disasters and daddy might have told her not to stare into the eyes of the sun but, "that's half the fun," she retorts ' and I wish she wasn't so thick Poverty in the Promised Land I wish her alias wasn't " legs" So the food banks are still feeding the poor and her ex "dragon" Food banks they tell us should not be necessary I wish he wasn't blind to my love In the land of milk and honey wish she wasn't always on the run Two items, by the way, that seem to be missing wish she would stop romanticizing th is disaster from my cupboard this pain, this life so fucking insane That and oil of any kind. and I wish I could have 3 wishes 'cause I'd get down on my knees along with the setting sun Picking through the green beans not the freshest wishing you would make it out alive - some downright rotten and my last wish would be to have you back Still - it's food, isn't it? to the person you used to be That was this can of strawberry & rhubarb filling before you met me.

I coveted and was lucky enough to get Andrew Fiore Unfortunately the fruit had rusted through the can So, I chuck out those deceptive items Until I can pick the blackberries.

I traded my candy for apples A young Japanese tourist spurned them When I washed the apple the deep red skin turned filthy white ...

I ate them anyway.

Too tired to report or inquire I'm still okay - so far.

Wilhelmina.

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What Can Ya' Sa9?

Much of this issue has to do with the Olympic Countdown Clock and, in somewhat rhetorical ideas , whether we should have these Games when there are over 200,000 people who are working poor, lowincome, on income assistance or homeless in BC. This, along with the crudely, crassly, blatantly obvious need to Raise the Rates of income assistance and the minimum wage to at least restore purchasing power and living beyond/above bare survival, simply put are better ways to spend the $2.5 billion the Olympics will cost (with 3 years to go).

The research, proof, common sense and widespread support for these basics of being human is piled so high, so outweighs any argument to the contrary, that the continued ignoring of it all by the so-called powers-that-be beggars comprehension.

Okay.

At the countdown clock event, a great number of people put in efforts to get equal (best but not likely) press coverage of the whole thing of homelessness and what we, as an Olympic bidder, took responsibility for. When the Homeless Countdown Clock and all the people with reams of information began an alternate ceremony, the hope was that the national press coverage would include some of it.

Lo .a nd behold, the anti-poverty committee (ape) had plans only to disrupt the bigger event; to yell and scream obscenities, to be set up or set up themselves as one side in a physical clash. Well, if that was what was wanted, it sure happened - in

spades.

The largest press coverage came through CTV, which is the official media source of the Games and is just part of a transnational corporation. The entire coverage on television and repeated in their newspapers and radio stations had almost nothing to do with housing.. or poverty .. or homelessness. The entire story was reduced to violent protestors and security.

The spin kept churning the next day as a radio poll had 2 in 3 people agreeing with the leading question "Should protestors be banned from Olympic ANYTHING?!? The minority of I in 3 callers were clear in saying that in a democracy you can't shut people up or out. But the ape isn't interested in anything except how to get their 15 seconds of fame, regardless of how arrogant, angering or just dumb chosen actions turn out to be.

They sure succeeded on February 12. There was no support for the kind of crap pulled; just a lot of people feeling kicked in the stomach by supposed allies. Others: frustration and disappointment and anger and feeling of lost opportunities, or worse, loss of the necessary friendships involved in any coalition.

The arrogance of the ape people is stifling - they seem to think that only by being as obscene and violent and disruptive as possible will their core issue be given any notice. And all they accomplish is to get arrested, charged, and have the real workers in this fight feel ripped off.

Last point: Gord Campbell and Sullivan spoke their politician's pieces on 'everyone has a right' but then went back to lying through their teeth about costs and ' everything under control.' Campbell, in an interview on (you guessed it) CTV looked and talked like he was high.. stoned. At least he wasn' t drunk.

The person reading prepared questions off the teleprompter gave him lead-ins to claim that he and his crap government are so clean and shiny the~ squeak. It quickly got nauseating, but to him and likely much of the audience, it was so like everything else they spin doctor, few bother to make their sickness at such bullshit known. It is a long haul and we cannot but emerge victorious. Stay strong.

PAULR TAYLOR

Proud to be a Newsletter member As any regular reader of The Carnegie Newsletter can confirm, it is different from the mainstream news media in the way it covers events, oriented as it is towards a people's and community's perspective, especially if that people and community belong to the Downtown Eastside. Readers generally seek and receive more sympathy than can be expected from regular sources on issues close to their hearts.

What other publication do you know of, for example, that regularly features poetry from any number of contributors, even the alternative publications which typically have a reputation for being more people-oriented than mainstream news media?

Only The Globe and Mail features a poem weekly, as opposed to every other newspaper having none.

Of what importance is poetry, you might ask?

Margaret Atwood has recently written two articles in The Globe and Mail (January 27, February 3) lambasting the Harper government for cutting funding to the Arts in Canada. Why would Harper let support for the Arts lapse?

Perhaps the answer can be found in a recent interview with Howard Zinn published in the February . issue of Z magazine.

Zinn: "Artists have a special role in social movements-they lend passion, poetry, humour to the principles any movement espouses. They enhance the power of a social movement, which needs every additional strength it can muster to challenge the power of authorities." Of course, Harper fears the power of social movements, because their goals are opposite to the neo-con objectives of his government, hence he cuts funding to Canadian artists."

The Carnegie Newsletter is at the forefront of a number of social movements. In fact, it is, in itself, a social movement. And that is one reason why I am proud to be a member of The Carnegie Newsletter.

Here's another reason: the way that the mainstream news media have covered the case of the missing women of the Downtown Eastside, and the resulting trial of Pickton, smacks of opportunistic sensationalism, newspaper exploitation of a tragic series of events intended solely to sell more newspapers. With a minimum of coverage of the disappeared women- and then, only that they were drug addicts, sex trade workers, or negligent mothers-in addition to the far greater, splashy coverage of Pickton, the alleged mass murderer, the mainstream news media have conveniently overlooked the causes of the plights of the missing women- there has been barely a mention of: the lack of social housing; the inaccessibility, and inadequacy, of welfare; homelessness; the growing inequality between the rich and the poor, etc., and when these were mentioned, they were by-the-way, here's some news filler.

The Carnegie Newsletter, on the other hand, has always pushed for improvement in t?ese areas,. t~~s displaying a far greater sense of soctal responstbthty than the mainstream news media ever did.

The Newsletter never even mentioned Pickton, giving instead coverage to sympathetic views of relatives or friends. The February 14 March for the Missing Women has always received coverage by The Newsletter, hardly ever by the mainstream press.

And it's also for these further reasons that I am proud to be a member of The Carnegie Newsletter.

There' s a very pertinent quote: "The job ofthe newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." (This famous quote is about a hundred years old and can be traced to the work of Finley Peter Dunne, one of the great journalists of the day.) .

That quote could well be the motto of The .carnegie Newsletter. The mainstream press have tt backwards: they operate as if they should comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted.

All that The Carnegie Newsletter can do is to forge onwards, hoping to lead by its shining example.

By Rolf Auer

Kits Classics Concert1

Missing Woman, Never Gone Always here, forever in memory, recalled with fondness. Unlost souls as you are, please repose and read on. Light your candles, praise eternal flames & spirits whole .. always with us but ever missed. We feel the heat of your hearts, an unreality that we will never doubt- shadows in, shadows out. Serenely smiling distant faces with no more fear, no more screams.

And the authorities: where in the hell were you at crucial times? No protection, no concern when the need was most urgent- blinded, lost? Women lost, led astray, surely there were cries for help in the mud and rain? Your pleas ignored when carried off to suffer cruel pain.

Curse the ears that refused to listen, that neglected to hear. All of you have close loved ones who are so cherished and dear, beyond 'good', having fun. Ours were a bother to you, but that's just too bad; they wished these would just disappear into the night.

Harsh for the few who should be pitied for their inhumanness. The horrific, unspeakable, premeditated crimes committed as if under sedation, in slow motion 'til the terrible change and so sudden when the time is here.

You have waited so long for rights, to correct, to get answers to the myriad ways you've been wronged.

The breeze speaks your names, one by one; to give comfort to those who grieve yet remain; long forgotten differences, clashes that may have pulled relations apart but are now mostly forgotten again or forgiven --- bygones --- so senseless now.

You shall ever continue to beat in the tornado of our wounded, bruised though enlightened hearts.

Robyn Livingstone •

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Friday, February 23rd, 3:00PM Carnegie theatre Violinist Yuri Zaidenberg, Pianist Anna Levy Clarinetist Johanna Hauser, ·11 perform a program of chamber music composed by Igor Stravinsky and Darius Milaud while under the influence- the influence of jazz

COPPERTHUNDERBIRD RED, Black, Yellow, White, Brothers, Sisters, from ?i Four corners of the globe i A rainbow of humanity '1 ·; Together, share a moving • • ! But bittersweet expenence ·:~ A reading performance I.:, For many a roller coaster n'de_ !; Through the storms of life, ;t The good, the bad, the ugly, U .All rolled into one, ghosts 0; From tbe past, reawakened · · As if in a deep, deep sleep Ancestors from beyond Tears, well inside, like gentle streams Watching, watching, watching, my surroundings Matter not, fixed my gaze to the performance Laughter, laughter, and more laughter Perhaps hiding, masking our own pain Moved by those you have touched Like a surgeon, an experienced sculptor Guided by the Creators' healing hands Gentle with love, heart You reach into the very core Of our being, to tbe very depth Of our souls our experience Cupped into the palm of your hands Molding, reshaping this, into a thing· Of beauty.

Copper Thunder Bird •

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In Friendship: Stephen Lytton

Environmental issues . . .

SHADO.W THEATRE FILMS . . By Larry Reed · Saturday Feb. 17, 2 pm · · ~· Car,negie Theatre, 401 Main Street ADMISSION IS FREE- ALL WELCOME/ M ayadrinawa The sto~ of a horrible beast, roaring and creating, ch~QS who dema~ds to be worshipped untillndra descends1o · battle the demon and restore peace and order. Pe·rtbrmed by 50 B.alinese artists and a gamelan orchestra.' .

InXanadu . . .

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An epic love story set amid the chaos of war about Kublai Khan's·journey to the underworld to rescue his wife Chabui. Sung by Tibetan and Chinese opera singe;s.

should be looked at with caution.

Air pollution is a priority and an almost forgotten example is Styrofoam cups and similar disposal items. These things are a great threat to the environment. When they get burned at waste disposal a lot of toxic pollution goes into our air.

People are moving into the mountains. Lots of trees are cut down to make lots, roads, amenities; then floods happen and mudslides cause damage because the plants that held topsoil in place are gone.

Pollution is in our water- think oil spills!

What to do? Recycling should be an important factor. Sinners should be appreciated for doing a lot of our recycling. Restaurants need to get involved in a big way, recycling cans, etc. In fact, there should be a bylaw to enforce recycling. Our environment is suffering too much.

Thank you for the people who do recycle. o o o

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On .Jan 11 I saw. a young woman trying to sleep on the stdewalk outstde the Gathering Place on Helmcken St.

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All my relations, Bonnie E Stevens

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Gath Place Sikewalk. Jan

11, 07.

Millions for storm tossed trees.

Look around you, here too lie the fallen crack death cold death the soon to be forgotten.

Once I too was a mother's child bright and full of life and hope.

I came into this world trailing clouds of glory and will soon leave it a dull grey cloud out the crematorium's vent.

Print swastikas on your dollars Polish your bank accounts so bright Czech out your champagne Russian vodka your delight.

Take the brave frontier, the Sturn und Orang of Capital.

I know my place the cold, the dark, the night.

by KenS. (Footnote: Indigent Corpses are cremated. The Holocaust is still ongoing.)

C.R.A.B. Park Update Who is now calling Crab Park "Tailgate Park"?

One is Matt Shillito, the City Planner now involved in the Whitecaps Stadium study. On a sunny January 26111 , while strolling across the park's green lawn, he made the "tailgate park" claim.

A Tailgate Park would feature out-of-the-area people parking their SUVs, their RVs and other vehicles in the existing Canada Place parking lot, right beside the Crab Park birdmarsh and seven-acre green ..

Loud music, beer drinking, rowdy behaviour would likely threaten Crab Park both before and after music and sports events. Is this a price we're willing or even wanting to pay?!

A 30-foot (~9 meter) wide Seawall walkway from the proposed 15-30,000 seat Whitecaps Stadium to Crab Park makes it even more likely that it and a Carrall Street pedestrian overpass, leading Stadium goers to the new "Gastown Party Central" would 1 make our park "tailgate park" permanently.

By Don Larson

The objectives of United We Can are:

* To plan and carry out positive actions which

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National Homelessness Marathon 2007: The streets, the stations educating Canada ...

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CJSF 90.1 FM is slated to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the National Homelessness Marathon on Febr~ary 20, 2007 with over thirty campus and comm;unity radio stations across Canada. The National Homelessness Marathon is a fourteen hour rad!o broadcast that uses the power of raqio to spark nation-wide discussion about solutions to homelessness.

The broadcast makes its way to Vancouver live from the Native Friendship Center of Montreal, care of campus/community radio station CKUT at McGiiJ University. The marathon provides homeless people and their supporters an opportunity to discuss the deep-seated problems concerning homelessness in Canada, and to seek solutions in order to work toward a better future.

For founder Jeremy Weir Alderson, this affair is not about hand-outs or donations. "We really want people to understand that ending homelessness isn't a matter of charity but a matter of changing the way our society is structured," he says.

CJSF will broadcast the marathon from 2pm February 20 to 4am on February 21. The broadcast features programs and interviews live from the streets across the country, and segments such as The Politics of Getting-by: Pan-handling, squeeging and street prostitution; Dehumanization- Violence and safety in the street, Homelessness by Numbers, and

more.

CJSF 90.1 FM is non-profit, volunteer-run, campus/community radio station that broadcasts from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby BC. CJSF broadcasts music and spoken word programs that aren't available in mainstream media.

Contact: Magnus Thyvold, Station Manager cjsfmgr@sfu.ca 604-291-3727(3)

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demonstrate responsible environmental stewardship in an urban setting. · * To raise awareness of the environmental impact of human activity in urban communities; * To create sustainable economic initiatives based on local human and material resources; *To foster an inclusive community spirit that recognizes everyone's responsibility in caring for our surroundings.

And their Goals are: * To create self-sustaining urban environmental enterprises; ·· · * To create jobs for inner city residents.

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Most of you have received my announcements about Beats on Broadway for a while now. As you know, Beats on Broadway is an acoustic open stage which happens on the third Friday of each month at the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House. Although created primarily for the community of Mount Pleasant, B on B welcomes musicians and other performers from anywhere to come and share their talents with other creative people, and encourages new artists to come forward. On Friday Jan 19 we had a record crowd out to support Rachel Tetrault, a talented young singer performing her first "feature" act. Feature musicians receive all the proceeds from the door, so this event helps to keep money flowing to musicians.

B on B has over the years received the generous and unstinting support of Mount Pleasant Neighbour·hood House, the home of this coffee house and an important community meeting place and resource centre. MPNH serves one of the most diverse communities in the city, mixed both culturally and economically. Along with every other Neighbourhood House in the city, and indeed most of the social institutions in our society, MPNH is facing economic challenges and is being forced to look at its bottom line. B on B has great support from both the board and the director, but the simple fact is that it costs money to put on .. .I'd guess around $250 per event,

mostly in paid staff time (me, front desk, kitchen, cleaning staff).

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.B~ no': you probably have an inkling of where this IS gomg. We've been looking at ways of raising money forB on B , to allow it to continue without being a ~nancial drain on MPNH. I'm not a big fan : of financial appeals but given the alternatives this seems like an honourable way of proceeding. Here are a few things we DON'T want to do to raise money: charge admission; split or remove the take from the feature's donation box; cut back on goodies in the kitchen or hold Bon Bless often. We feel strongly that this event must be free and open to all, and that any contributions must be voluntary. On the 19th we included a special donation box for the Neighbourhood House, to help support the coffee house as an ongoing program within MPNH; those of you who were there will be happy to know we raised $97 for the coffee house, and Rachel also did very well. With sales from the kitchen, for the first time B on B probably came within spitting distance of breaking even.

[This first appeared in Epoch Times; 'the documentary was advertised in the Carnegie Newsletter on Dec. 15, 2006]

By Joan Delaney Jan 27, 2007 Epoch Times Victoria Staff

Realistically, however, not every month is going to have !he amazing turnout we did on Friday; so the responstble thing to do is to go to the community which supports B on B and ask for help. As a past

supporter of the Beats on Broadway list I am asking you to consider making a donation to Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House (ideally ear. marked for the coffee house) to help us continue. ' You can do it by writing a cheque to Mount Pleasant.

Neighbourhood House and dropping it off or mailing to 800 E Broadway,V5T 1Yl. Or you can come to the next coffee house and donate there (need I add that of course you can also come, enjoy the evening, and NOT donate?) I'm also open to other fundraising ideas you might have.

If you've gotten this far, you des~rve to know what's up for the next few coffee houses. On February 16th the feature is the great, boisterous and entertaining group of guys known as Fraser Union. On March 16th we feature the downright amazing jazz singer Michelle Richard. On April 20th the excellent bluegrass band Greenhorn will perform. And May 18th will bring the smokin' duo of Miller and Eastman to B on B. Thanks Earle [Peach]

Native Elders stand before a church demanding an answer to the question, "Where is Maisie Shaw?"

Maisie Shaw was a young girl witnesses claim was murdered at the United Church's Alberni Indian .路 Residential School in 1946 by its Principal, Alfred Caldwell. (Ayesia Moarif2005) A hard-hitting documentary that made its debut at the Gabriola Island Film Festival last weekend dwells on a theme that would surprise and shock most Canadians: Canada's genocide. Even the words sound strange. Who knew that a genocide lurked within Canada's relatively civilized history?

According to Kevin Annett, co-writer and producer of Unrepentant: Kevin Annett & Canada's Genocide the time has come for Canadians to learn the truth about what really happened to the aboriginal people from the start of colonialism until today.

It's not a pretty story. Unrepentant documents the "deliberate and systematic extermination" of nonChristian indigenous people within the Indian residential school system by the Catholic, United, Pres-

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the federal government.

The film, which made its American debut last November at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival where it won Best Director of an International Documentary, is based on Annett's groundbreaking book, "Hidden From History: The Canadian Holocaust." Unrepentant will also be screened at various film festivals around the world.

"We want to generate international pressure on Canada and the churches to start to have full disclosure about what went on so that there can be some healing; real healing can only happen when there's been that kind of complete disclosure," Annett told The Epoch Times from his home in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

First-hand testimonies from residential school survivors are interwoven with Annett's own story of how, as a United Church minister in Port Alberni, he was fired, publicly defrocked, and had his reputation maligned by church officials after he uncovered evidence of murder and other crimes committed by the church through its Indian boarding schools.

Around 1929, the churches were given legal guardianship of all the children who attended the schools, and Annett says this gave school staff free rein to perpetrate any atrocity upon their wards without having to answer to anyone.

The list of crimes is long, and includes beatings, electric shocks, forced sterilization, medical experimentation, starvation, rape as well as various other forms of sexual abuse, and murder.

As the residential school survivors in Unrepentant tell their stories, the pain evident on their stoic faces, an understanding of what went on in those institutions gradually emerges. Some spoke of young girls becoming pregnant as a result of rape, or nuns becoming pregnant after sexually abusing boys; some described being made to dig graves for the babies who would be killed after birth.

Rick Lavalee talked about hearing the agonized cries of his only brother as he was being tortured with a cattle prod. The boy died on the spot. Belvy Breber recounted how her brother was hanged in the gym of the Kuper Island school. She was told he'd committed suicide, but she didn't believe it. While the boy was still hanging, the other kids were paraded through the gym as a warning that this could happen to them if they didn't behave.

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estimated that at least 50,000 were killed. Many of those who died were buried in unmarked graves on or around the school grounds; none of the bodies were ever returned to the families.

Harriet Nahanee, who spent five years at the Albemi Residential School, said she remembered the RCMP arriving at her village in a gunboat to round up the children who were to be taken to the school. Children as young as three were often taken even though the schools weren't supposed to accept anyone under the age of seven. If the parents fought this abduction of their children, they were liable to be arrested under the provisions of the Indian Act, something Annett calls "a piece of race-based legislation" in that it almost completely took away the rights of the native peoples.

Germ warfare was also used. Narrator Lori O'Rorke said deliberately-spread smallpox epidemics in the 1700s and 1800s killed "untold millions" ofthe world's indigenous people and wiped out many Canadian aboriginals even before the residential schools began operating. Annett says approximately 98 percent of native populations on the west coast were decimated by smallpox.

Survivors in Unrepentant describe how, during a tuberculosis outbreak, they were made to play and sleep with infected children so that they too would become infected with the highly contagious disease.

While most of the schools had closed by 1984, the last federally run facility, the Gordon Residential School in Saskatchewan, closed in 1996.

The legacy of Canada's residential schools, says Annett, is evident in the high rates of suicide, substance abuse and family dysfunction.

Visit: www .hiddenfromhistory.org

News From the Heart of the City Festival A big thank you to all the folks who came forward last month - and are still coming forward - with ideas for the Heart of the City Festival This month, Teresa Vandertuin (associate producer) and Terry Hunter (artistic producer) are meeting with 40 of last year's community partners for programming and capacity building for next year's Heart ofthe City Festival (Oct.-Nov., 2007).

The festival is looking into partnering with the Asian communi_ty in support of the Asian Anniversaries of Change Initiative - "Remember our Past, Make our Future"

And a big big thank you to the Strategic Plan Advisory Committee Members who provided in-put to a three year strategic plan for the Heart of the City Festival: Rick Lam (Chinatown Revitalization Committee) Renae Morriseau (senior Aboriginal artist, VMT Board) Sid Chow Tan (media artist, Community Arts Network) Sophia Freigang (community artist, Carnegie Board) Robert K. Olson (Powell Street Festival) Joe Dzadko (Association of United Ukrainian Canadians) Ruth Sam and Al Cappo (Aboriginal Front Door) Barbara Small (Friends of Carnegie, Schein Foundation) Leslie Kemp (Community Arts Council of Vancouver) Rika Uto and Ethel Whitty (Carnegie Community Centre) Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling (Vancouver Moving Theatre) The following themes were used as guides for our discussion: • Governance; • How to support Downtown Eastside Artists; • How to support Downtown Eastside community partners and other festival partners; • How to support Downtown Eastside arts, culture and community; Programming opportunities, priorities and development. .

The Shadows Project

•

AUDITIONS! .....

Call for 30 peopleShadow Casters, Actors, Singers, Musicians, Crew!

Existing Cast - Thurs. Feb. 22, 6-9 pm New Participants- Fri. Fe·b. 23, 7:30-9 pm Location: Carnegie Community Centre , 401 Main St. 3rd floor classroom The Downtown Eastside is going to have its own shadow play! For two years, hundreds of people have involved in creating a shadow play for and by the Downtown Eastside about addiction and recovery. Participants will be paid honorariums for rehearsals and performances. Auditions will be led by Director Kim Collier and Musical Director Y a-Wen Vivienne Wang. People interested in performing will be doing some small group or one-on-one work involving reading, a little physical movement and/or singing.

IF YOU' D LIKE TO SING, BRING A SHORT PIECE YOU ENJOY SINGING. Singers are encouraged to bring she~t music but it's not mandatory.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO BE INVOLVED AS A MUSICIAN, PLEASE BRING A PORTABLE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. •

•

Rehearsals: Mid-March - April 18 (Fri.-Sunday) Performances: April 19-22 and April 26-29 @ The Russian Hall (600 Campbell St.)

1 i

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Produced by Vancouver Moving Theatre (VMT) In association with Carnegie Community Centre For info: 604-254-6911 (VMT office)

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Surveys say ...

Two articles in the January 16 Vancouver Sun caught my attention.

The first, on the front page, titled "Drug Abuse 'A Medical Issue"', told of2,938 Capadians polled on their views of approaches to handHng the problem of drug abuse. · .

The poll, done by Innovative, a company based m Vancouver and Toronto, stated that two-thirds of Canadians believe drug abuse is a medical problem that requires more prevention and treatment programs. . . .

A clear majority of the remammg thtrd, ':ho favour a crackdown by police, are Conservative supporters.

The Conservatives just recently announced that they plan to place more emphasis on police m~as­ ures and less on harm reduction approaches, hke, ' . . . . ,.. for example, Vancouver' s safe mJectiO~ st~~ . .

Innovative spokesperson Greg Lyle satd, Wtthm the Tory base, [governm~nt sup~ort for] harm reduction would be problematic. But m the bro~der,pub­ lic, that approach is where people are mo~m~.

Quoting the article, by reporter Peter 0 Netl, "Lyle said the results show the issue .is a good one for opposition parties and pro_bl.emattc for Harp~r as the prime minister tries to s?h~tfy and expand,~ts coalition into a possible maJonty government. That leads this writer to think that the next ~ederal election should be fought on a number of tssues, say. five, and not on just one, like the state of the e~vt­ ronment. Homelessness is another good candtdate for a fighting issue. .

On that note, I introduce the second article, on the front page of the second section of the newspaper, called "Westcoast News." It's titled, "Mayor's Poll: Homelessness tops list: Helping the less fortunate seen as more important than fighting crime."

Quoting the article, by reporter Frances Bula?

"Homelessness is the issue that Vancouver restdents see as the top priority for the city - outscoring crime by a long shot, says a poll commissioned by Mayor Sam Sullivan. And more than half of those polled say the most lasting impact of the 2010 O~ympics should be solving homelessness and offermg more programs for the less fortunate, not boosting the city · or building sports facilities." .

Sullivan claimed to be surprised and pleased by

the results, vowing to use them to reinforce his requests to the provincial and federal gover_nments for help in dealing with the problems of homelessness and building social housing.

Whether this is just another empty promise by today's special breed of rascal politician (actually, the special breed would really be politicians genuinely interested in the welfare of the people, like federal NDP MP Libby Davies, and NDP MLA Jenny Kwan) remains to be seen; after all, Sullivan said nothing when the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) offered $500,000 to make the homeless disappear from Vancouver streets into shelters dur.ing the two-week 2010 Winter Olympi~s, and also said nothing when Liberal MLA Lome Mayencourt suggested that the homeless be deported en masse to self-sustaining "work farms" in the country. ("$500,000 to be spent to shelter homeless during Games," The Province, November 26, 2006; "Send addicts to country," The Globe and Mail, November 30,2006) .

Libby Davies wrote about VANOC's "outrageous proposal" in a letter to the editor of The Province, reprinted in the December 1, 2006 Carnegie Newsletter. She wrote, "Such a shameful attitude of corporate irresponsibility is astounding." Particularly astounding, when one considers that; (I) NBC, the biggest single private source of IOC (International Olympic Committee) revenue, pledged $2.2 billion US in 2003 for American TV rights to the 2010 and 2012 Games, and (2) V ANOC has raised $115 million in sponsorship commitments.

Instead of spending a mere (by comparison) $500,000 to lobby government to build more social housing by 2010, VANOC wants to spend it on "poor cleansing," in the words of Jean Swanson of the Carnegie Community Action Project, as recorded in the December 1; 2006 Carnegie Newsletter.

Let's hope that the provincial government's New Year's resolutions included building more social housing, improving the fortunes of the homeless, and raising the welfare rates (and abiding by the other requests of the Raise the Rates campaign).

Let's also hope that Sam Sullivan has seen the light about wrongfully abolishing social housing, and is genuinely trying to help the homeless, as he has promised.

By Rolf Auer

LIBBY DAVIES STATEMENT ON THE TRIAL FOR VANCOUVER'S MISSING WOMEN .

The tragedy of the missing women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside will generate enormous media attention as the trial begins January 22, 2007.

As the Member of Parliament representing Vancouver East (including the Downtown Eastside), I want to express my support and sympathy to the families and friends of the missing women who continue to grieve and be exposed to the violent and horrifying experience of what happened to these women.

The tragedy of this situation is far reaching. For many in the Downtown Eastside and beyond there is a sense of loss and grief as people face the enormity of what has taken place. It raises many troubling questions about our society and about why these women were so at risk and vulnerable to violence, exploitation and death, and why so many sex workers continue to be at risk today.

The disappearance of more that sixty women from the Downtown Eastside and hundreds more from across the country, also raises deeply disturbing questions about Canada's justice system and how it failed. Despite the recent media attention to Vancouver's missing women, no significant changes have been made, at any level of government, to protect sex workers, who remain at risk.

I will continue to call for law reform, immediate support for exit strategies, and the need for a public inquiry, to ensure that necessary changes are made at all levels of government, to best protect the rights and safety of sex workers and affected communities.

Current laws around prostitution make street level sex workers vulnerable to selective law enforcement as well as exploitation and violence. Survival sex workers are often poor and drug dependent, and are reluctant to seek protection under the law.

Cuts in social programs and spending, together with increasing poverty, particularly over the past decade, have forced more women into survival sex trade.

The Parliamentary Committee on Justice a~d路.Hu颅 man Rights recently completed its report on pro.stitu-

tion laws, The Challenge of Change: a stiiclyofCanada 's Criminal Prostitution Laws. (http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/Content/HOC/committee/391/ justlreports/rp2599932/j ustrp06/05-honour-e.htm).

The Committee began its work October 2, 2003 as a result of my motion unanimously adopted in Parliament to review prostitution laws to improve the safety of sex trade workers and the community in general, and to make recommendations to reduce the exploitation and violence against sex trade workers.

The report outlines the failure of the criminal code to protect sex workers and local communities. When sex workers are displaced to isolated areas as a result of the communicating law, they face greater risk for harm and death and become easier targets for predators.

There was near unanimous agreement from witnesses heard at the committee that the current status and regime of law enforcement pertaining to prostitution is unworkable, contradictory and unacceptable. It has created an environment of marginalization and violence, with negative impacts on both sex workers and affected local communities.

Sex workers are fearful to report violence, assault and coercion because of their illegal status. Their poor relationship with law enforcement authorities, contributes to the danger they face. Better training of law enforcement agencies is needed.

I believe the federal government must come to terms with the contradictions and impossibility of the status quo, and engage in a process of law reform that will lead to the decriminalization of laws pertaining to prostitution and focus criminal sanctions on harmful situations.

It is also critical for all levels of government to immediately improve the safety of sex workers and 路 assist them to exit the sex trade if they are not there by choice, by providing significant resources for poverty alleviation and income support, education and training, and treatment for addictions.

In February 2002, I called on the Mayor of Vancouver, as Chair of the Vancouver Police Board to ' support an inquiry into the police investigation of the missing women to determine what happened.

This public inquiry still needs to happen.

For more info I further comment please contact: .

Libby Davies 613-992-6036 or604路775-5804

It's raining Emotions Fear, hate, anger Drop by drop An ocean Greed, hate and ....

Looks down Upon us all Torrents of water Lust .•. more anger Uncontrolled emotions SPLASH The whale swallowed Its whole "Now it's by-polar" The bear said.

Patrick Foley is an icon at Carnegie. He wrote The Sandstone Lady that was performed for the 100 Ycars Carnegie celebration. He also wrote the Carnegie Opera Condemned: a work in progress. He is active in theatre, poetry nights, arts and cacy. He fell of a truck(!) and broke his I

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© Montana King It's a crying shame Mur rr Veins flowHeroin will not die Blood defeated Red flow from Bison Saps from tree Anger stampedes The heart beat Rip R-1- P With the hoofs of every Animal killed Blood morbid morphine Each day Wrists cut to be blood Brothers/sisters Wine into blood-then To dine?

Heavy armored boots In tanks-bleeding enemy Internal egg blood stuck I Plugged-up Mother Earth .. . it's stuck Sick of stench Gives life Gets back dried up emotional Death .. . ·Awaken ... Oh Limbic Aren't you sick yet. ... enough The land of.. NO.

Montana's F'irst Sole) Art ar1d Poetry

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601 -H95-9742

'vANCOUVER OPERA PRESENTS

"The Night Before the Opera" "ariadne auf naxos"

By Richard Strauss

Wednesday, February 28, 7pm Carnegie Centre Theatre The first 75 people will receive free tickets to the final dress rehearsal of the opera .

Presented by Vancouver Opera's USC Learning Exchange in collaboration with the Carnegie Centre.

Phil Minton and the Feral Choir On Wednesday, Feb 5, I strolled down to the Carnegie Theatre to see a one-time performance of the Phil Minton-conducted Feral Choir. .

I wasn't exactly sure about I would see. I thought I of Carnegie patrons who worked tremendously hard in a short time, the norm, and wasn't disappointed. ,, Turns out the rehearsals were 2-5 Monday, 2-5 Tuesday and 2-5 Wednesday with the one performance that same Wednesday. The result was brilliant!

People included Joan Morelli, Rosetta Stone and Rudolf Penner, the three who also appeared in the created-in-Carnegie Opera Condemned: a work in

progress Phil Minton, a well-respected British trumpet player, guided six players besides himself through their training and the 30-minute concert.

The performance itself was full of many -mysterious yet familiar sounds vocalized with an amazing array of styles and textures in a uniquely improvisational mode. We-heard birds, monkeys, groaning, wailingbuilding in urgency with all voices interweaving most beautifuJiy. It's always fascinating to see new or ancient forms of experimental entertainment.

The concert ended too soon with an unrehearsed ' impromptu dance by the group.

Thanks go to Rika and the programming committee for getting such imaginative entertainment choices.

This was an action-packed, electrifying half hour for an appreciative audience.

I certainly hope we see much more unique, living entertainment in the near future.

Robyn Livingstone

How to Eat in a World Without Petroleum

By Colleen Carroll

About the Book Humanity is on the brink of extinction because of our over-dependency on petroleum to bring our food to our tables. As our use of oil has increased, so too has the world population along with oil's use. When oil supplies decline, and they are already starting to, we will be facing ever more hardship and challenges in supplying our tables with food.

This book addresses the need to take positive action immediately to minimize effects of declining oil supplies at the kitchen table level. It is a book about the possibility of survival in spite of the odds due to individual effort and community planning and support. It is an urgent request to take positive steps today in order to assure food supplies in the future and offset the drastic effects oil DEPLETION will have on our food supplies. It is a book of individual empowerment one kitchen table at a time.

About the Author, Colleen Carroll I'm a concerned citizen who has been writing for 40 years on our over-dependency on petroleum products in our society. I have two children, both committed in Community building as well and thus have a great stake in seeing they survive into the future along with the rest of our civilization. I'm 57.

Limited mobility has left me with time to read and write of these concerns. I am also blessed with many very knowledgeable and busy friends encouraging me on with ever more information, and who patiently edited the book many times over.

pOWNTOWN EASTSIDE YOUTH ACTIVITIES

SOCIETY 612 Main Street . 604-251-3310

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NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN- 3 Routes: 604-685-6561 City- 5:45pm -I 1:45pm Overnight- 12:30am -8:30am Downtown Eastside- 5:30pm - 1:30am

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NEWSLETTER

Editor: PaulK Taylor·

THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF TilE

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CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION

2007 DONATIONS Libby D.-$100 Rolf A.-$50 Barry for Dave McC-$125 Christopher R.-$30 Margaret D.-$40 Penny G.-$50 Janice P.-$30 Wes K.-$50 Gram-$400 John S.-$60 Leslie S.-$20 Michael C.-$80 Sheila 8.-$20 Wilhelmina M.-$15 CEEDS -$50 Saman -$20 Phyllis L.-$200 Paddy -$125 Bob S.-$1 00 Barry M.-$125 Winnie T.-$5,000 •

Submission deadline for next issue: Monday, February 26 0

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.Jenny WaiChing Kwan MLA

Working for You 1070-1641 Commercial Dr VSL 3Y3 Phone:775-0790 Fax:775-0881

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acknowledge tbat Carnegie Community Centre, and tbis 1 L N!w!!_e~r,.!r~ha.!!p~in.! o! t~ ~u~i!!- ~ti!.n'!te!.ri!!ry.:. _ 1

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Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association

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"The job ofthe newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. " The famous quote is about a hundred years old and can be traced to the work of Finley Peter Dunne, one of the great journalists of the day

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Libretto Workshop by Camyar Chai

Are you interested in learning about librettos and how to write one?

Are you open to public critiques and writing in a group environment?

Carneqie.

Do you like reading your work in front of an audiCommumly Centre ence?

If you've answered YES to the above, you might like to join a Libretto Workshop given by Camyar Chai, the founder and member of the Artistic Pro ducing Team of neworldtheatre.

Wednesdays, March 14- April4, 5-9 PM, in Classroom II at Carnegie Centre.

If you are interested, please write a letter describing why you would like to participate in the workshop and submit it to Rika Uto by e-mail (rika.uto@vancouver.ca) or in her mailbox in Program Office by Wednesday, February 28th.

The workshop is limited to 12 participants. If there are more applicants than spaces available, the letter of interest will be used for selection purposes. Please also note that we will only accept those who can attend all four sessions. Thank you.

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The Pig type is usually , ~ ·. ·· · · - · -an honest, straightforward and patient person. ho.~J o,-tfe.f- y;(Jv~.rhe~J He/she is a modest, shy character who prefers to work quietly behind the scenes. When others de_ (!):. Ctr __ _ (;{ f- __ _ _ spair, he/she is often there to offer support. This type of person is reserved with those they do not know j · ~Q ·-· too well, but as time passes and they gain confidence, those around them may discover a lively and warm-hearted person behind that mask of aloofness.

-- · · · Despite those born in the year of pig having a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, they have few c ~···-··. . --.... . . ... -. close friends who understand them and share their ~C). I} e.·s Ov( . . .. . . ·- ... .--· . . -- --- . ...... .. inner thoughts and feelings. It is easy to put trust in pig type; he/she won't let you d<;>wn and will never even attempt to do so. Such people simply want to .you/':._· do everything right according to social norms .

It is important to remember that these people are --)1- -- - · ·- -- not vengeful creatures. If someone tries to take ad£ Ovl ____~ ---~ ________ vantage of him/her, the pig type tends to withdraw to · reflect on the problem and protect themselves. All they need in such situations is a little time to find a constructive way to respond. The people of the pig type are conservative creatures of habit. They dislike being made to travel too far from familiar surroundings, unless it is a trip to the countryside. They love nature and are never happier than when they are out somewhere, far from the city.

There is a tolerant and peaceful side to their characWe are deter. Such people are never afraid to allow others developing a their freedom of expression; they do not want to Theatre Decause arguments and if there is any way to avoid Design arguing, they will probably take this option. They Workshop are not weak, however, and if the situation forces with the them to fight these people will rise to the occasion, UBC Theatre whether it is to defend themselves or those close to them. People of the Pig type are the most admired by others Department to be held in the evening or weekend starting in the spring. If you are interested in such a workshop, please contact Rika Uto by calling her at (604) 665 3003, e-mailing "rika.uto@vancouver.ca" or leaving a message in the 3rd Floor Program Office

by Wednesday, February 28th. Thank you!

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Advocacy Coalition said, noting that half of young families under age 25 are poor.

"Reduce poverty and homelessness" community leaders tell government At a news conference held Friday in Vancouver, the Raise the Rates coalition released an open letter to the Premier to be printed in the Vancouver Province on Monday. Sixty eight prominent community leaders and/or organizations including David Suzuki and Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, are listed in the ad, but many more would not fit on the page and were faxed to the Premier with the letter Friday morning.

"In its 2007 budget the BC Government has a rare opportunity to show decisive leadership in acting on the deep poverty and inequality in our province, ..

Graham Riches, Director of the UBC School of Social Work, said at the news conference today.

The open letter calls on the Campbell government to raise both the shelter and support portions of welfare rates by at least 50 percent, end the arbitrary barriers that keep people in need from accessing welfare, and increase the minimum wage to at least $1 0 an hour and end the $6 an hour training wage.

"Homelessness, binning, panhandling and suffering by people who are poor is completely unnecessary and immoral, .. said Jean Swanson of Raise the Rates. "The government could raise welfare rates and end the arbitrary barriers to getting on welfare and pay for it with only a fraction of their budget surplus."

"There is a complete moral gap between the government and the rest of the people," said BC Federation of Labour president, Jim Sinclair. "There's been no increase in basic welfare for 13 years while CEO salaries increased 240 percent. ..

Sherman Chan, of the Working Group on Poverty, said that immigrants who have worked thousands of hours can end up working at the $6 an hour training wage simply because they need a job.

Andrea Ottem, a registered dietitian, called for an increase in welfare rates so that all of us "have enough money to access safe and nutritious food."

The government should stop punishing poor children and families with low welfare rates and wages, Adrienne Montani of First Call, BC Child and Youth

Contact: Jean Swanson: 604 729-2380 or 604 2981614; Sherman Chan, 604 254-9626, local 230; Adrienne Montani, 604 875-2000, local 6928 ; Ken Buchanan, 604 646-5345, Andrea Ottem, 604 7383481. Or check out www.raisetherates.org

Provincial budget expected to announce welfare shelter increase ' The provincial budget is expected on Feb. 20th.

Gordon Campbell has said that he will increase the shelter part of welfare in this budget. But he hasn't said by how much or which groups of people on welfare will get the increase. It probably won't be that great so don't get your hopes up too high.

The Carnegie Community Action Project is a member of the Raise the Rates coalition that has been working hard to pressure the government to raise both the shelter and support parts of welfare by at least 50%, end the barriers to getting on weJ~are that are making people homeless, let all people have an earnings exemption of $500 per month, and increase minimum wage to $10 and hour and abolish the $6 an hour training wage. Many folks at Carnegie and in the Downtown Eastside have been helping out with this campaign.

After the budget, Raise the Rates will see what the government has done, then keep working for the changes that we need. .

Remember, if the shelter allowance does go up, tt does NOT mean that your landlord can immediately increase your rent. Landlords have to follow the rules in the Residential Tenancy Act. That means they can only increase your rent by a little bit each year UNLESS they spend a lot on upgrading. Either way you have to get proper notice in writing.

Jean Swanson

Hotel

Address

1 Beacon Hotel

7 W. Hastings St 6/28/ 2006

2 Chelsea Inn

33 W. Hastings 5/12/2006 St 500 Dunsmuir St 7/5/2006

3 Dunsmuir 4 Gastown Hotel 5 Jay Rooms

z Eeodfu ti!Jtel

8 Star Beach Haven

B uyer

Assessed Value

$

1,492,000.00

$ 1' 700,000.00

$

312,200 .00

$ 1,250.000.00

30

0

$

8,107.000.00

$ 2,189,000.00

167

0

$

1,928,000.00

$ 3,300,000.00

91

0

8

0

$ 1,375,000.00

70

0

Dev.

8Z!J.8QQ,QQ $ 1.25Q,QQQ,QQ 525,000.00 $ 510,000.00

36

De~.

19

c

0

Dev.

110 Water St

8/31 /2006

Jason Sundar, Jarrett Stuart Guy, Isabelle Edith Hamm, C. Hugh Maddin, Benjamin Ta~lor Eric Nestor Kitt, Zoltan Majoros Robert Standerwick Robert Wilson

172 E. Cordova

6/23/2006

W illiam D. Vince

$

366,400.00

3/2/2006

Porte Development (Main) Ltd. (Dale Porte, Daniel Porte, David Porte, Hershey Port

$

2,267,100.00

3l 'f:/., Eeode[ St 5l12L2QQ6

Bobel1 'f:/.ilsoo

$

658 Alexander St 6/15/2006

John Blake, Jarrett Stuart Guy, Isabelle Edith Hamm, C. Hugh Maddin, Benjamin Taylor Robert Fung

$

6 Pacific Hotel 700 Main St

..\

Sale Date

$

680,000.00

Rooms Open Note I Cis 42 0

1,362,900.00

$ 1,425,000.00

56

c

Davinder $ Sandhu, Sandeeg Singh Harry Mun Chung $ Woo, Katalina Man Ying Woo, Raymond Lee Shing Chow

1,584,400 .00

$ 3,725,000 .00

98

0

1,007,000.00

$

888,000.00

39

0

8/10/2006

Kim Tran Nguyen $

804 ,000.00

$

787,500.00

43

0

9/26/2006

Yet Wah Chan, $ Wai Ping Chan Elizabeth Vander $ Zaa Robert Wilson $

918,000.00

$ 1,825,000.00

34

0

353,600.00

$

200,000.00

24

0

952,000.00

$ 2,350,000.00

47

c

$

1,214,000.00

$ 3,200,000.00

74

0

51 W . Hastings St. 488 Carrall St

11 Wonder Rooms

52 E. Cordova St. 4/13/2006

3/30/2006 6/ 1/2006

14 Kenworth 313 Alexander St 5/30/2006 Rooms 15 Rainier Hotel 309 Carrall 10/1/2006 235 E. Hastings

10/13/2006 ?

796 Main St

8/8/2006

Vincent Fodera

$

463,100.00

$ 3,300,000.00

22

0

18 Powell Rooms

556 Powell St

8/30/ 2006

Deborah J Harden, Robert William Harden

$

423,900.00

$

22

0

19 Carl Rooms

575 E. Hastings Street 60 E. Hastings

2/10/2007

45

0

16 Empress Hotel 17 Creekside Residence

20 Shaldon Hotel 21 Walton Hotel 261 E. Hastings 22 Arco Hotel

81 W . Pender

593,000.00

Dev.

Dev.

$

9 Strathcona Hotel 10 West Hotel

12 Woodbine 786 E. Hastings Hotel St 13 York Rooms 261 Powell St

Sale Price

Dev. â&#x20AC;˘

Unknown

Robert Wilson

57

0

Dev.

Unknown

Robert Wilson

91

0

Dev.

Unknown

Robert Wilson

63

0

Dev.

Totals:

ALREADY SOLD

FOR SALE NOW'

•

Hotel 1 Burns Block 2 Hampton Rooms 3 4 Mt. Everest Rooms 5 Shamrock Hotel 6 Savoy Hotel 7 Marr Hotel 8 Cathay Lodge 9 Roosevelt Hotel 10 Palace Hotel

Total# Rooms ' 1f7a·T otal # Open Rooms 1039 Total Rooms purchased by Identifiable developers 541 Total rooms purchased by Robert Wilson 385 Total # Hotels 22 Total# remaining operating SRO rooms In Vancouver 6079 % of open rooms bought/sold since Jan. 2006 17% % of open rooms bought/sold/for sale since Jan. 2008 21%

Address 18 W. Hastings Street 566 Powell Street 221 E. Georgia Street 242 E. Hastings Street 635 E. Hastings Street 258/260 E. Hastings Street 401 /403 E. Hastings Street 527/533 E. Georgia Street 166 E. Hastings Street 35/37 W. Hastin9s Street Total cost Total# Rooms Total # Open Rooms Avg. cost per room (Excl.

Auction)

Sale Price Auction

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

728,000.00 990,000.00 1 ,090,000.00 1,250,000.00 1,850,000.00 1,980,000.00 2,250,000.00 2,350,000.00 2,388,000.00 14,876,000.00

Rooms Open/Closed 28 12 14 25 28 28 29 34 45 32

c 0 0 0

0 0

c 0 0 0

247 218

$

\

60,226.72

Downtown Eastside housing snapped up by developers New research by Pivot Legal Society, with assistance from the Carnegie Community Action Project, shows that 1 in 5 open lodging house rooms in Vancouver have been sold or put up for sale since January 2006. Groups or individuals bought more than half of the open rooms purchased, identifiable through title searches as developers.

"Our research with CCAP: shows that now, more than ever, City Council must send a strong message to property speculators that low-income buildings will not be converted to market housing until there is a real commitment from . senior levels of government to replace them with social housing,, said David Eby, lawyer with Pivot. "Without this · commitment, we will see the over 1,000 people who live in these rooms on our streets, and we simply can't afford that."

385 of the rooms sold ·since January 2006 have been· purchased by Robert Wilson, the developer of "33 Living,, a condominium project located beside the former Pender Hotel (which is also owned by Wilson). 22 hotels have changed hands since January 2006, representing 1178 rooms, of which 1039 are still open and operating.

An additional 10 hotels are currently for sale, with an average cost of over $60,000 per room, including the Roosevelt Hotel which rents its bottom floor to Vancouver Coastal Health's Health Contact Centre, a low-barrier medical clinic for Vancouver's most marginalized residents. The building is listed for $2.35 million.

"City Council votes (February 13) on a moratorium on converting buildings to any use other than social housing,, said Eby. :"With buildings that no one ever imagined would sell to developers on the open market, this motion must pass to send everyone a signal that there will be no conversions without social housing."

[This release was received Monday, Feb.l2 and the Carnegie Newsletter goes to the printer Tuesday afternoon. The result of this vote will be public by the date of publication, Thursday, February 15. Ed.]