February 15, 2014, carnegie newsletter

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For the murdered and missing women: Never to forgive.

Never to forget.

Silver Fox

Crab Park Women's Memorial Longhouse Project Fred Arrance, community activist, and the organization West Coast Aboriginal Network on Disabilities (WAN D) call on all levels of government and the community at large to endorse the construction of a Women's Memorial Longhouse in Crab Park. This space would pay homage to the large number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada, and could be used as a gathering place for Aboriginal and other community groups across British Columbia.

The Native Women's Association of Canada has compiled 582 cases of missing or murdered Aboriginal women and girls. In 2012, the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry put forward strong recommendations to address the systemic violence and neg lect toward Aboriginal women in Canada. Cultural connectedness and reconciliation featured heavily in these recommendations, especially in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES).

The WAN D society was formed 20 years ago by a group of individuals who noticed a lack of attention paid to Aboriginal people dealing with addiction, alcoholism and disabilities. WAND coordinates cultural, recreational and spiritual programs and activities, and an Elders Council for Aboriginal people with disabilities, and those at risk of becoming disabled. Strengthening community and connections to the natural world are key components of this organization.

Crab park is proposed for the location of the longhouse because it is a traditional gatliering space on unceded Aboriginal land. Musequeam, Salish and other coastal Aboriginal people would travel across the water by canoe and potlatch o n the shore where Crab park is today. Crab Park is now considered pan of the DTES and is still a significant location for Vancouver's urban Aboriginal community.

Call for Support WAND is seeking letters of support from government and community organizations, to be compiled and presented as a proposal for the construction of this longhouse.

Contact information: For more infonnation, or to express your support, email W A NDlonghouse@gmail.com

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Spirit Woman of all nations Ho ld and protect your children Yo ur g randmas No women, No life Just like Mother Earth nurtures all her creations We must start obeying the spi ritual laws Of not only Indian people We must come together to support Women who find their spirit In the traditional longhouse on the waterfront For all women Take note that women are the most sacred resource we have All my relations

Fred Arrance has a long history of grassroots activism in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Among many things, he was a key organizer of the Women's Memorial March, worked as a cultural development worker for the City of Vancouver and is one of the founders ofthe WAND society.

A Dance Improvisations Worf<shop with Helen WalKleY How does our love of spontan eous motion translate into vital expression in dance?

This workshop is intended for anyone who loves to move and is cu riou s about th e nature of improvisational dance, the possi bility to create and relat e movement in the moment.

A warm-up process will connect and mobilize our whole bodies. Improvisational structu res will follow to develop dynamic range and spati al relation ships.

Tuesdays 3 - 5 pm February 18, 25 and March 4, 11 18 & 25 in the Gym@ Carnegie, 401 Main Street

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Maximum number of participants: 12 Please register at the Program Office by February 14 Helen Walkley is a contemporary dance artist, certified Laban Movement Analyst and regi st ered Somati c Movement Educat or who ha s taught, cr eated an d performed for over 30 years

Coming Together Talt?ing Circle

FREE' Monthly Hearing Clinic at Carnegie Centre

For all Indian Residential School Survivors and their Families

Monday Feb 1ih, 9am-12pm Carnegie Centre Theatre, 401 Main H ealth Support Wor~ers and Representatives from the Independent A ssessment Process (lAP) will be at the session, to offer support and answer questions.

Small incentive offered for attendance For Information Contact KELVIN B EE AT Aboriginal Front Door 604-697-5662

Next clinic:

February 19th

Wednesday, lOam - 2pm

Brought to you by AAA Hearing Aid 604-592-2222 We Help The DTES Hear Better

Israeli government services were downsized or privatized. Begin's government cut money going to the quas i-social ist kibbutzim again and again. Labour 0~ unions fell out of favour and the percentage of people in trade uni ons fell.

Now the Israel armed forces became far more agStephen Harper and Bob gressive. In 1982 Israeli forces invaded Lebanon and killed over 20,000 people. During the invasion, IsCanad ian Prime Minister Stephen H arper went to Is rael in January. "After generations of persecution," raeli troops surrounded two Palestinian refugee camps and allowed anti-Palestinian troops of the Harper told the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, "the Lebanese Phalangist army into the cam ps. The PhaJewish people deserve their own homeland and the lang ists killed all of Palestinians they could find. right to live peacefully in that homeland."

"I don't support the Israeli invas ion of Lebanon," Bob is a longtime friend of mine and like me is Bob remarked at the time. Nor did he favour the IsJewish. He agrees with the Prime Minister that Jewraeli settlements that were going up on Israel's West ish people deserve their own homeland but that they Bank. Still , by 2000 he still s upported Israel and its may not be going about it the right way if they want hawkish Prime Minister, the fo rmer general Ariel to live in peace with their Arab neighbours.

When I first met Bob (which isn't his real name) Sharon. Then something happened to Bob. For about ten years later Bob, who was now in his 60's didn't over 50 years ago, he was a gung- ho Zionist. He g re up on the island of Montreal in a middle class Jewish support Israel anymore.

What had happened to Bob? Perhaps he read acneighbourhood some ways west from the downtown counts by the Israeli historian Benny Morris about the area. In his early childhood he lived near the famed Saint Urbain area where Montreal novelist Mordecai birth of Israel in I 948. Morris claims that Israeli soldiers threw 750,000 Arabs out of their homes to make Richter set his novels. But in the early 1950's Bob's way for Israeli settlements. Possibly Bob read again fa mily moved west. the work of the Polish-born and Jewish historian As a young boy Bob read books li ke 'They Were Isaac Deutsche~."The Arabs cannot go on denying A ll Jews'. This book profiled famous Jews like baseball star Hank Greenberg, Jonas Salk, the doctor who Israel's right to exist," said Deutscher in 1967 right after Israeli forces had won a sweeping victory over fou nd the polio vaccine and the Bronfman family Arab arm ies. Yet Deutscher refused to justify or who built a liquor em pire. Bob lapped all of this up. agree with what he called, "Israel's war against the He rea lly believed that Jews were the chosen people.

Arabs."

At the age of 15, Bob went with a lot of other Maybe Bob just got tired of the endless clashes yo ungsters on a two month trip to Israel. He had a between Arabs and Israeli s. In any case, Bob no great time there. After that, Bob supported Israel longer defends Israel. "israel just didn't turn out the through thick and thin. In his late 20's, he went back way I thought it would," he said in 20 11. to Israel and lived for a time on a kibbutz. Soon, he Bob's journey from defending Israel to indifferspoke Hebrew fluently. ence isn't shared by most Canadian Jews. More than But then along came some problems. Bob caught half of Jewish voters cast their ballots for the Conserhepatitis and had to come back to Canada. He moved vatives in the federal election of 2011. In the next to Toronto and stayed there. Soon the news that came federal election that number may cli mb to two in o ut of Israel showed a g reat shift in Israe li poltics. every three.

There are about 330,000 Jews in Canada.

In 1976 Menachem Begin and his right wing LiJewish voters could decide who wins in 11 or 12 kud Party swept aside the centre-left Israeli Party seats in the house of Commons. that had ruled Israel s ince I 948, the year of Israel's So Prime Minister Harper continues to woo Jewbirih . As a conservative Prime Minister, Begin ish voters. But he has n't convinced me or Bob to vote launched his country o n a new course. Bob by the fo r him. And I don't think he ever will. way has always leaned s lightly to the left in poli ti cs.

By Dave Jaffe ~' \

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.... keep centuries-old traditions a live, despite the effo~ .-

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Life as art I by Duane Pasco How did an alcoholic, blue-collar laborer become one of the pre-eminent figures in the revival of the Northwest Coast Native American art tradition, without being a Native American himself? Artist Duane Pasco tells that very story in this informative and visually appealing book. Life as Art is filled with vibrant full color plates of the artist's work--masks, totem poles, hats, helmets, containers and morewith Pasco's lively accounts ofthe stories behind them. Together, these stories reveal his development as an artist, and explore his influence on the rise of contemporary Northwest Coast native art.

Dream Catchers: Legend, Lore am/ Artifacts/ by Cath Oberholtzer According to Ojibwe traditions, dream catchers were intended to intercept negative dreams and diseases from sleeping children, while letting positive dreams slip through the holes and trickle down the feathers to 111 reach the child below. In the late 20 century, dream catchers exploded in popularity, particularly withi n the New Age movement, and made the transition from an indigenous craft into a collectible available all over the planet. Anthropologist Cath Oberholtzer uses rich text and full-color photographs to explore the explosion of the dream catcher into a worldwide marketing venture and continued symbol of Native spirituality.

Native Spirit and The Sun Dance Way_ (DVD) I directed by Jennifer Casey Native Spirit & The Sun Dance Way are two featurelength documentaries selected from the "American Indian Film Festival" and "Montreal First People's Festival." Native Spirit movingly tells the story of the struggles and triumphs of Native American people to

of the US government to destroy their culture and spiritual traditions. The Sun Dance Way uses photographs and video footage of sun dances, from as far back as 1903, to reveal the symbolism and mystical beau~ of the ancient and sacred ceremony which remams at the center of the Plains Indians' lives today. This 2-disc DVD set is enhanced with an additional 90 minutes of special features.

Th_e Voice ofRolling Thunder: A Medicine Man's _Wtsdomfor Walking the Red Road/ by Sidian Mornmg Star Jones and Stanley Krippner ~?lling Thunder (1916-1997) was an intertribal medtcme man who rose to popularity in the 1960s and 70s through his friendship with artists such as Bob Dy_lan and as the inspiration for the Billy Jack films.

TI11S book contains never-before-released talks preserved by close friend and member of the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart. The teachings of Rolling Thunder are represented through his own words as well as through inspiring interviews, anecdotes and eyewitness accounts from those who knew him well. Th; book invites you to incorporate a little bit ofRol' Thunder's wisdom into your own life.

We have many IJ10re new books and DVDs come and see us!

Stephanie (Carnegie Librarian) and Elizabeth & alternate Saturdays)

Our healing journey Let us remember the ones we lost Pray to the Creator to heal us Let us all find closure one day Let us find peace + harmony in our hearts.

We will meet our loved one in heaven To all the women & men who are missing 1 hope we will meet them again.

Have a healing circle and help each other Let your emotions go -it will lighten your heart So my dear friend 1 will keep you in my prayers.

All my relations, Bonnie E Stevens

IS COMING BACK TO THE CARNEGIE EVERY MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17-MAY 5, FROM 1:00-3:00 PM

So, if you want to:

Lunch and

•Learn a Rock Instrument •Sing •Write lyrics •Compose Songs or •Just Jam Women Reek! has something for you

reshments This is a

chance to: Get Creativ,~'E!==== Develop New Skills Express Yourself and just Have Fun

Contact: lam:a@tau-ra~et fo.r questions or details.

All committed participants: Please sign up at the 3rd floor Program Office. Drop-in is welcome, but regular attendance is encouraged. Each class is limited

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BRITISH

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Premier Christy Clark's Speech

When I became Premier of British Columbia, I said that two of the things I wanted to accomplish were supporting families and listening to people. Today is BC Family Day, which I established as part of this commitment. This is the 2nd year ofBC Fami ly day and l wanted to use today to share some important news with the families and the people ofBC. I know that many families are unable to enjoy fully Family Day because they cannot afford to take their family to places like Science World here or the Aquarium. T hese families love their children as much as I do.

These are fam ilies whose lack of finances is not their failing: • they may be working hard at their job or even two jobs; • they may have lost their job; • or they may be living with a disability due to a serious illness or an accident.

I know from the Annual Child Poverty Report Card from First Call that when I became Premier l inherited a sad record ofBC having some of the worst Child Poverty in Canada. These chi ldren are in poverty because their parents are in poverty.

I have said before that when people are not working we have to suppo~t them through those times of crisis. It is a stressful time worrying if you can make your mortgage or rent, and the stress of wondering whether or not you can send your child to school w ith a full lunch box.

I do not want to the Premier of the province with the worst child and adult poverty in Canada.

I have been listening to the people of British Columbia. Over 75% of the people of BC want a provincial poverty reduction strategy My friends in local government have made their views clear. I know from conversations with local municipal leaders that they are forced to respond to many of the immed iate problems caused by poverty in their communities. At last year's convention ofBC Municipalities, they unanimously passed a resolution calling for the province to "provide adequate and accessible income support for the non-employed, and improve the earnings of the low-wage workforce".

The government has to balance many genuine demands and pressures. We have to think carefully before we act and we always have to think about the economic impacts of our actions . 1 had hoped that with the BC Jobs Plan people would be ab le to find well-paid jobs. However, it is clear that this is not enough. The reality is we are now living in a world where economic grovvth is slow. Our Jobs Plan has hit a rough patch and we cannot rely on exports alone. Much of our economic strength and vitality comes from our homegrown economy; one of the best ways to strengthen our economy is right here in British Columbia. There is a stro ng economic case for tackling poverty. I have listened to the Surrey Board of Trade and others in the business community who want action on poverty.

I have listened to the med ical experts and dietitians who explain that people cannot live a healthy life on social assistance. The health professionals have told me that poverty costs the health system alone over $1 billion every year. That is a lot of money that could be much better spent. The last increase in Social Assistance was in 2007 . Therefore, in real terms it has fallen I 0% in value since then. I wrote to Raise the Rates last year and stated "I promise you that the fight against poverty continues". It is now time to make that promise a reality.

I have gone to help at Food Banks. When I was at the Food Bank in Port Moody I praised the work of

food banks in helping people in hunger, and for showing such tremendous community leadership. The community is doing its part to help. I have said it before and I say it now, 1 want to be in a province where government does things with peop le.

My government needs to do its part. I am determined that we wi ll do our part. My government will do the right thing. We will take actio n to tackle poverty in BC. • It is the right thing because everyone woman, child and man in BC should have a decent standard of living.

• It is the right thing because it is what the people o f BC want.

• It is the right thing because it is what the health experts and dietitians say is needed.

• It is the right thing because it is what local government says is needed.

• It is the right thing because it is good for the economy and many in the business community say it is needed.

I cannot give details before the budget speech but I wanted today, on Family Day, to give an assurance to the people ofBC that change is coming. I promise the 153,000 children in poverty and the 700,000 people in poverty that change is com mg.

I. We will take action immediately to raise Social Assistance starting with the budget in just over a week.

2. We will then ro ll out ideas for a full plan to tackle poverty in British Columbia.

3. We will talk with and listen to the peop le of British Columbia and 4. We will bring forward the best poverty reduction plan in Canada.

5. We will share the pros perity of British Co lumbia with everyone.

First Question: You have said that raising welfare and tackling poverty will be good for the economy, but how will you afford to raise welfare and tackle poverty.

We know that the total costs of poverty - in health, in the criminal justice system, in education and in the wider economy- all add up to an astonishing $8 to $9 bi llon dollars every year. I have been told that a comprehensive strategy to tackle poverty in BC would cost around $4 billions a year. Tackling poverty would save every woman, chi ld and man in BC around $900 a year.

Of course, in the short term there will be up-front costs. Like every investment, there is a short-term cost to win lo ng-term benefit. To cover the initial investment we will review some other expenditures and increase taxes on the top earners.

After all, the commun ity is doing their part and government is joining in, so the well-off can afford to contribute.

Due to the tax cuts of the last few years, the richest I %of people are, on average, $41,000 per year better off. This is more than many people in BC earn in a year. IfBC's income taxes were comparable to the average of Canadian provinces, this would generate $2.4 billion a year. We also know that the vast majority of people in British Columbia support fair taxes where the richest people pay their share.

Rais ing the income of people on social assistance and on lower wages would mean they would spend that money in their local stores, in their local communities. Some of it would even come back to the province in tax revenue.

The increased income for people, and the savings on expenditure due to poverty would now through the economy. link to video: http:I/'M'IW.youtube.com/watch?v=zwqRiJipijU&feature=em-upload owner

Background sources: Poverty Rates in BC: http://worstincanada.org Public opinion on poverty reduction plan: http://www.bchealthyliving.ca/hungry-change-poll-shows-british-columbians-want-action-poverty Public opinion on taxation: https://www.oolicyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/majoritv-british-columbians-support-hiqher-income-taxes-1 OOk-poll-0 Dietitians on Healthy Eating: http://www.dietitians.ca/News-Releases/2012/Cost-of-Eating-report.aspx Tax Changes in BC: https:l/www.policyalternatives.ca/bc-tax-shift Cost of poverty and a poverty reduction plan: https:l/www.policyaltematives.ca/costofpovertybc UBCM Resolutions: http://www.ubcm.ca/EN/main/resolutions/resolutions/resolutions-responses.html Connect with the Province of B.C. at: 'M'IW.gov.bc.ca/connect

Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) Newsletter Read CCAP reports: htt :1/ccapvancouver.wordpress.com

Februa

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW By next month this time, City Council will have made their decision on the future of the DTES for the next 30 years.

City Council will vote on the Local Area Plan for the DTES on March 12th. The LAP will decide who will be able to afford to live (and to stay) in this neighbourhood.

The low-income DTES community has fought so hard for this neighbourhood. This plan could tear the neighbourhood apart by scattering the low-income community out of the DTES. Rents in the DTES are getting more and more expensive.

Nothing is beihg done to make sure that low-income community can decide to stay. We are already seeing this happen to the DTES. People are being displaced by gentrification.

At this critical time, we need to make our voices heard. We need to be loud and clear to repeat what we have been fighting for: 5000 units of social housing within

I 0 years, protection against rent increases and renovictions and a definition of social housing that doesn't exclude people on welfare and pension.

We're fighting for an Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Centre. We want stores we can afford to shop in, peer run service, harm reduction services, detox and treatment on demand, and an end to criminalizing people for survival work.

We don 't have much time left to act and to fight for the DTES to remain a lowincome neighbourhood and to strengthen

the community that so many people have fought so hard to build.

The days are counting down. We need to build our strength and organize our community to take this last stand as the Local Area Plan goes to City Cou ncil . We need to make sure people know that unless changes are made, the LAP is the nail in the coffin of the OTES. It's time to tell our friends, fam ily, and neighbours that the last stand for the DTES is here.

That's why the Low-Income Caucus of the Local Area Planning Process (LAPP) committee and the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) are planning for a march and paint-in on Sunday March 9th. We need to gather together in force to remind everyone of what the low-income community needs and wants to see in the future.

With this energy, we will be ready to make sure City Council hears our voices on Wednesday March 12th when they vote on the plan. The Caucus and CCAP will be organizing a delegation to go to City Hall, rally outside, and take the stand inside. If you have something to tell City Council , please make sure you sign up to speak.

Check the CCAP bulletin board in the cafeteria. As soon as the City opens its list, we'll start taking names. CCAP staff Kingmong and Tamara can help you get ready to speak, if you need some support.

So watch for the posters to come up in the neighbourhood about the paint-in on Sunday March 9th and about going to City Hall on Wednesday March 12th. Tell your friends, families and neighbours that it's time to take a stand.- km

PEOPLE AT TOWN HALL MEETING REJECT CITY'S DYES PLAN Should the low-income community support the City's plan for the DTES? That was the question discussed by people at a packed Town Hall meeting at Carnegie on February grh.

The answer was a resounding NO.

Karen Ward

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The City plans to adopt a plan for the DTES for the next 30 years on March 12'"路 Some lowincome members of the City's Local Area Planning Committee and CCAP sponsored this meeting to see what community members think about the draft plan that was released in November.

everyone at the meeting liked the Caucus' plan for peer run mental health services, harm reduction services and detox and treatment on demand, and social services that provided safety and choices.

Business gentrification: Harold Lavender spoke about business gentrification. The City's plan calls for toothless ways of talking to business: an "enhanced notification Phoenix and Herb Varley co-chair the meeting process," "awareness packages that makes sure people on welfare, to development applicants," and disability and pension can afford it; a "checklist" for city staff to use with - 50 lots designated for social housing; development applications. Harold said - Stopping all renovictions; we need a process directed by low-income - Guaranteed rent control. people to approve or deny new business applications. Everyone at the meeting The room agreed that this shou ld happen agreed with four abstentions. within 5 years. None of these points are in the City 's plan.

Zoning: Herb Varley explained the

Poverty: Karen Ward, who represents Gallery Gachet on the Local Area Planning Committee, and Victoria spoke on poverty.

It is only mentioned once in the City's plan. Karen and Victoria both said that the Plan should call for higher welfare rates. "

Health and well-being: Karen also spoke on health and well-being. She is on the City's Mental Health Task Force but it hasn' t made any recommendations yet.

The City's plan says "work though the Mental Health Task force." But how can you support this Task Force ifyou don't know what it will recommend? Almost 4

complicated topic of zoning. The City Plan wants a special zoning in the Oppenheimer area of the DTES. Developers who built a building bigger than one lot high would have to put in 60% social housing and 40% rental. The Caucus supports this, hoping it will keep condos out of the DTES, But many in the audience thought the Caucus position on this was too lenient. They want I 00% social housing at welfare rate. They are afraid businesses will be able to build condos even with the 60-40 zoning.

Action: CCAP will write to the city and let them know what people at the Town Hall

said about their Plan. People also talked about organizing a rally and pa int-in for a DTES Plan that serves the low-income community. This is planned for March 9L11 • Folks also plan to go to city hall to speak out for more housing, an Aboriginal Healing Centre, and other things for the low income community on March l2 1h. If you would like to join in and want some support, come to the CCAP office on the second floor of Carnegie. - JS

Victoria Bull

FAKE (.HRISTY (.lARK ANNOVN(.£5 WE\FARE IN(.REASE The news release went out on fake government letterhead. "On Monday, February 10, Premier Christy Clark will make an important announcement for all British Columbia families." Rider bought aBC flag, scrounged up a podium, and got a li ttle board printed that said "Family Day" and looked all official. We found Jackie, who had a friend do her hair so she looked like Premier Christy Clark. Dominic pretended to be a security guard and dressed in a very straight looking suit. Victoria and Stacey' agreed to be the speakers who know what it's like trying to live on welfare. Bill wrote up a speech for "Christy" using some actual words that she has really said. Tamara set up a fake phone number on the computer that we could put on the media release.

Then, at 11 am on Family Day at the gazebo at Science World, it all unfolded. The media actually came, about eight or ten of them. They were all waiting around at the little podium that Rider and Dave set up and Sid guarded. Rider and Dominic arrived with "'Christy", shielding her from the rain with two umbrellas. And then "Christy" read her speec h: "I have listened to the medical experts and dietitians who explain that people cannot live a healthy life on social assistance. The health professionals have told me that poverty costs the health system alone over $1 billion every year. That is a lot of money that could be much better spent. The last increase in Social Assistance was in 2007.

Therefore, in real terms it has fallen 10% in value since then."

Christy continued: '·I wrote to Raise the Rates last year and stated 'I promise you that the fight against poverty continues.' It now time to make that promise a reality. We will take

5

action immediately to raise Social Assistance starting with the budget in just over a week.

We will then roll out ideas for a full plan to tackle poverty in BC." After the fake "Christy" spoke, Stacey Bonenfant, a widowed mother of two boys spoke. "There's no way we can go to Science World on Family Day. That's a week worth of food for us," she said. "We don't get experiences like the Aquarium and the zoo.

Try to raise two kids on $13,000 a year. It's impossible. We'll have a healthier and happier province if this goes through."

Victoria Bull said she is a grandmother raising a granddaughter on social assistance . "A welfare increase will also be good for single people because they don't have enough for food and rent as it is. That means they have to do things like ride the bus without tickets and sell their things on the street."

Fake "Christy Clark" and her entourage

So yes, it was a fake "Christy" who said that welfare rates are going up, and unfortunately, the rates aren't going up, at least yet. But the news conference was still another chance to get out the message that WELFARE RATES NEED TO GO UP, and put a little pressure on the government. Raise the Rates is the group that organized the action.

Banding Togetheray

King-mongchan

At the Town Hall meeting on Feb. 8th, several people spoke of the need for our community to "band together" to fight more effectively for what our community needs and to move forward . People in the monthly community meeting in Cantonese said the same: "We need to be unified." In short, as the DTES

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community, regardless of our ethnicity, we need to come together.

This means at the heart, we have to accept and seek to understand one another. Right now, there is a lack of understanding, even within the Chinese community, for people that reportedly take a lot of food or that go from food

[This is from Signs of the Times, poetry by Bud Osborn and prints by Richard Tetrault. (2005; Anvil Press)]

UlV\II..eV\,tattoV\, for tV!e DowV\,tOWV\, 5astsf.c{e

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she who was a child beloved of life has now become a slave who screams at night she raves during the day and among all her men there is none to comfort her all her friends have betrayed her they have become like enemies and after this affliction and harsh servitude in the Downtown Eastside she is going into exile she is being driven out and will find no resting place all those who greedily pursue her have overtaken her in the midst of her suffering and no one comes to celebrate life with her all her streets are cruel her representatives fight among themselves her advocates grieve and she is in bitter anguish her real enemies have become her masters her real enemies are taking it easy her children have been stolen from her her beauty has been corrupted her dreams of life are like eagles that find no nests in weariness they have flown away but in these days of her affliction and drunkenness she remembers the hours of joy and moments of peace that were hers in the past before she and her people fell into enemy hands and there was no one to help her her enemies now look at her and laugh at her destruction she herself commits crimes she herself makes choices that bring death instead of more life but she has been brutalized she has been stripped naked ar:1d thrown into the streets

where she is mocked and dishonoured as one diseased and unwanted she herself groans and turns her face from the mirror she did not take this day seriously enough her destruction is astounding her destruction is an abomination and there is no one to comfort her 'look at me! see my face!" she pleads for help but the enemy has triumphed the enemy is laying hands on her heart and her soul and her flesh she sees predators of all kinds enter her streets all her people groan as they search for bread they barter their lives for what they need to relieve their suffering to keep themselves alive she says "look at me and please consider me for I am despised and forsaken and abandoned" she who was a child beloved of life has now become a prostitute for her enemies and she st~ys 'am I nothing to you, you who pass by?

Is my suffering any less deserving of relief than others?" this suffering that a cold inhuman system has inflicted upon me allows epidemics of death in my blood it has made me think of suicide day and night it has kept hope far from me and this is why I act desperately this is why my eyes burn with fear and my eyes are dark and disturbing with anger and my eyes are crushed with despair and my eyes pour down painful tears for there is no one near to comfort me no one is here to restore my life and my children are becoming destitute with me because the enemy has prevailed and the Downtown Eastside stretches out her hands

This poem was written in 1997 when the situation in the Downtown Eastside was literally as horrific as described.

As a director on the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board, 1 was able, in 1997, against bureaucratic opposition, to have a motion passed declaring Vancouver's first-ever public health emergency, because of the pandemics and overdose deaths besieging the Downtown Eastside. Since then, residents of the Downtown Eastside and people in Vancouver and elsewhere have indeed responded to inhuman suffering with concrete initiatives intended to relieve it. Though many battles are yet to be fought, the preservation and

strengthening of an immensely important community of economically impoverished, brutally afflicted and extraordinarily creative and committed human beings, is much closer to enduring than it appeared 8 years ago.[in 2005).

While the poem specifically names the Downtown Eastside, the circumstances expressed prevail throughout the world, and will intensify unless neo-liberal socio-economic ideology and its institutions, so ruinous of all that is human and natural, is turned upside-down to fully respond to the needless suffering and destruction of authentic community this system produces. -Bud

Canadian Housing & Renewal Association Support for affordable housing and homelessness , missing in action in the 20 14 federal budget Tod.ay s federal budget does not outline a plan to further mvest in affordable housing or in additional measures to end homelessness.

Instead initiatives and consultations announced in previous' budgets were reiterated for public c?n~~mp足 tion. "While we recognize the many fiscal pnonttes facing this government, we are disappointed tha~ this budget was effectively s ilent on affordable hous~ng, given so many Canadians remain in ~eed, and gtve~ that having an affordable, safe home 1s so closely !ted to having a more productive, stable life,': s.aid CHRA President Phil Brown. "With over 1.5 mtlhon households unable to afford a decent home and far too many Canadians going w ithout a roof over their head on any given night, more support from the federal government is needed" said Brow~. . .

The government also announced 1ts mtentton to rev iew the income tax exemption for all not-for-profit organizations, including non-profit ho~sing pr~vi.d足 ers. The Budget says, "Some organizatiOnS claumng the NPO tax exemption may be earning profits that are not incidental to carrymg out the organization's non-profit purposes ... or maintaining disproportionately large reserves;" the review will see whether the tax exemption remains "properly targeted" and .. whether "sufficient transparency and accountabdtty provisions" are in place.

In the face of declining federal funding, many notfor-profit housing providers and other sector-serving organizations rely on ancillary revenues such ~s parking and roof rentals or revenues from such.soctal enterprises as catering or renovation compames to provide deeply subsidized housing, below-market rent and client-centered services.

Further, with the aging of Canada's social housing stock, providers have worked to build ~eserves .whenever possible so they can make the cap1tal repatrs they need to keep their aging buildings safe and properly maintained for their residents. CHRA will work

closely with other not-for-profit stakeholders to educate the federal government on the critical importance of our members' tax exempt status in offsetting the high costs of support to the vulnerable individuals and families they house.

While the budget references social housing, and the original CMHC provision of $1.7 billion in support of almost 600,000 Canadian households with low or very low incomes, the budget fails to illustrate that the funding is declining every year, without any announced replacement for the lost support. The federal government supports fewer and fewer households in social housing- 10,400 fewer households in 20 I 2 and another 8,000 households expected to lose federal support in 2013. "These are vulnerable families that are being impacted" said CHRA Executive Director Jody Ciufo. "If providers of social hous ing can't pay their bills because they receive fewer federal dollars, they risk having to shut their doors or increase rents fo r those who can least afford it. Families and individuals in social housing may face eviction, or worse, homelessness. We strongly urge the federal government to ensure that further cuts are not made on the backs of those who can least afford them," said Ciufo.

Two specific housil'}g initiatives, renewed in last year's budget, were re-announced. The Investment in Affordable Housing framework, renewed without any additional investment, helps alleviate housing need by funding the construction and repair of affordable housing units and by the provision of subsidized rentals, often throug h rent supplements.

The Homelessness Partnering Strategy, renewed at lower annual funding, enables communities to address shelter and support needs for individuals experiencing homelessness. While the program renewals were welcomed news, they aren't the main event.

These programs do not offset the lost funding for social housing and do not address the growing affordability crisis in the rental housing market, where lowincome, working families are struggling to hold onto a home.

Ciufo continues, "We hope that the federal government will seize the opportunity to address the bigger, pressing issues surrounding the affordability of rental housing and recognize that current investment levels are insufficient when compared to overall need.

Without further federal support, time will run out on Canadian fami lies."

bers and to me friendships are real and pure and as long as forever- this I shall never surrender.

A friendship is built over troubled waters th at extrapolate our globe, friendships take time to thaw out from the inner demons that try to dictate absolute control, financial difficulties are a test to see who is weak and can be boug ht o r sold, when you' re camped out near death 's door whose hand if any wi ll be there for you to hold ...

PS : A one month death for a ll Methadone exchange from I 0 parts to one to one to o ne is about to start.

Carry those bodybags - we are going to need them.

Kill us off.. . well we shall see.

By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY

THE ICEBERG AND THE MONEY BRANCH Just awoke from a dream someone carved a swastika in Justin Bieber's forehead as everyone laughs l ask is this true? The list of people giggling is the size of all the Missing posters of kids & the old about the s ize of earth's circumference around the sun Will We Miss him? Like asking which war World War Two was and its importance so back to sniffing glue a friendship of much importance is dead, now these things don't come cheap years of learning what's in common wi th said parties then secrets and finally lending money well a 150 dollar transaction has destroyed another money fucks up everyone's head, new definitions of insanity are created by our greed and our mistakes and everyone loses nothing to bring this back together I am Switzerland in th is fascist state of democratic decay and I am stuck, people work hard for the ir money they find a need and fill it I'm not talking HoUywood bullshit with their sex, lies and bullets by day's end the chalk outline workers have another job or 2 or nine another piece of hatred that makes this world s uck, Now look at Harper making Jewish friends with Palestine enemies or is it the other way around he could not get it ri ght if he was on his knees his fake friends' cheques are always on us from beginning to end, from bad to worse so many being driven to or away from but always in a hearse man and his kind drip stillborn friendships like an arsonist and his cigatrette (the lit end) I am that gift that never surrenders I am that garden every truth remembers I am the structure people will flock to when the next holocaust turns life into em-

PS: I am that gift that never surrenders, I am that garden every truth remembers, l am the structure people will flock to when the next holocaust turns life into embers and to me friendships are real and pure and as long as forever this I shall never surrender.

-Robert McGillivray

QllttS Call it a Jay I guess two kindness given to me today one just a ceasar from the ol' girl never makes me feel like the pest I am one ceasar not too much to ask in a way all the luck you get in one day and then walkin to the 44 someone I see as an elder gave a smoke just like the old cliche a gift of tobacco I didn't take it that way another idea about honesty but I choose to believe in his sincerity in his realness of intent so now I'll go to my sleeping bag where in my sleep my heart will pulsate with the same energy as our Mother Earth R Kilroy

Corruption: Escalating Habit of Neoliberal Savagery

By Rolf Auer, 28 January 2014 In Brazil, police have been going into poor neighbourhoods and murdering people. From 2003 to 2008, in Brazil's two largest cities-Sao Paulo and Rio de Jane iro-more than II ,000 citizens were killed by police. Brazil's leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 44 is homicide; many of those people were killed by police (I).

Of approximately 1,000 favelas (poor neighbourhoods) in Rio, 45 per cent are run by organized crime police militias, 37 per cent are run by drug gangs, and 18 per cent are run by the official and legal police force - the UPP (Unidade de Policia Pacificadora).

The primary duty of police is to protect the population. That Brazilian police are instead murdering the population is nothing less than corruption of that primary duty. This corruption is passed down from the political hierarchy. Everyone knows it is becoming worse, due to the World Cup, wh ich begins in June, and the 2016 Summer Olympics. The police are under orders to "clean up" or "pacify" the favelas, to make sure that sports tourists are safe. "Pacify" is code for "torture" and "brutal murder."

The current President of Brazil is Dilma Rousseff. The Mayor of Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, is Fernando Haddad, who was former Minister of Education in Rousseffs cabinet. The Mayor of Rio is Eduardo Paes, the " Mayor who brought the Olympics to Rio ... " (On 12 August 2012, at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, Paes received the Olympic Flag, via Jacq ues Rogge-then-Preside nt of the International Olymp ic Comm ittee-from London Mayor Boris Johnson.)(2) According to Christopher Gaffney, a visiting professor at the Univers idade Federal Fluminense, the police violence due to the preparations for the World Cup and Olympics is about a larger issue: the transfer of wealth and land from the poo r to the rich under the gu ise of sports mega-events (3).

The economic enabler of these all too common wealth transfers upwards is neoliberalism, which is merely modernized 19 th century laissez-faire capitalism. The cruelty of this transplanted old-style capitalism conflates increasing corruption as well, made a ll the more apparent by modern high-speed communications and technology.

One of Naomi Klein's books, The Shock Doctrine, documents this cruelty in detail. A hallmark of corruption is wro ngful death, & with amoral neoliberal savagery, there is no shortage of that. Case in point: the 11 Sept 1973 murder of Chilean democratic leader Salvador Allende, usurped by the rutl"\less d ictator Augusto Pinochet, subsequently followed by his bloody repression of thousands of citizens of Chile, all in the name of neoliberalism ( 4).

Decades of neol iberal corrupti on of democracy has resulted in plutocracy, wherein neverending wealth transfers from poor to rich manifest as rampant ineq uality and people no longe r notice the bodies of the economically injured whom they step around on their way to their comfy quasi-sinecures bought with their silent acquiescence to the s tatus quo. Instead, complai nts abound about these unsightly homeless imped iments to progress, and it is commonly accepted as a fact of life that "the rich get richer" without questioning the hows or the whys of system ic classism and classist exploitation, currently aided and abetted by neo liberal doctrine masquerading as econom ic rationalisrn, itself merely a hackneyed excuse for fo rsaking one's neighbour as a "cost cutting exercise."

I c laim that the emphasis of competition over cooperation, of hierarchy over networking, of secularism over spirituality a ll contribute to the exacerbatio n of Social Darwinist tendencies exalting such crudities of human behav iour as neoliberalism, corporatism, and persecution of belief.

A first step in combatting these is to be aware of these. Havi ng achieved this, what should one do then, might be the logical response. Whatever one can is my answer. !like the following story: a stranger encountered a man on a beach. Washed up on shore were hundreds of tiny starfish, dying in the hot sun. T he man was picking these up one by one, and throwing them back in the water. "Isn't that rather futile?" asked the stranger. The man replied, "Each one that I throw back is one more that li ves."

More information about protests in Brazil can be found at the Twiner hashtag: #NaoVaiTerCopa (I) The Enemy Within, 18 January 20 14, article (Toronto Star, Declan Hill) (2) www.wikipedia.org 19 January 20 14 (3) op.c it.( 1) (4) The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, 2007, book (Naomi K lein)

It's that time of year!!

ANARCH'I

We have just received word from the Vancouver Foundation that funding is in place for 20 14! We are looking for people who would like to get involved in their community by sitting on the Neighbourhood Small Grants I Greenest City Advisory Comm ittee.

The Committee reviews applications a nd makes recommendations for funding. Committee work involves attending meetings (not too many, I promise), cond ucting grant writing workshops and attending events that are funded. You will also assist in planning, organizi ng and attending the Year End Celebration in November. Transportation, childcare, lunches and/or dinner are provided.

If you are interested and have approximately 3 ho urs a week in March & April, and are interested in at(j tending the many great events we fund, please let me :;>:~ know.

Life becomes poetry words evolve to action ain't no fiction all true bro' lissen what I'm te llin' you for your information it was Edward Abbey back in '56 w rote a book called Brave Cowboy 'bout two dudes, friendship versus The State, way back system thought it wasn't even conceivable Ed created "The Envi ro nmental Movement" tree-buggers worldwide owe a debt of thanks to Edward Abbey, inscription to read "back in '56 when me and _ __ thought we were the only living, breathing anarchists on Earth" went into a bookstore today, hadda T-shirt " I'm a better anarchist than you" sorry, I' ve been there a nd you need a powder

>-

AI

Sidewalks buddhas walk among us just passed o ne on the steps of a church reading a book looked like a journal more comfortable there than the walnut-paneled rooms the elite need to think profound things in there he sits, contgent in his blankets the rainbow 'round his head battles fought won & lost he sleeps the sleep of the innocents sent his demons packing and now has nothing except peace of mind love this ghetto; most folks are nuthin' but fine you gotta be kind dodge the psychos those outta their mind start out smiling and you' ll be just fine Chuck Whyte

CARNEGIE CLASSICS Glinka, Trio Pathetique Rachmaninoff, Trio elegiaque #1 Tchaikivsky, Andante Cantabile Johanna Hauser, clarinet Natasha Boyko, cello Anna Levy, piano

Friday, 1pm February 21st

at Carnegie Hall

Expressive Art Worl:?shops for Seniors Using Movement and the Arts playfully to create thoughts about LOVE and what it means to you

Wednesday, February 19th 2:30-4pm Carnegie Centre Classroom 2, 401 Main St

Facilitated by Jill Nowack For Informatio n, Contact Mary Ellen in Person, Lane level office at Carnegie, at 604-665-3005. Sign-up, Please!

~~rnegiet E ·: v_SLETT E R

"m"-w•©"·',. <•

THIS NEWSLETIER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association.

--Never doubt that a small group of thougl1tful comm 1tted citizen<> ·:an change th~ wtY!d . [nc'eeo.

it is the only th ing thal ever has." -Margaret Meade

~j, iA \

_

Artwork for the Carnegie Newsletter

to accompany arti cles and poetry.

" Cover art - Max. Size:17cm(6 .7")wide x 15cm(6")high. ~ Subject matter pertaining

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; GO-OP RADIO

'NANTEC .. s mall illustrations

_ J

to issues relevant to the

Downtown Eastside, but all work considered.

• Black & White printing only.

• Size restrictions apply (i.e. If your piece is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit).

• All artists will receive credit for their work.

• Originals will be returned to the artist after being copied for publication.

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