February 1, 2010, carnegie newsletter

FEBRUARY 1, 2010

camnews@shaw .ca www.carnnews.Oig -400 hits per day! http://harvesters.sfu.ca/chodarr (INDEX)

604-665路2289

.2010 POVERTY OLYmPICS unday, Feb ary

12:30-3pm

ouert OIUmPI s TO h Relau )DID the DI'OUIDCB-Widl torch rBIBU

at UAIIDU, 380 EHastings 12:30Dm

oeninu remonias Games at the Jaoanasa Hall, 487 Alexander 1-aom

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The Evangelical Economics of the 2010 Olympics -Am Johal Welcome to Vancouver Olympic Economics 10 I .

As cities around the world fall all over themselves to bid to become the host city, c ivic elites bombard the public with tales of rosy financia l projections.

As the logic goes, to oppose the O lympics is to stand in the way of economic development. Armchair newspaper columnists misframe socia l c ritics and advance the Olympic project.

In reality, the eco no my of a host city goes on stero ids. Construction costs double. Real estate speculation heats up, impacting affo rdabil ity. Publ ic money gets diverted for speedskating ovals .. luge tracks. No one wants to talk about the principle of 路opportunity cost.' Cost overruns are classified as contributions to the GOP. We need to make our ci ty look pretty for Bob Costas and NBC. Not since Rowdy Roddy Piper attacked Jimmy 'SuperOy' Snuka on Piper's Pit has there been such a grave injustice in modern sports - the 20 I 0 O ly mp ics have been that bad to the people of Vancouver.

The columnists in Vancouver newspapers have been so uniformly evangelical in their support of the Olympics, it is grounding to see that the publ ic opinion po lls supporting the upcom ing event has only about 50% s upport in Vancouver.

T he Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C. fo und that the Olympics are only goi ng to have negligible impact on the economy.

A recent $2 million Pricewatcrhouse Coopers report commissioned by the provincial secretariat responsible for the Olympics explained the impact of the intrinsic value of the O lympics in this way: "Intrinsic impacts a re qualitative in nature a nd are typically a ssociated withdirect experiential impacts that indiv iduals or society receive from activities.

Intr insic impacts may: -captivate people, moving them beyond their everyday experience -provide a vehicle fo r cognitive growth -create soc ial bonds through sharing of experiences -express communal meanings that speak on behalf of communities."

It makes me laugh every time I see it. It reads like something in the New Age section of a bookstore.

T he public cost is a lready at $6 billion and counting. Secu rity will be at least $900 million. I haven't even mentioned the bank ruptcy proceedings of Intra west and Fortress Investments, the owners of

the Whistler!Biackcornb resort where much of the ski ing events will be taking place.

On the housing front, the inner city of Vancouver has been gentrifying Downtown Eastside neighbourhood rapidly. The homelessness count for Metro Vancouver w ill have more than doubled fro m _the bidding process to the day the Olympic open1 ng ceremonies take place. Though the government has purchased some SRO hotels after receiving civil society pressure, between 1,085 to I ,580 units have e ither converted to other uses or are no longer economically access ible to low income people in the lime period beginnino with the O lympic bid process until the Games be~in. The O ly m p1cs have accelera ted and amplified development paths in the city which has had devastatino social consequences. "' lfthat rate of conversion continues in the Downtown Eastside over the next ten years and if we see s imilar affordabil ity issues in the rest o f the Lower Mainland, homelessncss could easily gravitate to between 5,000 6,000 people in Metro Vancouver ~y 2020. l lomel_essness in Vancouver's Elephant ~n the ~oom durmg the 20 I 0 Olympics despite ItS toun sm motto of"Best Place o n Earth."

People_ are angry in Vancouver because they were sold a d 1ffcrcn t story on the Olympics. When citizens ~o ted 64% in a plebiscite in 2003, they were prom1sed an Olympic Games w ith a substa ntial soc ial legacy. They were promised social housing at the athlete's village which w ill likely evaporate.

They were promised protection of their civil liberties. That too has large ly been thrown out the window. In Canada, Olympic protestors arc beino visited at their homes and workplaces. The City ~ f Vancou~cr plans to fine people for using megaphones 111 O lympic Live S ites.

In attempts to set up Orwellian free speech zones, the authorities have landed on a new term - safe assembly areas.

Even more laughable, BC !lousing, the provincial minis try responsible fo r bu ilding social housi ng is fe e ling so sensitive, they are establish ing a propaganda o ffice to communicate how wonderful they arc doing to international med ia. The team ofpeoplemwho dreamt this up have hit new levels of bureaucratic insanity. O lympic inertia docs that!

It 's like they step on a rake and the handle hits them o n the head every time.

In a powcrpoint document, they lay out concerns over media scrutiny over the Olympic im pacts by

following the strategy to '"be proactive provide a balance."

Sponsors include the two largest daily newspapers in Vancouver, the Province and Sun. The office will pitch story ideas and arrange tours. The Government and the Media know best. They can think for us.

At least China is quite upfront about violating human rights in Canada the) just communicate it out in a message box with a smile. rhe Inner City Inc lusive Commitment Statement was a cheap, public relations scam. T he failure of VANOC and its government partners to meet these commitments rightfully has peo ple angry as the Opening Ceremonies approach.

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Carnegie Theatre Workshop

Upcoming Classes & performances

Street Theatre, Improv, One Acts Everyone welcome !

Classes • Carnegie Theatre

Fri Feb 12 • 3pm- 5pm 3pm-5pm Mon Feb 15

Horne Ground Improv in Oppenheimer Park

Tues Feb 16 • 12 : 30-1pm Thurs Feb 25 12 : 30 - 1pm One Act reading on Stage Fri Feb 19 6pm-6 : 30 Led by Teresa Vandertuin For info call 604-255-9401 thirteenofhearts@hotmail.com

3 News from the LibrarY Love them? I late them? Come and check out our Olympics display in the library.

New llool<s My new favourite book is Vancouver Special by Charles Demers (971.13). It's a collect ion of funn), perceptive essays about Vancouver, fro m its neig hbourhoods (Commercial Drive, Kits, Ch inato wn) to its people (French Canadians, ric h peo ple, First Nations) to its culture (homes, dogs. po t).

Demers is a writer and a stand-up comic who was part of last year·s Writers' Jamboree at the Carnegie. I lis book is a delightful mix of persona l anecdotes, hilarious observations, and pithy rants. Peppered \1 ith quotes from other Vancouver stand-ups, it" s ont: o f those books that made me laugh o ut loud o n the bus. llere's some selections from the book.

On the Dowmown Eastside: '"peop le in Vancouver talk about the Down town Easts ide the way that people throughout the Western world ta lk about Africa. Some call fo r apolit ical charity aid; others cal l for armed interve ntion."

On lhe Fraser /nstitut~ ·'Stunts like their publicatio n o f questionable schoo l rankings nakedly empower those who have the resources to move their chi ldren to a richer school and sabotage the most vulnerable in stitutions by drawing away students and , consequently, the funding that comes with them. T he [Fraser Institute! likes money and the people who have it."

On former Vancouver mavor Sam Sullimn 's habit o(/earnmg new languages: .. learning a new language is 1•ery hard and takes a lo1 of time, and given what everyone saw as Sullivan's lackadaisical approach to governance, it surprised me that no reporter ever thought to ask whether it might not be more appropriate t o wait until afler he was no longer mayor o f a c ity hosting the Olympic Games in the middle of a housing crisis to start turning himsel f into a liv ing, breathing Rosetta Stone."

Karen Jamieson Dance Workshops February 2 - March 30 Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30-5:30 Starting February 2 in the gym Free! All are welcome!

Open to all levels of experience, studying the basic elements of dance through rhythm and improvisation.

For those interested, we will also be working towards a performance in March, an outdoor circle dance moving down Carrall Street!

Please see Rika Uto in the Carnegie Program office for more information or call Kare n Jamieson Dance at 604.687.6675m

BC COU RT OF APPEAL GOT IT RIGHT Libby Davies u•·gcs fed eral government to rcspccl the 13C Court of Appeal decision on lnsitc.

VANCOUVER Toda) ·s BC Court of Appeal decision to uphold the BC Supreme Court decision to allow lnsite. the fi rst safe injection site in Canada. to rema in open is a victory foliO\\ ing its six year struggle to operate.

Libby Davies, M P for Vancouver East and federal NDP Critic for Substance Abuse. is urging the federal government to not appeal this decision to the Supreme Court o f Canada. " It would be a comp lete waste of public funds to appeal th is decision. It 's time for the Conservative government to respect the Court's decision and the ~verwhelm ing public support for lnsite.'' ''The BC Court of Appeal's decision is an important victory. lnsite not only sa\ es lives, but also prevents the transmission of infectious disease. and stabi lizes lives enough to get people into the vital treatment that they need. It must remain open, and the Conservative government must stop its unconscionable interference," says Davies.

Over 40 peer-re' iewed research papers have demonstrated that lnsite saves lives. saves money. and improves public safety. ''The Conservatives need to make decisions based on facts, and not be misled by any political or ideological agenda,"

At Long Last, Love?

Save me, please. Sorr) to mention, too personal?

BroJ..cn heart in progress. Maybe so, can't tell yet.

My shallow breath, hot and rapid-fi re, hurting somewhat. Eyes tearing up, downcast. and yet surprisingly upbeat. Hug me hard, please, if you wish. with no ob ligations. Shattering my soul gradually.

I can't give in at this point. As we speak, softly. subl ime and subtly subdued, profound pain, hurting, constan t, although manageab le. My deepest thought, scat1ered like colour less brittle leaves, vacantly. convoluted, sparse, and spari ngly dated.

Pulse pattern's warm, yet weaken ing, fading. faint.

I J..now it is time to move on, right now, without delay. Will not be tardy, no treading water. not at this stage of the game, so to speak, if you get the picture. Think shattered pieces coming together, so agonizingly apt. slowly, steadily, excruciatingly maddeningly stark . Feel my pain brieny, please.

Thank you so much for sharing. You are so genero us. more so. We are kindred spirits. maybe? I J..now you feel my pain. You speak the truth. fo r real. You are so very honest and self-assured. I am gathering peace. Sorry fo r plead ing, but I must not beg to differ. It 's so unbecom ing. and yet, 1 deserve it. I am now sensing, hearing, quiet. Don't comprehend. Is that a scream? Is not that ironic in a harsh way? I bless you desperately, for your extra-special, precious time. I now rest in stillness, a comple ting state of heavenly bliss and ragged ly threadbare nerves. And you have reall y listened. so carefully. My fragile heart beating faster, oh yes, it's gaining strength. You have gifted me, with our newfound empowering bonding. Discovering an everlasting love. through fee l. through touch, intuitive, exp loring each o ther a ll over anew.

I love you. too. Thank you for sayi ng it. I'm so grateful. As we hold each other' s hand s, as we peer silently, intensely into our opposite transfixed yearning eyes, we are passionately gazing into space, one o n one.

ROBYN LIVINGSTONE

'PaCifiC Bluegrass A variety of bands playing Bluegrass, Folk and Country Music!

Wed. February 3, 7 - 9 pm Carnegie Theatre

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If you want the name of a loved one you lost this year added to the W omen's Memor ial Q ui lt, to be carried on the Women's Memor ial March on 1 February 14 h, Contact Diane Wood Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the D owntown Eastside Neighbourhood House Or email at dianeew@vcn.bc.ca If you want to mak e an 18" x 24" block fo r the Q u ilt, D iane can give you material and sewi ng supplies.

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February Carnegie Community DT ES Neighbourhood House

Jazz - Karaoke Comedians - Aboriginal Storytelling- La ntern Celebration Procession Blues Harmonica - Rock& Roll - HipHop - Drum Cirlce - Great Food Feb 1st-5th

5

i submit a little poem, altruistically y, benevolently with intent no need for permission, approval or consent. i'm anlicipating, criticism, accusations and ridicule of everything ... if anything i am sarcastic. spastic sometimes. eklectlc, frequently elastic, ready and adaptable. i am grateful that my equilibrium is intact and retractable. each day that i can react, observe and sense. every time an olfactory experience brings a memory to m1nd and a smile to my face.

11is th1s daydream that i embrace. i cannot change another's feelings. i don't want another self proclaimed person's interpreta· t1on of a man. i am not lost or lool..ing, i don't see what you arc saying. i'm discern ing my own thoughts. arr anging sen tences and words on this paper. derived from past present and future perspective. it's an ex-esstentios esssential. diabolically with a pencil. for real.

Paul Noscotti

Open I louse- at the DTES Neighbourhood House

Events at Oppenheimer Park ( start at Noon) Feb 6'h Aboriginal Celebration- Danci ng, Drumming and Feast reb IO'h live Music with Guru Nanuk meal Feb 13'" Harmonica Club & Comedian with I lam & Jam meal Feb 15'h live Music & Kareoke with Northwest Culinaf) Academy meal Feb 16'h live Music & l mprov with BC Chefs A ssociation meal Feb 23rd live Music with Radha Yoga & Eatery meal reb 25th live Music & lmprov with HAV E Cafe meal Feb 27'h l ive Music with Walnut Grove Lutheran Church meall D~· rented Event on Dunlevy Street - Ne~t to the Park Feb 19'h 2 1" Music. Entertai nment, Storytelling & Great Food- at the Park- Dunlevy St. See Posters & Flyers for more workshop and event details To volunteer see Stacey

Empire of Illusion- an oven•icw

By Rolf Aucr 'The cost of our empire of illusion is not being pmd by the corporate titans. It is being paid on the streets of our inner cities. in former manufacturing towns, and in depressed rural enclaves. This cost transcends declining numbers and statistics and speaks the language of human misery and pain.

I Iuman beings are not commodities. 1 hey arc not goods. They grieve and feel despair. They raise children and struggle to maintain communities.

The growing class divide is not understood, despite the g libness of many in the media, by complicated sets of statistics, lines on a graph that chart stocks. ?r tl~c absurd, utopian faith in unregulated globalIZation and complicated trade deals. It is understood in the eyes of a man or woman who is no longer making enough money to live with dignity and hopc."- Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion.

Chapter V: The Illusion of America, (pp. 159-160) The full title of this book is Empire of Illusion: Tile End of Literac:y & Tile Triumph ofSfJectncle (232pp, $29.95. less in a secondhand bookstore).

By "illusion" I ledges is referring to the all-invasive cultural masquerade thrown up by all forms of the entertainment/media complex, so pervasive that it even affects politics. (Think Stephen l larper singing "With a lillie help from my friends'' Ottawa's National Arts Ccmre, just after slashing funding for the Arts. (Even the photographs of this event were comrived, adding to the "illusion" effect.))

However, I interpreted the "empire of illusion" diffcr~n t ly: I thought of it as the dark cloak of capitalist 1deolog) with all its accompanying accoutrements which so many western countries have wrapped themselves in. Thus, in a kind of inverse effect, so many of the cultural illusions I ledges refers to actually result from the doomed political ideology we (and so many others) operate under.

I'll back up my idea with some examples.

The book is divided into five chapters.

Chapter I is titled The Illusion of Literacy, and is about, among other things, pro-wresting shows, and TV shows like Jerry Springer. '·ttuman beings become a commodity in a celebri ty culture. They are objects, like consumer products. They have no intrinsic value.'' (p.29) "Functional illiteracy in :--lorth America is epidemic .... Canada has an illiterate and semiliterate population estimated at 42 percent of the whole, a

proportion that mirrors that of the United States." (p.44) Chapter II is titled The Illusion of Love, and is about the spread of porn. especially through nc\\ techno logy like the Internet.

One reviewer of this book wrote that they couldn't understand why this chapter was included.

From my perspective, it seems obvious: it's the obscene, cxp loitive side of capita lism exposed.

"Porn rcnects back the cruelty of a cu lture that tosses its mentally ill out on the street, warehouses more than 2 million people in prisons. denies health care to tens of millions of the poor, champions gun ownership over gun control, and trumpets an obnoxious and superpatriotic nationalism and rapacious corporate capitalism. The vio lence, cruelty. and degradation of porn arc expressions of a society that has lost the capacity for empathy." (p.73) Chapter Ill is titled The Illusion of Wisdom, and tells how corrupted our institutions of higher learning have become.

"Responsibility for the collapse of the global economy runs in a direct line from the manicured quadrangles and academic halls in Cambridge, New I Iaven, Toronto, and Paris to the financial and poI itical centres of power.

The elite universities disdain honest intellectual inquiry. which is by its nature distrustful of authority, fiercely independent, and often subversive ....

The established corporate hierarchies these institutions service economic. politica l, and social come with clear parameters, such as the primacy of an unfettered free market.. .." (p.89) Chapter IV is titled The Illusion of Happiness, and tells of the feel-good courses being taught in many schools and utilized by many corporations to, for example, divert their employees' attention away from poor working conditions. At first, I couldn't understand why this chapter was included in the book. Then I read this: "The purpose and goals of the corporation arc never questioned. To question them, to engage in criticism of the goals of the collective. is to be obstructive and negative. The corporations are the powers that determine iden tity. The corporations tell us who we are and what we can become. And the corporations offer the only route to personal fulfillment and salvation. lfwc arc not happy there is something wrong with us. Debate and criticism, especially about the goals and structure of the cor-

poration, are condemned as negat i>e and 'counterproductive."' (p.ll7) . .

Chapter V is titled The IllusiOn of Amenca. and is about the decline of the American empire. It's from this chapter that I took my interpretation of "empire of illusion" as I stated in the beginning of this artic le, because nearly a ll of it is dedicated to corporate. capitalist Amer ica. Maybe a so lid quote will help.

"Democracy is not an o utgrowth of free markets.

Democracy and capitalism are antagonistic entities.

Democracy, like individualism, is based not on personal gain but on self-sacrifice. A functioning democracy must often defy the economic interests o f elites on behalf of citiL.ens, but this is not happening. The corporate managers and government officials trying to fix the economic meltdown are pouring money and resourco.:s into the fi nancial sector because they are trained only to manage and sustain the established system, not change it." (pp. l85-186) . . .

I opened this article by stating II was my opm10n that " empire of illusion" referred to the many doomed capitalist ideologies of western countries doomed because by their very definition of never-ending growth and unsustainability, they were illusions compared with more workable economic systems. I know, too, that most of you w ill read this book and agree with I ledges' premise about a ''culture of illusion" being the root cause of all the malaise: I have tried to show otherwise with the illustrative quotes. (And, arter all, "capita lism·· isn't even listed in the index!)

One might ask, what would be a ··more workable_ economic system"? I'm thinking about a couple of famous quotes by Margaret Thatcher here: "There is no alternative," and "There is no such thing as society." Both were meant to buttress her concept of free-market ideology, but I believe there is at least one alternative: social democratic capitalism.

This form of social democracy leads to the modern welfare state by political change, progressive ta.xation systems, regulated financial systems- in short. all that unfettered free market capitalism lacks.

Take your choice!

Dancing Your Edge • r:;oehruary 6'" in Camegie 's Gym startmg .r altemate Saturdays from 3-5pm

7

llo liday in Vanco uver

(Updating the Dead Kennedys' "Holiday in Cambodia") First Verse: So you think ya know what's going on and what blocks coming down this week. I'd tell you to get up and punch that clock but the Disclockmen have you beat. A ll clocks. garbage cans, benches, pay phones arc now a crime and have been forwarded to hell. You've turned a pretty coo l city into the largest beggar 's cesspool. Progress takes 600 thousand years to jell.

First Chorus: It's a holiday in Vancouver. The police, our worst nightmare. They punch and kick. always getting that last lick. Ya se lfish thugs don't even care.

Second Verse : So you and the Mrs. Are wi ll ing to enter goody-2-shoes Canada, the land o f great lakes and greater mistakes, fo urth trials and forced smiles, and those pies you rook we will take. Simple border crossings now have priests· last rites stuff, like let 's just say you' ll be late. By the time it's your turn, you've already learned how much urine your coffee mug can take. Now you can go to where sometime people say hi, unless it's rent-athug secur ity. Then you know you're gonna die now. What you need " my friend" is a noose at the other end.

Second Chorus: It's a holiday in Vancouver, ya know, the place where they pretend to care. Ya may as well be in Afganicide before} our brief encounter with sanity lands you r sorry ass out there.

Bridge: 2 point 2 billion, 2 point 2 billion, 2 point 2 point 2 billion 2 billion. llarper. I larper, Campbell Shambles, liar traitor, scumbag, failure!

Third Chorus: It 's a holiday in Vancouver. 13ring lots of cash and body bags. For the few that believe, wipe that snot on your sleeve. This New York-Paris-Vancouver joke means it's time to leave. Bye Bye!

By ROBERT MCGILLIVRAY

Colleen's Corner Volunteers of the Month- .Januar-v 2010 Will Berlo, Computer Lab David Popoff, Kitchen Volunteer Committee Meeting: Wednesday, February 3'3 , at I:00 PM Classroom II Volunteer Dinner Wednesday. Feb IOih, Theater@ 4:30pm SHARP! Your contribution and hard work is appreciated by the many people who benefit by your services. Let us sene you' Please pick up your Appreciation Dinner Ticket from the Volunteer Program Office As you all know we just celebrated 30 years of Carnegie being a Community Centre. As part of the celebrations our Pool Room had a '30'11 Anniversary Snooker Tournament' which Willie Dixon was kind enough to host. It was a long game, and in the end. \cry exciting with Ken Anderson versus Pablo Pincott competing for the Championship. The

KEN ANDERSON SNOOKER TOURNAMENT CHAMPION grand finale goes to Ken Anderson, Champ ion (trophy}, Pablo Pincott, I" runner-up, Perry Brown, 2"" runner up Martin Johnson. 3'd runner up and most improved player goes to Rupert Borde. Congratulations to all of you. Thank you for participating. I hope you and the spectators had an enjoyable time together.

Sometimes someone does something just so amazing and unexpected it stops you in your tracks. Peter Jong did that to me and a number of our Pool Room regulars recently. lie took it upon himself independently to hand make (using his own wood} and mounted a number of Pool Room accessories

wh ich were needed. IIis amazing workmanship along with no desire for compensation or indebtedness is the true spirit of community and sweetens one's heart just by knowing about it; we all thank )OU Peter.

Flick at Tinseltown- an all time favourite!!

Monday, February l"(with Co lleen ) Lunch and Movie of your choice- as long as we go as a group originally Sign up with Co lleen in the Volunteer Program Office, Meet at II :30am at In fo Desk.

MYSTERY TRIP

Thursday, February It '" with Anthony

Call for Creative Writing Submissions Elee Kraljii Gardiner, of the Thursday's Writing collective, and poet John As four are seeking submissions for an anthology book of diverse voices from Downtown Eastside and Vancouver writers. We invite submissions in any form: poetry, prose and creative non-fiction.

This call is to everyone who has been a member of the DTES commun ity at some point. Inc lusion in the anthology will be based on the core merits of the work. Spelling and grammar will not affect consideration, though we ask you to polish your work as much as possible. We invite work on any topic or theme. There need not any reference to the Downtown Eastside and can be serious or humourous but must move beyond "this happened to me'' or 路'this is what I saw.'' The editors will select work! that are vivid, fresh and truthful in revealing an aspect of humanity. We welcome all writers. including those \\ ho haven' t published. No art work, please.

Each submi ssion will be edited in conjunction with the editors. Contributors will receive 2 copies of the book.

How to submit bv email: Deadline: April IS'h, 2010.

Include your name, a brief bio and contact info in the body of the email and attachment. Send work as WORD or RTF, double-spaced in 12pt. Times New Roman font to Elee at thursdayseditor@telus. net How to submit paper copv: Deadline: April IS'\ 2010 Leave a paper copy of your work in the box at the Carnegie Library on the Centre's 151 floor at Main & Hastings Keep a copy as we won't return submissions. Include your name. a brief bio and contact info. Please number & write your name on each page. and write clearly, double路 spaced. For more info call Elee 604-202-0072 in daytime

PIVOT LEGAL AND THE CITYWIDE HOUSING COALITION LAUNCH RED TENT CAMPAIGN= -Red Tent, a natio nal campaign that invites the participation of all persons and organ izations wishing to end homelessness in Canada, is bei ng launched today in Vancouver.The goal of the Red Tent campaign is to persuade the federa l government to enact a funded Nationa l Housing Strategy that w ill end home lessness and ensure secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing for all persons living in Canada. Its strategy is to use red tents and like items as symbo ls on the streets and in the media during the 20 I 0 Olympics to draw attention to Canada's homelessness cris is, educate the public about the need for a fu nded national housing strategy and mob ilize people across the country to pressure govern ment to take action on home lessncss.

Laura Stannard of the Citywide I lo us ing Coal ition, a partner in the Red Tent campaign, says " In the 1970s and 1980s we had excellent federa l housing programs and there was Iittle homelessness in Vancouver. The federal government must take responsibility. Permanent programs that build more social housing each year leave a legacy of hea lthy, afTordable comm unities for future generatio ns ."

[*Laura's position as PIVOT's Housing Advocate was lost recently when Campbell & cronies slashed Provincial funding for hundreds ofcommunity organisations and thousands ofjobs to pay for the fe w billion$$ in Olympic & Convention Centre cost 'overruns'. Ed.] The Red Tent campaign foll ows a BC Court of Appeal decision in December 2009 that g ives homeless peop le the right to e rect a she lter on City property if shelter spaces are full. Pivot Legal Society has provided City nCounc il with a legal opinion from Joe Arvay, QC, w hich sets out some of the implications of the new ruling for enforcement of C ity bylaws. The broader impact of the decision is profound ; home less people can s leep at night on publ ic property free of harassme nt by police, municipal o ffici a ls and security g uards.

Pivot Lc:gal Society has asked the City of Vancouver to address these new legal implications for City by-laws. "The Adams decision means that current en fo rcement pol icies w hi ch have been used against homeless people taking shelter on public space may now be illegal," says John Richardson, Executive Director of Pivot Legal Society. " It's imperative that the City ensure the Charter rights and safety of homeless people are protected as we enter a period o f competing demands for public space and a high secur ity, police and military pres-

ence."

Red Te nt is an open-source, grassroots campa ign, supported by individualsnand organizations who have agreed to a Basis of Unity avai lable here.

Supporters can he lp Red Tent succeed by sponsoring a tent, or by taking an action to end homelessness. http ://www.redtents.org/sponsor.php

vancouver foundation IT'S HERE AGAIN - NEIGHBOURHOOD SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM Great news- the 2 0 I 0 Neighbourhood Small Grant Applications are now at Carnegie, Strathcona and RayCam Community Centres as well as various locations around the DTES. And this year you can apply online at www.neighbo urhoodsmallgrants.ca.

Check o ut the great website, complete for ideas, success stories, community events and more. We will also be ho lding workshops to assist you in completing your application forms . Keep checking the webs ite fo r locations and dates for workshops and, after March 3 1st, fo r excit ing and wonderful things happening in o ur ne ig hbourhood .

Application deadline: March 31, 2010 For further information contact: Roberta Robertson at 778-385-5606 or roberta.nsgp@gmail.com

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Compulsive hoarding is a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to acquire and retain lots o f possessions, even if they are worthless, damaged or unsanitary.

Compulsive Hoarders will continue to refuse to give them up even if the amount of possessions creates hazardous a nd unsanitary living conditions.

Chi ldren will be removed from home; spouses will and have divorced the hoarder; grown chi ldren will sever ties with the parent-hoarder in exasperation and loss of hope, finally leaving the loved one isolated.

Consequences : -you can lose your house; -you could be evicted (more than once); -you can be fined (or removed: City); -you can go to jail: -you can be sued ; -you can have an accident (from stufl); -you can lose your spouse/partner; -you can lose your kids, parents, friends, pet, money and/or your life. or you could choose to lose some stuff, organise some and get help to learn new habits and behaviours. lf you want to talk about this amazing subject, look for flyers on C lutter Support at Carneg ie and Library talks by Paul Talbot around Vancouver.

Come out of the overflowing c loset, into the fresh air. You arc in char e of your life.

Ca rnegie Clutter Support G r路oup Sundays: Feb 21, Mar 21, April 25, 6:30pm shart C lassr路oom II, 3' floor

Facilitator: Ingrid Sochtiug

Street "nobody"-tortured, murdered and mutiliated.

In heaves, arms in a flap , her lost hero charges for light at th e edge of the Fall.

His cloaked virgin his dynamite rose tumbles untamed.

Tonight fear'n'devotion run wild for glory uncertain.

Tonight lust si lver streaks A long blade of suffered kisses.

Forbidden songs of flesh and blood, drawn, bound up,

up into the eternal Hymns of Loss.

Dream lovers gift giv ing raw hide so dead asleep or alive or "SO WI LAT !"

Block to block. rushing ahead, stalking, dancing with a howl of joy for "mona, MONA!" Night for day seducing her spirit under a midnight sun aflame with sacred misery.

Sudden ly, finally; she smiles a swagger glides right through traffic and snatches her sweet Pup. Alex Martin

Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP)

Newsletter Find us in the Carnegie Association office (604-839-0379)

January 2010

Sorry, bad news, more condos on the way More condos for the Downtown Eastside.

That's what City Council decided after hearing speakers until late at night on Jan 22. "I'm predicting that more people will be pushed out ofhotels and become homeless, and that some of the good qualities of our low income community are now even more at risk," said Wendy Pedersen of the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP).

The Council decision came after many Downtown Eastsiders and supporters called on them to have an N

â&#x20AC;˘

impact study and plan for the neighbourhood before allowing more high buildings. Council did actually agree to an impact study but not before the extra building height is allowed.

Council also moved a step closer to funding a local area planning process in the neighbourhood but there is no certainty whether or not such a process will work in the favour of the low(Continued on Page 2)

Gastown

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(Continued from Page 1) income community. Council made its decisions about extra height after hearing a report from their staff on the Historic Area Height Review. This area includes Gastown, Victory Square, Chinatown and the Main and Hastings area. The report called for 3 towers of about 15 stories on specific sites. It also wanted Council to allow developers about two extra floors of height in the Main and Hastings and Chinatown South areas.

CCAP opposed the increased height because it will bring more condos to the neighbourhood, creating ripple effects of higher property values, higher rents, stores that serve richer residents, displacement of low income people and a loss of the low income community's assets. CCAP has been researching the good things about the DTES community 路and found that people like the sense of community, empathy for suffering, caring, lack of judgment, services for low income people, and social housing.

Our Member of Parliament, Libby Davies, sent a letter to Council supporting CCAP's position. DTES resident Lane Walker told Council that "Displacement is a reality. It's not just developers and views but actual homes 路that people are losing."

Harsha Walia of the Power of Women also supported CCAP's position, saying many housing units had been lost to rent increases and tourist conversions.

Donald MacDonald, a DTES resident, told Council that he was making plans to deal with homelessness because the building he lived in was up for sale.

"My real concern is homelessness," he said. The poor didn't create the housing shortage."

Hugh Lampkin, Vice President of VANDU, told council that he had "never been to a place that had the level of empathy" of the DTES. Hugh talked about the place where he lives where rents have risen to $500 a month, $550 with a washroom, and an extra $15 for cable. He said he was opposed to increased heights "until we deal with the housing" for low income people.

Matthew Matthew, president of the Carnegie Centre Community Association told Council that the new height wouldn't help the low income community that lives in the DTES now.

He was also concerned because there was no plan.

Council actually decided to allow up to 5 additional towers of around 15 stories than their staff recommended.

Two of the original 3 towers proposed by staff were also approved.

"We're not giving up," said Pedersen.

"We need to keep pressing our governments to build more affordable housing in the DTES. Our low income community has a right to exist and work for improvements without being pushed out." JS

2

Check out Dave's speech made at city hall last week

By Dave Diewert, Streams of Justice It just doesn't make sense for anyone who wants to undertake a major renovation of their home to take off the roof. or remO\ e the entire back \\all or the structure without having an idea of \\hat the renovated building \\ill look

neighborhood without first assessing and evaluating the current and ongoing impacts of previous upscale. market developments in the area. and \vithout having a solid. communit)-bast!d vision to guide and inf01m any decisionmaking for neighborhood de\elopment.

Not onl) docs this seem

You may know Dave.

Six people who were homeless and 6 people from his group, Streams of Justice, squatted a11 empty lot near tlte American Hotel in 2007 during homeless awareness week. Watch for a similar actio11 duri11g the O(~路mpics.

-like or without ha\ ing clear plans in place. '\iot only would this be unreasonable. it may well pose significant danger to the inhabitants or the home and their neighbors.

Like\\ ise. it makes no sense for the City to push forward substantial zoning changes in a predominant() lo\\-income

irrational and theoretically illconceived. it poses grave dangers to the liH!S of the IO\\-income residents of the DTES - in particular. the danger of displacement.

Displacement from home and community net!d not come as a result of ( ( o, h r\ ~~ l c n ( '-je If )

3

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-=s) new residents. An active street with viable businesses means increased community safety. With the pride of ownership comes a commitment to neighbourhood stewardship that leads to cleaner and safer streets. This is all part of making the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood a more real neighbourhood.

the threatening violence of armed political conflict, massive social upheaval, or environmental disaster; it can also result from the dominating discourse of urban revitalization, the dull bureaucratic policies of rezoning, and the tedious procedures associated with granting development permits for gentrifying projects. As banal as these things are, the human displacement they produce is, nevertheless, a disruptive, destructive and traumatic (wounding) experience for individuals and the conununity as a whole.

But maybe I'm wrong; maybe there is a vision and a plan for the DTES. Perhaps the rezoning and densification proposal on the table emerges from the conceptual formulations of city planners, informed by real estate developers and corporate investors, and fueled by the media spin of Operation Phoenix. Perhaps what we are witnessing is another manifestation of the conventional strategy of urban development known as Social Mix. Bob Ransford described the notion of social mix in his October 4, 2008 column in Westcoast Homes. He writes:

What Mr. Ransford fails to appreciate. and what the community visioning work of CCAP has made abundantly clear, is that the DTES is already a real neighborhood: it is a real community full of really creative, courageous, compassionate people, who really care about their neighborhood. are really passionate for justice, really give to one another through connections of friendship or voluntary service, and who are really afraid of being displaced from their community through imposed strategies of gentrification.

Martine August, in an article on social mix in the Canadian Journal of Urban Research, argues that: Despite the popularity of the social mix approach ... , there is little evidence suggesting that it is merited by socially beneficial outcomes. Particularly nebulous are the benefits of social mix policies for low income populations, upon whom mix is often imposed when wealthier people move into their neighbourhoods.

Developing a community with a good supply and range of housing types. both market and non-market, including rental and affordable condo ownership units, will help to suppon a more diverse community in the Downtown Eastside.

Diversifying the social spectrum will mean street-level businesses will become more viable, providing more service commercial uses for the existing low-income residents of the area and

The concept of social mix, historically infused with notions of social harmony and equality, is now employed as the rhetorical fayadc for powerful economic interests which. while seeking to improve the image of Vancouver as a

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and property to those v.ith wealth, and taking it away from those who arc poor.

Social mix, then. is a strateg) used to expand hierarchical structures and mask asymmetrical power, and as such it undermines the possibility of genuine social solidarity while rhetorically appearing to promote it. It is the wolf in sheep's clothing.

In my view, the inevitable result of this policy, embodied in the recommendations today. will be further gentrification, displacement homelessncss, and increased human sufTering. So I urge you to stop this process, listen to the majority lowincome people of the community. and support their vision for the neighborhood, a vision that puts new, secure, adequate social housing, not more market housing. as top priority.

livable city, use the social mix discourse as a means of promoting social exclusion. The social mix being sought is one that ensures profitability, and those who appear as an impediment to that goal (i.e., low-income people) are displaced.

Nick Blomley ( Lnsellling the city: Urban land and the politics ofproperty [New York: Routledge, 2004]) has made the observation that in attempting to bring middle-class residents into the DTES under the guise of social mix, '¡property-owners have deployed a language of balance in the ser\ice of exclusion" (p. 99). Given the considerab le power differential between the new condo owners moving into the neighborhood and the lov\-income population that has been rooted there for many years. the language of social mix serves to justify giving the right to space

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Tri-Ar.nual Homelessness Co..r~t (began 2002)

5

You're invited to the Poverty Olympics Ifyou¡d like to have some laughs while making a stand against poverty. homelessness and the priorities of the 2010 Olympics. come on down to the third and last Poverty Olympics on February i 11 â&#x20AC;˘ Our torch relay, with an upside down toilet plunger as a torch, will begin at 12:30 pm at VANDU (the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users) at 380 E. Hastings in the heart of the Downtown Eastside. Opening Ceremonies start at I pm at the Japanese Language School at 487 Alexander St. The Poverty Olympics is a community-led event in the Downtown Eastside. It includes skits loosely based on Olympic events like the Welfare Hurdles. Poverty Line High Jump, Broad Jump over a Bedbug Infested

Mattress. It also features its own Poverty Anthem. official mascots Itch)' the Bedbug, Creepy the Cockroach, and Chewy the Rat, Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Cockroach Cake for everyone.

Official sponsors this year are Raise the Rates.

Carnegie Community Action Project VANDU, BC Persons With Aids Society. the Dov.ntown Eastside 1\eighbourhood House. Power of Women and Streams of Justice. The slogan of the Poverty Olympics is "End Poverty. It's not a Game." The Poverty Olympics message is that the $6 billion or so spent on the Olympics would be enough to virtually end poverty and homelessness in BC if it were spent on social programs.

This year the Poverty Olympics is also sponsoring a province wide Poverty 6

volunteers who died prematurely this year and last year: Guy Johnson. Bingo. and Hal Asham.

Olympics Torch Relay with groups in other towns and cities throughout the province staging their own torch relay to rai se poverty issues in their own communities.

Povert) Olympics organizers want the world·s media. who will be in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics, to see with their own eyes how this wealthy country of Canada treats its own people. Some of the devastating statistics about inequality in Canada that will be interwoven into this family friendly event include these: • Total net worth of Canadians in 2005: S4.9 frillion • Increase in total net worth from 1999 to 2005: 41.7% • [ncrease in net worth of richest fifth between 1999 and 2005: 43.1% • Decrease in net worth of poorest tifth between 1999 and 2005: 70% The 20 I 0 Poverty Olympics will be dedicated to three Poverty Olympic

See you at the Poverty Olympics!

Source for above stat.\· Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 13 F0026MIE

2010 POVERtY OLYmPICS

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oo nln ce m n s & Games 11 me JaNneSe IIlii.

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Mr Condo King rallies for taller buildings

THE FACTS 1. SRO hotels are the la<t hau~lnr. bcforr ho~leo ..~es-»

3. Hotel\ near Woodw·ard\ hdVC

til<! hi!lhest rent\ 4. Some ~ndfords ~r€!: rcfu~inc to rent rooms to lot:al re~idcmt'

s. Clly ·~nares the se lo>scs

Support for this project does not necessarily imply Vancity"s endorsement of the findings or contents of this report.'"

Van city 8

Shadows in the Window

A.M . Blues Winter in the A.M. chilly gray and cold; the Cigarette Guy is out at 8 sining huddled in the misty morning fog faithful it's good to see him eve3n if you gotta beg yet another cigarette sipping coffee with the regulars my friend passes by still searching for his sister swallowed up by the savage streets he patrols secretly knowing he'll never find his lost loved ones those gray fugi tives moving slyly thru the waking city all lost together in this march at dawn AI

KEEP ~

RIGHT

strange thoughts grab you when you throw yourself awake in the small hours once you thought you'd be forever busy raising your kids now you're a grand father wondering when the waters might come but you know full well you've been d iscarded wrapping paper only the real gifts you gave are busy living life without the gray old man who once dreamt it all now the dawn is too long in coming to the rescue to finally end this eternal morn in g.

AI

• ••

To have no Voice is to have no Power Said the sign on the high wall of the Learning Centre - gone now The babble in the bubb le Blowing in the bubble Blowing blow in the bubble

Bubble of lack Lakanookie Laka shelter Laka warmth Laka love Laka blanket Laka nutrit ion Laka loving kindncsses

•

Bubbling towards Babylon Wilhelmina Mary Harriman

Carnegie Mission Statement 2001 Our Mission is to nurture mind, body, and spirit in a safe and welcoming environment. Through the leadership and participation of our volunteers, we provide social, educational. cultural. and recreational activities for the benefit of the pe<>ple of the Downtown Eastside.

Guidi ng Principles..

• 1. To treat one another with respect regardless of race. ethnicity, colour, relig ion, gender or age . .

• 2. To accept and_celebrate a diversity of lifestyles and cul tures.

• 3· To listen and to strive to understand one another.

• 4· To settle differences and misunderstandings through patience and goodw ill.

• 5· To respect the personal and private space of one another while offering friendship and inclusion in the life of the Centre.

• 6. To build on one another's strengths, skill, and natural abilities.

• 7· To contribute to the work of the Centre while enjoying the benefits of the Centre.

• 8. To ensure that people in our community are supported in finding their own voice, and in participating in the life of the Centre.

• 9· To serve the community inside Carnegie and in the Downtown Eastside.

CARNEGIE COMMUNITY C ENTRE

Still Traumatized Childhood trauma never fades away in shadow of darkness For young babes who've been terrorized, tortured and beaten merci lessly, I le never sees light - by natural instincts he remains and hides in utter darkness.

Nothing seems real- nothing seems normal - 路cause he/she is still traumatized.

Shockingly the perpetrators never adm it accountab ility and remain in utter denial.

They were child killers of Indian Residential School babes- unsafe and dangerous.

These schools were a diabolical institute of death- no excape.

As adults, alcohol, drugs and su icide linger on 'cause still they're traumatized.

Physical, sexual, emotional and spiritual assault was riddled in utter terror.

Many anacks were unprovoked - no reason to torture those angelic babies.

Genocidal intent - '路death sentences", killing was evident - yet the perpetrators still remain unpunished.

Shame. blame, oblivion crippled these survivors true emotions and d rained one's heart dry.

Still there is no admittance of truths by these church-run Indian Residential Schools - evil flooded their contaminated hearts, flooded with lies .

Why won't those hundreds of known pedophiles be criminalized - are these native children just an entity?

What!! Kidnap, rape, physical abuses are crimes arcn'tthey?

Perhaps, or rather, it is British spoils consistent to a cover-up, a direct act of assimilation.

People? World? Did you not get the non-Hollywood picture yet?

Arc you in a fantasy world?

Thousands of baby children were murdered, disappeared- never returned to their loved ones. l need to plead with my broken heart. and I'm down on my knees in prayer in dire hope that people will get involved and painstakingly help bring baby braves home for proper burial.

Look with true insight into the aftermath of still-traumatized survivors and resist turning a blind eye on steadfast. honest truths.

These children were stolen, forced into the devil 's nest and were entangled into a cobweb of eternal loneliness.

Youngsters, they were, practically babies, aged four years to somewhere around 16 to 18 years of age.

The aftermath of trauma cripples the ultimate goodness of Spirit- they are still in utter darkness, these adult braves of Indian Residential Schools struggle day-to-day, trying to survive.

Sadly, trauma took its toll as these victims of abuse turned to drugs, crime, alcohol and suicide.

Most psychologists I've met don't want to hear of the most severely traumatic endeavor- sexual abuse.

Trauma. trauma how can one survi ve or heal if he or she cannot verbalize the dreadful truths of sexual abuse?

Evidently they still remain - still traumatized like a caged animal, denied freedom.

Indian Residential School wasn't a llollywood script or a drama.

It was a cursed endeavor of assim ilation and genocide- a way to el iminate and destroy the native ways and renounce them undignified and STILL TRAUMATIZED! Al l my relatio ns, William Arnold Combes

J

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Meade' 401 Main Street, V6A

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TlUS NEWSLETTl:R IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles ~resent the views of individllill ContributoB and not of the Association.

l02 .-7Ri m-OP ••nm

. . Next issue is Monday, February 15

~ON niAni.oot Thursday, February 11

W~ acknowled~e t~~~-2arn.egie C~~~~~i~ c·~ntre, a;d

WANTED Artwork for the Carnegie Newsletter

ttu~ Ne~sletter, are occurring on Coast ~ali~h Terri~ory

Small illustrations to accompany articles and poeby Cover art -Maximum size: 17cm(6 :Y.j wide x 15cm

(Sj high

•

• •

Subject matter relevant to issues pertaining to the Downtown Eastside, but all wen considered Black & While printing only Size res!Jictions will apply (i.e. if your piece is too large, it w~l be reduced and/or cropped to fit All artists win receive credit for their worlt; Originals will be returned to the artist after being cop.ea· tbr puOtlCaOOn; Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer tici.ets.

Editor: PauiR Taylor; Layout assistanc-Lisa David Collation & distribution crew: Bill, Liu Lin, Harold, Mary Ann, Miriam, Kelly; Videha, Rolf, Jackie Ida Lisa, Robyn, Nick. ' ' 2009 DONATIONS: Barry M.-.$150, Ubby D.-$70, Rolf A.-$50, Margaret 0.-$40, Jenny K.-$25, Sue K.-$30, Michael C.-$50.

Jaya B.-$100, Christopher R.-$180, Mel L.-$25, Greta P.-$25, leslie S.-$25, Harvey B.-$25, Sheila B.-$100, The Edge -$200, Wilhelmina M.-$50, Glenn B.-$100, CEEDS -$60, Bob S.-$100.

Vancouver Moving Theatre -$100 Anonymous $1510

Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.

SHIATSU MASSAGE IT Is FREE! ! !

F .RJ t).A \j

s

We hope you w ill us fo r an evening of wil d dancing .. well, maybe not wild, b ut defi nitely a fun time in beauti fu l Strathcona Comm Centre.

Doors open at 7:30PM T~e

(Starting January 22"")

Fridays, l-4pm, Carnegie Centre Gym

First come - first serve.

Please sign up with the Therapists §§Lifeline§§§

Danci ng Fools

Jenny Wai Ching Kwan MLA Working for You

GET CLEAN! Shower up at the Lord's Rain There is a shower facility at Gospel Mission, 327 Carrall Street ijust off Pigeon Park). There are towels, soap, shampoo - the worts! & Coffee

Monday 10am-3pm; Tuesday Ladies only 1-4pm Everyone 1 - &:30am Friday 1Dam- 3pm; Saturday 7 - 10am

lei on parte Francais; Hablamos fspanol

J

1070 - 1641 Commercial Dr, VSL 3Y3 Phone: 604-773-0790

Solde r & S ons Used b ooks - Coffee & Tea Curio us a udio recordin gs & equr pment · 247 Mai n Str<et - J I 5-71QR

*

A TALE OF ENERGY SAVINGS

I need your help This is disturbing, both on its face and the implications. On the noor of the Association office, under the stand that the electric typewriter sits on. the entire arch ive from 1986 until now has been kept in two banker's boxes. It was done well by The !listory Group when they returned such afier doing the scanning and indexing.

The last time I opened the top one was January of 2009. lt 'sjust a matter of taking indi vidual issues from the pile of 'this year' and making the file for it to archive.

I looked on Friday. afier seeing the pile of2009 editions in the desk cupboard. Both of the boxes are completely empty. At first I scrambled through memory but knew I hadn't moved/reboxed or otherwise done an) thing. I glanced in the closet but it's full ofCCAP stuff, though Wendy assures me she is as mystified as I am.

No one made any mention of removing them; no mention of any request made or received by or through staff; no indication of any rhyme or reason for the disappearance.

All keyholders have been asked and no onereported any knowledge It's so weird- the contents are all gone but the 2 new boxes arc still stacked neatly. This could have happened anytime over the past year, but if someone took them all for some purpose, nefarious or otherwise, and hopes to return them as quietly and unobserved as when absconding with same. it's not something I'm willing to 'cross m) fingers' for and just wait.

If everyone professes no knowledge. the loss isn't total as I have another complete archive in our apartment. But that's more of a failsafe in preserving this body of work. In any final ana lysis, a shrug is about all I can muster; it's not a complete or even irreversible loss, just a pain.

Paul

atricia Canning was paying $64 a month on her 13C Hydro bill. That was a lot of money for Canning. who is single. on a fixed income, and living in a cooperative housing project.

So 11hen she read about BC I lydro's Energy Saving Kit o tTer. she decided to look into it. " I 11as curious and it seemed like a sensible and thrifty thing to do," says the 60-year-old Canning.

"I certainly didn't believe it would make a huge difference in my energy bi ll.''

Just days after ordering the kit. she was delighted when the '·package of goodies·· was delivered to her door. Cann ing opened her free kit and discovered it contained items like compact fluorescen t light bulbs, an energ) saving night light, light switch cover co7ies. weatherstripping. a fridge a nd freezer thermometer. a low now shower head and more.

"Plus it came with instructions that were simple and userfricndly." Canning says.

The real joy came when Canning saw savings on her very lir~t bi II. ··oh my gosh! I have gotten my I lydro down to $38 a month on the equal pa) mcnt plan, that's down from $64.'' says Canning. "I immediately put a notice about the kit in our laundry room for all of my neighbours!

Phone 604-431-9463 or visit bchydro.co m/frcekit to find out if you qualify.

p IC1u R t

P o5TCA

1"<. D

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The New Pigeon Park: Hints of what's to come The other day. when Constable Burns was on the CBC touti ng the Parks Dept. revamping of Pigeon Park. I was almost hopeful that for once the City had done something creative. After shelling out $200.000 for the facelift, I thought surely some improvement had been made. Wrong, wrong and wrong.

The City has wasted yet more money just to sterilize 11 hat was once an interesting corner. Constable Barns was busy say ing how comfortable this "outdoor li ving room'' would be for the homeless. Take a look for yourscl n Gone are the trees that offered shade and a measure of privacy for the people. Instead we have an open space with bullshit benches neatly engraved with First Nations' art. Whoopee! You fo rgot to mention that it's all so squeaky clean and devoid of humanity.

Ms. Barns went to great lengths to emphasize that we. the people of the DTES, were all good people just ' misunderstood ' and by creating this bleak space we would someho11 be transformed.

Well, if the City figures ripping down what was freaky to replace it with modern sterility is an improvement... I'll be screwed, blued and tattooed. This new park, if you can call it that. is another attempt by the Powers that Be to eradicate the real people of the DTES. Take your mcgabuck cosmetic improvements and ram them. By stripping the DTES of its gritty charm you only serve to make it colder and bleaker. Clean is not necessarily an instant a nswer.

City Parks has rui ned Pigeon Park. Your 200K got you a parking lot 11 ith a few benches. Everyone but us gets a self-sat isfied pat on each other's back. People of the DTES arc not so eas ily impressed.

AI

Mb

the modem world is falling

apart conflicting tendencies struggle for expression how to carry on once aware of the extent of our mistakes is the crucial question now what happens next is not just up to corporate decision makers to d ictatc the earth has something to say and even the weather is making strong statements in our bones we know this even as 11 e try to comprehend news of the latest disaster searching out omens and activities to distract us so we may fixate on tokens of achievement ephemeral things and fleeting relationships fool ing ourselves that we possess anything at all clutching the sp linters of love we have gathered our brave hearts loaded with craLy optimism we carry on as if the dream in which we are so heavily invested were not dissolving faster than we can determine we need to learn to listen again to the earth's messages we must strive to overcome our inertia submi s~i1c as we arc before images that generate our long ing we must realign our desire so that grace may inform us we must wake up to save our dreams Delanye

The Perfect Spot "Where have you been hiding?' My friend demanded to know, one day back at the end of last summer, when we had chanced to cross paths at the corner of Cordova & Dunlevy.

"Not exactly hiding,' I replied, feeling a flush of guilt nevertheless, for it was true that I had spent most of my free summertime outside of the neighbourhood and the chaos of construction and content1on that was going on Why this should incite guilty feelings was totally irrational, I knew that, yet that was the feeling that followed me around as I tried to put a pos1tive spin on things and use the calamity as an incentive to explore other parks 1n the city in my quest to find the perfect spot to recover my piece of mind which was so harshly shattered by the erection of the perimeter fence at Oppenheimer Park weeks before there was a even a perrr to begin renovations.

The perfect spot is moveable but does have its criteria, particular to each person, yet with certain general requirements by definition The primary consideration, aside from aesthetics, is safety A perfect spot feels perfectly safe. Ever since the bulldozing of Oppenheimer Park. I have felt displaced. Pleasant as were some of the parks I visited this summer, mcluding Crab Park and other neighbourhood green spaces, I still found 11 hard to relax or unwind, and only in Stanley Park's vast familiar lushness d1d I feel safe enough to nap among the rosebushes.

That was at the end of the summer of 2009, that started so late and passed so quickly. The peak of the season for me was June 21, Aboriginal Day, at Crab Park. An expert from n~ Ontario had been invited to supervise, but with plenty of local ~V!JJ initiative, within the space of a couple of hours, four large 1-..J weatherproof beautiful teepees had been set up. It occurred to me, not for the first time, that here was an elegant solution to the problem of homelessness 1n our nation: not tent cities but proper villages accord1ng to the native way. We have certainly lost out by eradicating the adaptable systemthat was in place when North America was overrun by "settlers".

Native peoples were responsible for thousands of years of harmonious living in balance with the environment. The systems that have been imposed in their place, while giving token respect to democracy and equal opportunity for all, have destroyed that delicate balance_. Our lives are orga- _.

1 nized, not in sacred ways but accord1ng to the demands of \ monopoly capital, big industry and shady corporations that compete for profit. That the system is bankrupt and in the process of collapse is so obvious now, fear and attachment is all that is holding it up. We see this in the epidemics of homelessness and addiction, unemployment and recession, and the continuous wars that continue to drain resources that could be put to far better use. The earth and water have been contaminated by careless and arrogant practices, and our health and freedom to choose severely compromised.

Now it was well into December, and t was standing once more on that same corner, greeting the same friend whom I had not seen since we last ran into each other on this less

than perfect spot. There was a break in the rain and we stood awhile, catching up. The fence was tattered a bit by now, and we could see the gleaming swamp and the forms for the concrete walkways that have replaced the healthy grass that was dug up at the beginning of summer. The dear little hills have been flattened under the new building. Only the day before I had watched from my window as a lone bulldozer nibbled rather delicately at the roof of the old clubhouse "How come you haven't been writing anything for the newsletter?" my fnend began scoldmg me again. "You were going to write about development as social control, about bogus projects and displacement and the rampant gentnficatlon .... â&#x20AC;˘ I didn't want to admit how frustrated, powerless and depressed I had become after attending a meeting v~th the parks board. Instead I found my own complaint.

Cr "How come you don't come to the Dancing Your Edge sessions on Saturdays? You were one of the people that encouraged me to start it up again. I couldn't understand why so many people, after expressing deep interest. were not sho\ving up. My friend had a few answers ready. "I don't want to make a fool of myself.. .. I just can't dance."

I hated to hear that excuse. Dancing is just self-expression to music. I stared to reply, but my friend had more to say "I'm sort of afra1d that if I did what you suggest and just dance my feelings, that I might cry or who knows ... a lot of the time I don't like my feelings. I don't even want to think about my feelings in particular!''

This was my cue to explain that the class is a safe place to move those feelings and, rather than blocking them and carrying them around, to be able to express and release them. Unfortunately, the rain started up again and it was getting too ch1lly to stand and chat. We made plans to meet again soon.

'During the day,' my friend requested, mentioning how hard it was to get motivated to go out in the nasty cold dark winter nights. I rather agreed v~th that, but had to add how worthwhile it was to make the effort to support some of the evening events that keep us inspired and connected... lt's too easy to become discouraged, cynical, disenchanted, isolated; and it's only a small hop from there to full blown depression and decline. This goes for young idealists as well, but it is especially true for those who have worked long and hard for a better system, only to encounter duplicity, betrayal, many small triumphs but the utter failure to establish genuine solidarity with those with whom we would identify.

Yet it is important not to let our bad experiences swamp w in despair It's tempting, winter nights, to just cur1 up with a book or a lover, and just hibernate, stay at home and disengage from community It takes effort to stay involved Tha kind of effort keeps us alive. We are so lucky here in the DTES to have so many great venues that offer not only fret but also excellent art and enter1ainment. In addition to the Carnegie, which is always hopping, there is the Gallery

Gachet, the lnetrUrban Gallery and even Centre A all have ongoing shows. Exceptional this winter were the Heart of the City outdoor extravaganza, Bernadine Fox's show and symposiums at the Galery Gachet and the launch party for The Ear, the gallerys new arts magazine. The InterUrban Gallery has had a series of exciting shows and forums, and the Small Arts Grants that have been given out promise that there will be more events to celebrate our talented community.

As we carryon our separate ways, I have a further insight.

Maybe Oppenheimrner Park will never again contain a perfect spot for me, but with awareness, it will be possible to find or create other spots, anywhere I meet up with kindred souls.

By Delanye Azriel

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"Pigeon Park Sentences" 1: You should know that in the drug kingdom rock cocaine holds a unique dishonour: it has never come to the service of an artist in the creation of a song, a book, or a building or anything.

II .. You quit doing coke because there were just too many people in your room.

Ill. You started doing coke because there was just one person in your room.

IV. You were an unsuccessful hermit; your quiet had the gentleman in it.

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V. You almost know how much you cherish the dtes as an incarnation of your lovely shame.

VI. You are safer walking outside anywhere in the downtown eastside at any time of day than you are anywhere in any American city at any time. The same can't be said when you're inside, though, in the rooms or on the stairs.

VII. You are terrified of the downtown eastside. Your vice-ridden wishes -louder with each step toward P.P. VIII. In Pigeon Pk your gyroscope pops off its string.

IX. You talk about the DE the way you talk about God, with reverence, with righteousness, and with unwarranted certainty.

X. It's rude to convey your worries to the people you are worried about; it's hypocritical as well.

At about this time last year, the Vancouver Communi!) College Faculty Association at the recommendation of their Community Action Committee made a donation of$1000.00 towards the publication "Help in the Downtown Eastside." l'hc editor. Paul Taylor recently contacted us with the good ne'' s that SFU offered to do the printing as an in-kind donation and Paul asked how we would like our donation redirected. The committee met recently and decided we would IiJ..e to have our donation put towards Carnegie's Christmas program including the Christmas morning breakfast and the Boxing Day turkey dinner.

And at this time, let me commend you on the fine job your organization does in the downtown east side and wish you a peaceful and happy holiday.

XVI. That person helping you has more resentments than a Palestinian.

Laurie Gould Chair, Community Action Committee, VCCFA

XVII. Your stench still ambushed you, and didn't leave with your socks..

XI. You have a best friend but she's no longer alive.

XI I. There's no one left for you to leave behind.

XII I. Sham virtue pollutes your neighbourhood.

XIV. Pigeon Park is no park; it's your dream den.

XV. Your first friend in the DTES had 3 names. The name she greeted new people with, the name used while gening high and her real name, known around only by the two or three people she tried to trust.

Connecting the Dots

by Colleen Carroll America's biggest spook Has tried three trmes to take a nuke.

6 gone, five returned In a volcano they say the sixth they burned.[1] US House of Rep gives 4.5 million for our Olympic security, Why help us?

Something sounds dirty,[2] Harper and Bush make a deal.

From our press one hears hardly a squeal US Military troops into Canada can now go, Leaving a US general in full charge of the whole show. [3] Harper dunng the Olympics prorogues parliament.

In Ottawa nary an MP is in sight.

If anything goes wrong during the Olympics, He won't have to field questions or contend vnth a fight, (4] Canadian troops to California are now deployed.

To keep in line their citizens once they find their eoonomy has been destroyed.

Under a US General they will be.

While news of their deployment is kept from you and me. (5] While fools all are diverted with the games.

American War Ships doing exercises off our coast will sit.

Awaiting as they did Before 911 for a disaster to hit.

After their false nag operation, US martial law over the oountry reigns. (6] For like all US history proves and shows, And as all of us so very well know.

A false nag operation they always stage, Problem, reaction, solution, always gets the job done.

Create a problem, get a reaction and offer a solutron And in the end they have always won.

That rs how total control over us is done.[?]

When the USA lost British Columbia so long ago They diverted the event with the likes of the Alamo. (8] Their Republic in financial collapse Finances out through the bankers door,(9] Their eoonomy on the verge of being no more.(10] Secunng Canada's borders tight and firm Soon disgruntled Americans will not have to Canada to turn.

Leaving no place for their strong to nee Regroup, return and save therr country As the fumes of roasted beef rn Britain did burn before 9-11 Ewes in Netherlands today roast on a funerary pyre For-tellinq a situation most dire [111

J

As BC Place into false creek slips yearly down, (12] with her bonnet about to rip We renee! on twin towers long ago, That were filled with asbestos(13] That is before down they did go.

Ask if a repeat of history is coming around.

Again a sacrifice to the god of Mammon.

Another operation preceding the collapse of a nation So all in her live by the rule of cannon.

Incrementally, freedoms taken away, [14] One day we will have to wake up, Then, "Oh God!" we'll all say.

We should have paid attention, Instead of watching the games play.[15] Too bad it is work to look beyond the papers' story, Much more fun to watch an athlete's glory.

Not polite oonversallon at a table to tell.

The news seems too bleak to know.

So again through ignorance we allow our freedoms to go.[16] So those contriving to mampulate get on wrth the show.

Our eyes are closed and we do not care.

As US troops get RCMP powers in Canada Everywhere.(17] But just for once should we all agree.

To learn our lessons from history.

We need not come to this sordid end.

For we have an option my friend.

Rise up in laughter and denounce them all When they give their story of a terrorist call.

Let them know you know the truth, Therr lies won't work and so can't be put to use.[18] Demand punishment for all those in power Otherwise democracy has seen its last hour.

[1] 1am refernng to the following web sites for starts: www.dvorak org/.. ./russian-navy-sinks-<:hinese-ship-en-roule-toseattle-with-stoten-nuke/ Also check out. Minot AFB Nukes Stolen IVIVw.cbsnews comlslories/2009/08/14/.../main5242194.shtml also google in Nukes ship missinq found coast Africa.

[2]www.house.govnistlpress/wa02 .. ./PR_Oiympics_092508.shtml www.house.govllistlpress/wa02 .../PR_Oiympics_092508.shtml [3] vNIW.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8551 [4] vNIW.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417861/posts [5] www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1309.htm -or try this, there are hundreds of articles on all thts stuff. www.thedailyobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2185303[61 www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8337 or oilsandstruth.org/us-military-assist-vancouver-2010 or no2010.cornlnode/1027 [71 IV>.vw.globaloutlook.ca/ [81 seelincoln's autobiography . google Polk, James April1846.

[9] www .globalissues.org/news/2009/07/2412288 [10] articles latimescom/2009[jul/03/local/me-iou-budget3- also try www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/us/03calif.html [11 1news. bbc.co.uk/2fhi/8417009.stm also see 2001 foot and mouth [121wv.w.vancouversun.com/Piace-+price-+600m/2175588/story html or try vancouver.24hrs.caltestl2008/07/07/worksafePDF.pdf [131911research.wtc7.neVwtc/evidence/asbestos.html [1411 in Canada Bills C 32, 34, 36 passed weeks after 9-11 and The Patriot Act in theUnited states.

[15] Reference to the News on Mainstream media's focus on sports [16] Reference to the Patriot Act and Cdn Bills C-32 to 36 No fly lists.

[17] refers to the recently passed Bill C 60 [181 demand honest inquiries into the 9-11 investigation and Canadian Troops guarding poppy fields and Drug lords in Afghan operations.

Google 9-11 truth and CIA drug sales. CIA grow ops AfghanColombia war on drugs truth. CIA and Wall street money laundering.

goodbye i'm painfully aware on an extroverted dare. face full of expression, emotions exploded . disarmed, depleted, dilapidated, eroded. sedimentary layers of sentiments. a single ,solitary, salty tear drops, from my eye. every time i hear the word goodbye. destiny is my destination. i'm becoming focused, frustrated, fearing the jaded eyes and all the overrated mass of stimuli, that makes me weary and tired. i'll defend myself from peoples projectiles, shot through catapults, slingshots, oxymoronic ammunitions and friendly fire. i'm not even enlisted, enrolled or drafted. i've got a pen, ideas and some blank pieces of paper. i'm creativley crafting. 路 no words to despise.

Paul Noscotti

From Betty Krawczyk, Gai ted for protesting).

As we have all been told over and over again by the media, llaiti is the poorest nation in the Americas. But what the media doesn't usually tell us is that this poverty is, and was, deeper than corrupt leadership and a lack of financial and social structures. Haiti's poverty, aside from lack o f industrialization and competent government, is also the product of almost complete deforestation. Only one percent of Haiti's former forests arc still standing while on the same island right next door, 32 per cent o f the Dominican Republic's land area is in parks or reserves. And Haiti's one percent is constantly under siege from people taking what few trees are left to make charcoal to cook food with.

As a result of all of the deforestation in llaiti (re: CO LLAPSE by Jared Diamond) the island nation also suffers , aside from the loss of the trees for food and building materials, soil erosion, loss of soil fertility, sediment loads in the rivers , loss o f watershed protection and hence of potential hydroelectric power, and decreased rainfall. Environmentally speaking, the island nation was a wreck before the earthquake. A s Tracy Kidder (recognized expert on llaiti) said this morning on CBC, with the massive deforestation in Haiti one big rainstorm can kill hundreds if not thousands of people in the flooding as has happened during hurricanes.

I am not imply ing Haiti's deforestation caused or had anything to do with the earthquake. But again, Haiti's peop le were in heartbreaking serious trouble before the earthquake hit. And this trouble was, and is, intimately entw ined with the devastated physical environment. In addition to the money and supplies being sent to Haiti which is so very sorely needed, environmental agencies worldwide must, absolutely must, start a massive reforesting program in Haiti. Otherwise the forces of nature will continue to pound Haiti and make of it a very large mud hole which it was in the process of becoming from the hurricanes before the earthquake.

International logging companies will happily log to devastation any country they can get access to, and work to promote this same mentality in the citizens. No country is sa fe from this mentality, certainly not Canada, as we look to our own mudslides and denuded landscapes in BC and the tar sands in Alberta. We can learn from the unfolding horrors in Haiti. L et us learn good and hard.

~ ) MEGAPHONE

HOPE IN SHADOWS

Megaphone Magazine Launches Special Issue 'Vancouver's Downtown Eastside: A People's History' This will be a double-issue (48 pages) printed on high-quality glossy paper. Vendors will buy each copy for $2 and sell it on the street for S5.

Come to the Megaphone magazine launch For vendors and anyone who would like to attend! At the Interurban Gallery (1 East Hastings) on Wednesday, February 3 at 11 a.m. Current Megaphone vendors will receive 5 free copies and a Megaphone courier bag.

Already a Vendor?

Not a Vendor?

Come to a pre-Olympic info meeting at LifeSkills (412 East Cordova) on Friday, February 5 at 1p.m. Get tips on how to sell Megaphone and Hope in Shadows publications to international visitors. You'll also receive info about vending during the Olympics, copies of our new business licenses, and a free Hope in Shadows calendar.

Training sessions for new vendors will take place between February 8 and March 4. New vendors will get 3 free copies of Megaphone.

Mondays: Megaphone office (7 E. Hastings) 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.

Tuesdays : LifeSkills Centre (412 E. Hastings) 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Thursdays:Gathering Place (609 Helmcken) 1 p.m. - 2 p.m

Hope in Shadows calendars on sale!

The 2010 Hope in Shadows calendar is on sale to licensed vendors at Yz price (S5 each) until February 11 at Pivot and Megaphone offices. We're also introducing Hope in Shadows greeting cards-vendors pay $5 for a package of 4 cards and sell on the streets for S10.

Have questions? Call or visit us: Megaphone (7 East Hastings) or (604) 678-2800 Hope in Shadows (678 East Hastings) or (604) 255-9701

. . . . . IICidl: RIIIM the Rates Carnegie Community Action Project BC PeiWORS with AIDS DTES Neighbourl>ood House Strums of Justice VAHDU Vancouver Area Netwofk of Drug UMrw TRAC Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre Power of Women

Social Ju511c:e Committee of the Unltal1an Church of Vancouver