May 15, 2018 carnegie newsletter

401 Main Street Vancouver Canada V6A 2T7 Email: carnnews@shaw.ca

Website/Catalogue:

(604) 665-2289 carnegienewsletter.org

What's Kinder Morgan's real end game?

Here's a different take on Kinder Morgan's ultimatum and the so-called "c nstitutional crisis" it has sparked.

I'm speculating of course, as we all seek to understand what Kinder Morgan is really up to. But allow me to posit a minority theory: We're getting played!

It is entirely possible that Kinder Morgan has already decided to cut its losses and walk away from the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX}-and not for the reasons they're telling their shareholders or the public.

It may well be that the May 31 deadline is merely for show, and the Texas-based corporation has already determined the project is not feasible both for economic reasons and due to profound Indigenous and popular opposition.

The economics of the project have been on shaky

ground for some time, as the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives(CCPA) has extensively documented. Particularly since the Trump administration's revival of the Keystone XL project, and with the approval of En bridge's Line 3 expansion, the industry's need for TMX pipeline capacity has been undercut (which helped to kill the Energy East proposal). The temporary gap in oil prices internationally compared to in North America is now largely gone, undercutting the case for Pacific "tidewater" access. And the higher costs of extracting, refining and transporting oil sands bitumen further erodes the economics. I testified before the federal government's Ministerial Panel on Kinder Morgan in 2016,

debunking the economic arguments made in favour of the pipeline expansion.

Layered onto the dubious economics are the growing protests, most significantly, Indigenous opposition.

The civil disobedience phase ofTMX opposition kicked into gear March 10 with a protest of about 10,000 people on Burnaby Mountain. Like the larger movement to stop the project, the protest was Indigenous-led, with the call to mobilize coming in particular from leaders of the Tsleil- Waututh Nation and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC).

Full disclosure: on Saturday, April 7, I joined a group of about 25 people blocking the gates of Kinder Morgan's Burnaby site, standing behind the full executive of the UBCIC-Grand ChiefStewart Phillip, Chief Bob Chamberlin and Chief Judy Wilson. I was prepared to get arrested, but no arrests were made that day. The company never called the RCMP asking them to enforce the injunction. Little did we know that Kinder Morgan would make its surprise announcement the next day, announcing it was "suspending non-essential spending" on TMX. But also, there can be little doubt that the company did not want images of the entire UBCIC executive being arrested beamed around the world. """'-~

Since then, arrests have continued and now about 200 people have been charged after engaging in peaceful civil disobedience. If pipeline construction resumes, these protests are surely on track to become the largest civil disobedience in Canada's history.

Simply put-and the Prime Minister's assurances notwithstanding-this pipeline may never be built.

And the company may finally have realized it. But Kinder Morgan has focused on the BC government as a strategic whipping boy. And political leaders federally and in Alberta, along with much of the pun-

ditry, are playing right along.

Of all the barriers facing TMX, the BC government's legal reference case is the least consequential.

Numerous Indigenous court challenges before the Federal Court of Appeal and BC Supreme Court are more likely to succeed (legal challenges by the Tsleil- Waututh, Coldwater, Upper Nicola, Stk'ernlupsemc Te Secwepemc, and Squamish First Nations all remain o utstand ing).

While the federal government and Kinder Morgan like to point to the 43 Benefit Agreements signed with some First Nations, these agreements do not mean the signatory nations support TMX. All they mean is that First Nations wish to secure economic benefits should the project proceed.

More importantly, consent is lacking from a number of First Nations directly along the route. The TsleilWaututh and Squamish Nations, whose territories encompass the Burrard Inlet at the terminus of the pipeline, vigorously oppose the project and insist they were not properly consulted. And theSecwepemc, who are also opposed, have territory covering a very large chunk of the pipeline's route in BC's interior.

My theory: Kinder Morgan doesn't want to admit to shareholders the role ofIndigenous opposition and the possibility of a First Nations court win as the implications of losing on this ground are surely more profound. The BC govemment makes a more convenient target.

Kinder Morgan's focus on the BC government may also have an economic angle. If the corporation is indeed ready to walk, it may be hoping to launch a NAFTA Chapter 11 challenge to recoup its losses (as TransCanada was preparing to do over Keystone XL prior to Trump's decision to overturn Obama's rejection of that project). If Kinder Morgan does invoke Chapter 11, the matter doesn't go to open court, but to a secret trade tribunal where the company would argue that the BC government is unfairly harassing the project.

A related but different theory, well articulated

by Ricochet's Ethan Cox, is we are witnessing is a corporate "shakedown" of the Canadian public. Cox's view has more weight given Trudeau and Notley's recent admissions that they are in discussions with Kinder Morgan about offering up billions in public money to defray investor risk in the project. If Cox is right, Trudeau and Notley's repeated insistence that "this pipeline will be built" places them (and hence all of us) in a terrible bargaining position. They are effectively

3 saying to the corporation, "name your price." (Is it just me, or are others plagued by the distinct feeling that the company is laughing at us?)

Under either of these scenarios---one, that Kinder Morgan is walking and preparing to sue us or, two, that they are shaking us down in an effort to socialize their investor risk-here are three key lessons about what our governments should and shouldn't be doing: First, we shouldn't take the bait. Reinforcing Kinder Morgan's claim that BC government opposition triggered their decision to suspend or kill the project merely helps build their NAFT A case. Ironically, if a NAFT A challenge does proceed, under NAFT A rules, the defendant on the hook for damages will be the federal government, not BC. So the federal government may want to watch what it says.

Second, Canadian jurisdictions should stop fighting with each other, and walk away from this ill-advised project. It was never compatible with our Paris climate commitments, never mind our promise to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Third, now that political leaders federally and in Alberta have revealed themselves to be so open to major , public investments in energy infrastructureacross the political spectrum-let's encourage them to focus those investments on the next economy, not the old fossil fuel one. A large public stake in renewable energy and climate mitigation projects will produce far more jobs and won't become stranded assets. That's a much wiser investment than socializing the losses of a Texas-based multinational pipeline company.

-Google

By SETH KLElN Policy Alternatives for extensive insight.

ÂŤ TRUTH OR LIES Each eagle soaring on unpolluted skies Each bear roaming wild in healthy forest Each whale playing in unpolluted sea Says yes to freedom and life no to greed overconsumption and Kinder-Morgan So choose a planet sans oil spills, air breathable waters swimmable, time for all to be clean and whole.

These creatures above be the real object of earthly/polls that say no no no to pipelines/tankers polluting our shared, sacred environment! john alan douglas

2018 SEASON STARTS MAY 15!

JOIN US AT THE CARNEGm CENTRE TUESDAYS-lOAM A legal vending pilot project developed for artists, craftspeople and enrepreneurs from the Downtown Eastside.

The Street Vendors collective town

of vendors

Collective

Eastside community.

experience

is an independent

and peers from the Down-

in the informal

Vendors

are those with

economy.

This project aims to create more accessible incomegeneration opportunities for community members.

For more information,

please visit us at

Va ncouver .ce] street-vend ors-collective

Jenny Kwan Mp¡ Vancouver East NDP Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Critic 2572 E Hastings St Vancouver, BC V5K 1Z3 T: 604-775-5800 F: 604-775-5811 Jenny.Kwan@parl.gc.ca

Gilles Cyrenne Wins Award from UBC's Humanities 101 Dear Gilles,

The Barbara Butler Humanities 101 Award is being given for the first time this year and is funded through a donation by the Butler and Walker families in the name of our late wifel mother and grandmother. Barbara - Margot's beloved Mum - was a profound supporter of our Programme. Neither Barbara nor Margot's father's family had access to the education they craved, and for Barbara, education was always a priority. Through her gentle practices, Barbara instilled in her family a deep regard for the power of their own learning, and an understanding that we are part of a shared world and that people can make sincere contributions to making it better, together. Barbarajust loved coming to Hum's Grad ceremony each year, especially seeing the positive environment we create with each other.

THIS AWARD IS FOR: having a positive effect on other people in this education setting.

Gilles, you have been a stellar presence in the Writing 1011201 classrooms as both participant and mentor over the past two years. Your contributions as a writer and a poet have inspired others in the room as you thoughtfully and with great depth, sensitivity, and courage shared your. experiences and ideas. Disciplined and determined, you went on to produce Emerge, a fine collection of poetry that reflects, with crisp and evocative expression, the experiences you have encountered as an explorer of life.

While you have had a clearly positive effect on people in the Writing 101/201 classroom, you went further by offering to present sessions on grammar to your fellow students before each night's writing class. With impressive energy, you threw yourself into the task and spent countless hours researching the rules of grammar, and then presented your material in a way that would make it enjoyable (& digestible) to others.

Not only did you create a series of grammar sessions for participants in the Writing 101/201 program, you took it to the Downtown Eastside and offered it to people at the Carnegie Community Centre. With your strong commitment to sharing knowledge and helping your community, you have an undeniably positive effect on other people.

All the very best always, Or Margot Leigh Butler Paul lames Woodhouse Academic Director Programme Coordinator

Maureen Philips Writing Coordinator

from the Library Graphic novels are the best, aren't they? Great artwork. Interesting and weird stories. And all in a (usually) bite sized chunk you can get through in a day or two. Here are a few of the more interesting ones kicking around on the library shelves as of when I wrote this article.

White Rapids by Pascal Blanchet is a fiction/nonfiction blend that tells the history of Rapide Blanc, a company town established in 1928 by the Shawnigan Water & Power Company in a remote part of Quebec. Only accessible by boat until 1950, the community, like so many others in Canada's resource economy, was shut down in 1971 due to automation.

Cathy Malkasian has a distinct, slightly unnerving style - using artwork that could almost be from a children's picture book, to tell dark, surreal stories about human nature. Eartha, is about dreams, I guess. And maybe also about modem life.

MWD: Hell is Coming Home by Brian David Johnson and Jan Egleson is the story ofLiz, a military dog handler in Iraq, who struggles with her return home after her tour is over. The book presents a compelling narrative based on research by the authors into the specific challenge female veterans can face.

If you're interested in reading something set relatively locally, Snaps by Rebecca Kraatz is a poetic selection of first-person vignettes, set in a small Vancouver Island town during the Second World War. We also have a gr"tat program coming up that has nothing do to with graphic novels but will nonetheless be great. On Wednesday, May 23rd, at 7:00PM in the Theater, Ethel Whitty, former director of the Carnegie, will be reading from her debut novel, The Light a Body Radiates. Chelene Knight will be joining her to read from Dear Current Occupant, a creative non-fiction memoir about growing up in the Downtown Eastside in the '80s and '90s. I look forward to seeing you at this event.

Happy Reading!

Randy, your librarian.

FREE. Donations accepted.

5

This appeared at the top of the cover page on almost every Carnegie Newsletter since its inception in 1986.

About a.decade went by and then it became apparent a few enterprising individuals were taking 40-50 copies from the front desk, parking themselves outside yuppiefrequented stores or transit hubs and 'offering' said copies for a donation - which went into their pocket. The editor & all people who contribute energy voluntarily were offended - it was kind of sleazy. The "donations accepted" was replaced by "Do not pay for this paper."

My point is that donations are still needed! Used to be that money the Carnegie Association got through having a Gaming presence, by dint of being recognised by the Canada Revenue Agency as a registered charity, brought a small amount of discretionary funds in and part of that sum went to pay for printing. Not any more.

To make sure of legitimate uses for the millions delegated to charitable works, the government began a system whereby each charity has to apply for funds under certain categories and certain criteria have to be met.

According to their definition the Carnegie Newsletter is not a program. It doesn't teach anyone anything, doesn't make a difference, isn't recognizable under their definitions, criteria, categories.

SO! The costs of printing have increased as the rate (,friends & family') enjoyed at Budget Printing were replaced with the higher rates of other printshops. We need to raise almost $7000 a year over & above semisecure funding. There should be a fundraising event soon and the hope is that part of what's needed will be realised. What's also hoped for is that those of you reading this, with whatever amount of extra money you have access to, will be generous and think of the Carnegie Community Centre Association when using that money for something worthwhile.

Address any correspondence to the Carnegie Newsletter, 401 Main Street, Vancouver BC V6A 2T7.

Make a cheque payable to the CCC Association and put "Carnegie Newsletter" on the memo line. Thanks.

By PAULR TAYLOR

THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION BOARD ELECTION WILL BE HELD IN THE CARNEGIE THEATRE ON THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018 @5:30PM To be a candidate for the Carnegie Board a person must: Have a membership

card dated no later than April 3, 2018

Be over 16 Live or work (paid or unpaid) Be an active member Have contributed

in the Downtown

of the Carnegie

Community

30 hours of volunteer

Centre or the Association

Eastside area Centre

work to the Carnegie

Community

during the year prior to the election

To vote at the AGM on June 7, 2018 • Your membership

card should have a date no later than MAY 8,2018

************ The Carnegie Community Centre Association will hold its Annual General Meeting on Thursday, June 7th, 2018 @ 5 :30 in the Theatre @ 401 Main Street. The election for members of the Board will be held at this meeting. To run for the Board, you must have a membership 3rd, 2018 and have contributed

30 hours of volunteer

card dated no later than April

work to the Centre in the previous year and you

•

must be present at the meeting. To vote at this meeting you must have purchased a membership on or before May 8th, 2018. Registration will take place between 5:00 and 5:30 pm.

Life's a Beach Sometimes you don't know where your next Seashell is coming from, ... or what tsunami is going to hit!

Searchin through the beach debris - as are the tiny sea-creatures looking for a rental ...

Now making a home in discarded pop cans - for natural resources have now been replaced by war zones for it's more profitable?

- by Holly Ryan

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verted into a dining 'room.' One ghost, known as the Conductor, likes to sit in uniform at his favourite table in the trolley, and has been witnessed by numerous staff. Since BC Electric never had a formal connection with the building, it's believed he arrived with the trolley. There's an older gent dressed in red longjohns that enjoys bending the cutlery and haunting the women's washroom, the pervert; he's been seen by staff and patrons alike. Finally, there's a young boy referred to as Edward who, dressed in corduroy trousers and a pageboy cap, scampers around late at night after closing. He once dashed past a startled staff member who gave chase, cornering him under a table. But when she squatted down to look under she was horrified to discover he had dark pits where his eyes should have been, a revelation that brought a sudden end to her restaurant career.

Watermarks of the DTES

By Debra McNaught Does the paranormal exist? Better question: What do you believe in? Sasquatch, UFOs, the Ogopogo, ghosts? There's a cross-cultural and lengthy list of people who do believe - or want to - that we are not alone, a belief that can be undeniably solidified if suddenly intersected with your own personal space.

That said, I'd like to introduce you to a few former Vancouver citizens who, despite being dead, are still reportedly residents of the neighbourhood.

The Old Spaghetti Factory on Water Street is apparently haunted by three distinctly different entities. The restaurant is tricked out in antiques, including one of the old BC Electric trolley cars of days past, now con-

There's apparently a bartender at the Lamplighter Pub that doesn't realize his shift has been over for decades. A newer member of the staff was once cleaning afterhours and looked up to see a man dressed in service whites standing behind the bar.

She noticed he appeared to be too translucent to be real and once spotted moved "too fast to be human."

She shrugged the episode off until later one of the regular staff casually asked had she met the ghost yet, his presence being more or less accepted among long-term'staff. There are reports of bar glasses travelling unassisted through mid-air, noises of them chiming in their overhead racks while the glasses remain perfectly still. Some staff claim to have seen a reflection in the ornate mirror that hangs behind the bar, a fixture since the pub opened in 1899. Not long ago a local beverage-spot chain with a monetary fondness for erasing character has since gentrified the hell out of the Lamplighter so maybe he's been uninvited for failure to contribute to the bottom line, for being a 'dead weight,' perhaps?

Then there was the Mandarin Gardens, a building which formerly occupied the intersection at Pender and Columbia, demolished in 1952 when the city extended Columbia Street. The building hosted a rotating roster of Chinese retailers with residences above, but in the 1930s had evolved into a sort of cabaret. By 1943, night club impresario Charlie Nelson took over, adding more vaudeville acts to the popular venue. Working afterhours when the club had closed Nelson routinely heard strange noises: of things being moved, laughter, he'd find small items

and furniture rearranged. It's thought the ghost was a former Chinese businessman known for his practical jokes.

In the early 1990s I was bartending at the Town Pump, an infamous livemusic venue at 66 Water Street. On weekends we opened early, for the lunch and tourist trade, me prepping the bar, the cook banging around in the kitchen, a wait-staff person setting up tables. It's an old building and the basement was a creepy poorly-lit place to venture alone, something J had to do on the regular to tap a new keg. One lunch-time the waitress told me to quit fooling around and put the forks back on the tables. Huh? "They're gone, all the forks, r put them out but they're not there anymore." She checked everywhere, retraced her steps, the two of us getting freaked the fuck out; we'd heard there was a ghost but were unaware it kept daylight hours. She had to go to the A&N and buy replacements. The Town Pump was sold and became Sonar, and even that venue has since closed.

Around the same time I was at the Town Pump, I spent a few months residing at the former Hampton Hotel, 124 Powel!. The room came with a funky wooden chair, the ind made mostly of spindles topped by a cross piece, sporting years of paint. Reading, lying across my bed one night, I happened to glance down and see a cat winding itself around the chair legs like cats do, all figure eight twists, looking expectantly up at me like he wanted some attention. It was black with white paws, and I got as far as the 'where' of Where did you come from? and then it was just gone, just not there anymore. Every hair of me stood up like I'd been tasered. Later I asked the manager had any previous occupants of my room owned a cat. "Yup," he said, "Bootsie." Oy. Black cat, white paws? Had Bootsie maybe been abandoned when they moved? Double yeses there. Years ago, but he'd had

to call the SPCA to come get him, "so he's long dead now." "Well actualIy no, he was just up in my room." A long silence over an even longer look.

"We got ghosts, lots of ghosts," he confessed.

"Congratulations.

You just joined the club."

Those who have researched entities ;that go bump in the night claim ghosts exist among us because of unfinished business, that death came as such a surprise the things left unsaid or obligations unfulfilled keeps traces of them lingering in places that held meaning. I think the dead leave impressions of themselves behind, like watermarks of a life once lived. Wandering through the DTES, Chinatown, Gastown, my overactive imagination and I easily picture the past: women in long skirts and outlandish hats, men in stifkcelluloid collars sporting boutonnieres and bowlers, the Chinese in their beautiful silk jammies, trolleys rumbling in the streets, horse-drawn carriages, a smell of horse shit instead of exhaust. Or ... maybe ... it's not my imagination?

Sources include: changingvancouver.wordpress.com, and www.ghostsofvancouver.com

The fair night of the poet, Fill it with innocent stars.

A pace apart Orion stands, His glare sees everything.

Marking out genes forever.

Welcome darkness & stare, Blinded in the afterglow.

There's barren eternity!

Frank Herbert

B S NESS OWNERS GET ACT ON

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CHINATOWN PLAN

On April 18 the city held another consultation at Sun Yat Sen Gardens about their upcoming Chinatown Economic Revitalization Action Plan (CRAP). I went to see what the city would be saying and what the people who attended would say. Most of the people who attended seemed to be business people.

The city was represented by planner Tom Wanklin. He presented a powerpoint and explained that we need the "right kind" of development in Chinatown; that new businesses have been moving in and old ones moving out; that land values and taxes are increasing; that land speculation is happening; that land is being assembled for redevelopment and that we need to change the way we work together.

Wanklin talked about the proposed changes to the plan: no more tall and wide buildings; new buildings would be smaller and on narrow lots; cultural values will be "integrated"; the rezoning policy for Chinatown South would be changed. He said there was no limit on how much floor area a building can have now and that's led to speculation.

He proposed that all buildings be automatically allowed to be 1 FSR,which means, the a building could have a floor

area that would completely cover all of its lot or cover half the lot with a two story building.

The questions period was interesting.

First off, a guy who said he owned Chinatown property with a 6 foot overhang in an alley, said, "you can't have any space that gives shelter or you'll be plagued by transients." There was a lot of muffled laughter at this from the crowd.

Another guy said he wanted to be able to build taller buildings cause that would make condos cheaper. Another said no one would put their money in this neiqhbourrlood with these rules.

Something strange happened two days later. I got an email from the city saying: "After considering the numerous comments and recommendations we have amended the draft proposals." I've never heard of the city responding to a consultation so fast. Then the city email went on to say they were: •

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Removing the 1.0 FSRoutright proposal; Removing the 3 metre lane setback and lane activation concept; Changing the Dwelling Uses from conditional to outright; and

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Clarifying the draft proposals to support all opportunities for residential development (either/or affordable or market types of rental, strata or social housing)."

In other words, the city listened to what he busin aid an ed ro ey

Now, if only they would listen to what low income residents want, MORE SOCIAL HOUSING WE CAN AFFORD, and implement that.

THE AIIiHT TO A RESEARCH AND ACTION PROJECT SUPPORTING SRO TENANTS' RIGHTS

By Angela Kruger, Erica Grant, and The Right to Remain Team

What is The Right to Remain?

The Right to Remain is a tenant-led research project that supports the right to safe, dignified, and healthy housing in the Downtown Eastside (DTES).Over four years, we are exploring the historical and living legacy of the Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Hotel as a site of human r"ghts struggle and achievement.

The Right to Remain comes from an earlier series of community interviews and workshops involving many DTES organizations including the Gallery Gachet, CCAP, VANDU, Aboriginal Front Door, and others. Over the years, we have asked many people in the DTES: "What is the most important thing about your community?" The consistent reply, whether from a Japanese Canadian elder

who grew up here 70 years ago, a Chinese elder who has lived here for decades, or a recent arrival to the DTES of today, has been that it is a place to call home.

Team Member Jeff Masuda summarized like this: "From so many generations of people who have struggled so hard to make a sense of history, culture, and home here, we have learned that the story of the Downtown Eastside is the story of the Right to Remain."

Organising Community and Building Energy On March 24, 2018, we celebrated the launch of The Right to Remain with a free community event graciously hosted by Culture Saves Lives located in the InterUrban Gallery on the

unceded territories of the xwmaSkwayam (Musqueam), S~w~wu7mesh Uxwumixw (Squam ish), and sei ii witulh (TsleilWaututh) First Nations. The event began with an opening ceremony and welcome.

This was important because it was more than just an acknowledgement of land: it reminded us that these struggles for human rights and justice in SROs take place within and are deeply connected to broader centuries-long struggles against multiple and intersecting forms of colonial oppression.

After the welcome, every Right to Remain Team Member spoke about what the project means to them, which amplified the voices of SRO tenants

-.

1,

(many of whom are Team Members on the project) and showed how these voices necessarily shape the research itself. DuringtheSRO panel discussion, as the relationships between historical and present-day fights for rights and justice came to the fore of our conversation, it became clear how not only history, but also cross- and inter-community solidarity is an essential ingredient to winning the fightforthe Rightto Remain.

We shared food (bannock, stew, and vegetarian chow mein!), listened to each other's stories, created block-prints (with community maker-space and project partner, WePress), and wrote protest poetry (haiku) together. We also went on a storytelling walk led by Team Member

I

Audrey Kobayashi, who has decades of experiences researching history and origins in the DTES. Erica, another Team Member on the project, recounts what the launch meant to her: "This was my first time participating in a Right to. Remain event and for me, it will forever change my outlook of the DTES. The harmony in the room was overwhelming for someone who thought the fight for a decent life in the DTES involved but a select group of individuals. We're all on the same page of writing, rewriting, editing history, yet preserving it in a way that we validate without changing the stories of the lives of those who fought before us. It's our history and our future. It is our Right to

Remain. I have to say that the tour with Audrey was t~e highlight of the day (so much information). I gained many new friends which will live in my <3."

These experiences of sharing, listening, telling, and writing-of community organising-which Erica remembers and articulates so poignantly, are central to The Right to Remain.

Why Write Haiku?

Writing haiku together is one of the main ways that we organize community and articulate experiences of living in SROs. In fact, haiku poetry has a long history as a way to e~press how people, place, and rights are connected. We write haiku together as a way to speak out

against injustice experienced by SRO These haiku and others like them are tenants living in the DTES. As Audrey profoundly important not only because explains, "haiku offer a unique and they represent the collaboration that powerful form of collective expression, took place between of a group of allies which for me brings together many interested in expressing their feelings decades of research on the history of about injustice and asserting their rights the Downtown Eastside, the trauma of to fight against it, but also because they the Japanese Canadian uprooting, and offer us an opportunity to share in that the subsequent linked legacy of human collective energy and continue to speak rights in both communities." out against injustice. For us, haiku are one of the main ways that we gather our The haiku generated at the launch spirits, hone our thoughts, and do the reveal the richness and complexity of work of community organising. life in the DTES as well as the agency of the community who lives hereCalling all poets, allies, and which we maintain despite generations organizers! of oppressive policies and practices Do you have your own experiences (from, for example, the colonization of Indigenous land in the 19th century, of injustice in SROs? Of eviction, or homelessness?

Of to the dispossession of Japanese renoviction, community organising?

Of remaining Canadians in the 1940s, to presentin the DTES,despite rapid gentrification day zones of exclusion in gentrifying and displacement? boutiques and restaurants). One haiku captures this community resilience: Great transformation Activate community Our rights matter now!

Others spoke more to the everyday experiences of life in the neighbourhood: Homeless lost lovely Asleep on a wooden bench A small bird twitters

We would like to invite you to channel those experiences and consider writing a haiku of your own to submit to our T-Shirt Design Draw. If you're living in an SRO, we have found that it works well to get together with tenants in your building and write together. The bottom line is to write with other people, to be together, and to organize community.

Here!s how to do it:

Example:

1. Get together. Gather a small group of people (approx. 3-5).

S

2

3

4

5

R

o

front

line

2. Talk

together.

Discuss your experiences! memories! and feelings 2 4 3 of life in SROs or housing in the DTES and decide what you want to write His-to-ries-com-ing about.

3. Write together. Try to represent your collective experiences! memories! and/or feelings in three lines of poetry. The first line has 5 syllables! the second line has 7 syllables! and the last line has 5 syllables.

2 Our -

Right -

5

7

6 -

to -life

3

4

5

to

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main

To submit your haiku, slip your work into the mailbox at #202 - 268 Keefer Street with the information below.

Name(s):

_

-ÂŤ * If you don't want to be credited, it is not required to include your name(s).

Building{s) (if applicable):

_ OR

How you know each other:

_

PUBLIC PROTEST FO HOUSING JUSTICE IN THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE

On Tuesday, May 1st, members of Our Homes Can't Wait (OHCW) coalition staged a public protest by blocking entrances to City Hall and interrupting business operations for the day.

This public protest was in response to the .prornise that Mayor Gregor Robertson made to residents of the Downtown Eastside, two years ago. He promised

that the City of Vancouver will build 58 W Hastings as 100% social housing that low income residents on welfare and pension can afford.

During the period leading to the rezoning application public hearing at City Hall in January, Housing Minister Selina Robinson announced the Provincial government will contribute $30m to

build the 58 W Hastings housing project.

In the meantime, Chinatown Foundation was brought in as a community partner and offered to raise another $30m for the project. The city also brought in Vancouver Coastal Health and offered them two floors, which will operate as a one stop shop for medical services to the Downtown Eastside residents.

They were not asked to make a financial contribution to the capital cost of the construction.

At the time of the housing package announcement, OHCW learned about another setback. According to Chinatown Foundation, there is a 10% annual increase on construction cost in Vancouver. Suddenly the assurance of building 58 W Hastings at 100% welfare and pension rates was in balance.

In the meantime, the city stopped communicating with the residents. They were kept in the dark about what was in store for 58 W Hastings project at the time where homelessness had reached 1,200; the highest it's been in history in the DTES. Rent hikes and evictions are cornraonplace.

"Low-income and homeless people are not disposable!", said Kell Gerlings of Raise the Rates, a community-based organization that makes a connection between housing justice and poverty.

"We need action: we need the government to fight for measures that actualJy make living with dignity possible.

This means rent control, building and preserving 100% welfare and pension

rate social housing. It means raising income assistance rates so no one has to live so far below the poverty line."

Lack of communication has created uncertainty for the 58 W Hastings project and escalated mistrust between decision makers at City Hall and residents of the Downtown Eastside.

"We are confused." said Laural Gaudette, of Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP). "Our community vision called for 100% welfare and pension rates.

The mayor accepted it and signed the promise that housing at 58 W Hastings will be 100% welfare and pension rates.

Now, we hear contradictory statements: the city says it will be 30% and the province says 50%. Which is which?"

When citizens' rights and freedom are violated, they have the right to take to the streets and remind elected officials that housing is a human right.

Vancouverites have the rights to ask for the type of housing they need. I was

standing outside one of the side doors with four other protesters when two VPD officers walked by and started a conversation with us. One of them, who introduced himself as the team leader, wanted to know what we were asking for.

"We are asking for housing justice", I told him. "We are here in support for low income residents who want to remain in their community and not be displaced by gentrification".

"How long are you planning?"

"As long you are peacefully protesting for housing, you are free to do it as long as you want. If you have any problem, come and see me," he told us.

We tried to wrap our minds around why City Hall refrained from unleashing the police to arrest protesters. A member of OHCW suggested that with the municipal elections looming in the fall, Vision did not want to arrest peaceful protesters who are asserting their rights to social housing. Mayor Gregor was elected based on his promise to end homelessness in the DTES. Residents are reminding him about his promise.

It was a powerful message. It was a dynamic protest with a diverse community of supporters.

Seniors showed up, college students, housing advocates came out with banners and songs. It was a strong political statement that people can no longer watch as their communities are destroyed.

OHCW coalition organizers were clear.

No one will be allowed to enter City Hall, but we would not stop anyone who wanted to leave the building. I spoke with a Carnegie staff who asked us to allow them to deliver food for the Carnegie cafeteria, downtown. Since the Carnegie kitchen is under renovations, meals are prepared at City Hall and delivered to the Main & Hastings location. We made an exception for the volunteers to enter and collect the food for Carnegie.

During the blockade, the Mayor and Council spoke to reporters in the city hall gardens.

"We are still committed to building 58 at 100% welfare and pension rates", said the mayor, "but we are not able to get into our offices and do the work."

Meanwhile, â&#x20AC;˘ with an estimated 1,200 homeless individuals living in the Downtown Eastside alone, 77 units will do little to address the mounting crisis we face today.

By 2:00 PM organizers of the protest felt that their mission was accomplished.

They attracted media attention and were able to tell their story; the mayor reiterated that he was still committed to building 58 W Hastings at welfare and pension rates. Our eyes and ears remain open.

Carnegie Community

Action Project 111 :15 AM Every Friday

The Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) is a project of the board of the Carnegie Community Centre Association. CCAP works mostly on housing, income, and land use issues in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) of Vancouver so that the area can remain a low income friendly community. CCAP works with english speaking and Chinese speaking DTES residents in speaking out on their own behalf for the changes they would like to see in their neighbourhood.

Join us on Fridays 11:15 am for our weekly volunteer rneetinqsl Downtown want to work on getting better housing and incomes and stop gentrification Lunch is provided I

Eastside residents who are welcome to attend.

carnegie african descent group 111 AM Every 2nd Tuesday The Carnegie African Descent Group (CADG) is pleased to invite you to a bi-weekly lunch gathering at the Downtown Eastside Neighborhood House. Come, cook, talk and enjoy African dishes with us. The lunch will take place every Tuesdays, from 11:00 am till 1:30 pm. The group has the same mandate as CCAP, but with particular focus on issues that Black and African Descent community members experience. DTES community members who identify as Black and or as of African Descent are welcome to the lunch. For more information, contact: Imugab075@gmail.com

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CHINATOWN

CONCERN GROUP

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contact us: Office 2nd floor of the Carnegie, 401 Ma' n S:reet, Vancouver Phone 604-665-2105 Email: info@carnegieaction.org vvebsite: www.carnegieactionorg

Vancity

Thank you to Vancity for supporting CCAP's work. Support for this project does not necessarily imply that funders endorse the findings or contents of this report.

The Downtowneastside-Many .

VOIces,. Une Hope .

The downtown EastSfde

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pk~,::::'i~r: }'_~C,j~:" ~~~~~~t~!~a路gro~p~"~~路~路 Crab

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Therbavcr6ne 'h~pe:: ..' :-' to strengthen a~mm~itY: " ,., that hasbeen from tll~begining .'

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of Vancouver's history;. and now is.under seige.. . from the threat of gentrification>

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In this task we need allies who respect us . as we respect them; '..... friends who underStand':' " that their liberation ". is b~und up with ours{;;路 ...

TheDowntown Eastsideis :'_ rich in people who reach out to others in hopefriends who have fought for a just land claim, . and will never, ever, give up until justice is done.

Friends who died fighting for the right to form trade unions, Friends who overcame racism, and not onl survived, but pervailed, Friends who occupied the Camegie Library in 1935, and then organized the On-to-Ottawa T erk in the hope of work and wages.

Friends who startedD.E.R.A. . and then won the Carnegie Centre for the community after a fight lasting seven years.

Friends among imigrants and refugees who know the horror of totalaJitarian states and the' gobal econmy.

Friends whon fought for, and won,

-

Friendswhotook Oppenheimer Park back from the 'drug dealers.:.'

-, Friends who established ,'," the Strathcona CommunityGardens, ..

Friends from all over Vancouver including a varity of churches, who co-Operated to defeat

the casino project in the D:E Friends who work.to make

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Carnegie go, DERAgo"DEY AS 'g'o. '. and all those other groups that work for a, better worldnot perfect one, but better one. . Friends such as the Political Response Group (PRG), a group Iknow as a hwnan being ,-.because we have worked together on common projects. .PRG protested the March for Jesus in the Downtown Eastside and was instrumental in obtaining an apology to our community from the leaders of that march ..

PRG picketed City Hall many times in the name of Social Housing.

I know I was there hands freezing in the winter, soaked through in rainy weather .

PRG created a multi-media play designed to win respect for our community The play was at Carnegie, people liked it,'. and at many churchs, Its purpose was to win allies for a community under seige.

PRG has conducted two twenty -four hour vigils at Woodward's to help keep alive the community's hopes for that building.

In my experience, PRG is respectful of the Downtown Eastside and its many voices.

a

a

Danny Korcia, a respected Camegie Board Member who died in 1991, mice said, " I have come to believe .that we must help each other more than we do. .

We are put down by federal, provinical, and city goverments as winos and skid road people.

To beat that we should-stick together, respect each other, fight for one another.

Organized inthis way,. we can prove all of them that we are peopJe like them, not the people they categorize usto be."

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Sandy Cameron

I

Enter the Hope in Shadows Photography Contest June 9 Chance to have your photo in the Hope in Shadows calendar Over $2000 in prize money

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Call: 604-255-9701 Email: will@megaphonemagazine.com

Heart of Stone When I was a little girl, I had a recurring dream about my mother and myself.

In the beginning, we were walking hand in hand across a field of glistening snow and ice.

Off in the distance I could see my elementary school and an empty playground.

I remember feelings of love and trust toward my mother.

The ice cracked between us and my mother let go of my hand.

We began to drift apart.

A frightened little girl, I struggled to reach her.

She turned away from me as the distance widened between us.

I extended my hand toward her as I cried, but she chose not to look, nor to listen.

She showed no concern, no attachment to me.

She seemed as cold as the ice beneath her feet.

.

I knew then that I had lost my mother.

Many years have since passed.

My soul is filled with love and life, yet my heart still longs for my mother.

The child in me wishes that we may one day walk together as loving mothers and daughters do. r~

~

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JacquelintfAnghara~#Aes

V¡ r .

Apples and Oranges I first mainlined heroin when I was 15, back in '72.

It was novel, but nothing compared to the MDA we were all blowing our minds with. The ether rush, the speed drug mixed in with the "love drug" was irresistible.

By 1975 the world had changed & the old time 'DA was gone for good.

Ski to the 80's and the cocaine was laced with ether - you could smell it in the spoon. The rush was indescribable and came close to the ecstasies of MDA. Skip to the late 90's and China White: people were OOing on 2 papers (sometimes even less). The body count in a year was in excess of 500 deaths.

. And now the new century where crack is king.

I've known heroin addicts since the 80's who haven't really changed mentally - older, more beat up, but basically the same people. These days the cocaine is a little stronger but no ether rush so it's not the same drug anymore.

Crack is a modem-day curse unequalled by any drug I've taken in 35 years of getting high. The rapid deterioration, both mental and physical, is totally mind-numbing. No drug in my experience has proven to drag a person down to gutter-level as quick as rock does. Crack addicts can't function beyond scoring the next toke. Any moral capacity goes out the window with just one toke.

Junkies have a shitload more integrity than crackheads. Junkies even help each other out when one is sick and brotherman's got some to spare. That just doesn't happen in the rock world.

I've seen people turn from reasonably reliable dope fiends into ani-mals quicker than you can say free base. Ripoffs are an integral part of the rock game. Junkies who rip- off either get "hot capped" or disappear but ripoffs are rare among full-blown addicts. A certain brotherhood and sympathy exist in the junk world; no such humanity exists in rock heaven.

Living in the OTES we see the effects every day: heroin does not bring on the apparent retardation we see in the cocaine aerobics ofthe staggering crack-head. The "monkey walk" of crackheads is a dead give-away to the practiced eye.

I know it seems like comparing apples and oranges but I, for one, feel the world was a lot better off with heroin being the big evil of society.

The younger generation of druggies has grown up with rock. One wonders - if they seem retarded now what will these people be like in 10 or 15 years?

You can function for a lifetime using opiates but crack destroys mind; body and soul at such an alarming rate it scares me. I never thought I'd look back fondly on the days when heroin was the No.1 evil in the drug world. Only time will tell what new monsters the future will produce.

R. Loewen

Breaking News (your eyes will close) There was a time when I was taught if you can't lead then mislead not exactly encouraging words then again I looked into my crystal ball & my future was pitch black it was out of sight ... I have this habit of losing things when my own cocktails bring with them a very special mist, like a young black or yellow or whatever is the colour of the month this man is a little late runs a red light and all of a sudden a mass of cops with plenty ammunition The Angel of Death popping by to remind him they have a lunch date I am breaking news with my fists.

A black Barbie doll has started going out with an outof-the-closet Ken.. news has always been created to ensure bad things happen to girls the elderly of course gay men some kind of clockwork magenta it takes time to save time (or so I have heard), like going to visit the distracted driver I wail once every never this bastard deserves some of the stupidity I have put people I love thru the prohibited declaration is in a way I guess breaking news your eyes will close but your other faculties will have felt & heard, getting drunk on a thousand-dollar bottle of wine the hangover is the same but the empty & the bill are all mine I have drank better from the eavestroughs of hell, like a prohibited declaration which has proudly claimed a past of thousands how positively negative priests minister to the near dead &those of voting age you know those who stay out of the limelight they don't see it that way but would like to continue to live here goes nothing I have no soul or vote just borrowed time to sell, like so many who think prison riots that leave 86 dead whatever wounded is good news is this entire planet for the wannabee infuckingsane breaking news with hammers & tall heights is testimony common ground sense has not been washed away by the rain just imagine a dictator running North America we have severious problems believe or not believe a third of the world would do anything to be here.

Now how many could say the top ten stories this year or the last they'd be willing to destroy them with hammers&pitchforks but their own fate scares the hell out of them soon they'll be in the past while their life story is on TV coming in loud & clear Like a sight for poor eyes don't worry the horrors of this news shall slowly make your eyes close like a root cellar canal the putrid water slowly grows anchor people fighting over who gets to show the worst of the worst, like Picasso painting with Crayola crayons while three cops shoot an unarmed black man does either sound like proper procedure one sounds sketchy at best like Gospel Blanket Bingo so many things go

wrong but hundreds of thousands of teens truly trust the ones charging big bucks for the latest Fest large groups of people are only good for the eleven o'clock news it comes down to who gets there first, like Jesus Christ being shot for swinging (dragging) large pieces of wood imagine the outrage that could break out in every countries'cities'neighbourhoods I hate news that is bad news no news is better truly I do not know anything that could start an upheaval let's give it a spin like some slick gameshow 'what's behind shot Number 3?' The healing process is kind of in the works stories that destroy will always connect the streets trust me things can become so much worse one day some unsuspecting generation will not even know it is the firs \-0:: !~.

RT McGILLIVRA Y ~~~il (~,Jj-1 )<0)1,

â&#x20AC;˘ Th .

L radio conversation of a US Naval ship and the Canadians, off the coast of Newfoundland.

Released by the Chief of Naval Operations Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South, to avoid a collision.

Americans: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the North, to avoid a collision.

Canadians: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians: Negative. I say again, You will have to divert your course.

Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES ATLANTIC FLEET, WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS, AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, I SAY AGAIN, THAT'S 15 DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTERMEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP. Canadians: We are a lighthouse. Your call.

NEED T CH HELP?

o.

o

Learn more about how to use: Android • iPhone • Tablets.

iPads • Laptops • Email • Social Media •

Other Tech Questions If you are struggling with your phone or any other technology,

or just want to learn, we are

offering free learning in the form of drop-in 'tech cafes' at the following locations and times:

Weekly: "the Carnegie (3rd Floor), Tuesdays 10:30am-12:30 Eastside Works (57 E Hastings St], Thursdays Ipm-3:30pm Oppenheimer

Park Field House, Fridays 10:30am-12:30

last Monday of the Month: WISH Drop-In Centre, 6-8pm (April 30 and May 28, female only) a place of mind VAN

Learning

Exchange

Vancouver

Public! Library

THÂŁSANDYCAMERONMEMOWALWRITm6CONTEST

ÂŁNrRY'fORM Please print as neatly as you are able to. ame of author

Today's date

Contact Info: Phone

_

Email

Leave Message at:

_

_

Guidelines for Writing Contest

1. Writing must be the original work of the person submitting the contest entry & not fiction.

If plagiarism is recognised the work will be returned.

2. Entry forms, for contact information, are available both at the Community Centre's front desk (Main floor) and from the Newsletter office (2nd floor). Contact information for the writer must be provided with each contest entry.

3. Essays: This means writing in sentences, with grammar and structure attempted.

Poetry: All forms accepted. Must use the same typeface throughout.

4. Subject matter is open to the individual author. It can be about most anything relevant to readers. In the words of Sam Roddan: [It] must have a bite. It must create some kind of disturbanse, a turmoil in the heart, a turbulence of memory and feeling.

5. The length of the essay can be 250-700 words, basically what can be printed on 1 page in the Newsletter. Poetry of whatever length, but no more than can be printed on 1 page.

6. Deadline for submissions is 12:00 noon on September 15, 2018. Results will be announced at a special event during the Heart of the City Festival (late October or early November).

7. Each writer way submit only one essay entry and/or one poetry entry. Additional entries will be returned without being judged.

8. Do not include any photographs or illustrations with your entry.

We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and this Newsletter, are occurring on Coast Salish Territory.

401 Mai" sneer veoccover C~n8da V6A 2Ti

(604) 65~-22a9

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

WANTED Artwork for the Carnegie Newsletter -Srnall illustrations to accompany articles and poetry.

-Cover art - Max size: 17cm(6 %")wide x 15cm(6")high.

-Subject matter pertaining 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.

-Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.

The editor can edit for clarity, format & brevity, but not at the expense of the writer's message.

401 Main Street, Vancouver V6A 2T7 604·665·2289 Website carnegienewsletter.org Catalogue carnnews@vcn.bc.ca em ail carnnews@shaw.ca

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2018 Osbom -$75 Kelly F.

For Bob Sarti, playright for the DTES community, & all those whose lives have been hit by racism & prejudice -$100(Jay) Craig H.-$500 Winnie T.-$200 Barbara M.-$1 00 Robert -$20 Robert McG.-$95 Laurie R.-$175 Michael C.-$100 Michele C.-$100 Vancouver Moving Theatre -$200 Christopher R-$180 Anonymous -$145

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