May 1, 2009, carnegie newsletter

MAY 1, 2009

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Editorial: What's so special about an election?

Writing about an upcoming election has always been a kind of ritual - look at who's in now and hope like hell that what I say will help make up even one person's mind to vote to get rid of the bastards. This is especially true of BC Liberals/Socreds/corporate flunkies who have been cowed by the viciousness of Gordon Campbell and the ones pulling his stringsthe ones the N DP ads refer to as his "friends".

In 2001 all stops were pulled out and people got convinced by the Big Lie, repeated daily in all media that the NDP couldn 't/wouldn't do anything right. By the time the smoke cleared, Campbell's handlers had gilded (gelded?) him to be the saviour going through every line of every program and cutting the 'fat'.

We lost more in the first year than I can comprehend and stuff was being slashed and burned so fast that all anyone could do was go into survival-mode and hope the axe didn' t hit them and theirs in the jugular.

By 2005 the genera l population had woken u so fast and so far that the Liberals were in danger of losing their majority. The NDP went from 2 seats to 37 in one day. Now the Liberals brought in a team of US handlers for Campbe ll and gave him deportment training and lessons in how to talk so he wasn' t too obvious when he lied. It was hard, Gordon being so prone to wearing his tongue out with doubletalk, but they squeaked out enough seats to keep ripping us off at the behest of his corporate (elite capitalist) masters.

BC Hydro, BC Rail, the convention centre, billions for the Olympics and no housing program for ordinary working and low-income citizens. No childcare, the privatizing of health care, TILMA, and so on.

This economic crisis, if you are already superwealthy, is g iving you the rewards of chopping wages

in half, freezing salaries, making every man-jack glad to have any kid of job and woe to those who demand anything like justice from these same owners, movers and shakers. Minimum wages are looking good now if you (and there are hundreds ofthousands of y-o-u) are losing homes, life savi ngs, college educations for your kids and any hope of getting these bastards at a table as equals or near-equals - to negotiate, bargain or compromise. The World T rade Organisation and the Free Trade agreements are what these people have been striving for and now, with this economic equi valent of 911 I , everything is changing in a few months- rather than 5-10 years- to just what was desired all along.

Not voting at all is like sticking your head up your ass; voting for Campbell and his Liberals is giving up on the future. The eternal problem with the latter is the question: Where do you go to give up?

By PAULR TAYLOR

The gag Jaw and the provincial election In May of2008, Gordon Campbell 's BC Liberals enacted Bill 42-known as "the gag law"-which prevented organizations and people (third parties) from spending more than $ 150,000 in the 88 days prior to the date of the provincial election, which is May 12.

Due to a court challenge mounted by a number of unions including the BC Teachers' Federation and the BC Nurses Union, the law was ruled unconstitutional as of March 30, 2009, because it violated our guaranteed right of freedom of expression.

The BC Liberals immediately appealed the ruling and lost, meaning that between April 4 and April 14, 2009, any "third party" could spend however much it wanted criticizing any political party.

Until another appeal can be put forth by the government after the election, the restrictions on third party advertising are now identical to federal limits.

The Attorney-General, Wally Oppal, said the law was enacted to prevent " undisciplined spending," but critics claimed it was because the BC Liberals couldn't allow criticism of it during the pre-election period, knowing how damaging that would be. '" It was clear to us that [the bill] was an attempt to silence critics of the government before an election, particularly on issues of public service,' British

Columbia Teachers' Federation president Irene Lanzinger said" ("Judge strikes down 'gag law" ', Wendy Stueck, The Globe and Mail, 28/3/2009) Oppal initially tried to make the law apply to the five months preceding the election, but backed down in the face of public outcry and made it stand for three months instead. ("Courts dismiss 'gag law"', The Province, 29/3/,2009) The gag law didn't stop pro-Liberal publications like The Vancouver Sun from criticizing the BC NDP. "Pro-Liberal" because both The Sun and The Province ran editorials endorsing the Liberals before the last provincial election (and they'll probably do the same again). In this case, it was one of The Sun's political pundits, Vaughn Palmer, who went on the attack: " Seven weeks to the election and NDP is a party in search of issues," March 24, 2009; and "NDI strategy of demonizing Campbell has its limitations," March 25, 2009. 路. Tsk, tsk. Sloppy reporting. There are plenty of issues that the BC NDP can raise, and BC Liberal premier Gordon Campbell has plenty of faults. One only has to visit the NDP's website to find some. (www.bcndp.ca) Some issues: BC has the highest rate of child poverty in Canada for the fifth year in a row; the massive convention centre cost overruns (dwarfing those of the fast ferries); the BC Lib' s refusal to divulge the true cost of the Olympics; the privatization of BC Rail and BC Hydro; seniors suffering from Jack of adequate care; and more.

Some of Campbell's faults: his refusal to raise the minimum wage (up to a level where it would still be below the poverty line!), while BC government offi-

ing Jenny Kwan, our BC NDP MLA for the last number of elections. Jenny has proven to be an outstanding critic of the BC Liberals on the homelessness issue (most recently) and on other issues as well. She deserves our support. Good luck, Jenny, although something tells me you won't really need it!

By Rolf Auer

BC- STV EXPLAINED. Under the current voting system, called First-past-the-Post, you choose one MLA from the candidates. The MLA with the most votes wins the seat.

On May 12 a referendum will offer voters the option to switch to a new system called BC-STV, which is aBC variation on the single transferable voting (STV) system. It is designed so the legislature will better reflect the popular vote.

Here are some of the changes the STV system would bring: Voting districts: The 85 constituencies would be regrouped into 20 multi-member districts. Several candidates could win in a given district. The number of MLAs would remain at 85.

Parties: Each party could run many candidates in each district.

Votes: Citizens could vote for as many candidates in as many parties as they'd like, ranking them in order of preference.

Quota: A threshold for winning a seat is calculated based on the number of ballots received and the number of MLAs in the district. Candidates must meet or exceed this quota to win.

For this example we'll use a quota of 20,000 in a 6-MLA district.

[BC-STV requires several rounds of counting the votes.)

Vote redistribution: You won't have to pay to vote of course, but think of it as splitting a loonie among several candidates.

Your entire loonie initially goes to your first preference and, if there is change left over, you give that to your next preference Say your first choice, Jane Smith, gets 40,000 votes and wins a seat. She only needed 20,000 to hit that district's quota so you have change -an extra 50 cents or half a vote- to give to your second choice, John Public. cials were given huge pay increases. His perceived Say John Public has 25,000 votes and wins a seat too. But he lack of honesty: "Campbell is far from loved," Gary only needs 4/5 of that total to hit the 20,000 quota, so you only Mason, The Globe and Mail, March 31, 2009. In thi gave him 40 of your 50 cents change. You give the10 cents rearticle, Mason states that a poll was carried out to maining to your third choice candidate, and so on.

Knockout round: In a round, it's possible that no candidates find which of the two party leaders was considered most honest and trustworthy. 19 percent said exceed the quota. In that case, the candidate with the least Campbell; 41 percent said Carole James of the BC number of votes is eliminated. If you voted for the candidate, your NDP. If the election were decided on how honest vote would be passed on to your next preference. That passedpeople considered the party leaders to be, the BC on vote isn't diluted because the eliminated candidate hasn't NDP would win it hands down. And if the shady used any portion of it. For example, if you had given the losing dealings of the selling of BC Rail come to be a candidate Yz-vote then Yz-vote goes to your next one. central election issue, that is indeed how the election Repeat: The redistribution of winners' excess votes and losers' could be determined. unused votes continues until the 6 MLAs are elected.

As for our riding, I invite you to join me in support .__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _R_ic_h_ar_d_J_o_all_on_J_r_

Wheezing B.C. vote system needs STV

By James Mcnulty, Canwest News Service, April19, 2009

Opportunity is knocking again for everyone in BC fed up with the usual dysfunctional results following the usual polarized provincial election.

Our ancient electoral system -- first-past-the-post, parties winning majorities and MLAs seats even if they're nowhere near a majority of votes cast -- is responsible for much of the enduring trouble.

Citizens have been given a rare second referendum opportunity to overhaul Victorian-era electoral machinery by endorsing proportional representation, different forms of which are now used by almost all world democracies.

Well-regarded historian Rudyard Griffiths has for years warned of Canada's declining sense of nation and citizenship. He calls for mandatory voting in his new book, Who We Are: A Citizen's Manifesto.

Before taking that drastic step, we need a better system of electing our politicians. Proportional representation under STV will give us that fairer system, with results based on popular will.

British Columbians can lead Canada's electoral revival; the chance won't soon come around again.

[Jim put his name on this and had it printed in The Province. It doesn't change the fact that the editorial leanings and preachings are solidly anti-NDP, both there and at its sister-paper The Vancouver Sun (which, coincidentally, are both owned and operated by Can West News). Also, ask yourself why the CBC Evening News has a special anti-NDP segment in every broadcast for 2 months leading up to the election? Public??~

DTES Neighbourhood House is hosting

All Candidates Meeting Wednesday May 6 1h'7pm- 8:30pm Carnegie Theatre Come share what matters to you and yours, with the Candidates for the upcoming Provincial Election on May 121b

CALLING ALL ARTISTS!

Downtown Eastside Small Grants Program applications will be available MAY 151 • You can pick one up at Carnegie's Front Desk throughout May; also available online: www.dtessmalla rtsgran ts.blogspot.com

WINNER TAKES IT ALL Politics, protesting, campaigning, champagning, banquets, rubber chickens, bun tossing, brunches, fundraisers, hellraisers, documenting, suppertime posturing, sad sack intruders whose language is lofty-head lawyer-speak; accusing inquiring minds of voters and casting doubt, faulty inadequate ballots & marking X just once, no check please, spoiled out-of-balance you see. Guess what? Don't know? Who wins is firstpast-the-post 'cause BC STV hasn't happened yet.. it came up a hair short last time so make it happen for next time 'cause 50+ 1 don't make democracy when 40 of 50 is "'cause everything on TV is true" Lotta stuff going down, inside, outside, heard of a carbon tax or rather carving GATT and Trade with TILMA being worse, renovictions, housing? When or where, why not, how many for who, who knows, who cares?!? Who pays- we do, just get it up & running & beware: we're gonna keep whoever on the beam.

Issues galore, just vote, for certain, strategic Downtown Eastside keep our ' hood strong, dead to rights, pitch & fight forever damn it, come what may with federal, provincial; no more tent cities no more squats no more dealing from the bottom of the deck. It's not like Win Place Show we're all ready and always have been for fair deals -case closed, more ridings & more input, right around the comer we got the power and it's coming on strong North East West South so start spreading the news by hitting the bricks, preserve, protect lockdown barricade if need be 'cause the fixed system is good for dinosaurs only; participate & articulate with like-minded travelers and reel in newcomers, even uneducated 'n crusty roamers to vagabond street surfers, all can make news headlines online national momentum starts slow catches fire ignition inhibits opponents we succeed when and while they go down for their bad deeds; in the end we win they get a little humility; it's written, decreed, we're on cruise control & never bleed.

The thing to do is to keep and stay committed.

ROBYN LIVINGSTONE

17th Century Germany: Buxtehude and the Boys FREE CONCERT!

5

The Pacific Baroque Orchestra welcomes guest conductor Scott Metcalfe (violin) and Linda Tsatsanis (soprano) in its final concert of the season, with a program featuring instrumental &vocal music by the great Dieterich Buxtehude and his contemporaries, including Kerll, Biber, Schmelzer, and others. http://www.pacificbaroque.com/germany.htm

Friday May 8, 7:30pm- St. James Anglican 303 Cordova St. (at Gore Ave.)

Artists & Artisans!

On four Saturdays in July, you will have the opportunity to showcase and demonstrate your creative skills at the 9th Annual Chinatown Arts & Cultural Festival in the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Classical Gardens Courtyard. Tables are available for free for display, demonstration and sales while multicultural performers entertain on the stage.

[For information, please contact Terence Pun at the Chinese Cultural Centre by calling (604) 658-8872 or e-mailing "hq@cccvan.com".]

Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House #501 East Hastings at Jackson

Join the Celebration of our

2nd Anniversary Monday May 4th, 3pm. 7pm There's sure to be fun & frivolity, music and definitely snacks & all the tap water you can drink

If all you know is my disguise You may not know I can be wise If all you've heard are my aswful lies You may not sympathize with my cries You may be witness to my demise And from above I hear sad sighs If I'm alive and someone dies W~o will come and say good-byes W1th the lows and with the highs We still look up to the sky If all you've seen is my blackened side You may not know I have blue eyes Ryan Maddeaux

May at the RHIZOME Cafe - 3 17 E Broadway Oaxaca Graffiti: Photographs by Carel Moiseiwitsch

Sign up for Emergency Preparedness Sessions lf you have not previously taken one of these sessions we encourage you to attend. Learn how to get organised for any eventual emergency and then 路take action to be prepared.

Sessions are held in the Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 2pm- 3pm, on Aprill31h and May 18th. Tea, coffee, sandwiches & fruit are the refreshments served, so we ask all to sign up for one of the 1 sessions by the previous Friday - Aprill0 h or May 15th - so we know how much food to order.

Door prizes and handouts will be available for those signed up - go to the 3'd floor Administration Office.

Illegal and therefore transient, graffiti and posters are an important tool for expression of dissent. Photos in this exhibition give voice to the lively political and cultural debate that can be seen on walls in Oaxaca, Mexico. The photos were taken in the wake of the popular uprisings of2006 when teachers and a broad. based social movement took over the city in protest of the governor's right-wing, pro-corporate policies.

Though this rebellion was met with violent state repression, recurring graffiti created anonymously by numerous artists and activists demonstrates that the revolution lives on. (More by Carel Moiseiwitsch at www. freexero.com.)

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Friday, May 1, 7:00pm Join us on the international day of protest and celebration of the working class. The Cabaret will feature a reading from the locally made Canadian-focused graphic novel May Day: A Graphic History of Protest as well as performances by The Creaking Planks, Sean Carleton, Mark Leier,Grassroots Women, Sinag Bayan, and Aiyanas. For more info, contact Robin at rfolvik@sfu.ca. By donation ($5 suggested); no one turned away for lack offunds.

Remember our Sisters Everywhere Website Launch Thursday, May 7, 7:00pm The ROSE Committee will present their new website, dedicated to the remembrance of women who have been murdered. On the website, ROSE intends to document women's memorials around the world, and to build a vibrant virtual community of women's memorial and violence prevention activists. Speakers at this event will include MLA Jenny Kwan, Vancouver City Councilor Ellen Woodsworth, Pat Kellin of the Shoe Memorial, Anita Roberts of Safe Teen, and others. Everyone is welcome to come learn more about this project. For more info: www.rememberoursisterseverywbere.com.

By donation, no one turned away for lack offunds

Private Clinics vs. Public Interest: The For-profit Medical Clinic Industry and its Threat to Medicare Thursday, May 14, 7:00pm Join us for a screening of the recent U.S.documentary "Our Ailing Health Care." Produced by a U.S physician and containing interviews with a lot of health sector workers and researchers, this film exposes how for-profit interests have created the costliest and most inequitable health care system in the world. Followed by a panel discussion on the growth of for-profit clinics in BC and the aggressive legal campaign being waged by private health care investors to undermine medicare and put Canada on the path to a U.Sstyle health care system. Hosted by the BC Health Coalition

We need to tell our own stories.

If we don't tell our stories, people with power will tell our stories for us, and we won't like what they say.

When we tell our stories, we reach out to each other and build community.

We share our pain.

We share our hope.

We share our laughter, and our determination.

When we tell our stories we draw our own maps, and we question the maps of the powerful.

Each of us has something to tell, something to teach.

We speak the language of the hearthere - in the Downtown Eastside the soul of Vancouver.

Sandy Cameron

Respect for Mother's Day- every day (or, Sexism is rampant) The neo-liberal agenda of government cutbacks to welfare, unemployment insurance, education and healthcare is forcing unemployed and low-income workers to become dependent on their fami lies; although some adults would rather dumpster dive and share accommodation than have to make any requests of their parents. This is a particular hardship for current and post single moms. Women are left to provide caring for an uncaring public. However, please be aware that there are race, class and gender differences amongst women as well as men. For those of us who have never had the support of a caring male, I would request that men show us a little tolerance (along with some respect) for the fact that some of us women might occasionally come across as a bitch.

Yes, I have reclaimed that word and I wear it with pride.

I am bitter with one man from the past who doesn't care about his only son. Perhaps some of that carries

~. ~路 ....v " ' ) !-''"'"'"'"' Wlltl ;)Uillt: Jllt:JI. OUL J Ln!OK I currently feel, mostly, disappointment. Sexism is insidious, so much so that you might not notice it in yourself. I'm not accusing all men but m~y of us do not want to recognise your privilege, particularly when it comes to looking after children.

Sometimes, men who feel oppressed by their race and class and their role as workers still assume that a women's time is available to them - to listen to their woes or to do their domestic chores or to enjoy havin two-minute sex; if it comes to that (many men don't seem to practice coitus interruptus or to think of using a condom). It'd be appreciated if more men would think of taking some responsibility for birth control and put more effort into bringing a woma~ to orgasm. When we don't smile, sooth, pamper, pr~tse and defer to men we get perceived by them as bemg impatient, demanding and bossy_- bitches, eve~.

I experience disappointment wtth men who mtght take my time for granted. The assumption of women's availability, particularly of 'mothers', doesn't end there. People, including women who haven't had children, seem to forget that after a mother has spent her time, money and energy in caregiving she just might want to be alone or to socialise only with people who are not "emotional vampires." Once some women have spent many years caring for someone else they deserve to indulge themselves for a change. Even a mother's grown children sometimes assume that mom will keep giving, especially if they don't perceive her as a person in her own right who is not inherently and forever a fountain of nurturing.

Some men prefer to think that caring behaviour comes more naturally for women because to think that this is so can then allow men, or even selfcentered women, to be let off the hook from doing the work. of caring. The assumption seems to be that once a woman becomes a mother, she can automatically ac~ss this magical fountain of giving without strain to her own sense of personhood. Many new mothers become depressed. I know that I did when I discovered that my time was no longer my own. The fact that I worked as a babysitter in my teen years did not help me to become aware of how difficult it' d be to have a small human being so dependent on me.

Happy Mothers' Day Magdalen Maudlin

7

Government pressure to cut wages will increase the risk of deflation It is now abundantly clear that Canada and the world are facing its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. However, a sense of premature Hoovertype optimism seems to have settled in to Ottawa's ' thinking, breeding a dangerous complacency that the 1 government has done all that is required to combat the recession. The federal government appears to be hiding behind the proposition that with strong banks and strong fundamentals, the Canadian economy will automatically recover as US demand picks up.

The Bank of Canada has lowered its interest rate to a near-zero level and has provided banks with billions of dollars of liquid assets to counter the recession and potential deflationary expectations. It's concern~d that deflation, or falling prices, will become generahzed throughout the economy. And once the cycle becomes entrenched, as it did during the 1930s, it will be extremely difficult to reverse.

The federal government's fi scal stimulus package is beginning to inject demand into the economy to counteract the contraction of private sector demand, although many economists argue that a federal deficit of about 2% of GOP is too little given the powerful headwinds the nation faces. Unemployment insurance, though greatly weakened by previous governments (most recently the self-financing rule impos~d by the 2008 Budget) will also help somewhat cushwn the fall in demand.

Government is the player responsible for the overall management of the economy. At a time like this it is the only player that is capable of overriding destructive contractionary impulses of private businesses and households.

The federal government is undermining the effectiveness of its own stimulus efforts by freezing wages of its own employees and by forcing massive auto sector wage concessions (which incidentally will not solve the auto crisis) as a condition of providing

financial support to the industry.

It also sends a contradictory signal to business that somehow this " belt-tightening" is good for the economy as a whole. On the contrary, it will only make matters worse.

While it may be rational for an individual firm trying to stay afloat, to lay off workers, reduce hours, and/or push for wage reductions; if this becomes an economy-wide phenomenon the resulting downward wageprice-purchasing power spiral, if unchecked, will deepen and prolong the recession.

This is what happened during the Great Depression.

The deflationary cycle became entrenched. Mass ive price declines in both the US and Canada were matched by a similar drop in average wages. Keynes argued for nominal wage anchors to stem the downward spiral.

One of the things Roosevelt did when he came to power in 1933 was to support the Wagner Act, which strengthened unions, setting a floor on wages and

initiating a process of rising wages, production and prices.

The current economic crisis was caused by the meltdown of the bloated US financial sector, not by "exorbitant" auto or public service sector wages. Forced wage rollbacks will cascade through the economy reducing purchasing power and demand, offsetting the very thing the government is trying to reverse with its stimulus policies. The collapse of the auto sector Gust like the collapse of the financial sector) will most certainly tum the current recession into a deep depression.

Rather than scapegoating theCA W for a crisis it did not cause, the federal government should focus its efforts on combating the pressures of wage-driven deflation, maintaining income and employment, and using public dollars to buy transformation of the auto industry away from gas-g uzzlers to the low emission vehicles of the future. Industrial policies like this have been an important part of the development of the auto industry and are needed once again .

•••

Signatories: Armine Yalnizyan, Senior Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Arthur Donner PhD, Economic Consultant Bruce Campbell, Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Charlotte Yates, Labour Studies and Political Science, McMaster University Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, Té1é-université de l'Université du Québec a Montreal Frédéric Hanin, Département des relations industrielles, Universit Lav Harold Chorney, Political Economy, Concordia University Jean Grenier -Noë1, D&#233 ;partement des relations industrielles, Faculté des sciences sociales, Université Laval Gordon Laxer, Political Economist and Director of the Parkland Institute at the University of Alberta Louis Gill, Department of Economics, Université du Québec &#224 ; Montréal.

Louis-Philippe Rochon, Department of Economics, Laurentian University Marc Lavoie, Department of Economics, University of Ottawa Margie Mendell, School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University Mario Seccarreccia, Department of Economics, University of Ottawa Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Department of Political Science/Women's Studies, Simon Fraser University Mel Watkins, Department of Economics (emeritus), University ofToronto Myron J. Frankman, Department of Economics, McGill University Pierre-Antoine Harvey, &#20 I ;conomiste, Chercheur.à l' lnstitut de recherche et d' informations socioéconomiques (IRJS) Ricardo Grinspun, Department of Economics, York University.

Robert Chernomas, Department of Economics, University of Manitoba Ruth Rose, Sciences &#233 ;conomiques, Université du Québec &#224 ; Montréal Sylvie Morel, D&#233 ;partement des relations indus,trielles, Université Laval Trevor Harrison, Political Economist and Political Sociology, University of Lethbridge

Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP)

Newsletter

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

May 1, 2009

1 TOWER on top of Chinese Cultural Centre and 15 more TOWERS proposed This was written by Jean for the Town Hall on Monday, April2ihfor the city's Historic Area Height Review.

The first thing I want to say is that Wendy and I and Andy, our planner at CCAP, were horrified when we saw the city's Heritage Area Height Review (HAHR) documents. We have told the planners for months that it's not fair for the city to decide what height DTES buildings should be if there is no plan for the area and if we don't know what the buildings are going to be used for.

We urge everyone here and in the Downtown Eastside to speak up as loudly as they can against having any more height added to the DTES before we get a local plan that low income residents develop and agree to.

(Right) One of the ~~ r·••t· areas selected for I I Towers. The city .. proposes 7 Towers i 1, on Main between 15 to 20 stories talL .,..

I f' ....condos in a I I ·._1 I tower, they might, in I I' a best case scenario, I I :MollY I and in good times, · · · · 1 Street 1 .. and with ICorrtd;.{ government II ...

I subsidies; also build 30 social housing I : I I units. This would I t mean that we could I I I I ~ get thousands of new I I condo owners in the I I DTES and only a % ......, few hundred social housing units-low income residents would be completely overwhelmed with condo owners and the whole feel of the neighbourhood, as a div~rse, low income friendly place would be gone.

Businesses for upscale people, like stores that sell dog clothes and fancy

: ..

.: • •

>-go

...

..

.···--.,

What's wrong :with the Height Review? The worst part is that the city

is even considering allowing 16 sites in the DTES to have towers ranging from 15 to 30 stories high. The city says we might be able to get some amenities if we allow towers. That means, if the city allows developers to build, say, 210 1

~

furniture and perfume would start taking over from social services and places serve low income folks. To top it off, a well .....--..._c. t, known architect : has told us that no condo developer would put in any social housing in this economic climate. The facts are, we can't get enough social housing from condos and we can't have thousands of condos without overwhelming the low income neighbourhood.

With property owners knowing that 16 sites are available for heights up to 30 stories, speculation will be rampant, and prices of lots we need for social housing will start increasing. Hotels will start converting to richer residents and low income folks could be driven out by rent increases as well as by feeling uncomfortable in their own community.

The report also suggests in Option 2, that there could be an overall 10% increase in height in the whole area.

CCAP also rejects this as it will increase property taxes for small business and social services and mainly benefits property owners by increasing the value of their property with a stroke of the pen.

So much is missing from this study that I won't have enough time to list them all: What would the social and economic impact of this additional height have on ¡ low income residents of the DTES? What are the taxation implications?

Who is expected to live in the new buildings and will they all be residential? Which places will be darkened by shadows and how much more traffic would we have?

What we should do: The DTES must say "no" to the extra height proposed in this review. We don't want to consider any extra height until we have a plan for a low income neighbourhood. In addition, we shouldn't accept any extra height until we have a clear study to show the social and economic impact of the extra height on the low income DTES community.

We can go to the rest of the city's workshops and say "no." We can say "no" at this meeting. And we can organize to go to city council and say "no," when the planners take their report to city council. -JS

These are 15 to 30 TOWERS!

2

Possible Special Sites

8

21 West Pender Street

0

105 Kee fer Street

•

300 West Hastings Street

8 East Pender Street

Going once, twice, sold!

We now own the Premier's House How would it feel to have your home taken away, Premier Campbell?

That was the message from tenants and advocates at Little Mountain social housing project for families at Main and 33rd last weekend. The provincial government relocated nearly all the tenants to prepare the land for sale to a developer who will build condos on it and some social housing to replace the units that will be tom down.

Given what is happening at Athlete's Village, one may be suspicious that any social housing will end up at that site again at all.

Here are some pictures of Fred, Robert and Ricky of the Carnegie Centre who went to the sale. Even the Housing Minister Coleman was there. He could be found wandering around the crowd muttering things like "charity is good enough for the poor." I also saw him handing out bail bucks for Athlete's Village.

Apparently the sale is fully transferable to the leader of the NDP if they fail to live up to affordable housing needs for all.

of the (

- wp

4

Why are we selling the Premier's house? Just because. .

Because low-mcom

.. n't afford to live in B e fam1\1es ca

Because public land is a public trust; it's not the goverr ment s to sell

Because gover

. ff Little Mountain nment IS selling o

e e seHi Premter's Hou

$ALES OFFICE

Because housing is a human right 5

CCAP goes to Mayor's Roundtable Mostly developers attended this Roundtable Discussion on how to build more Affordable and Rental Housing. The developers came up with all kinds ofIdeas about how to bring costs down so they can "afford" to build market rate rentals ($936/month for average 1 bedroom at market rate In Vancouver).

Some of their ideas: no parking stall requirements, smaller suites, no community space, using land set aside for social housing as land for market rentals, waiving taxes and fees and allowing them to build taller buildings. Some developers think it ''mlghtn be possible to build rentals below this market rate, but they would need to build huge condo towers to pay for it. CCAP says the only way to get enough housing for the poor and working poor Is to get senior governments to pay for It The Mayor asked CC4P for our suggestions to get more affordable housing and this is what we gave them BELOW "'WP

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The city must find a way to keep existing shelters open past June 30th, until they are not needed, and must open more so that every homeless person can be inside if they want to. Have you checked

changing quickly and lots are being taken up for condos, the city should support a local area planning process to better understand how to protect the founding communities and culture of the area: Indigenous, Chinese, Japanese and Working Class/Poor and to prevent more homelessness as a result of poorlyplanned land use policies. The city should acquire more DTES lots for low-income housing and embark on a well-thought out lobby campaign with all sectors in Vancouver and with other cities, to get federal and provincial funds committed to low-income housing.

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The city must find a way to shelter the 3,700 hotel residents in the DTES from the potential impact of the Olympics. SRO's are allowed to legally rent out 10% of their rooms which represents 370 rooms in total. A number of hotels are already advertising as hostels on the internet. CCAP is doing a hotel survey right now and found the Ivanhoe Hotel may be renting more than 10% of

out the bottom floors of provincially owned hotels as possible additional shelter sites?

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The city must get a proactive plan to replace all hotel rooms (3700 privately owned plus 1300 government or nonprofit owned) in the boundaries of the Downtown Eastside. Many people who are forced by poverty to live in SROs feel disrespected by society as a whole. For those who have health issues, this disrespect can slow recovery. Everyone in this rich country needs to have a private bathroom and kitchen and a little bit of space for their stuff and their lives.

The SROs are not upgraded to modern earthquake standards. City policy calls for replacing the SROs with decent housing, but there is no proactive strategy to do this. At the current rate, it could take up to 40 years. Because the DTES is 6

incentive won't work in the DTES.

their rooms daily/weekly which shows this rule is difficult for city inspectors to monitor. The city should end the 10%

2. Rental housing: While CCAP agrees that we need more rental housing in Vancouver, Council members should know that market rental will not solve housing problems for SRO qwellers and homeless people, or even the working poor. Last year it cost about $1200 a month to amortize a 400 sq. ft. singles unit. This would require an income of $23.08 an hour, or over $40,000 per year for a new singles unit. This means

daily/weekly rule in Fall2008 at the latest and possibly reinstate it after March 2010, if it is necessary.

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Affordable housing for lowincome workers in Vancouver would help employers save money on wages and promote less commuting and green house gas emissions. On a city-wide basis, there should be policies that require new housing developments to be 113 low-income, 1/3 middle income, and 113 higher income as a minimum.

that the real housing solution for lowincome people is government built social housing.

CAUTIONS: 1. Incentives to create affordable

Reporter Francis Bula,formerly ofthe Vancouver Sun reported that if a bomb dropped on the building we were in the whole development industry in Vancouver would have been wiped out. One ofthe developer-types attending:

housing: While there may be incentives that help to create lowincome housing, at CCAP we don't want condo towers allowed with the excuse that they might be able to provide a tiny fraction of lowincome housing. According to proforma work we've seen, last year, when the economy was good, it would take 7 to 10 condo units to fund one low-income singles unit.

In the DTES, this would overwhelm our community with condos and drive out low-income folks including the founding communities and their housing and services.

Now, with the bad economy, it may not be possible to build any new low-income units from anticipated condo profit. This type of 7

A Voice for our Community

2009 Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival Wednesday October 28 to Sunday November 8, 2009

What would you like to do or see at upcoming DTES Heart of the City Festivals?

Carnegie Community Centre Cafeteria Tuesday May 26, 1-5 pm look for the DTES Heart of the City Festival sign

Come share your program ideas for upcoming festivals with Terry Hunter and Teresa Vandertuin. What would you like to see? What would you like to contribute? If you can't make the above time please contact Terry Hunter at 604-628-5672 or Rika Uto (Carnegie) at 665-3003. Or you can place your ideas in the Festival drop box at the Carnegie Front Desk between May 1 and May 20th.

The mandate of the DTES Heart of the City Festival is to promote. present and facilitate development of artists. art forms. cultural traditions. history. activism. people and great stories about Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Program c hoices are developed via collaborative consensus with community partners and artists. some of whom partner with organizations for additional support. Some events are produced by the festival. some are presented in partnership with other organizations. artists and residents. and some are self-produced and presented under the festival umbrella. The festival also supports. hosts and partners with artsbased community development projects that give birth to new art and voice local concerns.

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News from the Library

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Just in time for May Day is The Nation. Guide to the Nation (973.91), a look at left-leaning things to see and do in America. Follow the Atlanta White Race Riot Tour, listen to Pacifica radio, find fresh, local vegetables in Brooklyn, or visit Hell's Backbone Grill in Utah, a "strange kind of cowboy cosmic crazy Buddha vortex."

What's a homophone? Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. A Dictionary ofHomophones ( 423 .I DIC) lists more than 600 homophone pairs.

It's a great book for those of us who mix up their and there, board and bored, or heroin and heroine.

Twyla Tharp believes that all it takes to make creativity a part of your life is the willingness to make it a habit. In The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life (153.3), she provides 32 practical exercises, from scratching for ideas to getting out of a rut. In "Where's Your Pencil?" Tharp reminds us to observe the world and get it down on paper' in "Do a Verb" she turns our mind & body into coworkers, and in "Build a Bridge to the Next Day," she shows us how to clean the clutter from our minds overnight.

Did John Lennon sell his soul? The Lennon Prophecy, by Joseph Niezgoda (781.57) interp~ets hidden messages and symbols in Beatles recordmgs and artwork. Niezgoda follows a trail of sorcery, mysticism, anagrams and numerology and claims that John Lennon's murder may have been eerily foretold, and even that his death was the ultimate price Lennon paid in return for international fame and fortune.

Beth is going to be away from May 2 to 25 "on vacation." Randy Gatley, who works as a teen librarian and who came to Carnegie last summer, will be the Carnegie librarian while Beth is gone. Please stop by and say hello to Randy while he's here!

Beth, your librarian

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Call 911 on beggars, says VPD The Vancouver Police Department is instructing Dunbar residents to call 911 whenever they see "beggars" on Dunbar Street.

"The Vancouver Police Department has instructed Dunbar Community Patrollers to call 911 when they see beggars on Dunbar Street and I would urge you to do so too," wrote Linda MacAdam, Chair of the Dunbar Community Patrol, in an email to residents.

MacAdam noted that these instructions were confirmed by Sergeant Randy Regush of the VPD. Vancouver ranked last among 13 North American cities surveyed in terms of police response times, according to a 2007 report to Vancouver city council.

The report called for increased funding for police officers to address the slow response times, which for a 911 break and enter call stretch to 34 minutes on average. The current yearly VPD budget is over $195 million, almost one-quarter of the City's total budget.

"In 2008 Vancouver police spent thousands of hours ticketing Downtown Eastside residents for minor bylaw infractions, and in the West Side they treat legal panhandling as a 911 emergency," says Laura Track, Pivot's housing campaign lawyer. "Every year the VPD asks for more funding, but people need to ask if harassing poor people is how they should be spending that money."

"This is just another example of a broader pattern of criminalizing poverty and restricting poor people's lawful access to public space."

"J was shocked to see this message advocating that we call 911 when we see a beggar" says Randy Puder a West Side resident. "What a waste of tax money.

The homeless need compassion and assistance, not police making their lives even more difficult."

Media Contact: Laura Track 604-721-6349

These would depict the experiences of the women who made them, with little figurines depicting action of people at the time, community kitchens and political rallies, and suffering abuse and oppression at the hands of the military, scenes of jailed, executed, and disappeared dissidents, and the people who were left behind protesting in silent witness to their missing family members. Sometimes pieces of clothes of the "disappeared" were used. Tiny messages were stuffed into the little figures to pass messages to and from the ones detained in jails. With the help of radical priests and Human Rights organizations, these tapestries were essential in getting the message out to the world about what was really going on in Chile, a country hidden under a blanket of censorship imposed by the evil dictatorship controlling it. Pinochet and his junta considered "women's work" beneath notice, so it had a great deal of success in communicating the brutalities of his regime.

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Arpilleras - the power of folk art

By Rolf Auer (with help from Diane Wood) "I have legalized robbery I Called it belief I I have run with the money I And hid like a thief I I have rewritten history I With my armies and my crooks I Invented memories I I did bum all the books I And I can still hear his laughter I And r can still hear his song I The man's too big I The man's too strong" - Mark Knopfler, The Man 's Too Strong I was talking with Diane Wood, well-known artist, poet, and social justice activist in the Downtown Eastside. She is working on a project called the Quilt of Hope, the seed of which comes from the visioning/ mapping sessions that Wendy Pedersen and Jean Swanson of the Carnegie Community Action Project have been doing. A mapping involves having participants draw on a large piece of paper places meaningful to them in the Downtown Eastside, and learning more about the neighbourhood through what's drawn.

As we talked more, she told me of a protest movement that took place in Chile-as related to her by Maggie Henderson--during the brutal dictatorship of Pinochet. People weren't allowed to talk about what had happened, and the mainstream media were muzzled, so women got together in progressive "liberation theology" churches and made small tapestries, usually with a burlap backing, called arpilleras.

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Here is a quote from a March 2007 Carnegie Newsletter article I wrote: "Margaret Atwood has recently written two articles in The Globe and Mail (January 27 [2007], February 3 [2007]) lambasting the Harper government for cutting funding to the Arts in Canada. Why would Harper let support for the Arts lapse?

Perhaps the answer can be found in a recent interview with [American social justice activist] Howard Zinn published in the February [2007) issue of Z Magazine.

Zinn: 'Artists have a special role in social movements - they lend passion, poetry, humour to the principles any movement espouses. They enhance the power of a social movement, which needs every additional strength it can muster to challenge the power of authorities."'

Harper is autocratic: witness this quote from a recent article," ... an obsessive need to control everything and everyone in his sphere of influence." ("Harper's record so far? Some wins, some losses," Chris Cobb, The Vancouver Sun, April 4, 2009) A need to control everything, and contempt for the Arts are similarities shared by Harper and Pinochet.

Comparing any further would be a stretch, but what about the people who are " disappeared" into jail for unpaid violations of the Safe Streets Act? Oh yeah, that's the provincial government's jurisdiction-it's Gordon Campbell's government that is responsible

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Pinochet, Harper, and Campbell, isn't it?

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The Quilt of Hope workshops are at the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House (comer of Jackson and Hastings) on Fridays from I :00-4:00pm.

This project does not exc lude men or people who can't sew. If you can draw with a pencil, someone else can make your design in fabric or embroidery.

Dave Cruze lie of CCAP has already made an eagle and a wolf. People in the first session came up with the words Hope, Health, Happiness & Heart. This became an idea all agreed upon to make a border of the word HOPE written in different languages. Out of this came the name Quilt of Hope. Suggested also was Pieces of All of Us. Women have kept the culture alive, and recorded our history in fabric all over the world. Think of the First Nations button blankets, Guatemalan weaving, and Ukrainian embroidery. So what is the real lesson here? I guess it's never underestimate the power of the Arts.

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holey sneakers break beats on concrete digging between cracked pavement like crows hopping on sidewalks looking for shiny objects

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and bits of white rock

digging their sticks digging their beaks between the cracks of sidewalks scraping up the fine bits of dirt, glass always consistent with the rhythm of bending up and down while picking up their shiny objects with hopes always with hopes cars line up at traffic lights eyeballs glued against rolled up windows waiting for a green light to get the hell out of there electric bus trolleys bust through crowded comers ambulance, fire engine, police sirens scream above cries from urine-soaked alleys and squeals ofbuming rubber out of there my bike brakes are fucked my helmet is cracked my chain is rusty my lock is a chain with a padlock I ride I ride against a traffic of exhaust I ride riding high on fumes against a traffic of exhaust a traffic ofSUV' s chatting on cell phones bumper to ass fucking bumper ding ding my bell rings tires screech a horn echoes with a thud ( on my face crushing into the ass end of a M(utha) F(ucka) SUV or waiting for a bus you want it all : condensed, correlated and made easy to digest

today resentment fills me turning my stomach leaving a bad taste in my mouth From Sue Blue

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I have always heard you I know you have seen me I am sorry for never accepting you though I may not look it As I face questions and consequence I need consultation and counsel, courage and confidence For I fear the worst, and worse And you know it There, among the sleepless spirits Through the storm and secret black Entwined in ethos of sickness, scripture and script-play, and not a single sign to which I've shown sure awareness Alerted, and yet abruptly abandoning the attention to which must be paid absolute faith and fearful following Outside is all I have, obviously observation is obscured and fancy talk is not focus Every time, that one finds his way down to the ground Another hard hit, to crash, to crawl and claw at those old, cold eyes, invisible, upon him, investigating, scoping the spectrum of his shame and sadness As inward he becomes what is, what ever shall be,

1uuuty or unrorgiVIng ratallty and false freedom And if fearlessness should show itself it merely means he feels as though to draw or even dream a line of theoretic threshold defining him as divided from humanity, is in effect, exactly the expected error by which he is exiled, adrift, awash in dirty demons and often openly obsessed with overkill Involuntary infection of injected illusions and the icy insanity of a tramp's tek terror Torturous telepaths, tracking and trapping, the savage scorch and blaze of a beautiful brain, broken before birth and bravely blundering blindly at vicious velocity, veering violently towards virtual destiny of doomed and deadly downfall As yet, undiagnosed and even so, ultimately unfit for underhand assimilation, as under-developmental, erratic energies earn him an explicit education in the entertainment of exploitation and the extremity of ego execution via extortionist extravaganzas Creeping criminal/cop conspiracy and chemical craze manifesting monstrous, murderous mania He must mean to mind his memories and meanwhile maintain methodical mastery over the murmuring mass of madly mixed messages, spoken sideways, subtle, sly and sure to stupefy -Nicolas

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I don't sleep so good in this place here This British Columbia Two names to endear you to the Natives and the non-British You may correct me Debate is more than welcome Yeah, sleep is brief and haunted No dreams that I can recall just haunts or haints As we say in Fortune Bay As a Bay Girl but city raised I daydream about my birthplace That small fishing village That very small fishing village The nights are still and sweet Except for crickets and the ticking bugs comforting sounds ...

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Saturday Morning Blues

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Across the canvas of our souls Good and evil wrestle for control No-one wants to be a crack ho Doncha know No-one wants to be a crack ho One wants to let go One wants control But no one wants to be a crack ho You start out holy, you start out pure Devil wants your number Gonna chase you for sure But no one wants to be a crack ho If you can't understand Maybe the undertaker knows No-one wants to be Just another casualty No one wants to be another crack ho

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Turning heads Turning stomachs to many uphills held captive in your hands, please give us a nod so we'll know when to applaud & become free of what once were joyful commands. Command & a whisper nothing more sinister than those idle

hands . Rhetorical questions bring out the Nod Squad of removal, answers on sale at the door; here we are at the auction I want action! Auction numbers don't come out of cereal boxes Auction this Auction that before St.Minus subtracts us like a fraction I guess it's back to the yellow [& black ticker tape death parade] brickroad. Make no mistake my god awakes before your god anyday (your hair is too wide your tie is untied someone's god lied make sure you have all the accessories after the fact it can be a very steep downhill ride). Like giving an arsonist house arrest I bet one week at best before said house burns the whole block to the ground, at least all you wine-for-arms people can now record your very own misery- comb that hair pretend you' re a reporter from NBC, listen to the screaming people -tragedy- all on tape this stuff will be great! Around the World they will want MORE! World War More your own pathetic life is worthless then you're taped time to be sentenced to life without remote control and for godsakes no more strolls. Miscast & misled like the phone call after midnight every parent dreads stop beating yourself up when cops do if free of "charges".

Why oh why do you bring in your own verdict dragging behind it EXXON barges? Once more with feeling or they'll turn you into unrecycleable garbage. Sanity intact once again after the fact long distance memories turn back to haunt me that goddamn turnstile taunts me Turnback turned back Hey What?

Oh forget it the more they know the less we sleep, the more we turn the more we weep; like falling down a flight of waterfalls with six inches of moisture to break my fall. If neighbourhoods could only speak but it's lost its voice & not by choice maybe I will see The End after all Turn onrrurn off blaze gazing or Molotov cloth the Turncoat was turned back you Turncoats have been awarded the Rack like apprehending all the happy endingz of every story ever told.

Death: like weeds will always adapt adopt & grow here's my weekly (not really) cup of tears I've really gotta go.

By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY "God gave a loaf to every bird - but just a crumb to me." - Emily Dickenson

NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN·- 3 Rouleaa

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE ..

YOl)TH ACI'IVITIES

604-695-6561 gtt- Sr45pm -tlc45pm Overglebt- t2:30am - BrlOam Downtown Ensl§lde- 5r30p1J! -I:JO&u

541 E.Broadway

604-151-lllO

SOCIETY

CFRO

102.7FM CO-OP RADIO

Next issue is May 15.

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SUBl\flSSION DEADLINE

Tuesday, May

Free showers for homeless persons at 327 Carrall Wed 7-8:3Dam; Sat 7-10am; Women Only Fri 6-Bpm

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THIS NEWSL ETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Arudes n:preseut the views of iodiYidual Contributors and not of tbe Association.

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

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. Editor:-PauiR -- ·- - - - - - - - Taylor Cover by Priscillia Tait I Collation & distribution crew: Harold, Uu Lin, Bill, Mary I 1 Ann, Miriam. Rolf•. Tina. Videha. Kelly. ~·. ~obYI_l. Nick, 1

WANTED Artwork for the Camegk Newsletter

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Jackie, Matthew. Lisa, Red. Pablo, Ida, Priscdha. Lasa.

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TIM STEVENSON CITY COUNCILLOR

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Small inustrations to accompany articles and

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SERVING THE COMMUNITY

WITH PRIDE

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OTYHAlL

451 Wur t2m AYE. V5Y 1V4 Plume:

Jenny Wai Ching Kwan MLA

Working for You 1070-1641 Commercial Dr, VSL JVJ Phone: 604-775-0790

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Cover art -Maximum size: 17an(6-3141 wide x 15cm(!i} high.

Subject matter relevant to issues pertaining to the Downtown Eastside preferred, but all work will be considered; Black &WMe printing only Size restrictions must be considered (i.e. if your piece is too large, it wii be reduced and/or cropped to fit; All artists wiD 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.

Have a Legal Probtetn?

Are you Charged wlth a crltne?

2009 DONATIONS: Barry M.-$150, Ubby 0 .-$70

VIsit the UBC Law Clinic In the Jrd floor gallery of Carnegie Centre for free advice & representation.

L.aw Students Legal Advice Program (LSLAP) Drop-In, Tuesdays, 7- 9pm.

Rolf A.-$50, Margaret 0.-$40, Jenny K.-$23, Sue K-$30, Sandy C.-$25, Christopher R.-$160 Uel L.-$25, Greta P..$~5. Java B.-$75, Alayne-$25 Anonymous -$1500 Leslie S.-$25 The Edge -$200

Colleen's Corner VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, May 13, 2pm in Classroom II All volunteers welcome! Your voice is needed and appreciated.

VOLUNTEER DINNER Wednesday, May 20, Theatre at 4:30pm Sharp!

Your contribution and hard work are appreciated by many people who benefit by your services. Let the staff serve you! A ticket is waiting for you in the 3'd floor Program Office ifyou have a minimum of 12 volunteered hours in the previous month.

Our annual celebration of volunteering is my favourite time of the year. During Volunteer Recognition Week (April 13-20) we got to thank Carnegie's most valuable earthlings- our volunteers, people who embody a spirit which compels them to do service for the good of others. We call attention to all that you do to improve our community. We tell ourselves and the rest of the community how remarkable you are.

Congratulations to our Volunteer of the Year 2009, Bao Zhen Liu, and the four volunteers deserving of special merit awards: John Chen, Peter van Dijken, Alvin Stewart and Michael Goepel. These people were chosen by your volunteer peers, who want to encourage and recognise you for what you do and for who you are.

Volunteers of the Month- April2009 Neva Gane, Learning Centre

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

Michael Goepel, Building Runner Retired Volunteers 2009: Andy Huclack, Dora Sanders, Princess Margaret

Altogether 65 years of volunteer service- Remarkable!

In my opinion, the love emanating in the Theatre in appreciation for these folks represents the true beauty of the spirit of Carnegie.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. 1want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire in your heart and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where of what or with whom you have studied. 1want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Submitted by Colleen G

For coffee as good as Carnegie's, forget Waves; Get French Press路\and $2 Americana cups at

lolillr &Sons, 247 Main Street. Used books!