November 15, 2010, carnegie newsletter

NOVEMBER 15,2010

.N E W S LETT E R 401 Main Street, Vancouver. V6A 2T1 (604) 665-2219

A Pretty Private Reason Why Gord Campbell Quit:

"I swore on the Holy C-Note to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and then you ask me a question Like THAT?!!"

flJ

Displacement and Gentrification Events

(After due consideration. the following gem says what it'd take me a page to imply... PRT]

WORKSI IOP: SATURDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2-4 pm. Carnegie Centre 3rd floor "Gentri fi cation and Displacement Keywords, courtesy of Woodward's" Please bring your own keywords, experiences, stories, poems, images, analyses .... . [The Workshop is over but read on... ]

Walking Eagle Premier Gordon Campbell was invited to address a major gathering of the Indian Nation last weekend in Ahousahl. TI1e Premier spoke for almost an hour on his plans for increasing evel)' First Nation's present standard of living. He referred to his career as Mayor of Vancouver, how he had signed, - "YES"- for every Indian issue that came to his desk for approval. At the conclusion of his speech, the Tribe presented the Premier with a plaque inscribed with his new Indian name - Walking Eagle. The proud Campbell then departed in his motorcade, waving to the crowds.

A news reporter later inquired to the group of chiefs of how they came to select the new name given to Campbell TI1ey explained that Walking Eagle is t11e name given to a bird so full of shit it can no longer fly.

There are lots of words, concepts and practices which are used regarding gentrification an influx of middle-class people into a lower income area. and the resulting transformation of working class and poor city spaces to serve the needs of the middle+ upper class-es- which is causing displacement of Downtown Eastside (DTES) residents; they are used in many other cities as well, and in this workshop we'll go through them by talking about Woodward's and its implications on our DTES community. After this workshop, we may be clearer about how these words, concepts and practices are being used, and more informed about ways of responding, advocating and educating others. There are three readings for this session ...

Some ofthe keywords are: City Planning, development, property values, tax base, zoning, development permits, heritage buildings, community consultation, poverty, social housing, affordable housing, nonmarket housing, SROs, market housing, incentivizing (i.e. increased building height in exchange for including social housing units, tax holidays), conversion or anti-conversion by-laws, 'the value of a provincial social housing funding component to developers.' small units/mini-lofts, "social mixing," "social balance," "diversity," "renewal," "revitalization," "abandonment quality'' buildings, health and safety by-laws, unceded First Nations land, displacement, homelessness, human rights and social justice (i.e.

United Nations Declaration o f Human Rights), legal rights (Canadian C harter of Rights and Freedoms (Section 7); proposed Bi ll C-304 "theSecure. Adequate, Accessible and Affordable Housing Act"; Adams vs. Victoria, private security guards, BIAs (Business Improvement Associations), Homeowners' Associations, Residents' Associations, artists,

students, middle class, low income residents, structural/systemic poverty, 'employment for DTES residents building and working in new DTES businesses. tenants' rights, ticketing, policing, racist sexist violence, neo-liberalism , globalization, Woodward's ....

TEAC H-IN: TU ESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, on campus from 3-6 pm o n the Knoll (aka the Grassy Knoll) outside the SUB bui lding. Lots ofUBC people don't know about how G&D are being done in the DTES, so let's tell them about it! From our own first-hand informed perspectives, let's just talk w ith our UBC community about what's going on! This will be education by llu m students, and alumni, volunteers, teachers and staff. We' ll have Pi vot's Red Tents to

catch people's eye, information to give out, invitations to sign petitions, attend events and actions ... and we hope to meet people who can help implement CCAPs 12 Action items for the stellar DTES Commun ity Visio n.

FILM : SATURDAY NOVEMBER 27,6 pm in the Carnegie Audito rium We' ll be showing footage from the "R ight to the C ity" conference that happened last weekend - it was a rea lly good conference, and for the people who couldn' t be there, we're bringing it to the DTES on film.

CARNEGIE RENOVATIONS BEGIN

3

The renovation work at Carnegie has begun. The -scaffolding is going up on the north side of the building and the construction crew trailer is now in place.

Over the next while the construction team will be starting their work throughout the Centre.

The work on repairing and restoring our beautiful ~路ood heritage windows w ill be one of the first proJects to be started . The work will progress wall by wall, with temporary windows being fitted while the orig inal windows arc removed and refurbished.

Stonework will be cleaned before the scaffold ing is moved. While the work on the spiral stairs w ill mainly happen in the New Year, preparations for the restoration ar7 u ~de rway with the goal of improving safety, refurbtshmg the stonework and tiles and ensuring that they w ill be functional and beautifu l for years to come. The replacement of flooring througho ut most of the Centre will be a big project and will start in late November or early December.

Carnegie Centre wi ll remain open throughout the r~novati ons. We will do our best to minimize disrupt ton to our progra ms and services, though there will be some changes and temporary interruptio ns. We will g ive as much notice as possible of any changes.

All work will be completed by the end of March, '1 1.

Dan Tetrau lt, Assistant Director

Humanities: Writing 101 Intake We are looking for students fo r the Writing course starting in January 20 II . Please come if you're interested in applying, & tell your frien ds and family too.

The Gathering Place, 609 Helmcken St. Tuesday November 23 @ 11 .30a.m Carnegie Centre, Main & Hastings Wednesday November 24 @ 11 .30a.m

ANew Roost:

TheDUNLEVYSNACKBAR Coffee I tea I baked goods & <bagels with lunch coming soon!

433 Dunlevy the illustrious THEO LLOYD KEITH

Vancouver Recovery Club, 2775 Soph ia St Thursday November 25 @ I I a.m Crabtree Corner, 533 East Hastings St Thursday November 25 @ 1.30p.m Downtown Easts ide Women's Centre (WOMEN ONLY), 302 Columbia St Friday November 26 @ 2.30p.m

A Huge THANK YOU to Everyone Involved!

Producing a festival on the scale of our community's Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival is a huge undertaking. It is also a unique endeavour unparalleled not just in here but in Canada.

We couldn't produce this festival without the vast support of community individuals, organizations, sponsors and audiences. Your participation is greatly appreciated and valued!

Thanks to the many individual artists and organizations in the community who present their work during the festival with such commitment, passion and generosity. Your strong voices are essential to the success of the festival, and to our community.

And thanks to all the community members, organizations and businesses that welcomed the Festival into your spaces, parks and onto our sidewalks. Thank you for collaborating with us to present a spect acular festival of music, poetry, visual and media arts, dance, processions, song and projections in that reflects our neighbourhood and home.

To continue to enjoy the 2010 festival please visit the blog site of AHA Media at www.ahamedia.ca. Here you will find lots of photos and videos of a large number of festival events.

If you have any ideas or events to contribute or suggest for next year's 2011 Festival give us a call 604-628-5672, or talk with Rika 604-665-3003.

Thank you!

The Festival program and production team

www.heartofthecityfestival.com

Remembering Sandy Cameron

By Rolf Auer Sandy Cameron loved Nature. And I loved that about him.

Because I love Nature too.

Soaring eagle over the Downtown Eastside picking up on rights and wrongs with his super sensitive vision.

Rising majestic evergreen tree symbolizing the steadfastness of human rights.

Looming large mountain range symbolizing the enormity of his fight for social justice.

Tenacious badger never giving up on the rights for Aboriginal peoples.

Work-the-<lay-away beaver forever hunting for facts to shore up his arguments.

The metaphoric animals I've mentioned are often part of Aboriginal Totem Poles.

One of Sandy's many, fine poems is called, "The Oppenheimer Park Totem Pole."

Here is a quote from that poem: " It seems to me that when someone dies it is the responsibil ity of those of us who are left to offer caring for that life for that death in the intensity of the love that reaches out from the unendurable loneliness of our separation."

I can always say that I am proud to have been able to call Sandy "friend." ~

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Sandy would have been humbled and happy that some individua ls have made donations to here in his name.

Thanks to Margaret, Ginger and Tom.

The Raising of the two new poles Oppenheimer Pa rk. November 6, 2010 The Mother Bear caring for her cubs is the latest theme of the new poles in our park. Like a mother bear looks after her cubs, we in the downtown east side look after one another. A most fining theme for our newest poles in the park. These poles got their start hundreds of years ago in Stanley Park, however a big wind storm a few years ago in the park blew down the trees. They were then sent to be carved at Brittannia but someone decided to burn one of the trees that was in the processed of being carved. A third tree from the same source was required toreplace the damaged pole. It was carved by Henry Robertson and Henry Robertson Junior.

Cold and chilly, we all gathered at I I AM in the park to witness the ritual of the pole raising. It was first required that Witnesses for the procedure be appointed. Theirs was the duty to pass on to other generations the record of this event. In this way generations into the future will know how this pole was raised and the protocol for the proper raising of the pole. Named as witnesses were Louise ProfeitLeBianc. a Yukoner from the Canadian Counci l of Arts, Sam George, Sandy MacKeigan, Carnegie staff from Oppenheimer Park, and Marguerita Robinson.

Henry Robertson and Wes Nahanee, the two carvers, were awarded blankets which they wore. The poles were put out and the carvers stood at the east end of the west facing poles. While Eagle Song was drummed and sang, Terry llunter held a red bucket 路 filled with water from Capitano Canyon while four young girls dipped cedar boughs into the water and ci rcled the poles four times -each time redipping the boughs into the water. Both water and boughs arc to be returned to the Canyon they came from after the ceremony.

Along with songs and prayers to the Creator, life and breath were breathed into the poles. Thus the carvers and their fam ilies -the Mclnna's and the Robertson's -were honoured. The poles both are carved in the tradition of northern poles, bringing the cultures of north and south First Nations together.

Just for the record, I related witnessing this beautiful experience to a friend in the States yesterday and they asked, " Is this a flag po le you are talking about?"

"No," I qualified, "it was a totem pole."

-Colleen Carroll

5

Dear Editor: PULLING RANK

HOUSE Of' COMMONS MrSpcaker,

Being born and raised in the Greater Van_couver area, at times 1 feel qualified to point out certam mistakes our leaders are making. In this case, the Vancouver C ity Counc il.

When 1 heard on the news that Counci l was entertaining thoughts o f bringing back the Indy races to Vancouver. 1 im m ediately fl ashed back to the rash of illeoal /streetlrac ing deaths that occurred after Indy 0 came to town.

Before the Vancouver Indy, street rac ing was fa irly rare. During the Vancouver Indy, street racing was common. After the Vancouver Indy left town, street racing once again became rare.

What does this tell us? Either it's coincidental, o r, enough people who attend these races are greatly influenced by what they see and want to ape it on our public streets.

Is th is the kind of life we want to live in the Lower Mainland . when we wait at a bus stop or simply walk down the wrong street, as some ego driving a "fastest car" meets another such ego?

The blood will be o n your hands Council. Value life over money.

Garry Gust

The many people who knew. respected and loved Sandy Cameron, mourn his death and the loss we w ill experience.

I lis decades of leadership, compassion, and hard work in the Down tO\\ n Eastside helped countless people. Sandy's numerous, enduring and thoughtful co lumns in the Carnegie Newsleller, his books of poetry, h is work at the Carnegie Learnino Centre as well as his kind and gentle ways ofhelpi~g people, are things that inspired a whole community. lie told us and recorded our history: he was a wonderful teacher; a mentor and a guide, who, a long with his partner of25 years, Jean Swanson, helped forge a strength o f community that is legendary i a ll Canada.

Most of all, Sandy worked for social justice and peace. li e be lieved and lived that it came from the people. His unwavering belief in our own ability to create a better world, without violence and inequality, is what he le ft us. The best thing we can do is carry on that work because that's what he would expect us to do.

Thank you Sandy, fo r the gifts you gave us. Your words live on.

Libby Davies (M P Vancouver East)

FJ~Cm YIN AND YANG Sweet whispers, gently soothe my bro ken heart 1 find time stopped , perfect in the essence My soul doo med, a lifetime falling apart 1 heed to my breath, does death g ive presence?

Emotions sloth imagination Make haste with perfect creation today It takes two to cause participation L ike a scene out of life's stage from a play Was love, but now a hedonistic dream Was rapture, but the fee lings do wither fiove is clue less; love is a flash o f beam Lei loose this feeling, the snakes run slither The whole world runs fast, the rest of life slows 1 do hate love, but it's just highs and lows Ivan Townsend

November I, 2010

Pam fQ F~m

When I was younger I knew where I was, yet as time moved o n all memories were lost. Not knowing which way is east o r west, just knowing inside I have to try my best.

With all that I've been through and all that I' ve seen, I've always known this was not my dream.

Emotions ins ide with pain that is deep, yet for some reason I cannot weep.

I look fo r a friend w ho can understand me. and the only frie nd I find is my enemy.

No sense in dreammg for I think it's gone by, yet I dream o n .. hoping it' ll fly.

Day becomes night and nig ht becomes day. I look in the mirror: This can't be the way!

Looking to the sky I watch a bird fly. wishing to find that freedom inside.

The sun bcins to set towards the west; I finally know I've met my final test...

Leon Mark Isaac Wuttunee

1

Gentrification in the Downtown Eastside what•s happening & what we can do about it Merciful Minerva !

Look at all these

Friday, Nov. 19

11am-1pm Carnegie Centre Theatre, 401 Main St at Hastings Refreshme nts & childcare support available on r equest

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CCAP is a proiect of the Carnegie Communit1 Centre Association 401 Main St. Vancouver, Bt V&A 2T7

Caii5D4 839 0379to get on the UAP email list II vou have a computet Or come to CUP's olllce and get a copv oi"Pushed Out" CUP's report about Increasing rents In the DUS. You can also get a copy ol CWI's VIsion lor the D1ES, " Assets to Actlon, communltv vision lor change In the D1ES.'' For more lnlormallan. check CCAP's website at ccapvancouver.wordpress.com design: flux

evtoons: Dian•

They laughed as we walked by.Thosc three that pushed her seeing if she could fly. Boasting too much over who would swim or sink. All the while I could feel my sto mach shrink. Another baby gone to addiction. Was it something she said to cause frictio n? That's no way to go dying on the floo r, while those three go on yet another day more. My people came to me with a ll the words in the ir heads. Yet when asked they said nothing, them also being afraid of coming up dead. Walk with me I have o nce to ld em', to get away fro m the drug that still holds them.

You can point at the ones and it w ill be over. No rats here, no police to cover shoulder. And then out of the shadows a man who saw the whole thing. Sa" her last breath, her las t chest rise and the last word she would sing. "Scared am 1," he said "Rattled to the bone,'' I take. " I don't want to be a rat, squeal or a flnk! ? " Justice comes to us in small doses, no flashy gimmicks, cameras or poses.

I stood there with her family c lose by, all the while they were wondering why? Alii could think was of what the man said , "I still can't get the image out of my head," II ide in plain sight until you a re ready, come back to me with your thoughts clear & steady.

Justice comes to us in small doses, police even think those three should be shot! "Years in prison wouldn't do them any good. It would just take them away fro m the "lowly easts ide hood,'"' Then they wo uld come back with grudges on their shoulders a nd the community would forget them th ink ing their time was over! So is hers a baby with an addiction was it something she said to cause frict ion. No need for pointing I saw it o n their faces while we walked by those three standing proud faces. As if they had won some kind of battle. "Yeah I know what you mean when you sa id bone rattled." What can be more prec ious than a baby girl' s life she could have cared for you all , you cou ld have callen' her wife. Those three won't get it no matter how hard they try. And no one wi ll care or even cry if they d ie. Justice comes to us

in small doses, too small for the ones that lose their c losest. We all walked by that baby g irl's killers, suspense all gone it gave me the quivers. I knew right away it was in their eyes, police have stood back waiting to s ift o ut the lies. Like it or not it was a suicide. The man who saw that baby girl's last breath would he tell me a lie? Nothing to fear from a man with a smoke, talk in' the breeze, tellin' a joke. 1 said to him better to hide in plain sight, he said yeah thanks you know what's for dinner tonight? That's when I realized the conversation was over, he stamped out the cigarette pulled his bag over shoulder. Justices comes to us in small doses we take what we can get no regrets, qualms o r remorses. Those three who pushed a baby girl over the edge I hope your hearts sink when it's yours who are dead!

[An amazing new book is being released in the next few weeks. It is written by Bonnie Fournier, who was a nurse on the DEYAS Health Van and in the Downtown Eastside for over 25 years. It is published by Trafford and called Mugged, Dmgged nnrl Shrugged Th e Wrong Sidefo the Eastside Following is the fo reword by Elaine Allan.]

Mugged, Drugged and Shrugged The Wrong Side of the Eastside Foreword

by Elaine Allan I met Bonnie Fournier in 1998 wh ile working at the W.I. S.H. Drop-In Centre on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, in the country's poorest postal code, a block up from the notorious open drug market on the corner of Main and Hastings. The Drop-In Centre (inside the First United C hurch) provided d inner, respite from the street, hot showers and access to the DEY AS I lealth Van to the neighbourhood's sex trade workers. Bonnie Fourn ier had her hands full when the DEY AS Health Van pulled up to the side doors at the W IS II Drop-In Centre each night at 6:30 PM. The women who needed her help wou ld wait patiently to see her, knowing that they would never be turned away.

The Health Van had been customized with a special

Families and kids at the OTES Neighbourhood I louse: Parents and children welcome to come to the Neighbourhood I louse at 573 f:.ast llastings (at Princes.,) for afternoon Family Drop In weekdays 3-6pm.

Children dcYelop nutritional confidence during our w~:~:kly Kids Commu nity Kitchen , Saturdays 2-4pm. ing gills at the holidays? Why not donate to the D ITS I'. II in their honour, instead?

S I0 I 0 Smoothics $50 I week's Grocery Coupons for I 0 Volunteers S I00 = 300 pieces of fruit for the Banana Beat $300 = I week's worth of food •a Programs $500 = I,200 hard boiled organic eggs Gi\

PACE Society is our Charitable partner. For a I ax Replease make the cheque to PACE with DTL S Nil in the f'vlcmo ! inc and mail it to 50 I East llastmgs Vancouver V6A I P9.

c~:ipt

Melanie Spence l·ood Activist. DTES Right to Food Thursdays through Saturdays Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House 60-t I 215.2030 \\WW .dtesnh. word press.com Administration: 50 I E Hastings ((1 Jackson V6A IP9 Program Venue: 573 E Hast ings (a Princess V6A I P9 Om\ ntown Easts ide residents working together since 200-t to build a grassroots, secular NH.

AptUs ©

community rising I rolled into vancouver on a greyhound bus in 1986 just after expo evictions from the hotels executed oiur martyr olaf solheim whose death was officially auributed to eviction from the room he had lived in for decades and at that time the poverty agencies were in constant conflict with each other city hall and its developers reduced low-income housing throughout the city deliberately forcing poor people into the downtown eastside from where we arc to be driven elsewhere I nowhere and city hall refused to enforce by-laws and so the hotels parks and alleys became festering cesspools for pandemics hiv/aids hepatitis a b and c tuberculosis and overdose deaths the highest in the western world and the money/power people call it revitalization when our situation by definition was genocide meaning withholding the necessities for life of a targeted group primarily the very ill street addicts there were no demonstrations or protests in the streets then but dead bodies disappeared women serial killers police thugs and a health board having spent more money on an outbreak of bumble bee stings infecting a dozen students at ubc than on a health epidemic in the downtown eastside and while I early recognized signs of the violence of gentrification I was told to just wait until the next provincial government was elected and when they were welfare rates were cut meanwhile a few poverty agency directors claimed to speak to the media and politicians for thousands of suffering people but finally a small group of downtown eastside residents

organized <'I and made signs hit the street and spoke loudly for health ar and the promises ma to help deml the mentally traumati and missing disappeared after grandi and we learned bitterly that our government~ often govern rather than human re; and now 22 years after I arrive only home I' where housingthe central d is disappearing

housing ~ from victoria

nized addicts r.ed vomen ;e and fake announceme nts

by political announcement lity

the hiv/ids rate is now c lose to botswana's according to the united nations and life expectancy is closer to haiti's than the rest of vancouver's yet there is again an active inspiring hopeful unity among agencies and organizations and there are accomplishments once thought impossible and a ll ies alongside us fighting in many ways to support our continuing ex istence as an extraordinary unique community exploding with beauty and knowledge and what we have is a powerful history of resistance reminding us each time we see the face of bruce eri ksen on the building honouring him and everytime we hear libby davies advocate so tiercely for us and everytime we see jean swanson whose presence e mpowers us and sandy cameron whose writings celebrate and safeguard our history and what we have more than ever at this c ritical and desperate moment is self-sacrifice and care for one another and a multitude of our voices now speaking fiery powerful truth to lying destructive power and we have a remarkable amazing sustaining deep and impregnable spirituality of stre ngth joy hope and determination

l at the ve ever known

tearing apart trauma and liberating courage

'tenninant of health Bud Osborn

c o M ~n 路 :-.; 1 r Y An T s COUKC l L 0 1

You're invited to the Community Arts Council of Vancouver Annual General Meeting

VANCOUV I: R

Thursday, Nove mber 25, 7-9pm C h a p el Arts, 304 Dunlevy Dear Friends, I very much hope you will join us for the 64th annual general meeting of the Community Arts Council. Yes, 64!

The evening promises to be informative and engaging Great strides have been made this year in the Council's leadership m the community arts in Vancouver and in supporting community arts activities in the Downtown Eastside. Similarly we continue to expand our role in the environmental arts.

The program includes Yulanda Faris, Chair of the Vancouver Opera Foundation speaking about the importance of the community arts, a panel of people committed to the partnership of community arts and the professional arts and opportun ities to experience the arts in action and time for our members and friends to get up to dale on mutual interests. Our AGM will follow - an important event in confirming our leadership as we enter our 65th year in Vancouver's 125th anniversary year.

Sincerely, ichael Clague President, C!I.CY

michael@cacv.ca

early and enjoy music, visual art and meeting the CACV board and volunteers.

Hope in Shadows will have a display as well as various DTES arts organizations ,After a short welcome at 7pm, we'll show a presentation of projects from last year includin~ Nest enwonmental arts project at CRAB park and Creative Pathways Artists 1n the which brought great DTES music to Heart of the City this year. speaker Yulanda Faris will talk about "The Importance of the Community Arts" and a panel of three will respond before opening up the discussion to everyone in the room. First responders include Savannah Walling of Vancouver Moving Theatre and Heart of the City Festival, Hank Bull of Centre A and Western Front and Chris Tyrell, author of The Artist's Survival Guide.

Around Bpm, we'll switch gears and ask you to create a postcard on the importance of the community arts to send to the BC or Federal Government. Neither the feds nor province actually have the word 'art" in any ministry. In BC, it's now the Ministry for Community, Sport and Cultural Development and federally, the arts fit in under Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. 'Where's the Art?' you may ask. Let's send some postcard art to our politicians!

At 8:20, President, Michael Clague, will call the AGM to order. On the agenda are committee reports, board elections and presentation of financial statements. Your part is important. To vote you have to be a member and can jo1n at the door.

The Snowy Owl Traditional Singers will be performing outside of Chapel Arts, 304 Dunlevy Avenue, from 6-7pm a1 the Community Arts Council of Vancouver's AGM on Thursday, November 25th. Come out to this free performance brought to you by Creative Pathways, a CACV initiative, and the BC Arts Council as part of the Artists in the Street project.

A note of gratitude to Carnegie: Our board and committees meet regularly at the Carnegie Centre and appreciate thE use of space and the welcoming atmosphere.

Want to know more about Community Arts in Vancouver? www.cacv.ca info@cacv.ca or 604-617-0142.

ceiling that provided headroom and shelving and doors that could hold medical supplies. Regardless of how long the line-up outside the llealth Van could get, Bonnie made time to see each woman who needed to see her and she always knew how to make them feel special before the Van had to leave for another location Once inside the DEY AS llealth Van, the women of WISH were treated to first-rate medical care. Most would simply feel better just being in the company of a warm and caring professional nurse.

Bonnie worked hard dispensing Tylenol, lozenges, multivitamins, laxatives and Epsom salts. She also gave flu vaccines, bandaged wounds and did her best to soothe battered women. Sometimes WISII patrons lined up just to talk to Bonnie and get one of her famous hugs. Bonnie had many nicknames but she was often called "Mom"-the highest compliment that could be paid to a woman by the sex trade workers at the Centre.

Bonnie knew many of the women who frequented the WISII Drop- In Centre from her days working as the nurse inside the city cells. The city cells, or the "city bucket" as it was often referred to, were located underneath the courthouse at 222 Main Street. Prisoners were kept in cells while they waited to beescorted upstairs by the sheriffs. Upstairs housed the courtroom where prisoners would make court appearances in front of various judges. The cdity bucket was known for being a cold, damp space with harsh lighting. Bonnie, known for her years working with the city bucket population, had developed excellent diagnostic ski lls and was adept at identifying the illnesses that plagued the women of WISH. Most of my clients battled serious addiction issues.

Heroin and crack cocaine were the drugs of choice and many of the women I knew used both. Working in the sex trade and being a drug addict is a high-risk lifestyle. Women who worked the streets of the Downtown Eastside contracted IIIV, hepatitis C, S.T.Ds, endocard itis and lung infections at an alarming rate. They were also subjected to "bad dates," men who posed as customers but were really violent predators in disguise. It wasn't uncommon for the women Bonnie encountered outside the doors of the WISH. Centre to be in need of some serious medical treatment for things like stab wounds and broken bones.

For fear of being disregarded as mere drug addicts, women who freq uented the WISI I Drop-In Centre were often reluctant to seek health care from tradi-

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tiona! service providers. Bonnie Fournier, or "Nurse Ratched," (another of Bonnie's many street monikers, based on the dictatorial nurse in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) did not fit into the street population's perception of a traditional health care provider. Bonnie had a fun, casual side that was underlined by a serious, calming nature. The women of the Downtown Eastside knew that Bonnie would tal..e their concerns seriously and would do whatever she could do to help them. If Bonnie believed a women to have an illness that required hospitalization, she would arrange fot them to be transported to St. Paul's llospital. Bonnie would then follow up on the women she referred to St. Paul's with phonccalls to triage nurses, doctors and social workers. None of Bonnie's actions guaranteed that a woman from WISH would receive the treatment she needed but it usually meant that she would not be turned away by hospital staff at the receiving doors. Any doctor who dismissed a referral from Bonnie Fournier and the DEY AS Health Van could find themselves in the undesirab le position of talking to Bonnie Fournier about the ll ippocratic Oath.

Sometimes I could make out Bonnie's strong, greyhaired, slender shape from a block or two in the distance while driving myself out of the Downtown Eastside after closing the centre at night. Bonnie always wore a bright blue Gore-lex jacket with NURSE written in reflective tape across the back.

The Health Van, too, was blue w ith D.E.YA.S. written in reflective lettering across its sides.

Bonnie and I often talked about the women that we knew from the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood who were going missing. Women had started to disappear from the neighbourhood at a disturbing rate.

Together we would talk to police officers, politicians, social workers, you name it, trying to raise awareness about some of the sex trade workers who were vanishing, seem ingly without leaving a clue as to where we might find them.

I left the WIS H Drop-ln Centre in 200 I. A year later, in 2002, Robert Pickton was arrested and later charged with the murders of many of the neighbourhood's missing sex trade workers. While in police custody, Pickton would admit to murdering fortynine women. Bonnie and I had shared many laughs over the years, but sadly, we have shared many more tears . Bonnie was the last person to see Sereena Abotsway- a woman who accessed both the WIS II Drop-In Centre and the DEY AS Health Van, and one of the women Pickton was convicted of killing. As the years rolled along and ensuing court proceedings revealed horrif)ring details of the murders of women we knew, Bonnie and I would cling to each other, fighting tears and prom ising ourselves that we would continue to work to create services for and awareness ofmarginal ised women.

Without question, Bonnie Fournier's work as a registered nurse touring the streets of Vancouver's Downtown Eastsid e in the DEY AS Health Van w ill not be forgotten in my lifetime. Throughout my life I w ill forever remember Bonnie and the D.E. Y .A.S. Health Van as a beacon of humanity that faithfully came at 6:30 each night, a nd parked in front of the doors of the W.I.S.Il. Drop-In Centre.

Vancouver July I4, 2010 Exploring Cybercu lture: Influence, Impact and Relevance to Contemporary Society 路 When: Every Second Sunday l-3p.m. Next meeting November 7, 20 10.

Where: The Gathering Place Education Centre (Hclmcken and Seymour) Facilitator: Wil Steele 路Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social condition that cripples them, is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.'

--Martin Luther King Jr.

News From -the LibrarY Thanks to everyone who came out to the Launch o f the new Downtown Eastside collection on Nov 4th.

About 45 people showed up to hear poets George McWhirter, Stephen Lytton, Maxine Gadd and Diane Wood read, as well as to hear librarian John Cull talk about the collection. If you're interested in learning more about this great collection of DTES library materials, come on by and ask at the librarian's desk.

Aspiring or established writers may want to spend some time with Betsy Warland's Breathing the Page: Rending the Act of Writing (808 .02). Warland's book is a collection of brief essays on all aspects of the act of writing, literally. Everything from tools ("The Pencil", " The Computer") to techniques ("Scaffold ing", "Locating the Reader") to The Intangible ("Spatiotemporal Structural Strategies") With Remembrance Day fresh in our minds, it's appropriate that the library should have j ust added

Fighting fo r Canada: Chinese all(/ Japanese C(madians in /Hilitnry Service (971.004). Commissioned by the Department of National Defence, this account goes back as far as World War I to document this little known facet of the h istory of military service in Canada.

Well, it may not be the best time of year for plant identification, but in any case, for those o f you who are botanically incl ined, Tire Gardener's Essential Plant Guide (635) is the book for you. It has 400 pages of basic information about garden plants, complete with full -colour photos.

Bert Dodson's Keys to Drawing (741.2) is an excellent guidebook for anyone wanting to improve their illustration skills. Dodson draws on the techniques of some of the great artist/illustrators - people like Van Gogh, Matisse and Kat he Kollwitz - to inform the drawing lessons that fill this book.

All of these books are in the library display case, and arc available to borrow on Monday, November 22"d Randy, your librarian

WINTER. SONG (To the tunc of'My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean')

It's freezing and four in the morning It feels like irs 20 below I'm lying here waiting here for dawning Because I have no place to go I'd a man and a son and a daughter A car and a house with nice views He left us though he didn't oughter The kids cried and I took to booze.

CHORUS Please sir, please sir, I just need a bed for the night, tonight.

Please sir, please sir, I just need a bed for the night.

A Cold Scrammy Day in November On a cold and scram my day in November I went to the courtyard and threw some bread crumbs No birds sang No birds new or sat on the high rooftops A rain full day in the wet northwest Ole Vancouver town Remembrance Day dark and quiet Like Goode Friday or Ash Wednesday This was on a Thursday no thunder Some birds did appear Crows or ravens small dark and shiny Hawk-like eyes hooded heads cocked Aggressive and competitive as seagulls Society breaking down in the hungry cold.

I counted the crows One sorrow, two joy Three five seven Story that's never been told Seagull suddenly scoops up all the bread A pair of plump pigeons peck small crumbs Try to shake apart the bigger pieces Hailing Starlings and sparrows those opportunities Cheeky and quick dart about A lone woodpecker does not leave his tree Maybe he has left for sunnier climes...

Wilhelmina Miles

3

Me

A lifetime of selfishness Empty, lonely old age Dull and grey, the kind of Grey you can smell, taste.

Bland, smokey, aching, Empty, suffering ...

Weeping a dry mist upon the blank page.

Nothing to show but a translucent dried bag of bones A nameless tomb, dust in the wind, never to settle, always floating on the lifeless breeze.

Me, me, me Careful of what you ask Nobody cares OLD MAN. Henry George

I soon lost my job and my housing So we stayed in a shelter all day We constanlly needed delousing Then they took my poor babies away.

My stay at the shelter was over I'd nothing but anguish and woe So I upped and came out to Vancouver I didn't know where else to go.

CHORUS You shouldn'l sleep out in Toronto It's too cold lo sleep out in Moose Jaw It's unwise to sleep out in Prince Albert Tuktoyuktuk or Chibougamau.

So Vancouvers the place we all comes to At least you can sleep in the day Folks think we're all druggies and bums, too But most of us just lost our way.

CHORUS

I rented a room in a hell-hole $400 a month and quite small My neighbours were noisy and violent And the bathroom was way down the hall As housing, it just wasn't funny With crack-heads and bedbugs all day But what else can you get for the money That welfare allows you to pay?

CHORUS I found me a young handsome lover With two rooms and cash to his name It didn't take long to discover He wanted me out on the game So I went to a place on Cordova With a black eye, all tearful and meek.

They said, 'We're full up, suppers over.

Go elsewhere, and come back next week.'

CHORUS The shelters are full, or they're useless And if you get a foot in the door Some watery soup and a sandwich And a mattress from midnight to four.

You might think this song is depressing You might thmk irs all rather strange But instead of just sitting there stressing Lers all work together for change

by Gian Ward

NO STRANGER TO BLINDFOLDS

Elders

Been in this situation before, lots to get done as I sit staring at my door.. so individuality & Sony Walkmans are now obsolete, one morning I'm going to wake up to the fact that that's the last mo rning - no repeats. I'm in no hurry for the sun to shine, that is until they announce this is to be the last time, I try not to worry about the hours that turn to months & then in turn to thin air, I am no stranger to blindfolds my incurable a ilments remind me once again I have not gotten or gone anywhere.

Every channel instantly mute; Every futuristic gadget does not compute; Every dial in my s ink is so so cold; If I were a teacher, Everyone would fail - allow me to be so bold: So you' re enjoying this dotcomland with its e-coli mai l? I hear Colonel Mustard is going to jail , has the word consecutive been left back on the trail, man this j ud ic ial system has become so stale is fo r fai l Fail FA IL ; one more cigarette before I light up the next, hands arc shaking yet no nuclear baking starting to attract tension (this is not correct); kids are crying as people walk by them singing "They are not !!.!!!. problem!" Think what you wi ll, every new stro lle r puts Earth's core to the test; sewers are bubbling the law and enfo rcement is bungling AGAIN don't worry you'll probably be dead as they start picking peop le at random to clean up this mess In conclusion I have no illusions our time line will be chosen worst, pick a c hanne l any channel and watch the teardrops burst and they didn't even have torehearse the end of the last verse.

By ROBERT McGJLLIVRA Y

In my eyes, my ideal Elder is an honest person. To get respect is if he o r she is respectful towards the younger people.

My grandparents honour their role by teaching us how to care for people's feelings. If one disrespects someone in public, they had to honour the person in a potluck, giving them a blanket for security reasons.

1 believe in caring for elders. Elders are role models for the ch ildren and their children's futu re.

So, my dear elders, I salute you for all your knowledge and wisdom.

All my relations, Bonnie E Stevens

â&#x20AC;˘r

Carnegie Theatre Workshops Back for the Winter Season!

I51 two classes: Friday, Nov 26, I - 4pm Monday, Nov 29, I - 4pm [in the Carnegie Theatre] Two m ore classes in December, with a Public Performance on Wednesday, December 22 For more info: Teresa 604.255.9401 thirteenofuearts@hotmai !.com

Bedbug Killer: This is I 00% effective and cheap, too. The mixture is V. bleach and 3/ . water. Spray or saturate the bed (boxspring &/or mattress) three times a day. Repeat on the 2nd day and no more bugs. The smell evaporates too.

Bleach is tox ic (dead ly) to most creatures on this planet.. humans too!

If you have problems with bedbugs on your favou rite chair or so fa (for all you couch potatoes), this treatment is equally effective.

By Larry Mousseau PS: Did you know that chlorine is added to bleached white flour. This is done because it increases the volume of the dough. More volume = More profit. Yech!

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McMurphy Cracks Off Mad hatters are peculiar men We sleep all day and wake at ten Folks say were lazy Dad says were crazy

I say we're just eccentric mad lunatics then In Gone With The Wind , who goes?

Who flew over the cuckoos nest?

In 'Stranger in a Strange Land", who's the stranger?

Who was the mad monk?

Through A Child's Eyes

Sarah was asked if she knew Mr. Harper, she replied, "He's the king of Canada" Harper corrected her, "I'm the dictator of Canada" Sarah said she would, then she said she wouldn't, now she might, but who really cares.

Sarah went to a tea party, and ordered a double double

What does a ch ild feel or think when he hears the word "war"? Especially back in 1914: when someone in the adult world who was running a country got a little mad at someone else who was also running a country. The words army, soldiers, tanks, ... By this time the child is confused and bewildered, and how come Dad 's suddenly dressed in a funny suit, and he Harper, is that a wig or a helmet? thinks, 'Why is he carrying a gun and wearing a funny Harper, those jets, way to expensive for one guy. hard helmet?'

Harper, start looking for a new job, hair stylist.

He looks at his Mom and wonders why she is crying.

Ignatius, a good academic, a bad politician Mom and Dad sit quietly at the table, reaching out for Ignatius, go back to school, it's embarrassing路 each other's hands, siting and whispering just out of Ignatius, we like you, but not as P.M. ear range. The child is lost, as if something terrible is go ing to happen. With the sun high in the sky, the grass Where did the Carnegie Mummy go? is green and the nowers are at their peak of colour (so What's the name of the Carnegie Angle? beauti fu l); inside the child's mind a darkness is coming How many men in the stained glass windows, forward.

Be it from east, west, north or south he does take a good look. Who was the mad monk? not understand what has happened.

There oughta be a law, against lying politicians Suddenly, all around him, the men from the vi llage There oughta be a law, legalising drugs, Portugal has one come out of their homes all dressed the same and There oughta be a law, enforcing present laws, walking in line like a machine. As the thudding of the about selling drugs in front of Carnegie march comes closer and louder, he runs toward his There oughta be a law, against crazy shrinks. home. !lis father and mother stand outside together, Translate this, I discombobulated his acey ducey mojo hand in hand, as hi s father gets ready to fa ll in line. in a haze of cold fusion Never hearing such an agonizing cry from his mother, he runs faster to give her comfort.

I told a friend I was taking a course at Carnegie The new word 'army' comes marching by his house He said 'you're crazy going down there" and the dust becomes so thick it blocks the light of the I said, "so I'm crazy" s un. With no words said from mother to child, the He said "you'll end up dead or worse' soldiers' beat moves onward to the west.

I said " the foods great, let's go for lunch' This is the last time the child will see his father as he He wasn't really a friend. disappears beyond the horizon.

By Leon Mark Isaac Wuttunee

• e Ca r n e g I FREE

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doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. lndeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

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THIS NEWSLETIER 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 • Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry. ~ Cover art- Max size: 17cm(6 o/.")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 tc;>o 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.

GET CLEAN! Shower up at the Lord's Rain 327 Carrall Street Uust off Pigeon Park)

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"I have the audacity to believe that peopl! everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for t heir minds, dignity, equality and justice for their spirits. I believe tha what se lf-c entred men have torn down. other-centred men can build up."

Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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