November 15, 2019 Carnegie Newsletter

NOVEMBER 15, 2019

FR~ieei.~ NEWSLETTER 401 MaIn Street Vancouver Canada V6A 2T7 Email: carnnews@shaw.ca

EXPROPRIATION

carnnews@vcn.bC.ca (604} 665-2289

Website!Catalogue: carnegienewsletter.org

by UNANIMOUS

SAHOTAS GET $1

VOTE

Council approves expropriation

of the

Balmoral and Regent Hotels Historic move will create new low-income Downtown

homes in the

Eastside

Vancouver City Council voted to approve the expropriation ofthe Balmoral and Regent Hotels in the Downtown Eastside.

This extraordinary measure is being taken to bring the buildings into public ownership and create new low-income housing.

"Today's historic vote to expropriate the Balmoral and Regent Hotels is a clear message that we are not afraid to use every tool at our disposal to create new affordable homes," said Mayor Kennedy Stewart. "The decision to bring the buildings into public ownership was not taken lightly. Safe, secure homes are desperately needed in our city and today's decision recognizes the impact these buildings had on the Downtown Eastside community."

I

Due to decades of underinvestment in the buildings, which resulted in structural and life-safety concerns, both buildings were closed and more than 300 ofthe city's lowest income residents relocated to safer housing, in partnership with BC Housing.

Staff are in active discussions with the Provincial government, and will continue to seek partnerships with all levels of overnment for the renovation and/or redevelopment, as well as operations, of the two buildings. The City's intention is to engage with partners and the community in discussions related to the future of the two buildings.

This decision also follows the City's unsuccessful attempts to negotiate an outright purchase of the properties with the owners. The City's previous offers were guided by assessed land value.

Council directed staff to compensate the building owners $1 per building, and $1,000 to the owner of the Regent Pub for the pub lease. The $1 valuations are the result of independent appraisals ob-

tained by the City and take into account the significant costs needed to renovate the buildings. Council also approved $350,000 for each building for security systems, additional hardware and on-site and mobile patrols to ensure the buildings are secured against re-entry.

The Downtown Eastside plan calls for increased affordable housing options, including prioritizing the delivery of shelter rate homes. Since the start of 2019, more than 230 shelter rate units have opened or are currently under construction in the Downtown Eastside, with another 155 shelter rates units approved for development in the area. This includes temporary modular housing open in the neighbourhood.

*Here ends the blurb put out by the city. In the staff reports it shows the properties have a negative value of over -$22.9 million (Balmoral) and -$17.8 million (Regent). It's generous of the City to pay Sahota a buck apiece. He would fine his staff if they calledfor professional maintenance - plumbers, repairs for the chronically broken elevators, fixing heat or hot water and more. The SRO Collaborative .has details that scream for criminal charges.

Costs to "renovate" are pretty dicey - $46 million for the Balmoral and $40 million for the Regent but I wonder how you can renovate such old and dilapidated structures? The buildings were closed for numerous health and safety violations, and putting that much money into restoring livability seems strange when tearing them down and building new structures with shelter/pension-rate housing would make for much more stable, long-term housing.

The City blurb is reprinted to show what their Public Relations are highlighting. A blurb from the Mayor talks now about consulting with local people about making these buildings and others part of the Downtown Eastside Plan. Stay tuned!

SANDY CAMERON MEMORIAL WRITING G:ONTEST Jean Swanson, Sandy's life partner, came to speak about Sandy and how he encouraged everyone to write & share their experiences.

There were 2 categories, with 1st, 2nd & 3rd in each with 2 additional awards of Honourable mention.

Other entries were recognized for merit..

Essay: 1st place "The Cockroach" by Patrick Foley (pictured above left) 2nd place "Water Lilies" by Robert Rose; 3rd place "This Day" by Steven Jiggins Poetry: 1st place "1968 Christmas at Birmingham Bullring" by Ruby Diamond (pie above right) 2nd place "The Voices" by Lome MacDonald;

3rd place "Take my heart" by Matthilda

Thank you to all the writers of both prose and poetry who had the courage to submit their work. These pieces will appear in the next several issues ofthe Newsletter. Thank you also to Vancouver Moving Theatre and the Heart of the City Festival for both including this event in the Festival and providing the prize money for the winners of 1st ($100 each), 2nd ($75 each) and 3rd ($50 each).

A huge Heartfelt THANK YOU to Everyone involved in the is" Annual Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival!

This year's festival, with the theme Holding the Light, featured hundreds of local residents and artists sharing the stories, hopes, dreams and issues of our community.

It was an honour and privilege to work with all of you on another successful Festival.

A heartfelt thanks to the artists, participants, audience members, community partners, funding partners, supporters, staff, volunteers, work teams, and friends for your participation in an extraordinary festival.

The Festival is strong because of the relationships, collaborations and partnerships we create together.

Next year's

ir" Annual

DTESHeart of the

City Festival, with the theme This Gives Us Strength, will take place Wednesday October 28 to Sunday November 8, 2020.

If you have a project or a program idea to contribute or suggest for next year's Festival, give us a call: 604-628-5672, or talk with Rika in the Carnegie Community Centre 604665-3003. www.heartofthecityfestival.com

5

From -the Library The Camegie Branch has a received a few interesting new arrivals lately. One is Edward Snowden's much anticipated autobiography titled Permanent Record.

Snowden is famous, or infamous (depending on your position), for leaking documents that revealed the American surveillance apparatus in 2013. Since then he has been living in asylum in Moscow, Russia. In this candid autobiography, Snowden writes passionately about his upbnnging and the way technology Influenced hIS path to 'becoming a spy and whistleblower.

For the poetry fansbwe have recently received a copy ofJoy Harjo's new ook of poems called An American Sunrise. Harjo is the current Poet Laureate of the United States, ana America's first Indigenous Poet Laureate. The inspiration for the collection of poetry is the plight of the Mvskoke people who were forcibly removed from their lands in Oklahoma, during the early 1800s. This history isalso informed by Harjo's personal expenences as an indigenous poet and activISt. Finally, I welcome everyone to join us in the theatre on Monday, November 25, for three documentaries celebrating Indigenous veterans and elders. The first is Forgotten Warriors which introduces us to the Indigenous veterans of W orld War 11who, while fighting for freedom abroad, were having their freedom demed . at¡home. The second is Urban Elder about Vem Harper's (a Cree activist) walk down the "Red Road," which involved a sweat lodge purification ceremony, a classical ballet rehearsal, a8rivate healing ceremony, c and a political march of 15 ,000 people. The third IS Spirit Doctors which is a documentary about traditIonal IndIgeIlous medicine and the spiritual world connected 10 It. Happy Reading and Viewing,

The Voices An anguished spirit has pulled the feet of the crazed man halfway out of his hightop red runners, causing him to walk like he is climbing stairs.

His eyes are ablaze as he argues his incoherence skyward, while tramping across the busy street shaking his fist in his impassioned imaginings.

While reading some pages-suddenly awareness sneaks in through my ears.

A quiet conversation is going on in the booth in front of me, where a petite lonely looking woman in black-black bandana, hair, glasses, eyes, jacket, slacks, shoesphoneless and without earbuds, is hunching over the table holding her drink, speaking in her mother tongue to the emptiness beside her.

Sheila speaks to the voices in her head.

They counsel her to be good, to be holy.

She raises her index'finger to her lips; "sh-h-h, sh-h-h-listen Sheila listen."

1

Daniel

Breaking Out of the Box Break Out of the Box before the door of opportunity

locks

for the mundane is actually

what drives most insane

and into depressions.

Is this wrong?

or right?

give me your light \uD83E\uDD14

on this ...

inga g.

Lome MacDonald (This piece was 2nd place in Poetry)

The Learning Centre has been part of the Carnegie Community Centre since 1983. The importance of and need for literacy, computer skills, learning languages, help with applications of any kind and much more have been part and parcel of this extraordinary resource for almost 36 years.

Over the years, many publications have showcased the talents of our learners, volunteers and staff, and we have collected stories from them to make this book.

Here are some of the books and resources we have used: The Feathered Pen, December 1988; Life Press, 1988; Instant Book. Carnegie Learners Conference Creative Writing Day 1989; Off the Wall (1992-95); Carnegie Writers' Book, Spring/Summer 1997; Carnegie Writers' Book, Fall/Winter 1997; Surviving with Grace, 2003, Being True to Ourselves: Downtown Eastside Poems of Resistance, 2004; I came to Vancouver ... I grew up in Vancouver (2011); Oppenheimer Park Calendar (2007, 2008,2014); Invisible Heroes, 2017; FireWriters and Friends 2017; Carnegie Newsletter (2010,2018) [The editorial team is Betsy, Gilles C, Phoenix W. Adrienne M and Diane W; Diane designed the cover.]

Hum: University Set Free Interested in taking a 13-week Creative Writing course at UBC? Humanities 101 Community Programme (Hum) offers free university-level courses for low-income people who live in and around the Downtown Eastside and Downtown South. Meeting on Tuesday nights, from January 8 and April 2, in Writing 101 and Writing 201 we learn and practice a new genre and style of writing each week. Classes cover short stories, memoir, screenwriting, poetry, manifestos, creative non-fiction and more. Participants receive . school supplies, UBC cards, meals, bus tickets to get to and from UBC Point Grey campus where classes are held, and childcare if needed . . Hum courses are for people who have encountered financial and other barriers to university education and who wish to expand their intellectual horizons in an accessible, challenging and respectful environment.

Applicants must have a love of learning, basic literacy skills and be willing to attend classes, complete assignments and participate in group discussions. Applications for these non-credit courses are accepted not on the basis of past academic history, but on the applicants' desire and ability to be part ofthe Hum Programme.

Visit the Hum website for more information, humanities 10 larts.ubc.ca, or contact h.u.m@ubc.ca 822-0028.To apply, you must attend an upcoming information/application session:

••

The Gathering Place, 609 Helmcken St. (meeting room) Saturday November 30th at 11:00 a.m.

Carnegie Centre, Main and Hastings St. (third floor) Saturday November 30th at 2:00 p.m.

Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, 302 Columbia St. Monday December 2nd at 11:00 a.m.

Vancouver Recovery Club, 2775 Sophia St. (Spanish Room) Tuesday December 3rd at 11 :00 a.m.

I 604-

A Carnegie Community Centre Story

1995-2005

CARNEGI.E COMMUNITY

ACTION

PROJECT

I j]OJm~t±~1T~~tI!l3mID1.

NEWSLETTER

BALMORAL AND REGENT EXPROPRIATED ONE FOR THE POOR!

NOVEM BER 2019

BALMORAL AND REGENT EXPROPRIATION On November 6, the City of Vancouver approved a recommendation that the Sahota-owned Balmoral and Regent hotels be expropriated. To the shock of the Sahotas, they offered $1 for each building based on the negative value found by the city appraisers.

housing be built at the sites and that community consultation be undertaken. As the old well-known proverb says: "Nothing for Us Without Us".

Below is a letter about the hotels, printed with permission.

A report by CCAP and the SRO Collaborative urges that shelter-rate popnn

ire"~' ,,'

'

'~'

'n~lerwen e-Ioor above. yown batnroQ.rnceiling.started to eak water during the winter. It had'to be repaired twice. These buildings will require a lot of money to be habitable again. Both buildings are entirely infested with bedbugs, cockroaches and rats. Countless women have been abused, tortured and murdered in these buildings.

'.

01

POLICE BUDGET CAMPAIGN 2019 The City of Vancouver will soon be approving another annual budget for the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). The VPD budget has been dramatically increased over the past decade. The total budget last year was about $317 million.

Today the VPD continues to conduct regular visits to safe injection sites in the DTES.These visits have had a chilling effect in the community and in some cases have pushed drug users away from life-saving harm reduction facilities.

We know that our community does not need more policing. We also know that millions of dollars are being funneled into the failed war on drugs. As the police budget continues to expand, VPD officers in the DTES have more time and resources than ever, resulting in increased racial profiling, arbitrary police checks, property confiscations, and excessive by-law ticketing.

WHAT:

Police Budget Townhall, Defund the VPD

WHEN:

Tuesday November 19th 2-4 pm

Low-income, Indigenous people and drug users are the worst affected and continue to be circulated through the prison system at an alarming rate.

WHERE: Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users,380 East Hastings StreetThe purpose of this town hall is to come together to envision strategies to organize our community and push city council to re-direct VPD funds into proven and essential community services and supports.

02

CCAP AND INCLUSIVITY It became apparent to CCAP that there was a speaking engagement that Meghan Murphy and others were wanting to speak transphobic content.

We became aware of this through emails from our concerned community.

We decided to ask the board if it would be appropriate for us to write a letter urging SFU not to have this

speaker, however they didn't cancel.

In the end, Meghan Murphy's team cancelled at SFU and had the event at the Pan Pacific Hotel. There was a large demonstration (around 100). Here is a copy of the letter we did send to SFU in order to make sure this event wouldn't happen:

which involves her trying to host evâ‚ŹifJts for bigots likEiF;aithGoldyand

We ore 9

DUJiito~XE;[~S concern wit ,.event "How M't=: "", ':iw"c Bias Shapes tile Gender loentity Oeba~e"'6n Saturday, November 2nd We strongly urge SFU to cancel this event 7

Thisdebate is sponsored by SFU professor Mark Collard and features a panel of bigots, most notably Meghan Murphyand Undsay Shepherd, that will be speaking on November 2nd, Harbor Centet, at 5:00pm.

MeghanJv1urphy runs the Feminist Current, which uses a bio-essentialist argument to rally hate against trans women. Undsay Shepherd is a form TeacherAssistant who showed

.,',

'

'~~r:~~~~"~~$~~::~~;o *",ÂĽ;' Wk' then, LindsaJ/!!SJiepHerCi has bran de herselfas dfreeiSpeech advocate

03

ending talks.bJ0 ~j{;;q~doDuchesne d Mark Hecht.

This event does not oeserve a platform at a university like SFU,and you have no obligation to allow this to occur. It is important to highlight that a university like SFUshould be held to a higher academic standard than just what is allowed under the limits of the law As a community centre, the Carnegie Community Centre.and CCCAhave a policy of welcoming trans people.

There seems to be no question of what kind of talk the proposed forum will be. Freedom of speech is not an applicable (;Pf)c~~~~t=n the fo/um is ipgprovlr;jed ~&;Jnstitutionsare tarequired to give latforms to hate and cannot couch suc~ a platform of vitHo/ln the principle that "all points of view are valid." Instead, this event compromises the safety of trans

Again, we urge SFU to ance! this event on November 2nd at Harbour Center. We firmly belieye that such events do not be/on . ancouven ese kinds of eve ke tr

HEART OF THE CITY AND CCAP The screening was followed by a panel with DTES activists Chrissy Brett, Jean Swanson, Herb Varley, Jack Gates and Ruggero Romano. There was also a discussion following the panel. CCAP looks forward to supporting and working with the festival again in the future.

CCAP will report back on how it went!

We are pleased to remind you that CCAP partnered with Heart of the City Festival and~uggero Romano and we were able to have a gentrification tour starting llam from the steps of the Carnegie and ending up back at the Carnegie for refreshments and a lunch break then the film V6A screened at lpm in the Carnegie Theatre.

04

CCAP LAW WORKSHOPS UNDERSTANDING THE CHARTER: AN INTRO TO HUMAN RIGHTS presented by Meenakshi Manor and Lyndsay Watson from Pivot. They delivered a concise, approachable, and relevant presentation on the rights that the Charter covers, as well as opened discussion on its practical and larger limitations.

Section 7: Life, Liberty, and Security

Here is the debriefing on the first Law Workshop and how it went: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms can seem like an intimidating document to those who have not engaged with it as a legal professional. Filled with numerous sections and legalese jargon, it may be read as unapproachable and inaccessible for those who want to begin learning about their human rights as they apply in the day-to-day.

However, as a component of a general Canadian human rights framework, it is important to be aware of the Charter in order to understand what it covers and, equally as important, where it lacks.

On Friday, October 18,CCAP had its first session of a series of legal education workshops on Protests, Poverty, and People. This first workshop, on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, was 05

If you are a sex worker and/or drug user, Section 7 of the Charter covers your right to working and using drugs in a safe environment. The right of sex workers to earn an income, or in other words, to be free to earn a living safely, is protected (with limitations) as a right to life, liberty, and security. Those who use drugs also have the same rights, which look like access to life-saving overdose prevention sites and the freedom to use drugs safely.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

However, "social conditions" such as being in poverty, under homeless, or a drug user, isn't explicitly protected under the Charter or BC human rights laws. Pivot argues that they should be, since people experiencing these

social conditions deserve the same protections as everyone else in BC. Broaching the Limitations of Legal Justice Clearly, there are limitations to legal instruments such as the Charter and any human rights framework within a history of colonialism and stolen territory on Turtle Island. Stigma is systemic, and it informs community understandings of discrimination as well as legal solutions. Oftentimes, a community's experiences with discrimination aren't reflected or considered in legal and political solutions. One of the reasons for this disconnect is that stigma is present everywhere, even in institutions that claim to advancejustice. This brings us to questions which will reappear in different ways throughout this legal education series: who has meaningful access to justice and what does justice mean (and look like) for different people? Although there are practical benefits to being aware of one's basic rights--those who understand a system are better equipped to struggle against it--those wh~ are poor, marginalized, and exploited by capitalism and settlercolonialism do not experience justice equally, totally, or "fairly". An underlying and bigger-picture question for us, then, is how can we fight together for a justice system led by the people, for the people? At CCAP, we often think of the phrase: nothing about us, without us. These workshops are a chance for community members in the Downtown Eastside to be aware of and gain a deeper understanding of legal

systems in order to think about and discuss how to start making it work for them and how it can be changed radically. After all, the real experts on injustice in all realms, including the law, are the people who face injustice themselves.

CCAP's next legal education workshop will be on November 29, 2:304:00pm at the Carnegie Theater: This workshop will be presented by Laura Johnston at the Community Legal Assistance Society and co-facilitated

by Meriah Main, Society of Pillars for Individuals Receiving Involuntary Treatment (SPIRIT)and Erica Grant, community advocate. All of these workshops are FREE, and refreshments will be served.

06

CARNEGIE

COMMUNITY

ACTION

PROJECT

111:15 AM EVERY

FRIDAY

The Carnegie Community Action Project is a project of the board of the Carnegie Community Centre Association. CCAP works mostly on housing, income, and land use issues in the Downtown Eastside (DTES),so that the area can remain a low income friendly community.

CCAP works with English-speaking and Chinese-speaking DTES residents in speaking out on their own behalf for the changes they would like to see in their neighbourhood. Join us on Fridays 11:15am in classroom 2 on the third floor of the Carnegie Centre for our weekly volunteer meetinqs' Downtown Eastside residents who want to work on getting better housing and incomes and stop gentrification are welcome to attend.

Lunch is provided.

~Amr~tnl~ 1 CHINATOWN

CONCERN

GROUP

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**

CONTACT

US:

Office: 2nd floor of the Carnegie, 401 Main Street, Vancouver Phone: 604-665-2105 Email: info@carnegieaction.org Website: www.carnegieaction.org

Vancity

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

A Carnegie Community Centre Story was the subject of a booklaunch during the Heart of the City Festival, 2019. It is a collaboration between Michael Clague, Director of our centre between 1995 and 2005, and Peter Fairchild, who arrived homeless & broke and began volunteering. Each writes about personal experiences and external circumstances on many aspects of Carnegie Centre and its role in the dynamic life of the Downtown Eastside.

There are stories, as listed on the Contents page, of Arrivals; Early Days; The Community Context; The People of Carnegie; The Carnegie Board; Carnegie Staff; Security and the Front Desk; the Library; The Learning Centre; The Computer Room; The Kitchen, The Carnegie Newsletter; Carnegie Underground; The Volunteer Program; Oppenheimer Park; The Street Program; The Power of Community Arts; 100 Years Old!; Christmas at Carnegie; The Theatre, Dealing with City Hall; The Vancouver Agreement; The Police; Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) Memorials; Conclusions and Changes. The last piece is the Sandstone Lady, lyrics by Patrick Foley and melody by Earle Peach.

Mission Statement

- 2000

Our mission is to nurture mind, body and spirit in a safe and welcoming environment.

Through the leadership and participation of our volunteers, we provide social, educational, cultural and recreational activities for the benefit of the people of the Downtown Eastside.

Guiding Principles To treat one another with respect regardless ofrace, disability, ethnicity, colour, religion, gender or age; To accept and celebrate a diversity oflifestyles and cultures; To listen and strive to understand one another; To settle differences and misunderstandings through patience and good will; To respect the personal and private space of one another while offering friendship and inclusion in the life of Carnegie; To build on one another's strengths, skills and natural abilities; To contribute to the work of Carnegie while enjoying the benefits ofthe Centre; To ensure that people in our community are supported in fmding their own voice and in participating in the life of the Centre; To serve the community inside Carnegie and in the Downtown Eastside.

It was a volunteer coordinator's idea that Carnegie needed a mission statement. Doing such a thing had never been one of my favourite pastimes. But because he had suggested it and was prepared to put some time into it, we launched a process with the support of the Board. A group was formed, with a small number of volunteers and two staff representative A series of informal drop-in conversations were held around the building, all dutifully recorded.

I remember one in the theatre; there were perhaps five or six of us in a little circle of chairs. One participant was an unpredictable character who was regularly banned for mostly minor but irritating behaviours but then readmitted.

During the conversation he simply stated that Carnegie was "home." We took notes and I began to appreciate the importance of this exercise.

In the end, a list of highly powerful words and phrases emerged from this process, including safety, acceptance, fairness, belonging and more. We shared all of them with members and then, using many of these words, crafted a short mission statement. The words that were not used were added as a backdrop to the statement itself. Thus, in the end, all were used.

The mission statement remains over the Carnegie reception desk to this day.

[The bit on Mission Statement is attributed to Michael and is in the book as a prelude. Names are left out in almost all the writings of both Michael and Peter. The "much beloved and respected Member of Parliament" was Libby Davies. She, along with Bruce Eriksen, Jean Swanson and others in the Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA) fought for 7 years to turn this old girl into something like sunrise. Ed.]

Resistance Matters Have you (or has anyone you know) ever been diagnosed with "bipolar disorder," "personality disorder," or "schizophrenia"? What about being locked up on a psychiatric ward against your will, forced to take "meds" that have terrible effects on your body and mind, and then being told that you have to keep taking these "meds" all your life to treat your incurable "mental illness"? I am one of the countless Canadians who have had this experience over and over again, starting in my youth.

A long time ago I figured out that the only way I was ever going to be okay was by rejecting and fighting back against all psychiatric bullshit. The person who first helped me find my way is myoid friend and mentor Don Weitz, eo-founder of the magazine Phoenix Rising: The Voice of the Psych iatrized and of several self-help, advocacy and political action groups in Toronto. So I am very happy to let you know about his new e-book, Resistance Matters: The Radical Vision 0/ an Antipsychiatry Activist, of which I am the editor. The main message is: We do not have to take psychiatry lying down!

(Well, at least not once we get out of the shackles with which they've "restrained" us on the bed.) Find out al about the history of resistance against psychiatry in Canada, and what you can do to prevent psychiatric "treatment" messing up your life, or the life of someone you love.

Here is my favourite review, by an anonymous psychiatric survivor: "Just skimming through Resistance Matters had an immediate empowering effect on me. lt reminded me of times of clarity, when psychiatry was more honest and didn't have a thousand perverted means to hide its real face with inventions such as consumer involvement, peer leadership, home treatment, personalized care and all the other stuff that just makes it difficult to shout "fuck off' clearly and loudly." You can read Resistance Matters at https:11 www.madinamerica.comlwp-content! uploads/20 19/06/Resistance-Matters-April-20 19.pdf

By Irit Shimrat [For more of her writing on psychiatry and mental health, google "Irit Shimrat."]

CHINATOWN

THE OPERA

comes to CARNEGIE 7 - 9pm, Saturday 30 November CHINATOWN is a new opera about the history, the people, the endurance, and the cultures of Vancouver's Chinatown.

It is set in 1961, on the eve of destruction of the Hing Mee building, about to be demolished to make way for the viaducts at Main Street. The residents gather to say goodbye, and letters are discovered hidden in a wall.

So our story begins.

Written by the great Canadian author Madeleine Thien, it is now in text-only workshop. The music won't come for another year. Maddie was born in Strathcona, raised in Chinatown, and is author of DO NOT SAY WE HAYE NOTHING. That historical novel won the Giller Prize, the Governor-General's Award, and is a global best-seller since translated into 17 languages.

She will be in attendance, as will six professional actors. We will read and beta-test the text, and then turn it over for comment and reply. Can you join us?

See you there. This will City Opera's 43rd event in the DTES, and is sponsored by The Vancouver Foundation, and the City of Vancouver Creative Cities Strategy.

Trudy Chalmers, General Manager

You, Me & Us Gallery Gachet's Annual Collective Show November 8 - December 20,2019 Gallery Gachet celebrates over two decades of collectivity in art and culture this year with You, Me & Us, on view from November 8 to December 20,2019. The exhibition features painting, sculpture, installation, photography, text, comics, found objects, sound, and process-based work from 17 of the artists who run this valued community-based art centre.

The artworks presented contend with form and process and address themes of collectivity, intra- and interspecies relations, ecological consciousness, Indigenous kinship, memory, and mental health, as well as destigmatization and safe supply in the context of the opioid crisis, and art as a practice of survival. Many of the artists who connect with Gallery Gachet are self-taught or working differently than academic and institutional conventions. You, Me & Us is a title borrowed from the work of a Collective Member Karen Irving, whose oil painting parallels the similar relationships whales have themselves and others whales, resembling the relationships humans have with each other.

Artists: Sharon Bums, Stella Castell, Haisla Collins, Elizabeth Dodds, Edzy Edzed, Bemadine Fox, Karen Irving, Pierre Leichner, Quin Martins, Daniel Ordufia, Heather Pelles, Chav Petkov, Bill Pope, Tom Quirk, Bruce Ray, Iven Sirnonetti, Zola Star.

Located in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver on the unceded and occupied territories of the x m;)9kw;)y;)m (Musqueam), SkwxwU7mesh (Squamish) and S;)iUw;)tai (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations, Gallery Gachet has a mandate to support artists and present contemporary art exhibitions that contend with mental health and socio-political marginalization, while promoting art as a means for survival, cultural participation, and human rights.

For more information about Gallery Gachet exhibitions or public programs please contact programming@gachet.org or 604.687.2468 W

Mayor, mayor, go away!

Learn compassion mr. mayor rd

Live in 3 -rate SRO awhile on basic welfare rates!

Live homeless for awhile under flimsy tentlblankets!

Live with not enough nutritious food!

Then, only then sill man, may you come to care come to somehow understand

Live with Orwellian shitty hall unjustly persecuting you!

John Alan Douglas

Think you¡re being discriminated against by health \Norkers, social service providers, and police for mental health reasons? Join CLAS. SPIRIT, and community members for an educational presentation on the Mental

Health Act

•

Funded by the Lavv Foundation of BC FRIDAY NOV. 29 11 CARNEGIE THEATRE 11 2:30PM 11 FREE

Understanding the Charter: An Intro to Human Rights The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms can seem like an intimidating document to those who have not engaged with it as a legal professional. Filled with numerous sections and legalese jargon, it may be read as unapproachable and inaccessible for those who want to begin learning about their human rights as they apply in the day-to-day. However, as a component of a general Canadian human rights framework, it is important to be aware of the Charter in order to understand what it covers and, equally as important, where it lacks.

On Friday, October 18, CCAP had its first session of a series of legal education workshops on Protests, Poverty, and People. This first workshop, on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, was presented by Meenakshi Mannoe and Lyndsay Watson from Pivot. They delivered a concise, approachable, and relevant presentation on the rights that the Charter covers, as well as opened up discussion on its practical and larger limitations.

Section 7: Life, Liberty, and Security If you are a sex worker and/or drug user, Section 7 of the Charter covers your right to working and using drugs in a safe environment. The right of sex workers to earn an income, or in other words, to be free to earn a living safely, is protected (with limitations) as a right to life, liberty, and security. Those who use drugs also have the same rights, which look like access to life-saving overdose prevention sites and the freedom to use drugs safely.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles offundamental justice.

However, "social conditions" such as being in poverty, under homeless, or a drug user, isn't explicitly protected under the Charter or BC human rights laws. Pivot argues that they should be, since people experiencing these social conditions deserve the same protections as everyone else in BC.

Broaching the Limitations of Legal Justice Clearly, there are limitations to legal instruments such as the Charter and any human rights framework within a history of colonialism and stolen territory on Turtle Island. Stigma is systemic, and it informs community understandings of discrimination as well as legal solutions. Oftentimes, a community's experiences with discrimination aren't reflected or considered in legal and political solutions. One of the reasons for this disconnect is that stigma is present everywhere, even in institutions that claim to advance justice. this legal education series: who has meaningful access tojustice and what does justice mean (and look like) for different people? Although This brings us to questions which will reappear in different ways throughout

there are practical benefits to being aware of one's basic rights--those who understand a system are better equipped to struggle against it-those who are poor, marginalized, and exploited by capitalism and settlercolonialism do not experience justice equally, totally, or "fairly". An underlying and bigger-picture question for us, then, is how can wejight together for ajustice system led by the people,for the people?

At CCAP, we often think of the phrase: nothing about us, without us. These workshops are a chance for community members in the Downtown Eastside to be aware of and gain a deeper understanding of legal systems in order to think about and discuss how to start making it work for them and how it can be changed radically. After all, the real experts on injustice in all realms, including the law, are the people who face injustice themselves.

CCAP's next legal ducation workshop will be on November 29, 2:30-4:00pm at the Carnegie Theater. This workshop will be presented by Laura Johnston at the Community Legal Assistance Society on the Mental Health Act of BC. Have you had any experiences with or witnessed someone being policed under the Mental Health Act? Are you aware of the special authorities given to police under the Mental Health Act? Are you concerned that police are asked to respond to mental health emergencies and not community mental health care peers and workers? Let's learn about and discuss these issues in the next workshop. All of these workshops are FREE and refreshments will be served.

The Cockroach Let me ask you a question my fellow Downtown Eastsiders. Are you finding those dam cockroaches are getting harder and harder to kill? If you aren't then lucky you. But if you are, then it gives me some solace to think that there are others like me. I used to be about 80% effective in smashing them, but now I'm down to maybe 60% in killing the roach. I don't think it's my age (70+). I think the roach has acquired new abilities to evade the crushing blows of us Homo sapiens. The little roaches are not a problem, it's those big ones that I'm talking about.

You see, the other day I attempted to kill one, but I missed. I wound up knocking over my favorite coffee mug which smashed to pieces on the floor. As I was picking up the remains--I really should have given it a proper burial-J started thinking and it was brought home to me that the roaches are getting faster, trickier, and more skilled at eluding my attempts to squash them. I should really ask a knowledgeable biologist if the roach has acquired new adaptations to avoid our blows. I tell you some roaches are as fast as some of those 100 meter runners or gymnasts at the Olympics. No lie. Many have left me gasping for breath, and feebly waving my hand goodbye, watching as they disappear down a hole or into a crack.

They are like magicians. They've got more moves than some of those NBA basketball players.

In fact, I have watched them skitter and fly a bit. It's true, cross my heart. And they have a repertoire of disappearing acts that continue to baffle me. It's like I say, you put the ability to run, dodge, spin around, as well as jump and sometimes fly, and what have you got? One hell of a bug, if you ask me. Some kind of a devil in disguise maybe. It's got so bad that I'm on the verge of calling an exterminator to come in. I see them skulking about, appearing and disappearing so quickly, sometimes I don't know if I'm seeing things.

All I can say, people, somebody should invent some kind of a "roach tape" - stuff you put down around their hangouts or dens, so that when they step onto it they stick there for good. Say, how about some of you inventors out there jumping on this? I know I would appreciate it and so would many other folks who live in the Downtown Eastside. Think about it. Yeah, the roaches are bad enough, but when you also got bedbugs, mice, and rats to contend with, it's not very pleasant.

Yes, if we can beat the roach, then we could have a go a-finding solutions for many of the other problems facing us in the DTES: like the fentanyl crisis, drug addiction, alcoholism, homelessness, lack of life-skills training, need for jobs, mental health issues, etc. etc. I have to say, if we were as adaptable and hardy as the roach, we wouldn't have near the problems we have. Indeed, there is a lot we can learn from the roach, if we are humble enough to admit it.

By Patrick Foley [This piece placed 1st in the Sandy Cameron Memorial Writing Contest ($100).]

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