October 1, 2004, carnegie newsletter

OCTOBER 1, 2004 /

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PAUL WRIGHT

We celebrated Paul's life and incredible commitment to our community with a memorial in Oppenheimer Park, where you could find him daily. As some person said , "he was the guardian of the park". He was also a poet , a historian, an artist, a teacher, a father and a friend . He will be remembered as a jack-of-all-trades and a master of life.

We were shocked by his sudden death from a heart attack at the age of 52.

Many people spoke and shared their memories, there was knowing laughter as well as tears. We were told how he camped to save the land that became CRAB Beach from the developers, and about the pride he had in his epic 500 stanza poem he was looking.forward to seeing published, a harrowingly sad story of a young woman who ends up on the streets of Vancouver's DTES. Someone said "Paul was a man women trusted" and these days that's a rare and special breed. He had an acute perception and a wealth of knowledge about the politics affecting this community.

We were able to leave messages for Paul , pinned or glued to the wall next to the photos of him, some moving eulogies and goodbyes from his friends.

"Paul was one ornery critter, speaking his mind when anyone would lend an ear, but with speech full of compassion and care.

Care for this community he called home.

He loved this community full of contention and grace. We love you Paul, you're an ace."

"My friend who's been there for me .. .Everything I had problems with he was there. Anybody I had problems with he was there, taught me lots about people here , how everybody loves me as a friend ... Thanx Paul for always being there."

"Well buddie it's like they say, the good die young and the bad like myself stays and suffers more . See you on my next journey bud."

"Fucking park won't be the same without you ... I'm so glad that I met you ... you always gonna be in our hearts."

"Paul was one of the disciples of Oppenheimer. Paul was a theological student. According to the Bible, Paul Wright was Right."

"To the person who made me think. I will not soon forget. He brought sunshine in.

All the people will miss. Hope he's watching."

"Y ou shared at Carnegie through laughs and volleyball. You shared at Oppenheimer with gifts and your time .. .I will always remember you as a beautiful person. Thank you for sharing you ".

"Paul was such an awesome neighbour. He really cared about people. He concerned himself with the welfare of our children raked the playground, built playthings ;n our sidewalk and told stories, life lessons.

He was always ready and happy to talk, share, help .. ."

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"It's not going to be the same without you ... the bench by the playground, the steps in front of the red and blue houses - all the places that have your imprint on them. We will miss you and your words - written and spoken."

"Your light will always shine in our hearts, your soul is at rest and your body has peace.

You'll be missed" "You have a good heart."

"You brought joy, love and friendship to all you met. Travel safe, my friend."

"The reader, the poet, the builder, the listener, and so much more. Happy trails."

"May the path home be peaceful and the river be calm."

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Tire Song is the Message

by Paul Wright The caged bird sings in order to survive. This survival instinct is the most basic and strongest instinct we have. It is sometimes manifested as species or group survival but usually as personal strength .

The song takes many forms, writing and singing being the most common for the last few centuries.

Prior to these times oral traditions, picta-graphs, painting and carving were used and are still in use today on a more limited scale. (fthere is a way to communicate a message the bird has probably used it to sing its song.

The song is the message. Listen to the joy and hope I have. ( was here. I never gave up hope, ( never stopped singing. Part of the message is hope in the individual that partial immortality will come through the song, continuing life after the body has died. At times the song is concerned with species or group survival. The message warns of danger or death to the group. The songs price being paid by the individual. Enslaved peoples use the song to keep group identity alive, knowing that bars and chains do not last forever.

I Solzhenitsyn uses the song to transport the listener.

He is able to leave his cage, the listener taking his place, feeling as well as hearing the song. Anne Franks song about life as an oppressed and hunted people was never heard until years after her death.

Since that time millions of people have listened to her song. Nelson Mandela's song has so much joy, hope and light that his bars and chains have vanished. Now he sings of the joy, hope and light of the rebirth of his people. His song grows in strength , as do his people.

The bird sings in order to share the joy, hope and light that exists in all of us. The song allows the listener to bask in the radiant light of the singer, if only for a moment. Now and then the song has so much joy, hope and light that bars and chains really do disappear.

The song 's message is: never give up hope, never stop singing.

First printed in Surviving with Grace Writings, Essays and Poetry from the Carnegie Centre Writers Workshop 2003

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A Tree Again HaIfa year gone Fall now here Grass now growing Where it stood Here and there Coming up thru the grass The tree is risinz From its roots again Dozens of shoots Coming up thru the grass All chopped down When they cut the grass It would not take That many years For the roots to grow A tree again To shade the people From the heat of the sun, A place for the crows To peck on a bun

Three feet thick It grew over time Across the street From the sandwich line People it shaded From the heat of the sun Crows perched in it Pecking on a bun ~ In winter it looked So stark and bare Shades of brown Not yet green

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Many winters it withstood Three feet thick. solid wood Winter ' 99' almost spent Mother Nature a windstorm sent Bent and broken Two weeks it lay Before the Parks Board Would take it away.

Paul Wright 9/99

I feel I've lost a thousand years, just living day by day I'm hiding behind the pain and tears, My sorrow guides the way.

I cannot see where I have gone, Nor where my life shall go .

But leaving you my life long friend Is the only way I know.

It will be painful, I will be weak, But true friendship never dies.

So call upon the greatest power, When you feel you can't survive.

He will heal your saddest hours, And keep our memories alive.

For in the eternal love of God True friendship never dies.

You'll be missed, Paul I know you're watching over us in peace not in pain.

May your soul soar above the clouds with the eagles.

Oppenheimer Park Calendar 2003

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More cops keep arriving The sidewalk soon fills An island of blue In Leah's sea of green, Guns at their sides.

All laughing and joking Like their team just won Some god damned game.

The victims are cuffed, Then taken away No need for sirens Jail 's 3 blocks away.

By Paul Wright.

THAT OLD MAN That old man walking trough the city street's with his blanket's rolled up and his Belongings in a garbage bag Walking and walking and never stops his face lights up when he hears the train stop because it is time to travel to the next stop That old man with so much knowledge and experience of this life he knows what other people don 't understand that life is where you stand That old man has in his old garbage bag a lifetime of memories and so many dreams Of good times when he was a young vagabond and forever will be Traca taca traca taca as the train travels traca traca as the train moves traca traca as the old man moves with the rhythm of the train traca taca the train travels traca taca The train travels traca taca the train slows down as the life of the old man on that wagon Comes to an end traca taca is the end.

Original poem of Monserrat mufloz

3 From monster deficits to monster surpluses: What happened?

By Marc Lee The recent announcement by Finance Minister Gary Collins that BC is now expected to post a $1.2 billion surplus in 2004/05 caught many by surprise.

After all, it was only seven months ago that Minister Collins tabled his first balanced budget, after skyhigh deficits the previous three years. What explains this dramatic shift from red to black?

The Minister credits a more robust provincial economy, which he attributes to his government's economic program - tax cuts, deregulation, privatization. This story would make sense if it were not for the inconvenient fact that it is not true.

The government's projection for economic (real GDP) growth for 2004 was raised by only a tiny amount in the updated forecast - from 2.8% to 2.9%. This is hardly enough to cause such a major change in the budget's bottom line.

While the BC economy has definitely recovered from a recession in 200 I, it is not exactly "sizzling," as some recent newspaper headlines have suggested.

Economic growth of2.9% is not spectacular by any kind of historical benchmark. It is a middling growth rate that does not pack the kind of punch needed to substantially expand employment or increase wages.

On the employment front, a low interest rate environment has done more for BC than tax cuts, by stimulating the housing market and residential construction. A hot housing market also increased Victoria's revenues by $168 million in property transfer taxes.

Employment growth improved in 2003 and 2004, although it is still middle-of-the-road by historical standards. Other employment indicators are little changed from pre-200 I patterns. On a regional basis, most employment ga ins have been concentrated in the Lower Mainland and Victor ia.

Outside of residential const ruction, new capital investment in machinery and equipment and new facilities - the harbinger of future productivity growth - has been weak. This is a major indictment of the government's program.

As a result, projections for tax revenues that are directly linked to economic performance, such as personal income tax and sales tax, have increased

only slightly since the budget was tabled in February and do not contribute much to the total reven ue gain of$I .2 billion. Moreover, personal income tax revenues are still significantly lower than they were in 200 I before the government introduced its tax cuts - meaning that tax cuts have not paid for themselves.

So, where did the big money come from? The budget's bottom line got a huge boost from rising commodity prices. Lumber prices are close to record highs, up about 50% since budget time. This has meant an additional $375 million in revenues for the Be government.

Natural gas prices are also higher than projected at budget time, for an extra $203 million in revenues.

Higher energy and mineral prices added another $117 million in reven ues. Together, higher resou rce revenues account for 60% of the budget's revenue gain for 2004/05 .

Higher revenues have also come as a result of increased federal transfers for health care (up $166 million), and this does not count the new money that will come to BC as a result of the latest federalprovincial health care summit.

BC's post-secondary students chipped in an additional $95 million above what was expected at budget time due to higher tuition fees. Revenues from student fees are a jaw-dropping $350 million above what was collected back in 200 I/02 - before the government lifted the tuition freeze.

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What is truly alarming is that even though BC finds itself flush with cash, the $350 million in spending cuts announced at budget time in February have not been reversed. (One exception to this is the budget for forest fires, which is $120 million over its budget of$55 million.)

Since 200 I/02, ministries outside health care and education have borne a total spending cut of$1.9 billion. That the government now has a surplus of $1.2 bill ion tells us that even with the lost revenues from tax cuts, the government could have spared BC the pain of two thirds of these spending cuts and still had a balanced budget this year.

If a large portion oftoday's surplus is because yesterday's spending cuts were too deep, the people who carried the burden of the spending cuts should have dibs on the surplus. This means restoring cuts to child welfare, social assistance, child care subsidies, and environmental protection to name some of the more pressing needs in the province.

The Finance Minister is right that BC is now in a position to make choices about how to disburse the expected surplus. But he is wrong about his government's economic program. Most of the explanation for the budget surplus comes from factors - low interest rates, high commodity prices, stronger demand for BC exports - that are beyond the control of the provincial government.

Marc Lee is an economist in the BC office of/he Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. www.policyalternatives.ca

Mel Hurtig will

be speaking in Vancouver on Monday, October 4, 7:30 pm at the Canadian Memorial United Church, 1806 West 15th Avenue Free admission

7 "A powerful and devastating critique of the planned U.S. missile defence system and Canada's possible participation in it, and also of the duplicity of governments, including our own, in their statements on the issue. Mel's book is shocking and factual."

- Senator Douglas Roche, O.c.

RUSHING TO ARMAGEDDON THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT CANADA, MISSILE DEFENCE, AND STAR WARS

by Mel Hurtig . Readers will be shocked to learn how both the American and Canadian governments are intentionally misleading their citizens about the Pentagon's unprecedented plans to weaponize space; about the huge new Russian and Chinese nuclear missile buildup resulting from U.S. Star Wars plans; about the destruction of vitally important, long-standing arms control agreements; and about the rapidly increasing danger of a nuclear apocalypse.

Among the topics covered are why the so-called U.S missile "defence" system is really about establishing a U.S.first-strike-from-space capability; why both Paul Martin's government and Stephen Harper's Conservatives want to join in George W. Bush's dangerous program; how numerous official U.S. documents reveal their plans to "dominate space" and place deadly lasers and nuclear weapons in space; how today's nuclear weapons are up to 350 times more powerful than the bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki; how the missile "defence" plans will mean the placement of missiles on Canadian soil making Canada much less secure.

Hurtig provides remarkable and often devastating new information that will shock, anger, and appall readers. This is a book that every Canadian must read before Ottawa becomes an active partner in a tragic and potentially cataclysmic blunder.

About the Auth o r Founder and past-chairman of the Council of Can ad ians and former chairman of the Committee for an Independent Cana da, Mel Hurtig is an officer or the Order of Canada and has honorary degrees from six universities. His best-selling books include The Va nish ing Coun try , Th e Bet ray al of Ca nada , Pay the

Rent or Feed the Kids, and a memoir, Al Twili ght in the Country.

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Women paying price of legal services cutbacks ( Vancouver) As a result oflegal aid cuts women are losing custody of their ch ildren , giving up valid legal rights to support, and being subj ected to litigation harassment, according to a new report. It finds that women are paying a greater price for BC's deep cuts to legal services because it is primaril y family and poverty law legal aid that have been affected.

Women's need for legal services is overwhelmingly in these areas, but not in criminal law (where almo st no cuts were made).

"The impact oflegal services cuts on women has been deva stating," says Alison Brewin, auth or of Legal Aid Denied: Wom en and the Cuts 10 Legal Services in BC, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and West Coast LEAF. Brewin is program director for West Coast LEAF. "Women are being put in totally unacceptable situations," she say s. "Without legal aid they must spend endless days navigating a complex legal system researching and preparing legal documents, appearing without a lawyer f~ highly cha rged divorce and custody cases, and agreeing to sett lements that are not in their own or their children's interests."

In 2002 the provincial government announced a 40% cut to the Legal Services Society's (LSS) budget over three years. Ful l-time statTwere slashed from 460 to 155 and the province replaced 42 offices and 14 area directors with seven offices and 22 local

agents. The majority of the 40% cut occurred in family law lega l aid , and through the comp lete elimination of provincial funding for poverty law (e.g., for welfa re and employment insurance matters) and immigration law. Women are twice as likely to acce ss family law legal aid, whereas men are five times more likely to access crim inal legal aid .

The number of funded referrals to private lawyers for family law matte rs decreased by 58% between 2000/0 I and 2003/04; referrals for criminal cases decreased by just 2%. The province has restricted access to family law legal aid to situations where someone is fearful for their own safety or that of their chi ldren. The amount of representat ion available has also decreased dramatically - even when aid is granted, it is limited to a maximum of8 hours and is provided only to assist with obtaining a restraining order or change in custody agreement to protect the recipient's and/or her children's safety.

Noelle Heppell can attest to the impact of the government's changes. Following the cuts she was denied aeeess to legal aid to deal with ongoing child maintenance issues and was forced to represent herself in court. "I don't know very much about the court system," Heppell said. "I lost almost halfofthe child maintenance because I did not have adequate legal representation. The system does not work for women . You try to get help but you can't get it anywhere." West Coast LEAF is collecting sworn testimony from women across the province describing their situations following the cut s.

"The province's actions are shameful," says Brewi n.

"The government is taking in significantly more money for legal a id than it is spe nding." The province collects a 7.5% tax on legal services that is supposed to go directly to legal a id. It is difficult to determine exactly how much is being collected, but some estimates put the amount over $90 million .

The federal government also contributes $9 million for criminal legal aid. Yet current provinc ial government spending is only $55 million .

"The government has an obligation - under the Canadian Cha rter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as international human rights agreements - to take into account the impact of policy cha nges on women and ensure thei r equality rights are respected," says Brewin. "It is failing miserably."

(Press Release)

& Hello everyone, s)

Some ofyou may have heard about the Single Mother's Human Rights Project that West Coa st LEAF, the Poverty and Human Rights Project and CLAS have been working on. We received a great deal of excellent feedback through our online and in person survey, and now we are looking for single mom's interested in acting as complainants or witnesses so we can file a complaint against the gov\ernment. West Coast LEAF intends to file a com- \ 1~ " plaint along side a small group of single mom's who \~ have felt the impact of the welfare cuts. \ While we can't pay women to participate, we intend . to provide childcare and transportation subsidies to ensure no one bears a financial burden in participating. As well, it is very, very important that the women who get involved in the case represent the true reality of poverty in B.c. We strongly urge First Nations, new immigrant, and disabled moms to participate as well as women of colour and women living outside the Lower Mainland.

Specifically we are looking for women who can 4. Single mothers that have been cut off, or have describe for the human rights tribunal the following kind of situations: stopped collecting and are engaging in illegal or . dangerous activities to s urvive and keep their I. They have been on income assistance consistently children (we do not know about maintaining an insince before the cuts came into effect and can dedividual's anonymity, but could meet or talk with scribe how one or more of the following specific them to hear their story and see if we can do so durwelfare changes affected their lives negatively: ing the complaint or hearing); and a. The cut in actual amount of welfare received' 5. Single mothers who can describe how unlivable b. The elimination of the family maintenance exemption; the welfare rate s truly are. c. The elimination of the earnings exemption; For more information please call Alison Brewin at d. The change in rates for housing for familie s of thr ee or more; West Coa st LEAF (Women's Legal Education and Action Fund ) e. The institution of the three-week job search; 604 -684-8772 (Lower Mainland) f. The change in 'employability' status from when 1-866-737-7716 (toll free in B.c.) your youngest is 7 to when they are 3; programdirector@westcoastleaf.org g. The change in eligibility for post-secondary students; and , Or Clea Parfitt, Iluman Right s Lawyer 604-689-7778 h. The cut in rates after 24 consecutive month s.

2. We are also interested in talking to single mothers who have had trouble accessing income assi stance in the new regime;

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3. Single mothers who have had difliculty meeting the kinds of obligations that now exist when receiving income ass istance;

3 Excerpt from "Still in SHOC K" distributed by the Coalition for Wo men's Eq uality Aborigina l women: Canadian governments have a long history of marginalizing Aboriginal women and neglecting their experiences and relities. This is particularly true for Aboriginal women who live on re~erve who, as.a result of the Indian Act, do not enjoy the same right s as non-Aboriginal women in terms of state protections against violence, matrimonial property rights and self-governance. In 1996, 43% of Aborigina l women were living below the low-income cut -off In addition, more Aboriginal women than men are living in urban centres due to the extreme poverty in Metis and Inuit communities and or reserve, lack of or inadequate/overcrowded on reserve housing, and systemic mistreatment. 68% of Metis ":omen, 46% of First Nations women and 30% of Inuit wo men now live in cities and towns. Because of stark economic and social conditions, whether on or off reserve, Aboriginal women s uffer from some of the poorest health conditions in the world.

Furthermore, Aboriginal women's experiences of violence tend to be more acute than non-Aboriginal women. This is due to the genera l inadequacy of the criminal justice system's treatment of violence against women, discrimination against Aborigina~ . through the raci sm and bias of this system. ~borlgl 足 nat women who live on reserve are also denied access to one of Canada ' s key human rights protectio ns-the Ca nadian Human Rights Act. This Act is currently unable to ove rride any provision of the Indian Act which mean s that Aboriginal women living on reserve who confront discrimination by band councils cannot make complaints under the human right s legislation that exi sts in Canada, Finally, A?original woman do not have the same access to deci sion maki ng structures as Aborigina l men, a nd most other groups living in Canada. Because Aboriginal women' s groups are not well funded. Aboriginal women have to con stantly strugg le to advocate on behalf of issues which matter to their everyday lives.

Housing: Canada is facing a hou sing cri sis! Insecure and inadequate hou sing, including homelessness, is one of the most pressing issues faced by increasing numbers oflow- income wo men. Among the leading causes of the probl em are several inter- re lated factors: women 's poverty; systemic discriminat ion and inequality experienced by particular groups of women; women's over-representation as soles upport households; and a shortage of affordable housing.

Historically the federal go vernment took a lead role in developing affo rdable renta l hous ing programs.

But, Canada has no national housing policy. In 1993, the Federal government withdrew from funding new soc ia l hou sing programs. The freeze on new federal programs and provincial cutbacks hav e resulted in a lack of supply of affordable housing to meet the de mands of women and families. The federal government is a signatory to several international conventions and covenants and is the refore obligate to intervene to improve access to adequate and affordable housing for low-income women.

Centr e for Equality Rights in Accommodation, Women and Housing in Ca nada : Barriers of Equality: ' . .

The vast majority of Aboriginal women-72%-hve III non-reserve communities, most in urban areas and are in core housing need; 68% of Metis women, 46% of First Nation women and 30% of Inuit women are living in cites and towns.

Ca nadia n Research institute for the Advanc ement of Women (2002) Fact Sheet on violence Against Women and Girls: Women who are of minority racial, ethnocultural or lingui stic groups also suffer violence at the hands of their intimate partners. However, their access to the justice system and to services are not the sa~e .

Only 57% of Canadian shelters offered services that were sensitive to cultural differences. Women who have difficulty speaking the official language where they live face enormous barriers in accessing services and dealing with the justice system. When services and the justice system fail, women find it even more difficult to escape ab use.

Ca nada' s National Response, to UN: Abori gina l women we re three times more likely than non-Aboriginal women to report having been assaulted by a current or former spouse.

s Human Rights Discussion The Family Violence Initiative supported Abo riginal communities (on and off reserve) in their efforts to address family violence issue s through a variety of means, including the use of holistic approaches that emphasized , among other things, the importance of teach ing traditional values, culture and practice.

Between 1989 and 1998, con struction of s helters in Aboriginal communities expanded and in 2000, 63% of shelter for abused women in Canada reported they provided cultura lly sensitive services for Aboriginal women .

Aboriginal women are the poore st of the poor. The y have little or no protection under current law beca use everything is overridden by the Indian Act. Amendments to the Indian Act in 1985 that allowed for reinstatement of women that "married out" did . not ensure their access to descending rights, nor do they speak to the band's formal acceptance of these women. Many are denied the right to vote in Band Co uncil elections because of residency requirements or band customs. Aboriginal women in abusive domestic situations who do not hold the certificate of possession to the matrimonial home often face either rema ining in the abusive situation or seeking housing o ff-rese rve, away from support networks of commu nity, friends and famil y. Th e Fede ral Government has thu s refused to meet its constitutional and intern ati onal responsibilities for equality of Abo rig ina l women.

Native Women's Associatio n of Ca nada: Sisters in Spirit: Ove r the last 20 years approximately 500 Abori ginal wo men have gone missing in communities across Ca nada . In Vancouver more than 30 Aboriginal women have go ne missing in the DT ES. They strugg led with addictions, some with Fetel Alcohol Syndrome and many with childhood sexual abu se.

Every one of them grew up in foster homes. Their lives are ye t another example of "the violence o f co lonization. They continue be objectified, disrespected, dishonored, ignored and killed , often with impunity.

All this must be considered in plannin g a nd building w hate ver goes on the Woodwards s ite.

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Thursdays, 10:00am Carn egie Learning Ce ntre 路' ...recogniti on of the inherent dignity and of the equa l and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom , justice and peace in the world."

--from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights A group of people is beginning a Human Rights Discussion Group.

We want to discuss and learn about our human right s. Poor bashing, welfare rights, social housing, and discrimination in banking are human right s iss ues. But there are many more . We also want to tell our own stories about human right s abu ses.

You are invited to join the group each Thursday at lOam in the Carnegie Learning Centre (third floor).

Help us decide which human rights issues we want to check out first. Help us work on practical sol tions for everyday life.

Here is another quote from the Universa l Declaration of Human Rights : Article 25 "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himse lf and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary soc ia l services..

i~g Mardi Monsoon in the north west Co ld, wet a nd refreshing betimes Miserable & soul-do wning other times Depends - don 't it?

If you have a hearth to hurry home to A honey to hug the cold away And some spaghetti with a nice rough red for supper Wine, that is. .. *Passi on heals tho se slings and arrows of outrageous fortune That flesh is heir to Wilhelmina "much indebted to the Bard.

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"nobody here but us ch ic ks!'

Marlene and Diane have been working with a group of women. Thursday mornings at the Carnegie. who are interested in learning the age-old art of quilting. applique and embroidery. Thi s series of lessons and workshops has produced fabric art. which is original and one of a kind. We have pieces depicting powerful women. a memory to our lost sisters. First Nations art. and whatever the imagination unlea shed.

Yin Mei Chan cut images from a Chinese calendar and a shopping bag from a meat market to use as patterns.

When were still an agricultural society. women and girls planted. spun. wove, knitted and sewed the fabric necessary for survival. Quilting bees provided a social circle. time out from physical work, and a place to organize and fundraise. When women did not have the right to vote. these circles fostered a collecti ve voice concerning topics from politic s to peer support to survival. When spinning and weaving became mechanized, and cloth produced in factories. profound changes occurred. Women worked , ran businesses. taught in school s and studied to be missionaries. As a backlash to our newly won freedom, the "cult of true womanhood" preached domesticity and femininity, defining us as intellectually inferior, more submissive, pious. pure and sensitive. This conservative ideology instructed women to marry and stay home. to confine ourselves to our own separate and distinct " sphere" . The public world of business and politics was for men. Sermons and advice literature told us sewing was the "truly feminine employment", and the Protestant work ethic encouraged us to put all spare moments to useful purpose. The cult of wifehood and motherhood labeled entire groups of women as deviant - unmarried, working, slave, immigrant and politically active women. On the other hand. in this environment. women developed deep ties of friend ship and

solidarity, and a sense of ourselves as a distinct group. This emerging group consciousness began to extend our boundaries: we wanted to improve not just the home but the world outside it as well.

Quilting bees became a way for women to actively participate in the abolition of slavery, and public welfare work such as running homes and schools for orphans. widows and the poor. Women held fairs and church bazaars where they sold their needlework. baked goods and preserves to raise money.

They could then choose, as a group. whether this money went to refurbish the church, or actively support the Underground Railroad, safe houses that sheltered escaping slaves as they fled to Canada.

Women in America established the first Female Anti-Slavery Societies, including both black and white women 's groups. It was women more so than men than men who contributed to the abolition of slavery with their fund-raising. petition campaigns and articles for newspapers and magazines, a big chunk of herstory that got left out of most history books! This centuries-old tradition is alive and well at the Carnegie Community Centre where women of all ages and ethnicities take part in a weekly sewing circle - First Nations, Chinese grannies. community activi sts. young mothers and old dykes. There's a feminist subtext to this seemingly pleasant and peaceful sewn images of birds, animals, flowers and lucky symbols.

Elaine, who likes to call herself "the Lunatic Artist", has created a "Found Goddess" embellished with button boobs and assorted trinkets and baubles.

A recovering Catholic, she deifies the ordinary and the absurd. She likes to play with the rule s of " normalcy" we were taught as young women in our homes and school- " don' t mix plaids", " blue and green should never be seen / together except in a washing machine" and "vertical stripes make you look thinner".

Diane has pieced together a monochrome Crazy Quilt. She likes to expose our learned fear of madness. and the use of the word "crazy" as the ultimate insult. Crazy quilts are made of random scraps without a structured pattern . The subtle message embroidered into it are the words of the pop song " Imag ine" which became an anthem for a generation of peaceniks. She says, " By crea ting and

teaching quilts, I am challenging the notion of a woman's place" and women's silence. Traditionally, a quilt is made from scraps - pieces saved from pantleg.and dress hems, or shirts that were torn or threadbare. Poverty made for frugality and inventiveness. We recycled before the word was invented.

Yet our artwork has always been considered secondary to "Real Art " meaning art made by white men , and relegated to the back room or the PNE craft exhibition. I f a New York abstract expressionist paints on a quilt, that makes it Art, and therefore worthy of hanging in an art gallery and being reproduced in Art History books... but what about the woman or women who made that quilt?"

Marlene transformed a drawing by her daughter into red and black felt applique in the tradition of her Ts ims hian heritage. Marlene Trick is the Seniors' Programmer, responsible for the Cultural Sharing Programme on Monday afternoons at the Carnegie.

Diane Wood has exhibited her quilts and dolls in the Gallery Gachet in Vancouver, the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, and most recently at the National Gallery in Ottawa

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Filmmaker Michael Moore will target the mental health system in new film tentatively titled "Sicko". The Internet Movie Database reported that he will focus on the American healthcare system, and will look at it through an inspection of the system of mental health care. His current film "Fahrenheit 9/11" has grossed more than $120 million. The Associated Press reported "Moore's latest is inspired by a segment he did on "The Awful Truth", his series which aired on the Bravo network. In the segment, "Funeral at an HMO", he documents the plight of a diabetic who urgently needs a pancreas transplant and whose HMO won't help out. Moore goes to the HMO's headquarters and puts on a mock funeral for the patient, making certain to invite the company execs. Ultimately the HMO agrees to assist the patient and make sweeping policy changes." Your experience(s) can be included if you write to : Michael Moore c/o Ariel Emanuel Endeavor Agency LLC 960 I Wilshire Blvd. 3'd floor Beverly Hills, CA 90210 USA ~>4"1;'

Good Morning Ne i g hbour

Paci fic Bluegrass & Herita ge Music Society Presents

An Evening ofbluegrass and folk/country Music Wednesday, October 20, 7 ~ 9 pm Theatre, Carnegie Centre Everyone welcome to this free concert!

The problematic retard outside my window with the butcher knife, threatening and carving LOOSE into the railing, trying to spell loser no doubt; village idiots rarely have much command of language.

After chasing the threat away (force only understands force), I go to my couch only to hear the pounding of Vancouver Police. I open the door to a 9 mm, lasersights pointed at my guts. Six big strong hero-types for a scrawny old man - tough guys! They steal a lb. of shake and leave disappointed - the John Waynes couldn 't rescue the damsel in distress ... only got about 5 bucks worth of weed ...

, Happy 50t h Birthday Bonnie!

Many a person in the dtes has come to appreciate your sense of humour, friendship and random acts of kindness you have shown to others.

Your hard work also does not go un-noticed in this neighbourhood. You have worked tirelessly with single moms and their children.

You bravely volunteered with the cr ust)' group of males in the coffee sellers lounge. You volunteer in the kitchen both at Carnegie and away at the numerous camping and other trips. Ifthere is a kitchen around, you are not far from the heat.

You have quietly helped many a person who asked it of you. I have known you only a fewshort years in your half century and have come to admire you for your directness and the uncomprom ising "fay you speak out when others are being hurt.

You are a woman who has endured unimaginable hardship but this has not tainted you in the wayyou treat others. It is always an honour to work with you wherever the event or venue. We are so privileged to know you.

Your astrological sign of Libra means Balance & harmony, which is what you bring to your environment. You are a social creature and a sensitive peacemaker with a virtue of co operation.

May you have a very Happy Birthday Bonnie and have a fabulous year ahead.

By Marlene, Diane & friends of Bon

Cassandra lovely daughter of ancient Troy, enchanted and haunted the strolls of East Van. Cassandra (B1ondie we called her) was a straight shooter, never a rip-off, a good chick who loved a funnyjoke But Cassandra was a Prophetess of Doom, though she never believed that the misfortune her name foretold, and which was always lurking, stalking in the shadows, was her own Cassandra , beautiful blonde child of Troy, of that East Van. dreamland where the myth is that magic potions can be bought from a sneering stranger on the corner. Blondie never saw or maybe never wanted to see the harbingers in the track marks and the red, half-healed abscesses that warned like bleak omens of impending calamity Cassandra, used and abused as a child and later by her " dates", wished and hoped of fi nding that elusive magic that would smooth out her rough, rock-strewn road and make everything all right. .. but the only magic she ever found was the mythic potion that bled her flashing, beckoning dream into a slow venomous nightmare. So much for fairytales All I can say is RIP Blondie (for words can't express our loss) Surely th stars have embraced and welcomed back their beautiful, wayward child.

Margaret Pinter

COMMERCIAL NON Didn't walk by da kine that is in no way fine You try private enterprise you get fat blue Uni Guys.

Should have been bigger sca le ju st like shipshape PM Paul you do it big you get it ALL. The moral of story is too clear: when palms are well-greased you may stay in biz ja douglas

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VO LUNTEERS OF T HE MONT H (Se pte mber) Solo mo n Sinclair. Senior's Coffee Seller .

Solomon is a quiet. dear man who takes much pride in his work as a Coffee Seller on the lane level.

Thank you Solomon for helping to keep things running smoothly.

Lan Chow, Kitchen Prep Lan is one our most dedicated Kitchen volunteers who is responsible for much of the Prep for those wonderfu l breakfasts you all eat.

You must do that which yo u think you cannot do

Eleanor Roosevelt -

KARAOKE with Gerald!!

The evening ofou r Festival Launch!

Friday, October 08, 2004 7pm - 10pm Carnegie Theatre Wanna exe rcise tho se pipes? Have your voice be heard? Join us, with Gerald to show us the way....

Refreshments served to the brave willing sou ls.

OJ MIX-

A Dance 10 end an exciting day. Beginning at Noon, it will be Carnegie's Open House for the

First Annual DTES Heart of the C ity -

Come and celebrate with us I!!!!

Everyone Welcome! carnegie Theatre Friday October 15, 2004 7pm - 10pm

Voluntee r Co mmittee Meeti ng We d nesday, October 13th , 2004 Class room II @ 2:00pm Volunteer Dinner -- an opportunity for the staff to serve you for a change!

We d nesday, Oc tober 20, 2004 Theatre @ 4:30pm II' you have 16 volunteer hours in this month, please pick up ticket from Colleen

C hili Dinner for Voluntee rs (5 weeks between cheque days) 5pm - 7pm in the Cafeteria Pick up your ticket from Colleen

In ternational Film Fest ival Sept 23- Oct 8 II' you have any preferences, I'd appreciate hearing from you . Please sign up with Colleen on the 3 rd Floor Volunteer Program Office.

All Vo lunteers HELP WE NEED YOU! 110 On October 15 we are hav ing an Open I-louse for the Heart ofthe City Festival. There will need to be lots of preparation beforehand as well as much work :0 do on the day of the event.

If this is something you are interested in being involved with I'd love to talk with you.

Colleen (604) 606-2708 3 rd Floor Volunteer Office

Move To The Groove

Refr eshments served.

FRIGHT NIGHT: Don't come alone!

SCREAM! HOWL-O-WEEN DANCE ALIVE AND UNLEASHED Halloween is the perfect time to let your creativity run wild. It is a time to be pretty -- pretty creepy.

Dracula (Count Chocula' s sister). will be here but first he MUST see a dentist. You will also run into Count Floyd who will be trying 10 sell his cans of ghastly Smell-a-vision grim .... very grim. Halloween will be here before you know it:You have one month left to get ready to be your gorgeous ghoulish best self. There will be creepy crawlies in our wash bucket (size of head) for apple bobbing. You gel 10 keep the worm.

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Date: Place: T imc: Sta ff:

Friday , O cto be r 29 Ca r negie Theater 7pm - IOpm Heckle and .le kkle

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Refreshments served! Nothing but the best for our fiends: blood soup, brain cookies, french fried eye balls, bugs and dirt sandwiches. brain cell salad, crusty booger balls , kitty litter cake. ummm ummrnmrn goodies. (I'm cuckoo for coco puffs .) ....see you there, Colleen

'I would like to have the purpose of being free' "Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the people you can, in all the places you can, for as long as ever you can." - ideation ofspirituality. The power in this can conquer fear; it can make action and words bring positive, progressive social change. When you decide to be honest with yourself. your conscience learns to discriminate. Actions & words agree.. are clear, strong and true. Language, spoken or not, communicates if your thinking is clear, but used badly ideas degenerate into so much crud. * (*cpjd is a synonym for the word used to describe the product ofa bull's bowel movement) = static arguments; they make you want to scream.

Witness statements that all humanity is to blame for the Nazi atrocities. "We let it happen!" Classroom academiks, non-consciously, allow sacred logic & reasoning to say Native Peoples 'let' the non-natives take their lands, kill them, rape forests, pollute the environment. distribute blankets saturated with smallpox... TIle people of Canada let the "Free" Trade scam come into effect - it's obviously our fault that jobs are being lost, that poverty is growing by leaps and bounds, that people are sleeping in the streets, that violence and crime and drugs are everywhere. It's all our fault .. it's always the victim's fault for not being on the other side. Anyone on welfare is obviously there because they've chosen to be...

To keep anger under control is sometimes harder. especially with someone who has been in the Downtown Eastside for awhile. working with people here and interacting with us socially.. Maybe you think all the fights that people have with welfare, all the agony of trying to find shelter (dare I say it - a home?) if you are single with a child, all the writing and meetings and events and demonstrations that are happening EVERY DA Y... is all this just made up, just fiction?'

You can busv vourselfin the Ancient Greeks, in references to philosophers and books and you can stay blind to what's happening all around you. You can refer to Shamans as "those who are adept at entering auto-hypnotic trances" (such a cute scientific throwaway) and continue to believe that everything, all social issues like racism. sexism, poverty, homelessness are subject to miraculous resolution through

the scienti fie method of debate.

Some advocate alienation as the means to getting an objective overview and I agree. But here's the crux: all spiritual progress and social change is consequent upon a personal commitment. The aboriginal worldview makes the spiritual and social aspects of being inalienable. You cannot disregard Infinity, you can only assume that ignoring universal law somehow excepts you from its consequences. It's this that has given us the materialism, the injustice and the attempted murder of Spirituality that is choking humanity.

When was the last time you heard the word "scandal"? Struggle is the essence of life. You cannot claim to be alive and part oflife by closing yourself off from living.

By PAULR TAYLOR

Prayer Please God take this anger from me I'm so tired of being angry all the time it saps the life out of existence; it ruins life. being angry and afraid all the time there is no room in my heart lor love when I'm always mad at someone something.

When I'm not mad I'm afraid so there's no time to feel good to feel hope to love other people instead of hating everyone everything I used to be a loving person What happened?

I walk around with a ball of anger in my guts give off bad vibes stir up trouble with other people and then get mad 'cause life sucks I really need to find me some peace somewhere where I'm not a lways fighting myself or you or your uncle / monkey / whatever Lord I beg you, give me some peace.

AI Loewen

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Bjossa Bjossa, the female orca who lived at the Vancouver Aquarium for 20 years, died on October 8, 200 I. She.had .be:n tran~ferred to Sea World in Sa n Diego, Califo rnia, In April of that yea r. Bjossa died ofa chronic lung infection at the age o f 20 years. In the ocea n, swimming tree, she might have lived 70 yea rs, or even longer. You're tree now, Bjossa.

Sw im in the great ocean of the sky.

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and an important voice that speaks to the courage and resistance of the people of the Downtown Eastside, has been part of the struggle for social j ustice in Vancouver for many years. He first came to the Downtown Eastside in 1965 and has been a logger, prospector, teacher and writer, with several pu lished works.

I ,- ..m oves heyond the usual stereotypes so often

Sandy Ca mero n

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I recorded ahout the Downtown Eastside, and hrings I I to life a comm unity of people and place that will I

I make your heart sing "! - Libby

Davies, MP

I On Tuesday, October 19th @ 7:00 pm I Peter Kaye Room, Central Library I I 350 West Georgia Street I I Sandy will be launching and reading from his new I L book. Admission is Free & all are welcome.

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C;;;;I111';;,in7'(;e ,;i;e ver Mo ving Theate as part of the He:1T/ of the City Festival

Devon. eighteen month s old, wat ched her through the g lass at the Stanley Park aquariu m.

Grace ful she wa s like a dancer as she swam with restr ained power in her deep iXlOl. Unhurried, languid motion, turning s lowly she drift ed bac k a nd forth bac k and forth.

"Wha le. whale," Devon whispe red. arm s outstretched agai nst the glass , heart and soul seeing voice ca lling.

At the far end of her pool she turned again, and drifted towards the child.

Silent she came, this black and wh ite leviath an, and floated by so close he could have tou ched her .

Her dark eye took him in, her sad, dark eye , and as she moved away he whi spered, "W ha le."

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This Is It As I have sa id, as I did say Break the rules, make me pay Your blissful oblivion may sa ve the day So bolt the doors to avoid the fray.

Trickle on the way up, trickle on the way down Know that what goes around always comes around Find so me dimes, lose some nickel s; lost & found Either be the noble mart yr or end up the clown.

If yo u ca n at all comprehend what I do mean I will do yo ur dirty laund ry to keep yo u neat & clean I see yo u in the mirror as you pluck and preen Expect me one morning to be go ne, far away, I'll have split the sce ne.

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FRiPAY O(T 8- SV ~PAY O(I 17路 Heart of the City Festival Highlights

HfART OF THf (tTY

Festiva l Gala - Sunday Oct 10 2pm - Japane se Hall 487 Alexander Street The historic Vanco uver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall hosts your friends, neighbours, and special guests, including Mayo r Larry Campbell. Percussion andmovement ensemble SWARM, DTES spoken word artists, Mike Richter and Friends, Sawagi Taiko , the Aboriginal Women's Ensemble and the Gospel Experience, Corinthian Clarke, and Dalannah Bowen (formerly Gail Bowe n).

The Downtown Eastside struts its stuff and you are invited!

Tickets $/7 adults / $ / 2 children/seniors/students Advance Sales Firehall Arts Centre 604.689.0926 Coffee Ho use Featuring Corinthia n C larke with Dave Danylchuk Friday Oct 8, 8pm Strathcon a Community Centre Seniors Loun ge, 601 East Keefer Fundraising event for the Strathcona Community Centre Association featuring the extraordinary voice and music of DTES 's own Corinthian C larke. Corinthian packs a powerful gospel voice and was a highlight o f last year's Voices of Strathcona Concert. Also featuring Ron Suzuki's famou s sushi . . . need we say more! $5.00 sugges ted donation Dall anah Bowe n Q ui ntet - Monday Oct II , 2pm - Carnegie Community Centre Theatre Dallanah Bowen is a DTES resident with a soft bluesy voice that will melt yo ur heart . One of the great voices from last year's immensely successful In the Heart of a City: The DTES Community Play, Dallanah sings ja zz and blues songs from her soon-to-be-rele ased C D A Night In Tunisia , including among others Moon Dance , The Very Thought of You and I' ve Got It Bad . Free Labour History in Song a nd Story - Wednesd ay Oct 13, 9 - II pm Radio Station Cafe, 101 East Hastings & Live Broadcast CF RO FM 102.7FM Activist musici ans Earle Peach and Regina Brenn an sing - and talk abo ut - songs that were sung in our streets, marches and labour halls of the DTES, the lower Mainl and and Vancou ver Island . Appe arance by poet and activist Sandy Cameron and singer Tom Hawkin, who recou nts stories of the infamou s On-toOttawa trek of 1935. Co-hosted by Earle Peach and CFRO 's Dan Keeton o f Union Made . Pay as yo u can DTES M usic S howcase - Thursday Oct 14,9 - 12midnight Radio Station Ca fe, 101 East Hasting s & Live Broadcast CF RO FM 102.7FM From country music to ja zz, from classical piano to singer songwriters, the DTES has a breadth of musical talent that is amazing. An evening of upbeat and impre ssive jazz, great folk and western singers, talented guitarists and political son gs featuring, among others-John Cote, Nancy Delyzer, Stan Hudac, Andy Kostynuik, Rick Lavallee, Mark Oak ley, Mike Richter and Peggy Wilson . Pay as you can DTES Spoken Word Showcase - Tuesday Oct 12,9 - 12midni ght - Radio Station Ca fe, 101 East Hastings The DT ES is a goldmine of writers. Diane Wood has lined up a showcase that includes, amon g others: Maxine Gadd, Leith Harris , Robyn Living stone , Car l MacDona ld, Monserrat Munoz, Gena Thompson , Brian Nelson, and Muriel Williams. From the howlingly funn y to powerful monol ogues on our missing women, word s and feelings that reflect s the people and the voices of the DTES. Co-hosted by Ariadne Sawyer & Alejandro Mujic a-Olea of CF RO's World Beat Cafe. Pay as y ou can

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Cp.R~EBIE COMMU~m CE~IRE & VA~COUVERMOV(~G THEATRE PRESEIII History Walks - with Madeline Deighton, Gassy Jack & special guest Mrs. Margaret Carnegie Saturday Oct 9 & 16 and Sunday Oct 10 & 17, 10:30am Meet at front steps St. James Anglican Church. 303 East Cordova Join Madeline Deighton (Sandra Pronteau) and her husband Gassy Jack (Luke Day) on their guided history walk through the heart of Vancouver. Text by walking-history-encyclopedia John Atkin. Guest appearance on the steps of the Carnegie by Andrew Carnegie's mother-Mrs Margaret Carnegie (Rosemary Collins). You'll never look at Vancouver and our DTES the same way again! $/0 non residents. Pay-as-you-can local residents.

Carniegie Radio Play Project - in association with Theatre in the Raw - Saturday Oct 9. 8pm Ukrainian Hall. 805 East Pender - coordinated by Jay Hamburger Great selection of radio plays from the Carnegie Radio Play Project. Presented in the style of the 1930's and 40's with live sound effects, these plays give insight in In a fascinating range of life in the DTES . All the plays were written by local writers and performed by DTES involved residents. Come see your friends and neighbours stand up at the all-powerful micsl! Free Through the People's Voice - Saturday Oct 16, 8pm & Sunday Oct 17, 2pm - Ukrainian Hall, 805 East Pender - new works by Patrick Foley, Leith Harris & Dora Sanders (In association with Vancouver Moving Theatre) Downtown Eastside-involved writers, actors and musicians in three one-act staged readings with live music that explore some of the "ins and outs" of everyday life in the Downtown Eastside. Veteran director James Fagan Tait, composer Joelysa Pankanea and Artistic Director Savannah Walling. with some of our favourite community artists for an inner city evening of do w-n-horne comedy . . . satire .. . music ... and song. Pay as you can Carnegie Cultural Sharing - Monday. Oct II, 4 - 9 pm Carnegie Community Centre. Theatre The Cultural Sharing Program will display quilts created the Hen Party. which is made up of-among others-Asian and First Nations women who frequent Carnegie. Techniques used include quilting, fabric art, applique and embroidery. The theme of the work is life in the DTES . Other events include performances by First Nations singers and drummers and workshops on working with leather. All welcome. Free Carnegie Open House - Friday Oct 15. Open House 12noon - 5pm- Carnegie Community Centre Dilen called the 'Living Room of the Downtown Eastside", the award winning Carnegie Centre has provided social, educational, cultural and recreational activities to local residents since 1980. Open House tours will introduce you to Carnegie's people and programs. including music. exhibits, storytelling. Displays, performances, demonstrations, tours and more.

Tours start at 12 noon. Meet at the first floor Information Desk .

DJ Dance Mix 7pm - IOpm - with the ever-popular Cody.

For more information please contact Rika Uto at 665 -3003 .

Program Guides available from front Desk Carnegie For Full Program details goto: http://www.heartofthecityfestival.com 604-665-2213 for further information ...and don 't forget to tell somebody!!

Heart of the City Festival is a co-production of Carnegie Community Centre and Vancouver Moving Theatre

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a .A One-Day Symposium

Addiction in Vancouver: Community, Cultural Identity and Loss Thursday, October 14, 2004, 9 :30 am - 4:30 pm C hief Dan George C entre for Advanced Ed ucation Cathedral Sq uare, 639 Hornb y Street (near Georgia) The Event: Explore a wider context for our society's pandemic of addiction (drugs, work , consumerism..)

Namely that the roots of addiction lie in isolati on. dislocation of people from community, and loss of cultural identity . We hope you'll leave informed by a larger context for community development and soc ial j ustice work, inspired by a deeper understanding of culture, and moved to continue this dialogue into action .

Featuring: Leonard George of the Tsleil- Waututh Nation. A presentation by SFU 's Bruce Alexander -author of "Root s of Addiction in Free Mark et Society". Performances . Dial ogue . Opportunities to share stories and to netw ork Cost: $20 -- includes lunch. (No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Call Leslie Kemp at 604323-598 1.)

To Register: Ca ll Langa ra Co llege by October 12th at 604-323-5322. Ask for Course #70901. Or go to our website. www.cacv.bc.ca.

Spo nsors : The sympos ium is sponsored hy the Community Arts Council of Vancouver in partnership with Langara Co llege Continuing Studi es. Chief Dan George Ce ntre lor Advanced Educatio n. Downt own Eastside Community Arts Festival. the City of Vancouver Drug Pol icy Program. Canadian Centre for Pol icy Altern ati ves, the Social Justi ce Comrnit tce of the Unita ria n Church of Vancou ver, A Community Aware. and the Psychology Departm ent. SFlJ

As Gov .Gen. Adrian Clarkson had her stroll on E. Has tings in the DTES I wondered what her purpose was behind her appearance. As she walked I noticed blatant disregard of the real residents of the area. Watching the news later on I learned how onesided the media coverage reall y is.

A fter city crews washed the area squeaky-clean, the so-ca lled "Law" moved in and did their own cleanup.

At no time did I see the Gov-Gen enter any alleys, not one soupline, not one roach-infested SRO unit and at no time did she speak to a drug user or other real resident. [One homeless guy awoke and said Hi) As a single mother of two cried on the edge of the crowd not one reporter bothered to stop and interview her until I pointed her out to them. ( il ohill T V's new s hom al low ed her one sentence:

" They don't ca re or do anything. The Downtown Eas tside should be shown to her as it really is - the good, the bad and the ugly. Why whitewash the truth?"

Mayor Ca mpbe ll's idea of the DT ES doesn 't exist ali) more and it' s high time there vv as honest report ing by the media.

Yukon Eric

Carnegie Community Centre

Be

in partnership with Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Society PRESENTS

"Holistic Approach to A boriginal Health and Challenges" HIV / AIDS and Service Providers

Let's begin to heal by sharing our knowledge.

Thursday, October 7, 2004 2:30 pm Ca rnegie Cent re Theatre snacks and refreshments available

We encourage community leaders to take ownership, to learn and to be sensitive to cultural attitudes, stigma, fear, rejection.

ForOur Future Generations Call Ken Winiski @ 604-879-8884 for info

Carnegie Chess Trip to

UBC-Sept.21.2004.

Six of our faithful made their maiden voyage to visit our chess brethren at their module in the Club Days exhibit. Club Days is when all the clubs of UBC meet under one roof to promote membership to their particular club, with all the UBC students in attendance.

As soon as we located their module we started the fun and games. I managed to beat the UBC Club President Ron Do, followed up with another win against Ron by Kriss. Ron decided to get tough, and brought in their heavy-duty champ, Matt, who only narrowly managed to beat our Kriss at speed chess.

Everyone else got involved and once again we were all a bunch of happy campers. After our magnificent showing we were whisked off to the UBC Archeology Museum and later meandered our way back to here, fully satisfied that we had held up the pride of Carnegie,

By Aleks Djosich.

MLA Lorne Mayencourt On 'Skid Row' Early in September, Liberal MLA Lorne Mayencourt spent five days living on $14 a day to experience what a homeless person feels. This is certainly more than any other average, poor-bashing provincial Liberal has done, but it should be noted that NDP MLA Emery Barnes was the first politician to do this, and he did it over a period of seven weeks.

(Four officially, three unofficially.) As well, Barnes lived on about $6 a day, which is a lot closer to what a person on welfare receives. . But it is not my intention to belittle Mayencourt 's feat. As I've stated, it's more than any other current ruling provincial government member has done, and he is to be commended for that.

What bothers me is that Mayencourt used his experience to decry the city's lack of protection for preservation of Single Room Occupancy hotels, but said hardly anything about his proposed Safe Streets legislation, which amounts to a crackdown on panhandlers, many of whom are homeless.

In The Vancouver Sun, on September 8, an editorial-"MLA's 'homeless' stunt will serve a purpose only if senior levels of government step up"-stated that the provincial government needed to boost the shelter portion of welfare to adequately cover housing costs for people on income assistance. Fair enough. It also went on to say that the federal government should give tax breaks to developers to encourage them to build SRO housing. The problem here is that the federal government needs to reinstate its housing programs, which were chopped in the name of slaying the deficit in the early 1990s. More tax breaks will do nothing, as has been amply demonstrated.

Mayencourt replied in a letter to the editor on September 10 that he was trying to stimulate cooperation between the three levels of government, and furthermore, was trying to put the $23 million of the Vancouver Agreement in the city's hands to good use.

But it wasn't until an article by Mayencourt in the September 9-15 issue of The Westender that he states his proposed Safe Streets Act is designed to protect all people, including the poor, "from aggressive drug dealing, panhandling and solicitation." In saying the poor are also to be protected, Mayencourt disguises the fact that his legislation is an attack on the poor, something he conveniently overlooked when finished his five-day experience and began interacting with the media.

In The Westender, the predictable poor-bashers wrote, called in, e-mailed to say Mayencourt deserves a medal for putting himselfat risk, never caring that a large number of people have to live that way everyday. No one mentioned his Safe Streets Act, presumably because they agree with it, just like the mayors did at the recent Be Municipalities meeting.

To his credit, Mayencourt, in his article, said other supports for people on income assistance, disabled, at risk, etc. would have to be in place for his Act to work. This is the real point that keeps getting overlooked by journalists reporting on the Safe Streets Act: that by itself, it is just another piece of poorbashing legislation in that it persecutes the poor for being poor-but with the proper supports in place , it wouldn't even be perceived as being necessary.

By Rolf Aller

Vancouver Opera

"The Night before the Opera" A free preview featuring a live opera performance

Der Rosenkavalier

by Richard Strauss The first 90 people will receive free tickets to the final dress rehearsal of the opera (Oct. 14)

PM

Wednesday, October 13, 2004 Theatre, Carnegie Centre Presented by Vancouver Opera & Learn6:00

ing Exchange . in collaboration with the Carnegie Centre

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News from the Library Loving Che by Ana Me nendez is an astonishing, intimate portrait of revolutionary Cuba as witnessed by an elderly woman recalling her secret love affair with the world's most dashing, charismatic rebel, Ernesto " Che" Guevara. A novel just in time to complement the "Che" movie which is a sell out favourite in the current Vancouver Film Festival.

Homage to Eros: 100 great poems ofLove and Lust Editor Dann ie Abse collects here over 100 love poems of past centuries including Ovid, Li Po and many others well known and less known, all giving witness to the power passion and often contrary state which love and lust can arouse in the human spirit.

Greenpeace by Rex Weyler. A chronicle ofa movement that began in Vancouver in 1971 and has since spread around the world."We call our ship Greenpeace because that is the best name we can think of to join the two great issues of o ur times: the survival of the environment and the peace of the world" said journalist Ben Metcalfe as they launched the idea.

This book tells of that extraordinary effort by some ordinary folks and how it cha nged how we view the environment and the outlook of an era.

A comp licated Kindness by Miriam Toews. Set in rura l Manitoba wit hin a fundamentalist bra nch of the Mennonite Community, this moving, darkly funny novel is the world according to Nomi Nickel , a bewildered and wry sixteen-year-old trapped in a town governed by fundamenta list religion. This book is very popular with many book clubs and readers, and author Toews is one to look for at the upcoming Vancouver Writers Festival.

Haunted Hills and hanging Valleys by Peter Trower. Trower uses a ballad mode to immortalize the logger 's life in this collection of selected poems. "if you live long enough you turn into a goddamn public institution" he said recently when he hea rd his name was being cut in stone at the Main Branch of Vancouver Public Library (on the pavement where BC Gas notes lifetime achievement winners).His poems show that the re is a lot more to poetry than just living a long time .

You have the Po wer: Choosing courage in a culture offear by Frances Moore Lappe.

M ichael Moore (yes that stu pid white guy, guy) says of this book "Outwit the fear mongers. Read this guy". This short, easy to read and jargon-free book replaces old thoughts "Ifl stop what I'm doing . I'll be lost, I'll never start again" with new thoughts "Sometimes we have to stop in order to find our path " . The authors do not claim to write a " how to" book, but they share their own experiences and those of others to show ways that we can see how it may be possible, in this present culture of fear, to entertain the idea that fear and gratitude cannot co-exist and fear can even begin to mean go, not stop.

Life is Hard: Food is Easy : The 5 step Plan to Overcome Emotio na l eating a nd Lose weight on Any Diet. What a gre at premise. Now if only one of you out there would read this book you could tell us if it works and publish your findings in an upcoming Carnegie Newsletter .

Open House at Carnegie Library October 15th Drop by th e Library during the Open House at Carnegie on this date. Cak e will be served at 3.30 in appreciation ofour patrons

Mary Ann & all the library stafT.

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Different Boycotts There are a good number of boycotts going on around the world at the moment.

The first ones I heard about were Pepsi and Unocal, for their presence in Burma. Burma held free elections more than a decade ago, and a democratic government was established. This was in tum overthrown by a military junta, which has kept the democratic leader under house arrest for a long time, and killed other members of the rightful government. Pepsi (a soft drink company) and Unocal (an oil company) were under boycott for doing business with the junta. The reason the boycotts came about was as much about the overthrow of the rightful government as it was about the forced labour policies of the junta, which were used in the two companies' operations. I always found funny Pepsi commercials ironic after learning about the company's callous operations.

Another boycott I learned about was concerning the oil company Shell, tor its unbridled drilling and polluting operations in the dictatorship-run Nigeria.

Poet Ken Saro-Wiwa and a group of activists were executed by the dictatorship after they protested Shell's destructive operations in the Niger Delta. If ever there was an example of the destructive power of transnational corporations versus the state, this is it. That citizens of a nation could be killed at the behest of a corporation is nothing less than statesanctioned, corporation-motivated murder.

I only found out about the Coca-Cola (a soft drink company) boycott when I read an article in the magazine Briarpatch. There is strong evidence indicating the Coke company hired paramilitary death squads to kill eight trade unionists in Columbia over the past 13 years. . I've been trying to avoid Coke products ever since, but as the commentator on Coop Radio's show Redeye said when I phoned in to inform people of the boycott, "It's very hard to avoid buying Coke when the product is everywhere, and so conveniently within reach." [Coca-Cola also produces several other beverages, including bottled water. If it's a Coke vending machin e, chances are better than 95% that every beverage ill it are products ofthe parent corporation.]

Overseas sweatshops are an obvious target of boycotts. I'mjust not sure how many companies qualify for that dubious honour. One I'm sure of is Nike, the garment and shoe manufacturing companv. It' s

been shown in numerous studies that Nike doesn 't pay its Asian workers enough wages to live on. One particularly vile statistic I learned was that if the $20 million per year paid to Michael Jordan for endorsing Nike products was instead paid to its workers, they would have enough to live on. Nike has basically ignored the boycott, instead preferring to invest in a public relations division which disseminates disinformation concerning its efforts to improve worker conditions. In fact, it is even a wonder at all ifNike inspects any of its overseas factories (in which not only is the pay abhorrent, but the working conditions equate to human rights abuses).

There are numerous other boycotts in effect. If you can get access to a computer with internet capability, Google " UNOCAL boycott" and find the website called " boycotts page". There you will find out about many boycotts, including Nestle and Microsoft, among others.

c The Vancouver International W riters & Readers Festi val.

The Rules I. The contest is ope n to all w riters.

2. Entries will be accepted for previously unpublished work in each category:

A worl d of words on G r anville Island, October 19 - 24, 2004 www.wr itersfest.bc.ca

t, Poetry (a ny style): 500 word limit

ii. Creative Shor t Fiction: 1,500 word limit

Poetry & Short Story Contest

The Invitation We invite you to submit your finest prose and poetry to the sixth annual Writers Festiva l Poetry & Short Story Contest, presented by the Vancouver International Writers Festival. Now in its 17111 yea r. the Writers Festiva l is proud of presenting a world of words each October on Granville Island. We now invite you to contribute your words.

Pick up a pen! Readers write!

The deadline for entries is October 24, the last day of this year's Vancouver International Writers Festival. Entries wi ll be judged by professiona ls in the publishing industry. Winners will be announced January 14,2005 .

The Rewards st

1 Prize 2 nd Prize $350 $250 [Prizes will be awarded to the top two entries in both the poetry and creative short fiction categories.]

The winners in each category will be announced in the spring 2005 issue of sub Terrain magazine and publ ished on the Festiva l website www.writersfest.bc .ca ,

3. Entries will be judged blind . Please do not put your name on you r story or poem . On a separate sheet, include your name, address and phone number and the word count of your piece. For each story or poem, please include a $10 entry fee. Please make cheques payable to the Vancouver International Writers Festival.

4. Drop offor mail your submissions to the Vancouver International Writers Festival, 202-1398 Cartwright St., Vancouver. BC V6H 3R8.

5. Plea se submit entry typed and double spaced, on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper.

6. Please do not send originals; entr ies cannot be returned.

7. Winners will be se lected by a panel of publishing and writing professionals.

8. Entries must be postmarked or delivered on or befo re October 24,2004.

9.Contest results will be announced and posted on the Festival website by January 14, 2005 .

Get an Entry Form or provide this information: Name, Address, City, Prov: Postal Code: Phone #, Email There is a contest entry fee of $10 per entry (Make cheques payable to the Vancouve r International Wr iters Festival)

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Then take this number down: 604-253-9355.

If you're out of work, and need help fmding a jo b, then here ' s yo ur opportunit y. The Job Shop is a tree program that will s upport you in a quick return to work. With the support of ore-on-ore coaching, you'll get connected, gain confidence, and learn from others - all with a view to fmding meaningful employment It really does work. Call 604-253-9355 now to attend the next Job Shop info sess ion. The Job Shop is brought to you by Tradeworks Training Society.

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ihe views ufindivklu:11 cornribeiors and mt of the Assoc iation

Submission Deadline for next issue: Tuesday, October J 2 Ed itor: PaulR Taylor; cover art by Randy, layout by Diane Wood .

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We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and this Newsletter, happenon the Squamish Nation's territory.

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2004 DONATIONS Libby 0.-$40 Barry for Dave McC.-SSO Rolf A.-$45 Margaret 0.-$25 Cbristophrr R:-$25 Mary C-$30 Bruce ).-$30 U'mista - $20 Heather S.-$25 RayCam·$30 Gram -$100 Paddy -$30 Glrn B.-S50 John S.-S80 Prnny G .-$21 Jrnny K.-$20 Oars C.-$20 · Sandy C.$20 Audrry·$20 Wes K.-$50 Joannr H.-$20 Rockingguys -$20 The Edge Community Liaison Cit -$200 Peter T.-$20 PG for PB -$25 Wm B-$20 Mike B.-SIS Alicia M.-$40 Maureen K.-$40 Anonymous-$23

DO YOU HAVE A LEGAL PROBLEM? Come to our FREE CLINIC On Carnegie's 3rd floor UUC Law Students' Legal Advice Program

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Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm Tuesdays also 5pm-9pm

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Working for You y

1070-1641 Commercial Dr. V51. J Y.l Phone: 775-0790 Fax: 775-0RR I

DERA helps with: Phone & Safe Mailboxes Welfare Problems; Landlord disputes; Housing problems & unsafe living conditions,

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At 12 East Hastings 51. or call 604 -682 -093 J

r Gallerv Gachet at Woodward's "

The West bank development proposal for Woodward's includes a major role tor cultural space for the site . But what kind of art space, and who is the intended audience and participant has yet to be decided? The City of Vancouver will choose which "non-profit users" eventually make up the community components as envisioned by local residents.

For those of us who see culture as the life blood of our DTES community, we are excited by the prospects of having First Nations, student, and community-based art spaces as fixtures for the new Woodward's development. As can be expected with open calls of interest , several arts organizations have submitted their interest in accessing publicly subsidized space to deliver programs to the community.

With a strong community-centred arts mandate , Gallery Gachet feels that it is best situated to assume the responsibility of operating this new community arts resource. .

Gallerv Gachet is an I I-year old arts centre providing cultural services to both the residents of the Downtown Eastside and Vancouver-wide. The centre is operated by an artists' collective, with administrative support from paid staff. Founded in 1993, the Gallery is located at 88 East Cordova Street, and is a dynamic 3000+ square foot facility. Gallery Gachet proposes to expand its unique mix of cultural services into the new Woodward's development.

The goal of Gallery Gachet is to support a well community by enabling the artistic production of artists who are concerned with mental health issues.

Gallery Gachet programs and services also provide lor the cultural development of our Downtown Eastside (DTES) community. A dynamic year-round exhibition program in our two galleries, is supported by production studios (woodworking, pottery, painting), a new media lab (electronic design, digital photography and video), and space for public workshops and meetings.

Democratically run, with a majority of those involved being poor people and working artists, Gallery Gachet supports both the amateur and profes- . sional, and provides opportunities for diverse com- . , munity members. As a DTES cultural asset, Gallery Gachet is appropriately positioned to assume a role

as convenor and facilitator for the provision of community-based cultural services from Woodward's.

Experienced in the range of arts activities, from production to exhibition, Gallery Gachet offers performance, video, new media, painting, sculpture, installation, drawing, serigraphy, woodworking, and more. Through the delivery of free workshops, Ga llery Gachet provides capacity-building for local resiresidents in all areas of arts production, as well as in arts management and cultural planning. The exhibition program showcases artists from the community, and provides partnership opportunities for collaborations with PIVOT, The Art Studio, RayCam Community Centre, Carnegie Community Centre, Canadian Mental Health Association, Creating Employment Through the Arts.Crabtree Corner, and many others.

Get in touch with Gallery Gachet to learn about plans for Woodward's, or to participate in free workshops, or find out about the many DTES artists exhibiting this season at the Gallery.

Phone 604 .687.2468, go online to www.gachet.org, email gallery@gachet.org.

Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday 12-6pm, and Sunday 2-6pm.

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The sign does not lie: You Are Here.

This is the appointed time; appointment , disappointment. ..

You are here , live in the now, strike while the iron is hot.

Woodward s canbe a good answer imagine something good for someone in need Teach them rather to fish; it's better than giving a fish Yes, Woodwards can be a real helping hand even though it'll be contained by so many heretofor's and aforementioned ' s; legal mumbo-jumbo. Let's not lose sight of the goodness for our neighbourhood.

No it wasn 't all my idea. I'm only giving a little hand and a prayer. I too would like to see as many social units (housing) as possible, and community M participation. All the best on the 23 !

Mike Bohnert

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[Community Arts Council of Vancouver] is in support of the Gallery Cachet to be a part of the arts and culture programming and services for the development of Wood wards. Like most inner city neighbourhoods throughout North America, the Downt?wn Eastside is filled with arti sts. galleries and artist-run centres looking for inspiration and paying temporarily cheap rent. Gallery Gachet has proven them selves to be much more.

Gallery Gachet is a community arts centre providing cultural services to the residents of the Downtown Eastside. The centre is operated by an artist's cooperative, with administrative support from paid staff. A dynamic year-round exhibition program is supported with production studios (woodworking, pottery, painting), a new media lab (electronic design, digital photography and video), with additional space for workshops and meetings. The mandate of Gallery Gachet is to provide cultural development services in the community, as well as provide direct services to support artistic production by mental health consumers in Vancouver. Gallery Gachet works from a busy 3000+ square foot facility .

Since their arrival in the Downtown Eastside in '96 [from their original home in Downtown Granville South], the Gallery, its management and members have been consistently inclusive and supportive to residents and organizations throughout the Downtown Eastside: creating opportunities for residents to express their opinions, ideas and images at numerous events held at their 88 Cordova Street location.

Unlike most galleries in the Downtown Eastside, Gachet has been and continues to be very much a part of the Downtown Eastside Community. The role of Gallery Gachet in th development of Woodwards is essential if the project is to be truly inclusive of the current community. Arts and Culture are vital components to any healthy community, even more so in places where loss, poverty and violence are a constant presence. It is in these places where the arts can and have been the most tran sformative.

The Community Arts Council of Vancouver has a 58-year history in Vancouver that includes creating a great deal of cultural facilities, arts programming and fighting for the preservation of our parks and our heritage sites. Today we are faced with similar challenges. The Downtown Eastside communities hold the history of our city, and it is crucial that we explore all means possible to retain that history.

Vancouver is a beautiful city , few would disagree. but what makes a city truly beautiful are the communities, their differences, the people and their stories . The Community Arts Council supports the expansion of Gallery Gachet in the development of Woodwards without hesitation.

Sharon Kra vitz

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