JUNE 15, 2014

__ a rEn•egi e ~. NEWSLETTER - carnnews~vcn_bc_ca

Carnegie

Centre &

Oppenheimer

Park

National Aboriginai"Week" Monday June 16th 10am-2pm Aboriginal Resource and Information Fair: Carnegie Gym

Booths by Aboriginal Wei/ness Program, Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services, AFD, Aboriginal Community Policing Society, BC Responsible Gambling Program and more

3:30pm-9pm Celebration Feast: Carnegie Theatre (Cultural Sharing Program) Entertainment & Food!

Wednesday June 18th 7pm Cease Wyss: Carnegie Theatre

Skwxw'u7mesh ethnobotanist, artist, educator & food security activist Friday June 20th 5pm-8pm Art opening, "Mixed Media Cultures" 3rd floor Atrium

Carnegie Centre Aboriginal Artisan Program: Refreshments and Entertainment! Everyone welcome!

Saturday June 21st 10am-4:30pm National Aboriginal Celebrations at Oppenheimer Park (Powell & Jackson)

Food, Entertainment and tun activities for everyone!

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THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE CENTRE FOR THE ARTS PRESENTS

IN THE SPIRIT OF STRENGTH, HOPE & UNITY

featuring merging aboriginal artists Bernie Williams

Chuckie Silverfox Garnet Tobacco

Leona Edenshaw Mark Sawyer MaryAnn Pete Priscillia Tait Randy Tate

Richard Thorne

Wednesday-Sunday, June 14- June 30, 2014 Interurban Gallery

1 East Hastings

3

AFN chief asks: how much of our environment are we consciously willing to destroy? By Mychaylo Prystupa (Vancouver Observer)

With the Natural Resources Minister in front of her, and addressing a packed oil tanker safety summit audience on Musqueam territory, the B.C. lieutenant for the Assembly of First Nations gave a thought-provoking speech on Monday on balancing the environment and energy development. A major decision on the Northern Gateway oil sands pipeline. that has been so controversial with First Nations. is

expected

MARINE t .. ..

AFN Regional ChiefPuglaas (Jody Wilson-Raybould) speaking at a Musqueam oil tanker safety summit Monday.

Here's a portion of what AFN Regional Chief Puglaas (Jody Wilson-Raybould) said: ··we all know [resource development impact on the environment] is an incredibly divisive issue. and currently broad public support is spli t on moving heavy oil over our land and through our waters. "For First Nations of course, this is extremely challenging given our attachment of on our land and water." ·'Certainly it's very emotional, and there's a lot of people playing fast and loose with numbers and potential im­

pacts on the environment of spills, etc. "But our ability as a country to find balance and to listen to divergent voices, will continue to be put [us] to the test as the debate on natural resource infrastructure continues to heat up over the next week or so and beyond-­finding the right balance between fueling our economy and protecting our environment." "Few Canadians argue there should be no natural resource development-- where there are divergent perspectives is on the scope and scale to which it takes place, the manner in which it is regulated and, ultimately. who benefits. These are debates First Nations are having internally as well. As a country we have some big decisions to make about our future and we need to be strategic. "To develop this strategy, we need a more robust conversation about what we mean by sustainable resource de­velopment for the futu re - not just what constitutes so-called ·'responsible development" today. We need to invest in science and research. And we need to have openness and transparency and clear rules surrounding the conduct­ing of environmental assessments and the approval of major projects. "Moreover, unlike in the past, Aboriginal governments are going to have a greater say, and it is unlikely major projects wi ll proceed unless Aboriginal interests are taken into account. Which, for most Canadians, I believe, is

seen as a welcome addition to this difficult conversation that, in the history books, will define our time.

"But as Canadians, we are not so nai've as to think that somehow we can just turn off the tap and that there are easy choices to be made. Today, leaving aside for a moment the fundamentally important reali ty of extinguished Aboriginal rights, the Canadial} economy is dependent on the natural resource sector- we are a country that digs holes, taps into the natural resources our lands are blessed with and we move and sell them to others. We all invest in oil sands expansion "As we know, there are huge energy interests in the energy sector, both domestic and foreign. In fact, and brining it back even closer to home, [doubt there is anyone in this room, who is not personally, directly or indirectly in­vesting in the Tar Sands and pipeline expansion. It is next to impossible to invest in Canadian mutual funds or pension funds including CPP that does not have a portion of the portfolio in oil and gas and the natural resource sector. But that is our system- everything is inter-related. There is simply no black and white." "So in thinking about this, about First Nations and about Canada and about what we all want to see

50 years from now, we really need to ask 'what do we mean by sustainable development? And what sort of reliance will our country have on fossil fuels moving forward? Global warming is a fact "There is no question that we are slowly killing the planet, and perhaps not as slowly as we once might have once thought. Global warming is a fact, climate change is a fact, and human impact is a factor. · "Last week's announcement by President Obama on the new Environmental Protection Agency rules to reduce car­bon emissions in power plants- 30% by 2030- was very important- the sort of things one can do in a 2nd term. ·

"Whether or not Keystone or Enbridge will be approved are big looming questions that will chart a significant course in the debate and around our collective future. But beyond that, and looking simply at marine tanker and safety, what is really needed in my view is a global strategy to wean us off our energy dependency on fossil fuels, and there­fore to wean us off the financial incentive there is from exploiting the resource. Technology is, and will improve as we find alternative energy sources. But those who have invested billions, including you and I, in the oil and gas sec­tor are not simply going to watch our investments evaporate as supply for the product diminishes.

Divesting from fossil fuels ''So there will need to be a transition, both in terms of reducing the demand for foss il fuels, while at the same time divesting and moving capital currently employed in exploiting the resources. This is not going to happen overnight, and not all the players on the global stage will be reading from the same script. "So again we cannot be ·na'ive in our approach, but we can be strategic. We can plan over the next two generations ­we will do what we can as a country to ensure sustainable resource development, and gradual weaning off fossil fu­els. We can do this by creating an incentive for other investments and become less reliant on natural resource ex­traction to drive our economy. Our we ready to do this? Our we ready as a country to diversify our economy?" .Aboriginal reconciliation needed "Finally, and specifically considering our peoples, when it comes to natural resourc~ development, reconciling with Aboriginal peoples has perhaps than in any other area the potential to influence for the better the way we approach governance in Canada. Not only is the evolving law making power of Aboriginal governments unique, being a com­bination of federal, provincial, municipal and uniquely Aboriginal powers, so to is the geographical distribution of that power." "Historically political power in Canada, whether federal or provincial, is weighted in the south where most of us live, and therefore vote. Local communities with their limited governance in rural Canada, have typically had less influence over significant public policy decisions that affect them, and generally keep little of the wealth generated from resource development despite being the most impacted by it.

Tanker in Burrard Inl et - Photo by Roy McBride

'·However, th is is changing, with re-emerging Aboriginal government. People who are attached to Jive on and sur­vive off the land they live on have their own perspective on land management, and resource exploitation, that can often differ from those who do not, or are just passing through, or are passing investors. This emerging political real ity is already beg inning to change the way land use planning and decisi9n making is being conducted in Canada, including how governments must share revenues, and how governments must protec't the environment. How many o il tankers are too many? "So finally, in Glosing, and thinking about the condo that my husband and I own on the Ts leil-Waututh reserve that over looks Indian Arm and a refinery across the water (on Vancouver's north shore area). I ask myself when I sit on my balcony, and !look up on the website where the tankers are on the tanker traffic website, I ask myself, 'what will this tanker traffic increases two fold? Or beyond? What are the acceptable levels? What are the safeguards that need to be in place, and at what point is it no longer acceptable? There are no easy answers to these questions. I know the existing oi~ is going out, but does it really have to expand? And who is benefitting from that expansion? And to what extent? "Are the risks worth it? And how much of our environment are we consciously willing to destroy?"

My dear Mother Earth

We are destroying her everyday Our poor animals in our waters We are having polluted air to breathe

-more every day Our animals are coming in to the cities They have no place left to live in the wilderness Greed is the number one factor

Let us leave the mountains alone That way animals won't prey on pets

when they have nothing to hunt for I don't pity people who lose pets to the wild

Open your eyes and heart to our wild Plus Mother Earth!!!

All my relations, Bonnie E Stevens

Stars Ride Buses

Does it not amaze you that the sun shines eternally even when the clouds film over this blue ball Does it not amaze you that when the cloud cover rolls in the mountains are hidden but stand majestic without our meaningless gaze ever brushing that granite face So it goes with man, things I'm afraid get by on faith half the time, more joyous when the universe exerts its power and the true value of the specks of stardust we once were and wi II be again Get on the B-Line right on time See the commuters: do they ponder? the cosmos, the real being we all are or is ti a ll just lost in the tangled jangly mess of traffic and with all the gusto of the enslaved energy of s laves someone once said do they see the stars as I do?

Jesse Michaud

Small. Pleasure

With great gusto I thank the cockroach thanx for letting me kill you squishing to a dry greasy paste on the wall on the way here l notice a rotting man sleeping in a pile of debris on Hastings his legs burnt by sun & filth, various layers ooze out this victim's hatred of life how long will he rot there? 'fore they certify him as dead meat see a Iotta folks ready to die, anxious counting the cheques, saving up their morphine one dude when warned sooner or later UBDED says 'I was hopin' on sooner,' trades his pain pills for crack, he' II be back the next morning till one day without warning he ' ll be dead like all the rest in this never-ending parade of ODs & suicides, murders makes you wonder, don't it fannboy why you even bother hangin' around

Dick Stone

for Jackie

Things you remember most, come haunting me how the too-hot weather burned tiny fingers screaming all the way to the hospital Lucky that girl has always been how the traffic lull ed just a second on Grandview Hwy just two years old wandering into traffic, never knew till Ali yells "That man's got Jackie!" dude didn't wanna give 'er back almost had a grand mal heart attack We moved in 2 days, still shaking from how close we came to losing my Jac Attack god gave me my baby back

Be the thing I miss the most sound of her sleepy voice on the phone morning time Be the one thing I did right I love my daughter all my might.

AI

CALL FOR PROGRAM IDEASI -/,_.. .r~astst d ·

/\)~wnt~~ e · .-

Image, Diane Wood I logo Design, John Endo Greenaway

Do you have a program idea for our community's upcoming 2014 Fes val (Oct 29-Nov 9), or a future festival?

2014 Festival Theme: Keeping the Home Fires Burning.

Meet Terry Hunter (Artistic Producer) and Teresa Vandertuin (Associate Artistic Producer) on:

Wednesday, 25 June 2014, 2:00- 4:00pm Carnegie Community Centre, Cafeteria, Second Floor

Refreshments provided

II

Humanities 101 & Carnegie Centre

present

Monthly Speaker Series Join us every 41

' Wednesday of the month for stimu­lating presentations & discussions by guest speakers.

The talk for June wi II be:

((13eau1iju[ [ies:

Poetry ana meaning" with Ted Byrne

Poet, translator & poetry teacher; Writing 101

I From the LibrarY... 9 This month the library wil l be ceebrating National

Aboriginal History Month! Our display this month wi ll highlight books from our wonderful Aboriginal

Collection. There are also a number of events happening for

National Aboriginal History Month that Carnegie Branch is involved in. On Monday June 16

1" learn

more about VPL's resources, the Storyteller in Resi­dence program, the Aboriginal Collection and more at the Carnegie Centre Information and Resource Day from 10-2. On Wednesday June 18

111 at 7pm Car­

negie Branch is pleased to welcome traditional story­teller & ethno-botanis t, T'uy'tanat-Cease Wyss who will be doing an Indigenous Tea Party and Storytel­ling event in the theatre. Finally, on Saturday June 21 st staff wi ll be attending National Aboriginal Day at Oppenheimer Park. Come visit our table, chat with staff and make a button to take home!

In other news, my last day at Carnegie will be June 131h. I want to thank everyone for being so warm,

Wednesday, June 25, 7- 9 PM welcoming and helpful to me for the past month. I Carnegie Theatre have very much enjoyed my short time here. I would

IWiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiililiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill 1 ike to g ive a big we I come to the new Carnegie 1

Branch Head Natalie Porter, who will be joining the

A Bus Driver Who Voted Liberal

This time last year hundreds ofN.D.P.'ers fe lt like the walking wounded. They thought their party would be governing B.C. After all, the polls before the May 2013 election all showed that the N.D.P. would beat the Christy C la rk-led Libera ls hands down.

Instead as one N:D.P.'er to ld me after the votes were counted, "Here we are again in the opposition where we usually end up.''

Al l the way through the election I wasn't convinced that the N.D.P. would win. And one of the main rea­sons for this belief was a man I'll call Frank.

I've known Frank for over 20 years and he's never voted N.D.P. A big, chunky, grey-haired man, he owns a nice house in the burbs. He's married to a woman who works in the financial sector, And he won't look at the N.D.P

"No way," he told me once. "I vote for free enter­prise, not the N .D.P. I believe in the free enterprise system all the way.'' Yet

Carnegie Libraryton June 17th! Please join me in wel­coming Natalie.

Thanks again! Erin Rickbell

here's the important point: Without the N.D.P., Frank wouldn't be a bus driver. And without his union. which always supports the N .D.P., Frank wouldn't be earning the money he does.

Let's go back fifty years or so. In the early 1970's metro Vancouver didn't really have a bus system. Sure trolleys and a few buses ran through Vancouver city. Yet in the burbs only a few buses serviced this growing area. They ran maybe once an hour if that.

Then came Dave Barrett's government which was elected in 1972. Jim Lorimer, a lawyer was appointed B.C.'s first N.D.P. Minister of Municipal Affairs. One of the first things Lorimer did was order close to 100 new buses. Now buses started to run regularly in White Rock, Surrey, Richmond and so on. Also this new bus system needed drivers and they were hired by the hundreds.

Then the B.C. government started to plan for pub-

lie buses to run in towns and cities across B.C. For as late as 1975, no public buses ran in Chilliwack, Vernon, Abbotsford and other places .. To-day they do.

Of course this transit system ran into some bumps on the road . Three times in the past 50 years, bus and trolley drivers hit the picket lines in metro Vancouver. "This is really hurting me," one office worker said in 2001 when a transit workers' strike lasted 15 weeks. She was one of 80,000 transit users who had to find another way to get to work.

Also as the public bus system got shuttled around from B.C. Hydro to Metro Transit Operating Com­pany to B.C. Transit and finally to Trans! ink, problems showed up in the system. fares continued to climb. Sometimes the head honchos of the operating compa­nies liked transit workers. Sometimes they didn't. Buses ran up against traffic jams and couldn't keep up to their schedules. Meanwhile the new Skytrain sys­tems started to suck money away from the bus sys­tem. Yet overall as one transit public relations person said about the transit system, "It works."

Through all of these changes, Frank the bus driver did his job. He worked hard, and racked up savings. he and 3,000 other bus drivers benefit to-day from a public transit system, set up by the N.D.P. over 40 years ago. When I told him this he just shrugged and said, "I don't vote N.D.P."

A las, Frank's not alone. Thousands of people like him who work for government and whose jobs wouldn't exist without the N.D.P., vote Liberal or used to vote Social Credit. Of course there's also thousands of other government workers who do vote N .D.P. Yet it's people like Frank who keeps premiers like Christy Clark in power. I wish I could change but so far r haven't been able to.

By Dave Jaffe

The Hymn Factory: Something We Became I have held way too many tongues as a roofer coming down a ladder and I know the middle rung has a crack yet I say nothing his wired ears are shut down, just a shadow of my atom-bombed self in any way, shape or fonnula .. I am to join all the other hymnbooks on the shelf when we hear the laughter we know it's true aim I may be paranoid but I have been around, like unfin­ished airports being of minimal concern Flight 370 is gone as others will surely crash & burn is tis some­thing we became OceanBlue Ocean View I shall re-

tum trust me you are mine as I am yours; I will just survive not knowing who people are let alone myself l will take a gumball machine full of pills long before Dementia or Alzheimer's robs me of myself I guess sometimes something we become makes some walk on all fours, the hospitality industry is taking a few years off the Obituaries are always full of celebratory good byes and other stuff "I Love You OceanBiue Ocean View I would Die For You," there are days when no one says thank-you, hello or even goodbye aloud of pathetic proportions crawls above the land of ocean view is .. still beautiful words alone will never explain why but for now they still do, like an exception for every ruler and just when you think it can't get any crueler as for the rights of the forgotten and the dead it just goes by (my oh my it does), I ike navigating a minefield dressed as Ronald McDonald [do I hear a thousand orders to go?] back in the world that was, like trying to bring 2 groups of selfishists to the negotiating table for the sake of argument the first we wi ll call Cain the other why not Abel if there were no such thing as money they'd still find a reason to kill each other that iss just the way our way is, We turned our back on nurturing this world it was something we became all boys and all girls the HeartMindSoul & Salvage Company stopped answer­ing our needs and left su with this ... oh OceanBlue Ocean View he & a friend a couple weeks ago we came down on Mother's Day to be with you the weather was overcast it was so placid and beautiful­saw my grama & grampa (a couple real good friends) I am so envious but will wait my tum, is it so selfish for someone to jump in line cuz when I begin forget­ting who you are let alone me are my expiry dateclock will kick in to count down time that something we became took control over our eternal soulo who gets inducted today wait! I don't want names or faces just do what you have been doing since time was turned into a two vial container full of sand, I truly will never know what happens after death until it happens man­kind is adjourned.

By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY Q "It was beautiful and simple, as all truly great swindles are." 0. Henry

I only met Bud Osborn once; what a creative force! If only raising shit could raise the dead, my dad, my friends and all other awesomeness could put my mind and its slow eradication to bed. R MeG

Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP)

Newsletter June 2014

FROM RESIGNATION TO RESISTANCE IN CHINATOWN An interview with CCAP's King-mong Chan on mobilizing Vancouver's low-income

Chinese community against gentrification

This article is part a series of conversations with Vancouver­

based anti-gentrification activists published by the

Vancouver Media Coop. For more info on the Media Coop

or to read the other articles, go to: http://vancouver.mediacoop. ca. Many thanks to Tyson and Media Coop for letting us print

this interview.

BY TYSON LEONARD

How is gentrification currently affecting the Chinese community in Vancouver?

I think gentrification is more of a class issue that transcends ethnicities, but there arc important intersections within it that affect different marginalized communities. The Chinese community's stories of gentrification arc not as well known, primarily because of language baniers.

The biggest issue that is specific to Chinatown, which people associate with the Chinese community, is the Chinatown heights review. The review was brought in a few years ago and allowed for taller buildings, which led to what we see now, which is a whole slew of condos. But [ think gentrification occurs, is occurring, and has occuncd for quite some time already.

A very big landmark was Woodward 's. After Woodward's, what we see is that the "social mix'' model of housing ends up losing more social housing units than we gain-and with more and more market condos, there is an ensuing change in retail

spaces. That, then, obviously changes the environment of that area.

arc here, but some of them think there is social housing in them too. They just don't have the information about what is going on. So that lack of inf<nmation is a huge banier to them understanding what's going on in the community. I think they see that rent is increasing, but there is still a huge

ln your work as an organizer working with residents of Chinatown, what is the general understanding of gentrification in that community? What are the worries surrounding that?

Most of the people I've spoken to don't have a solid understanding of gentrification. Some people I talk to have an understanding that, generally, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Something that highlights the lack of focus on gentrification in the Chinese community is that I still have yet to find a te1m in a Chinese dialect for gentrification that

MhRE C~NDO~·IN l CHINA~OWN?

Oly ccu-1Cil _,. lo..,. develope-.., buld 5 hig>-< ... c:ondo6 near MVlaoo Geo<voa St Theysay!lls,s­CI>metc>""' ll<ildenti~;;;..._., ,(AI:

March 3pnr-5pm

CARNEGIE CI(NTRE THJ:ATRE

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An CCAP Chinatown Heights Review poster

· gap in their understanding of what exactly they are facing in terms of the effect on housing.

What tactics have successfully overcome barriers to organizing

'1 in Vancouver's Chinese

community?

Language is one of the main baniers for people. To overcome it, you need more community organizers who are willing to be engaged and help the Chinese residents , particularly with infOimation. That's not

people seem to identify with. There isn't a set word. I just use one that the newspaper used, but I don't know how widespread peoples' understanding of it as a term is. So the idea of "gent1ification" is not very established.

just exclusive to people who can speak a Chinese dialect, because others can gather infmmation and utilize those who can translate. Engaging the residents is one thing I'm trying to do-getting the right information to them so they can actually make the connections themselves.

The Chinese community knows the condos

2

In terms of resistance, I haven't had too much experience. Right now, I think it's important to get people engaged in these issues and have a place for them to talk . Language acts as a barrier in the way that we don't know what a lot of the non­English-speaking Chinese community is thinking. We don 't know what their understanding or gentrification is, their views of community are, how they see the community changing , and how they are responding to it.

The Chinese community is very diverse _ There are people that have been here for a long time, but also people from the different waves of immigration. Some come from main land China and some from Hong Kong . So the community as a whole has a huge variety of experiences. That diversity limits any generalization of "the Chinese community_"

Within the larger community, though , I sense there is almost a cultural barrier, in that many Chinese residents are more accepting of gentrification_ It's something we need to acknowledge-this res ignatio n in the face of gentrification. But I think as we continue to mobilize and to organize within the Chinese community, it will give them the confidence that they can actually fight back against gentrification_

I th ink that's where the strength lies in te rms of a main tactic. It's inspiring hope among the res idents so that they can come together and effect change. If everyone is scattered with no hope. then the battle is almost lost.

Is there anything you would like to add?

There is a lot to still be learned_ The sense I get from being in this kind of role for just over a year is that the

, wider low-income community has a Jot of history in terms of organizing around the issues of gentrification_ The Chinese community hasn't been mobilized to that same extent. We arc starting to , but it will take some time to see the same kind of strength as the wider 'iommunity_

Hopefully, when we build that organization, we will have additional strength to put towards these issues_ Il adds a different voice-and I

think it can be such a powerful voice for the anti-gentrification battle, if the low­income Chinese community mobilizes and becomes vocal and more visible_

This goes for not just the Chinese community, but for any other ethnic minority communities. All communities need to be engaged and fully supporting their own capacity and their own right to fight .

3

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6

BY JEAN SWANSON Residents of the Clifton Hotel call one of the hotel 's empty rooms the Bird Sanctuary. That's because there is a missing window and pigeons are coming into the room which is covered with p1geon poo.

On June 6th the Camegie Community Action Project organized a news conference with Clifton Hotel residents who want the city and province to take immediate action to improve and save their homes. All residents of the single room occupancy hotel have been given eviction notices as the owner says he wants to renovate the dilapidated building which desperately needs repairs and maintenance.

"As soon as the new owner took over," said Clifton hotel resident Shawn Thorpe , " the building went from being a community to a place where people

feel threatened. Due to continuing lack of maintenance small issues tum into big issues cause they do nothing. A lot of people here can' t afford the higher rents in other places."

"I don't have a place to go ," added •

Roberto Manillo , another tenant. I'm on disability and there's no other place. I've been assaulted twice in shelters."

Birds inside a room with no window in the Clifton.

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France.\ Filimenti

"All I ask is that the washrooms be clean, that everything be clean," tenant Frances Filimenti told reporters at the news conference.

Tenants say that the Clifton has roaches and mice . Sometimes there is no water and no cleaning of washrooms. Hallways are dirty and unpainted.

"The Clifton is one of several hotel s where owners are getting rid of low income tenants so they can upgrade and charge higher rents to students and young workers," said Jean Swanson of the Carnegie Community Action Projec t If the city and province allow this trend to continue, homelessness will increase even faster than it has in the last year because SRO hotels arc the last stop before home Lessness."

"The city has lots of options," said Swanson. It cou ld use the Standards

of Maintenance Bylaw to do the work necessary and bill the owner. Then, if the owner doesn't pay them, the city should take the hotel. It's a win, win si tuatiun.'·

"Or, the city or province could lease the hotel ," saiu Swanson. "The province could base rent control on the unit , not the tenant, to keep rents down. Or the city cou ld require the owner to get a non profit manager as a condition of hav ing a business license. The province neeus to rai se welfare and disability rates so people have enough money to pay rents. All of the options require political wilL" said Swanson, "but if the city and province don' t take action residents of the Clifton and other hotels could be joining the ranks of the homeless."

Most of the C.Jifton residents are disputing their eviction notices. Didi Dufresne , the advocate at First United Church is helping them. Their Residential Tenancy Act hearing is on July 15 . For a virtual tour of the Clifton, go to http://goo.gl/HSJDOL

A mouldy, duct-taped shower in the Cl(fton

7

Is th1~ modem art or b1rd poo inside the Clifh1n HoteP Come to the next CCAP volunteers meeting to find out

CCAP volunteers meet e,·cry Friday Jt I I: IS pm in the dJ~~room on the th ird floor of the Carnegie. We work together on hou~mg, income and other commun1ty issue~ .

... More from the Media Coop's series of conversations on gentrification ...

To re,1d more ofTyson Lconan.f~ interviews, go to the Vancouver Media Coop website:

http:/ /vancouver.mediacoop.ca/ author /tyson-leonard

From an interview with Harold Lavender: /(It 's a question of what unites us"

A lot of the community organizing in the DTES is based on people's experiential knowledge in the community, such as the exp erience of oppression. This is a community where people interact with each other, and have spaces and organizations, and shared experiences and values. So that actually provides a certain capacity to resist oppression. That's what we're trying to do, draw on the collective strength of the community.

You also have to try to create organizations that are in clusive of the community. One of the myths about the DTES is that it's a stereotypical community, or it's not a diverse community. In fact it's a really dive rse community, and it includes a lot of different experiences. So it's a question of what unites us, while remaining aware of class, gender, racial, and colonial oppression.

Vancity Harold Lal'elldcr 1t1itlz a copy of the Do11:nfown East ntwspaper

Support for this project does not necessarily imply Vancity's endorsement of the findings or

contents of this newsletter

8

Honouring Qur Life Givers

FridaY, JUlY q., 201q. 1:oo- q.:oo PM

Carnegie Centre Theatre Join us for an afternoon of music, crafts, refreshments and fun!

Tickets available on Monday, June 23rd at the following locations: Aboriginal Front Door, Carnegie Centre (3rd floor) , Crabtree Corner, Downtown Eastside Women Centre, Oppenheimer Park, and WISH .

Thanr.;; you to:

vanr ~ uver neighbourho foundation ; small grants fj'

Directors Annual Report Reporting year- June 1, 2013- May 31, 2014

The last year has been a time of hope and frustration and great learning for community members who served on the Local Area Plan committee. The plan, in its final state, may not be everything we would have wished for but it is absolutely reflective of the intelligence and tenacity of the people of this community. At the very least the plan has saved the central part of the DTES as a low income neighbourhood. This would never have happened without the watchful and active minds of those who engaged in the process and who insisted on a plan in the first place.

In 2013,5536 patrons purchased their $1 annual membership to the Carnegie Community Centre Association. Other patrons freely access the Centre and enjoy programs and activities that are open to the whole community and free of charge. The fol­lowing highlights the work done and programs offered, but does not begin to describe the daily commitment of Carnegie staff volunteers and Association members: The Carnegie Outreach team provides the Homeless Outreach Program (HOP) as well as regular patrols of the back lanes

and streets to provide harm reduction supports. HOP is a fast track program to get homeless people onto welfare and into housing, with Approximately 400 individuals assisted into housing in 20 13.The team is expanding to respond city wide and has taken on the responsibility of finding housing for those who stay in the emergency winter shelters. The Volunteer Program. This year 300 new people started volunteering at Carnegie. At any given time there are 300 actiV{

volunteers! In 2013 they contributed approximately 65,000 hours of program support, including 27,300 hours of kitchen work. Other areas enjoying significant volunteer support included the Learning Centre, Seniors lounge, the Pool Room, Computer Lab, Weightlifting Room, Oppenheimer Park, as well as other programs and special events. The majority of volunteers are local residents and patrons of the Centre. Volunteers are the reason we are able to provide most of the services we do. The Kitchen is the heart of the Carnegie Centre and could not offer its huge contribution without the support of the volunte~

base. In 2013 the kitchen served a total of 199,052 customers, approximately 545 per day. As well as providing three hot meals, soup, sandwiches and baked items daily, the kitchen staff and volunteers also catered for 353 programs and events Volunteers working in the kitchen learn valuable skills while contributing to the production of nutritious low cost meals for the DTES community. People who've struggled with addiction can find that volunteering in the kitchen has been a dynamic part their recovery.

Arts Programming, In 2013, regular ongoing programming included jazz band, ballroom dancing, two writers groups, Chi· nese choir, Carnegie Choir, cabaret, music jam, popular and documentary movie nights, poetry night, karaoke nights, mont/', live band dance and a multitude of workshops in dance, music, art and theatre. The Arts Program also exhibits in the Galle!) by local artists, programmed HomeGround & Heart of the City Festival & hosted performances and concerts by community and professional bands. DTES Small Arts Grants, in its fourth year, received an increase in funding from the Vancouver Foundation, allowing us to

allocate $100,000 in grants of up to $1000 per artist. Three-year funding has also been confirmed. One of the major achievements of the Arts program this year was the fundraising for upgrades to the Carnegie Theatre. A jaz; concert at the Cultch was successful in securing necessary funds from the City. The upgrades will proceed this month of Junt Seniors and Coffee Seller Programs Seniors Coffee Sellers raised $58,260.76 during 2013 The funds raised by 15 dedi­

cated volunteers go directly to seniors programming, as well as other Carnegie & community events. 24-30 Seniors partici­pated in monthly trips (2 trips/month of 12-15 Seniors) in and around Vancouver including, Pacific National Exhibition, Stanley Park Pitch & Putt, Burnaby Museum, the Cannery in Steveston and the Vancouver Aquarium. The Seniors also contributed Good and Welfare funds (a stipend for recently hospitalized Carnegie Seniors) for 8 seniors exiting the hospital to assist with comforts. 36 participants attended the annual camping trip to Cultus Lake for four days in August.

Cultural Sharing Programs The Cultural Sharing Program, hosted by two volunteers, continues on Monday evenings, with participation aimed at increasing knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of Aboriginal cultural traditions. Workshops inclucJ. ing rattle making, drum making, dream catchers & medicine bags, as well as medicine teachings have been enjoyed by par­ticipants. The Carnegie Centre has a renewed focus on welcoming First Nations participants to programs and has hosted feasts with entertainment at the Heart of the City Festival and the HomeGround Festival. The program also organized the Alx riginal Veterans Day march to the Victory Square Cenotaph, providing a space for the opening ceremony and for our veteran: to gather.

Oppenheimer Park, Oppenheimer park organizes annually 1) National Aboriginal Day which hosts over 800 people - show­casing our rich Aboriginal culture free for residents of the DTES; 2) Endless Summer Festival- a carnival type setting for chil­dren and families of all ages including entertainment by local talent; 3) HomeGround Event- Art workshops and social enter­tainment including Food Bingo, and an all-time favourite: Oppenheimer Park's Got Talent. Our Oppenheimer Park Community Art Show collaborated with Gallery Gachet in its 6th successful year. Staff provide sum­mer clinics for children and 2013 saw 10 children between 5-12 years of age partake in the soccer clinic. The Park staff and association members have been working with CCAP and our Chinese Senior population to create a safe space for seniors to volunteer and give back to the community. Many historical commemorative items have been installed throughout the year. The medicinal garden and community garden was completed in 2013. The Security and Information Team's goal is to provide a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for patrons and staff.

In 2013; there were 1165 documented security related incident reports·. The Team continues its commitment to Violence Pre­vention and hands off approach in response to incidents. The Team also serves the community by: Providing a vital informa­

tion and community resource referral service, providing mail and message services, administering First Aid and gathering and reporting statistical information relating to Centre usage and Security The Administration Team, led by Deleine Chamberlain, continue to provide support in a professional, friendly and respectful

manner to the Association by keeping the books and minutes of meetings and to patrons by providing member services such as booking rooms and issuing mail.

The Learning and Literacy Centre The Learning Centre is a partnership with Capilano College, the Carnegie Community Centre Association and COV. Together with about 60 volunteers, the Learning Centre and associated literacy outreach pro­grams assist over 400 community members with literacy and upgrading. Volunteers contributed over 8400 hours in 2013. The program receives financial support from Capilano University, the Carnegie Association and Ministry of Advanced Education

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through the Community Adult Literacy Programs. Part of the Carnegie Outreach Literacy Grant goes to support the learning centre at the WISH Drop In Centre Society as well

~ as an ongoing outreach program at Oppenheimer Park. 1 Over t~e past three years, Capilano, in partnership with Neighbourhood Houses and DTES organizations, created the 'Eve-

rything Present in the Seed Community Leadership Training" aimed at building the skills, confidence and capacity of volun-·; teers working in community organizations. • I . ·Carnegie Library Early in 2013 the library installed a new service desk in a new location, and added electronic gates as are

found at all other library branches. A side benefit to these gates is their automatic traffic counting. Carnegie library regularly attracts a high number of visits, especially given its small size only the Central library and Mount Pleasant branches had a higher "gate count' for the last two quarters of 20 13. A typical day is about 1100 visits. Patrons make extensive use of our computer access, including wireless Internet service. We continued to distribute books through weekly giveaways on Hastings Street, and to other organizations and programs in

the Downtown Eastside as well as hosting author readings and workshops. In September, we, partnered with dozens of local and health organizations to hold the sixth annual Alley Health Fair. The Carnegie Newsletter is produced twice a month (except for the briefest concession to holiday at New Year's) and put

together by volunteers who faithfully contribute 2575 hours to collation and production. The newsletter has an annual subscrip­tion list and is read by residents all over the community due to the distribution efforts of Paul and others. The newsletter is funded in part by gaming funding and Paul Taylor works with the Association to fundraise as needed. The Carnegie Community Action Project, coordinated by Jean Swanson, organizes residents and offers opportunities and

education that promote the ability for residents to speak in ways they can be heard on issues of vital importance to them,including housing and the future of the neighborhood. Volunteers contributed 2400 hours to CCAP in 2013. My thanks go to the Carnegie Association Board for volunteering your time to make sure that the business of the Associa­

tion is carried on in a timely and meaningful'way and for the support you provide to me by offering advice on relevant commu­nity issues and concerns. It is an honour to serve this community. As many of you know, my own role has expanded to include advocacy for services for the homeless at COV. Special thanks to Assistant Director Sharon Belli, who supports all programs & makes it possible for me to take on this further role by expanding her own.

-Ethel Whitty [Director], June 2014

take back space

I was talking last week with libby davies, member of parliament for the downtown eastside of vancouver, and libby told of a star trek episode she'd seen - a futuristic situation in san francisco - an enormous wall had been constructed dividing poor people from every­one else .. and outside this wall in super consumerist upscale society there was almost no awareness of who was struggling to survive on the other side of the wall nor how wretched their living conditions were and libby said "that's not our future it's happening right now"

north america's anti-panhandling bylaws and other prohibitions against the presence of certain people in what was formerly public space is a central objective in the global and local writ against the poor

to put this situation in perspective I'd like to quote from an excellent book "geographies of exclusion· by david sibley; he says

"power is expressed in the monopolization of space and the relegation of weaker groups in society to less desirable environments .. the boundaries between the consuming and nonconsuming public are strengthening with nonconsumption being construed as a form of deviance at the same time as spaces of consumption eliminate public spaces in city centres, processes of control are manifested in the exclusion of those who are judged to be deviant imperfect or marginal- who is felt to belong and not belong contributes in an important way to the shaping of social space it is often the case that this hostility to others is articulated as a concern about property values the urge to make separations between clean and dirty ordered and disordered us and them that is to expel the abject is encouraged in western cultures creating anxieties because such separations can never finally be achieved this anxiety is reinforced by the culture of consumption in western societies the success of capitalism depends on it and a necessary feature of the geographies of exclusion the literal mappings of power relations and rejection is the collapse of categories like public and private and to be diseased or disabled is a mark of imperfection the fear of infection leads to erection of the barricades

to resist the spre~ad of diseased polluted others there is a history of imaginary geographies which cast minorities .. imperfect people .. and a list of others who are seen to pose a threat to the dominant group in society as polluting bodies or folk devils who are then located elsewhere this elsewhere might be nowhere as when genocide or moral transformation of a minority like prostitutes are advocated the imagery of defilement which locates people on the margins or in residual spaces is now more likely to be applied to the mentally disabled the homeless prostitutes and some racialized minorities"

the downtown eastside of vancouver, where I live, is by any statistical measurement of poverty and disease a third world area besieged by upscale developmental greed of truly genocidal proportions the highest rates and numbers of hiv/aids .. suicide .. hepatitis c .. syphilis and tuberculosis in the western world and close to the lowest life expectancy

and the single question I am asked more than any othe by media and concerned citizens is "where will they go?' where will the people go when they are driven from this area by gentrification/displacement?

referring to sibley, I must conclude that the municipal provincial and federal governments must have some imaginary geography in mind because there is nowhere for the people to go and in the downtown eastside the public space that has been available for drug addicts, mentally disabled, homeless, prostitutes is being seized from them

shutters and grates cover doorways and stairwells where human beings who have nowhere else to go at least could stand for awhile awnings are removed from buildings so that cold rain pouts down on very ill people large private security forces

in gastown and chinatown business districts enforce to the limits of their capability anti-panhandling bylaws and harass poor and vulnerable people out of their areas .. away from tourists and businesses

representing the downtown eastside !' I introduced a motion which passed declaring the hiv/aids infection rate among injection drug users vancouver's first public health emergency

these events brought international media attention to the predicament in the downtown eastside and since drug addiction and its consequences affects all areas of our live including massive health care costs the media has the story from one perspective or another ever since, in such a widespread and ongoing manner, that libby davies said she has never in all her years of activism seen anything like it

at approximately the same time as these events ann livingston and myself held meetings with drug addicts in the downtom! eastside hundreds of addicts and listened to them say over and over that what they most needed was a place to go a place, some space to be safe and rest and have the use of a telephone and a shower and a restroom common amenities denied them for even the community centre in the area is off limits

from these meetings a campaign developed for a 24-hour resource centre for drug users and that coincided with the federal government the liberals conning forth with a million dollars to deal with the public health emergency and it's been decided that the federal government will initially fund this resource centre for addicts

a commitment which would have seemed impossible unthinkable and absurd a year ago

there's currently a battle over where this facility will be and there are those insisting it be located anywhere elsewhere nowhere but it will be in the downtown eastside; and it is space taken back beeause if anything can be said to be an anti-gentrification project, it is this one and the health board in cooperation (of all things) with other ministries and b.c housing put together money not marked for any other housing venture and purchased 2 hotels in the dark heart of the emergency - the block where the red zone is located the block most people in business wish was gentrified and the addicts expelled as soon as possible and these 2 hotels will house mentally disabled drug ddicts, many of whom are infected with hiv/aids this initiative is an important signal that a commitment has been made to house 'undesirables" in the downtown eastside

and most dramatically of any project so far is a drug users' organization also funded by the vancouver/richmond health board it's called vandu -vancouver area network of drug users

sibley says in his book "there is always the hope thai through political action the humanity of the rejected will be recognized and the images of defilemenl discarded"

and that is what vandu has most powerfully begun to accomplish -the de-marginalization of those most marginalized the most powerless and voiceless are finding their voices and speaking forth at meetings and conferences and on committees where they had never been seen or heard before

it occurs to me regarding activism in the downtown eastside that out of all advocacy efforts and all the meetings and demonstrations around housing, while important as acts of resistance, they have not yielded one square inch of space taken back but the drug emergency has been truly hopeful

a petition campaign was begun by vandu members for safe injection rooms in the downtown eastside more space for the lowest the least and the last and because of the horrendous number of overdose deaths, this has become a possibility the 24-hour resource centre committee unanimously supported this petition and safe injection sites and this committee includes a gastown business leader and an inspector of the vancouver police department and the chief medical officer of be. john millar, in a report on the public health emergency, urges the government to yield resources with housing mentioned prominently to help save lives of drug users

out of this suffering of drug addicts and their families out of this exclusion, out of this genocide, out of the enormous health care costs now and later out of the monstrous market of international drug trade against first nations people out of the wild fire consequences of the prohibition of illicit drugs

out of the disease, out of the lives of the most execrated most written-off and hated human beings in our society has come an opening .. a possibility for something new for change for taking back space

and the emergency is not going to go away problems associated with drug use will only increase and worsen if real changes are not made for social activists this i~an opportunity that may not ever come again you can take on the whole system from the side of a drug addict this crisis is in victoria, it is in the comox valley it is on reserves throughout the province it is across the world and so I urge political activists to organize with drug addicts -they are in the biggest mess there is their lives are the biggest messes and the closer you are to them the more of a mess you get into but this solidarity is the only hope I see for actual concrete change the downtown eastside is being crushed there are a million battles to fight I have never before realized the width and breadth and power of the system as I have in this advocacy because here is a real threat to the system, trying to save the lives of those others would rather see die

I'll close with another quotation from the best book 1 know on this whole debacle it's called "the corner" the comer being the drug comer, the drug scene. the authors david simon and edward bum say "the corner is everywhere and we have swallowed some disastrous pretensions allowing ourselves a naive sincerity that even now assumes the battle can be restricted to heroin and cocaine limited to a self-contained cadre of lawbreakers when all along the conflict was ripe to become a war against tire underclass itself we can commit to the people of the corner to the notion that they are our own, that their future is our future or we can throw the problem back on them empathy demands that we recognize ourselves in their faces, that we acknowledge the addictive impulse is something more than simple lawlessness that we begin to see the corner as the last refuge of the truly disowned and connectedness admits that between their world and ours he distance in human terms at least is never as great as we make it seem"

Bud Osborn

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CRUNCH ""cltes MoRE: IRA~FIC ON ovR. .Sil>EWAli<.S rHE.SE DAYS • • ?

\4J~A11>o You TJ-~tNI< .:tM 1H\~\<ING f 15N'1"

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What's so funny????

about being a car toonist in the downtown eastside

A show of drawings and car t oons by Jim Dewar

Opening Reception - July 5 t h 2014 - 7 to 9 pm

In t he third f loor gal le ry of t he Carnegie

S how runs from July 5 th unti l July 31st

Entertainment by Alfredo Flores

:My {ave is . a soulful , surrendering spirit, a loving, tender listener & advisor with a busy body and mind; Nourishing, sensitive to the touch, openly friendly to one & all ; musically artistically inclined, inspiring, caring 'n sharing, genuine, real, deep and profound; guided steadily and studiously brilliant, effervescent & wor­shipping a higher power with a glowing smile on her beautiful face. She is absolutely pure of heart, with a contagious personality, directly involved with your immediate needs & welfare, body & soul, compel­lingly concerned with our well -being and always un­conditionally sensitive to speak nothing but the truth about the light and the way for me to go. Hypnotic in her gaze, she knows my mind, my heart, my spirit. She is bewitching, beguiling and yet never bewilder­ing with what she is feeling right now. I Jove the fact that she is never out of my reach -to touch, to hug, to play with and talk to ... She is always on my mind; she is ever in my heart. -ROBYN

Carnegie Community Centre

We, the guests, patrons and members, are at peace and yet quite active (if we so wish) in this historic structure in the heart of the city.-the Downtown East­s ide. Compelled to read a book, browse into a particu­lar newspaper or magazine, or just listen to silence & everything in a quiet corner. .. away from the hurty­burly explosion of sound right outside the doors and spilling into the streets at Hastings & Main!

Everything is absolutely bursting with life yet again safe & sound in one of the first Vancouver City Halls.

One can be set free from outside forces to ponder, to dream or even worship this serene, exciting scene. One can chill out &/or hook up to a program, phone, computer, or whatever with membership $1. a year! Maybe get some cheap gourmet eats made here in the near-legendary kitchen by dedicated staff and scores of tire less (well , almost) volunteers. [n point of fact this entire building is kept alive with this tried & true system and we never fail to impress!

The centre was originally financed with a $50,000 donation by philanthropic tyrant, tycoon yet built by

----------------------. turn-of-the-century stonemasons, carpenters and the

POSTAL CODE READINGS Thursdays Writing Collective

Guest Authors A mber Dawn & Alex Leslie Lost & Found Cafe (35 W Hastings)

Thursday, June 19,7- 9pm

Free! All W elcome! Light Snacks!

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stained-glass windows are a treasure by themselves. One can drift into history and the further back one

goes the more mystical and spiritual it seems to be. The whole area covered in old growth forest, wild r ivers streaming with salmon, bears and birds and air so clear you could smell sage a mile away. With this kind of connection to the beginnings is it any wonder why we aren't going away?!

Robyn Livingstone

carriegieC N EVVSLE-TER · · ...

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THIS NEWSLETIER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION

Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association.

WANTED Artwork for the Carnegie Newsletter

Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry . Cover art - Max size: 17cm(6 '/.")wide x 15cm(6")high. Subject matter pertaining to issues relevant to the Downtown Eastside, but all work considered . Black & White printing only. Size restrictions apply (i e. if your piece is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit) . All artists will receive credit for their work. Originals will be returned to the artist after being copied for publication Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets

Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.

COMPUTER ADVICE Vancouver Community Network . Cost-effective computer & IT support for non-profits VCN Tech Team http://techteam.vcn.bc.ca Ga11778-724·0826 ext2. 705-333 Terminal Ave, Van

(Publication is possible only with now-necessary donations.)

DONATIONS 2014 Elsie McG.-$100 Robert McG.-$80 Terry & Savannah -$100 Margaret D.-$40 Leslie S.-$150 Dave J.-$14 Sharon J.-$35 Christopher R.-$100 Bob & Muggs -$300 1 Sharman W.-$76 Michelle C.-$100 /

·'!\ever doubt that a sma!! group of thoughtful committed ·:itizens .::an change the world. Indeed, it is the on ly thing that ever h?.s. '· -1'vlargaret Meade

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

Next issue: SUBMISSION DEADLINE

FRIDAY JUNE 27TH

Jenny Wai Ching Kwan MLA Working for You

1070 - 1641 Commercial Dr, VSL 3Y3 Phone: 604-775-0790

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTIO • AIDS • POVERTY

HOMELESSNESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN TOTALITARIAN CAPITALISM IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAI

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