november. -...

This afternoon, Friday November I, we will be gathering in Oppenheimer Park to celebrate La Dia de 10s Muerfos in the Downtown Eastside. After a meal and some ceremonies, we will proceed at dusk with candles. masks and music along Hastings St. to the Carnegie. At 7:00 p.m. we are planning to break a pinata on the sidewalk in front of the building before the festivities begin inside the theatre.

In Mexico and Central America, on November 1 & 2. it is an honour and a duty to commemorate loved ones who have died. This tradition can be traced back to the Aztecs. They believed that death was not an ending. but the beginning of a new and eternal existence, so they respected the cycle of life by honouring the dead on these days. The Aztecs did not tremble before their god of death, Miclantechtli; they feared the uncertainty of life. Miclantechtli didn't punish the dead for their "sins" on earth; he released them from their burdens.

Every culture must learn to deal with the loss of life in order to survive. Feelings of abandonment, anger, guilt and fear must be released before we can go back to the business of living. Through centuries of poverty, oppression and violence, death has been ever-present. The sense of being vulnerable in a life full of danger, chaos and demonic forces has made generations believe that to live is to suffer. In our times, Day of the Dead has evolved to become a mixture of pre-Columbian and Roman Catholic beliefs. The Catholic All Saints' Day grew out of the Egyptian festival of mourning for the murder of Osiris, the God of Life and Death and Grain, in

November. Latin Americans celebrate the communion between

the living and the dead with beauty, music, love and humour. They visit the graves from sunset 'ti1 mid- night to offer the ghosts candles, food, cigarettes and alcohol. They throw a party and invite the dead to join them, to come home for a few hours before re- turning to the "other side". Strolling musicians or family members play the ghosts' favourite tunes. It's a time to make fun of the living and how seriously we take ourselves. We're the ones who are suffering, the dead "rest in peace'. The laughter is so much more balanced a way to remember the dead than the solemn funerals I usually attend.

Home orate the dead. They are decorated with candles, special food, sugar cane stalks and marigolds. Flower petals carpet the floor to the offenda, where photos of those who died are placed alongside religious icons, to invite the ghosts in. The heavy aroma of copal incense fills the room. I

The Downtown Eastside celebrates Day Of The I

Dead with food, music, pinatas and a parade every year at this time, the combined effort of the Latin 1

American Grupo d 'Amistad, the Carnegie and I

Isabel Ramirez, a Mexican folklorista performer. 1

You are all invited to bring photos, flowers and (

mementos for the altar we will make in the theatre of the Carnegie, and to participate in the songs and

dances. In like a cofl ning skull

- devilwith always re1 intoxicate we borrov them, in a Latinos fi against o\ war and p make a fr and drugs be their "I

All of th with the d the farm i shocking Picton's a with tears We have heartbrea consoled quote Cla world at t phrase, tiJ repair the

' toof whal do this to

I the past we have broken pinatas shaped in, a rice wine bottle, a heart and a grin- . I think Isabel is making a pinata of the Gordon Campbell's face this year. I

member with a smile the parade when d pallbearers carried papier mache coffins ved from Vandu, swearing as they dropped 1 mock funeral procession. So many ght for their lives in their own countries ~erwhelming policelmilitary repression, loverty, then struggle to get to Canada to esh start, only to die here from the alcohol ; they get involved in, in what was meant to new life". e Downtown Eastside is reeling this year leaths of our missing women, discovered at n Poco. We have been grieving the loss of our friends and loved ones since ~rrest. We have come together in anger and ;, in the streets and parks, and in churches. loosened our tongues with the poetry of k and loss. We have held each other, and each other with profound compassion. To rissa Pinkola Estes: "Our work in the his time is best stated in the Hebrew kkun ofam. This means to every day help : world soul, by mending what you are able t is in disrepair within us and near us. To the best of our ability is sacred duty."

By DIANE WOOD

>QUANTAS Airline 3 never let it be said that ground crews and mechanics lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual logged maintenance complaints and problems submitted b) QUANTAS pilots and the solution recorded by the mechanics. By the way, Quantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident.

[P = The problem as logged by the pilot. S = The solution or action as logged by mechanics. I

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement. S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except autoland very rough. S: Autoland not installed on this aircraft.

P: No. 2 propeller seeping prop fluid. S: No. 2 propeller seepage normal. Nos. I , 3 and 4 propellers lack normal seepage.

P: Something loose in cockpit. S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield. S: Live bugs on back order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200- fpm descent. S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear. S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud. S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick. S: That's what they're there for!

P: IFF inoperative. S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windscreen. S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing. S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny. S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums. S: Reprogrammed target radar with words.

Notes from the Library Di.vp/qv Case on Third Floor

We are delighted to have been able to have this re- stored and repaired. Please check it out for new Books which we get at the Library, and leave your name at the Circulation Desk to reserve any. New Titles Paroled.for Life: Inlerviews with Parolees Serving Life sentences. Call # 364.63 mur This Canadian work, based on interviews with people serving life sentences. sheds light on the realities facing parolees as they attempt the process of reintegration into the community. Everything Feng Shui Book: Create harmony and peace in every room Call # 133.33 Jon For those who wonder about Feng Shui (and those of us who feel we are clutter bugs) this book is full of what it calls "e-wisdom".(??) Did you know that a small room is best because the energy is contained?. or that dead animals in a room are bad for chi?. information which is interesting for conversation and perhaps conservation. Dear Sad Goat: A round up of truly Canadian Tales (e Letters by Bill Richardson Call # 827 RIC As Bill (former children's librarian at VPL) says .." Stories of our own stories and what we're made o f Diagnosis Schizophrenia By Rachel Miller Calf M16.89 Mu For those of us whose lives are touched by schizophrenia this book provides easily under- stood answers to the many questions we may have. It is described as a "road map to recovery for consumers, family members and providers Reading Club for nnybodv? The library has a selection of books which may be of interest to any group who would like to set up a Book Reading Club and I would be happy to give a head start to any such event.

Marv Ann Cantillon. Librarian

Computer Room Training Schedule for November From 2pm to 3pm, we will work together to. -Nov 6 Create our own website, part 1 -Nov 13 Create our own website, part 2 -Nov 20 Surf the Internet *** Women Only! *** -Nov 27 Search the Internet for Real Stuff

From 3 to 6, we will continue to work one-on-one.

Comments? Concerns?

#*

d Contact Jenny

Wai Ching Kwan, MLA

Working for You 1070-1641 Commercial Dr. VSL 3Y3

Phone: 775-0790 Fax: 775-0881 Office hours: Tuesday-Friday, 9am-4pm

Dear friends, We have just been notified by First Books that Rev.

Kevin Annett's latest book, "Love and Death in the I

Valley", is now available to buy. "Love and Death in the Valley" is the story of how

Rev. Annett stumbled over the evidence of the Genocide of native people on Canada's west coast while working as a United Church minister in Port Alberni - a discovery which cost him everything, but which has changed the face of Canadian society.

Please access this website to view the cover and an excerpt from this important work, and to order your copy today: http://www. 1 stBooks.com/bookview/ 1 1639 Please spread the word concerning this book, and urge your library, college, union or native band to order a copy, and have Rev. Annett come and do a reading in your community.

Rev. Annett can be contacted directly at: ph: 604-466- 1 804 email: [email protected] -

With our thanks, and in the hope ofjustice for all peoples,

The Executive, The Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada

[Two issues ago there was a page given to announc- ing this publication and a scanner misreadjumbled the nume of Dr. Noom Chomsky, quoted at the top.]

r - - - - - - **+**** I I This special event will I I be held at: I

Gallery I I I I Gachet I

88 East Cordova I I I street

I I I On I I Wednesday I I November 6, 1 12002 from I I

questions.. .cell 604-5 18-4502 Women's Community Safeiy Worker.

Images created" _by the w&~m~art and,

safety FW #*.I worksho 7. e-*s

that were held

e , c, l

Union kspel , boor is open, barns,'

Bridge, Crabtree,

Funded by' Status Women Canada ... Sponsored by:..STEPping OUT! Women creating safer spaces in the Downtown Eastside ... a project of D.A.M.S Drug and Alcohol Meeting Support for Women 167 West Pender Sbeet Van.BCV6BIS4 ph 604.685.54721 687-5454 Fax 604.688.1799 Email [email protected]

.. . i r i . r I STEPphg Out: womZ&eathg Safer spaces k the Downtown Oastside (~T-E . A# ; ,"'+* 5, , , *, , .- -.,&.t.ll / .. "" 2 b" I* 1," *W"

Guest Speaker! Martv Lund from Strathcona Mental Health Services.. . .

Will come to talk about Geriatric Services and Senior Women's Safety ... At Breaking the Silence Place on the comer of Jackson and Hastings

Friday November 8,2002 From lO:3Oam- l2:3Opm

Please reserve your seat.. . only 15 spaces available in very small room. d Most seats filled already.. . but call Women's Community Safety Worker -Ahjahla if you would like to attend:

Advance confirmation of attending important. . .

I.. _ - - - - - . - - 4- - - - - - - - - . -

ae are mnterest, the safety

-w

'\n

To Princess Margaret and all of us,

Let's not give Picton any grounds for appeal! It sickens me that my tax dollars are paying for his defense, but to deny him a proper defense could lead to him walking on a technicality. No one wants to see that. Don't give him any avenues to get away with

murder. The women, their families and the communitv have been through enough. - -

Debbie

I>(>ClJMIPJTAIIY WORLD PREMIERE W Network presents the world premiere of Street

Nurse, Sunday, November 17"', 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. This powerful point-of-view documentary explores the streets of Toronto through the eyes of Cathy

1 Crowe, a woman who calls herself a "street nurse" because her patients live there. Crowe is a nurse, an activist and an artist who has

made tighting homelessness her life's missions. This documentary will take viewers inside Crowe's world nd her tight to raise consciousness that every person deserves a place to live in a country that can well afford it. Street Nurse was directed, written and produced by

shelley saywell (A Child's Century of War, Crimes of Honor, Out of the Fire) and airs only days before National Housing Day, which takes place on Friday, November 22nd. .......................................... November 22 is National Housing Day!!!

This nation wide event draws attention to our national housing crisis and homelessness disaster, and calls for a solution -- the One Percent Solution. -------

FLASH!!! Flash!! flash! .. November 9"' is Andy Huclack's Birthday. Andy's famous for being a Volunteer-of-the-Year, for being a stalwart of the Seniors Coffee Service, and for being one of the oldest oldtimers in Carnegie.

Andy's infamous for having the looniest laugh ever heard in these hallowed halls. He won't say which birthday this, but he's definitely younger than 90!

1 have been doing so much on myself with a little bit of help from a few people. Gosh 1 have even been sleeping in and getting up early for an online AA chat. Life is good no complaints here eh!

Even went to a movie with 999 other people, love the film -- it covered a lot about addiction. The struggles addiction bring to our people. Saw a few people who are no longer with us and yes 1 cried and 1 laugh and a few boo's. The most important part of this film was the title it self FIX the story of an addicted city.

So many people are blind to those who suffer from using, no hope in their future or so it seems for a split second. They need understanding and a need for hugs and kind words. The addiction has so many faces and few realities, their spirits are no longer with their bodies. I saw despair in their eyes and their bodies suffer from an uncontrollable dance, they see no farther than their next fix. It's the fix that rules their lives and they see no love in the fiture, because love was stole them sometimes before their 13th birthday. Mayor Owen and the crew did a wonderful job and

I hope this film will be used for educational purposes which I believe it will. There were critics who say it's all well done but it ends here, or his term is up and no one will carry it through, or it may have brought tears to you but it does not hit home to those with the almighty dollar. 1 said if it touched one person in that audience it was a worth will project. To those who it did not touch have issues of their own. But then that is my own opinion. Addiction is a health issue not a criminal issue!

Princess Margaret YES we do want change for our communities

Do NOT forget to Vote Nov 16th YOU can make a difference

An aplogy to Const. Dave Dickson and Inspector Ken Frail. An article appeared on email here and it was presumed to be a report from someone who was there when the police moved in and destroyed the encampment outside Woodwards. They were both quoted. but in fact neither was even there. A guess is that whoever wrote the thing was rightly pissed at the callous nature of the police action and these two were the only cops he or she knew by name. -Ed.

A tripod - a three-legged support - is the most unstable structure, especially in politics and building anything. Four is the number for a foundation but in the Downtown Eastside the treatment pillar is so small and the enforcement pillar is so disproportion- ate that it's in danger of causing the whole thing to collapse. If it does, there will be a nasty snap into the ancient form where force rules and the poor, weak, old or addicted are criminals.

The flip side . . ... and now they wonder.. . An independent assess-

ment of the impact that four new facilities - recently opened in the Downtown Eastside by the Coastal Health Authority (itself recently the VancouverIRich mond Health Board) - are having on the community.

The facilities are 1) the Health Contact Centre at 166 E.Hastings; 2) Downtown Community Health Centre at 569 Powell; 3) Pender Community Health Centre at 59 E.Pender; and 4) a Life Skills Centre to be opened at 4 12 E.Cordova.

There appeared to be much consultation with and input from many community groups, associations and agencies, but behind the public face there seemed to be a whole thing going on that (still) reads like an agenda. The Vancouver/Richmond Health Board started

buying property and buildings. While community meetings were set up for input but before any kind of consensus was reached, there was an announce- ment that the buildinglproperty at 569 Powell had been purchased and was going to be a 24-hour Resource Centre for drug users. It was to answer the repeated and real cry by users and advocates for a safe place for them to go for food, showers, counseling if wanted and referrals to as-yet scarce treatment options. All manner of rhetorical crap ensued, most- ly from the movers&shakers of the Strathcona Area Merchants Association (SAMS) about how wrong the whole idea was. The crap mirrored comments made vociferously and ignorantly by the few people speaking for various 'groups' in Gastown -that drug users were "the scum of the world, vampires and criminals" and should either be all rounded up for deposit on some island.. or shot.. or both.

Concerns that residents legitimately hadhave kind of got lost, as well as the consequences that experienced activists and those who work with users predicted with cold accuracy. Following are first- hand responses from such people: On the Health Centres: -"many seniors and non-users are complaining about being shut out from access to services; of these places being geared to addicts only; of non-addicts having to wait for hours or for nothing. .. -"the Health Board has decided that virtually everyone has drug-related issues, yet this reflects the dis- tortion shared by most mainstream media with their "7000 drug addicts in the downtown eastside". . . -"the (street) nurses were working out of an ofice above the Needle Exchange and would get up to 300 referrals a month from DEYAS and the Exchange. Then they were just removed with no reasoning or word to their largest client-group. Then a new/weird strategy crept in with wholesale distribution - i.e. no exchange necessary - of needles. The public was not informed and only when a table set up alongside Carnegie Centre was busted for directing recipients to nearby dealers did this 'strategy' come out. The last point is a raw nerve shared by DEYAS, the

Native Health Clinic, the Health Van and others. The Health Board is described as "secretive, non- responsive (continuously ignoring calls or questions) and arrogant." The shifting of resources - street nursing, adult educationhealth programs - while little or no consultation occurs with the agencies or service providers, is a symptom of "we-know-what- is-good-for-you" 'and 'all you deserve is a letter stating the new order.' Several attempts to find out what this Life Skills

Centre is about have met bureaucratic brick walls - and the concerns come from groups like Native Health and DEYAS and maybe Tradeworks who have meagre funding (if at all) to pay for programs they have already got going on the basis of dire need. Will (or are) these endeavours being shut down in favour of a I-stop shop at 41 2 E.Cordova? -little is heard on the Pender Health Centre except for the already mentioned abrogation of decent or even existence of access to normal health services. It's next to impossible to have a personal physician '

in the local area; virtually all are in walk-in clinics with narcotics-addicted people waiting for hours.

some volatile, even violent growing pains which those experienced in drop-in models could and did predict but were never asked about. The reference here is to lessons learned at The Back Alley - not so much by those on site as by those who dealt with various kinds of fallout, including a statistical correlation with increased Hep C infection (health) and the accountability of those dispersing funds (precursors of Vandu)seriously affecting the parent organization (Deyas) and its financial credibility.

In simple words, there seems to be no model on which the Health Contact Centre was based, but those with experience in front-line contact are called when methods being 'trial 'n error-ed' fall apart. This has been the case with the Health Van and the Needle Exchange, as well as Strathcona and Native Health and even with the turf stuff in Oppenheimer and (sometimes) along E.Hastings. The questions of impacts on the community are, of

course, much more subtle when it comes to how it (these 4 facilities) affect daily living. Violence: a steady increase, as noted in last issue's article on Oppenheimer Park. Residents in that area see it daily with fights and chases of people through the park with pipes, knives and even machetes. An example closer to home is the fear ofthe elderly and infirm to go out - to shop, to socialize, to just go to the corner store - especially along the unit and low hundred-blocks of East and West Hastings. Sev- eral seniors, including some grandmothers, have been assaulted and threatened outside Tellier Tower and other residential hotels. Staff and residents just taking garbage to the dumpster or having a smoke in the alley have gotten death threats from users. The congregation and concentration of dealers around the intersections at both Pigeon Park and Main & Hastings makes normal passage a difficult time,

having to wend through gangs and street action. According to a VlDUS report, 66% of the people

using or involved in the drug scene are not residents, but the people come here every day to deal, use, and get money. This is an acknowledged fact from all spectrums of opinion, and the absence of services even remotely linked to drug addiction in other areas grinds at the overloaded ones here. "The community has been taken over by transients" who have few compunctions about imposing danger or extorting. The attitude engendered by this conscious contain- ment (a la Police Policy cum classist philosophy) is one of 'fuck off . Trying to start Needle Exchanges or halfway houses or treatment options elsewhere meets with a rabid NIMBY in Burnaby, New West- minster, Langley, Surrey, North Vancouver and many neighbourhoods in Vancouver itself. Surrey increased its licensing fee for any addiction-related use of a facility by 10,000 percent. It's this point that brings the most disparagement

between local groups - whether to advocate for a dispersal of existing services to "anywhere else" (like the Community Alliance foams about) or other neighbourhoods needing to start such services to handle local addictionhealth problems (that such 'others' vehemently deny they have, as learned by both Vandu and Deyas) or to start here with these 4 facilities because "we have to start somewhere and tomorrow is too late."

The 4 facilities have tried to accommodate, at least in their public relations, the dire needs of this popula tion, but then need vs. greed factors in. 1 .)There are maybe a few hours a week set aside at such places when it is for women only. With over 130 women murdered in the last 15 years and 60+ still listed as "missing", it's abominable that the few women's services - and centres - are being cut back and cut off.

2.)Methadone is a story in itself. Storefront 'pharma- I cies' have sprung up in several locations to dispense this stuff daily; kids as young as 13 get put on Meth- adone simple because they were picked up and there was no where to put them for treatment or even to see if they were wired; many methadone users say "once you're on it, it's for life" and getting off it is harder than quitting heroin; the dispensing fees for distributors ('pharmacies') and the fee schedules of doctors are like licenses to print money. Some doctors even payfinder 'sfees to patients wired on meth adone who bring in new clients. One doctor has a controlling interest in a company operating a handful of halfway houses in Surrey, where methadone users would go for 'treatment' - the largest house was 3- bedrooms, it had 15- 18 users at a time, and the treatment involved 'clients' turning over their in- comes (welfare or otherwise) to the staff and getting an allowance of $20 a week. No counseling (except peer) no food, no room -just a methadone prescrip- tion filled exclusively at this doctor's pharmacy. All *

this, or what is sanctioned - writing prescriptions, having 'treatment' options available - was sufficient for the Medical Association to enable it. The doctor makes a fortune and people are statistics. 3.) Cannibalisation - existing services and programs get eaten up by the overriding necessity of these new facilities to succeed. Funds and th acknowledgement for such are drained off by duplicate services set up under this new system that, regardless of ideation, increase the work of staff at existing ones: anything outside the mold dumbfounds inexperienced staff - who then are forced to call the existing agency's staff and cry "what do we do?!" or, worse, "we have to send this over to you.. . - "I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE CLOSED OR OUT OF IT OR . . . !!!"

This neighbourhood has become a "Holding Pen" for many of the region's addicts, poor, homeless and marginalized, but in no way does this exempt other areas fiom responsibility. The impact that these 4 facilities have on the quality of the daily lives of residents and friends of the Downtown Eastside seems to be negative to neutral. Street scenes from I

Pigeon Park to Oppenheimer Park to Carnegie are getting more intimidating and more people are prone to accepting enforcement ahead of anything else -of condemning these initiatives as vehicles of harm amplification.

In the recent past alcoholics used the now-closed

1 1 As a conclusion to these concerns -to the flip side

Pender Detox as housing - until they'd get cheques. Now some addicts have to use jail to detox because of the bureaucratic and political barriers that still make treatment the skimpiest part of Four Pillars. The massive amount of work done behind the

scenes to get this area and its livability to be a priority with progressive people is in danger of being flushed down the drain. Reactionary forces at work in the Community Alliance and various business groups have taken honest concerns with "bus stops, customers, families, schools, safety, etc" and warped them into an "Us or Them" with - precious little middle ground. Reactionary forces at work on the street have police making an arrest, then being swarmed by addicts until the perplperson

' being arrested is let go, regardless of the charge (in one instance it was selling heroin to a 12 year-old); convenience store clerkstowners holding money for dealers, trafficking themselves or buying and selling stolen goods; users adopting an arrogance of entitle- ment to being first and foremost at any facility, food line or service by reason of being a user. Witness the recent demands of Vandu to be paid not to disrupt filming or just compensation for dealers and sex- trade workers for "lost business" with total disregard for the years of good work that DERA has put into the community via film liaison; and similar demands that money donated to the Woodward's Squathome- less encampment be paid to some people identifiing themselves as Vandu members with a right to it. The qualitative impact study seems to be flawed,

since those conducting it are quite up front about having no statistics on the level or quantity of use of anything. That is not their department! "Someone else is collecting the numbers ... No, we don't know who ..."

- the Alcohol and Drug Strategy, produced th;ough Community Directions after numerous meetings with real community input on a quasi-consensus model, has the solid support of all involved.

It is not redundant to state over and over that solidarity and speaking with one voice is more than an impossible ideal, and the naysaying of a few can be manipulated until a few sounds like many. Stark witness to this is the Front page intro and full page story (A4) in Saturday's Sun given to Odd Squad's Al Arsenault and his ernails to somebody in Europe about how "curing addiction has to be based on right-wing thinking" (pure enforcement) and the condemnation of anything remotely connected to harm reduction. The Four Pillars is dismissed as grossly stupid, but, as so aptly discussed by Officer Gil Puder (with international references up the yin yang (before his coincidental death of 'cancer' at 40)) this "war on drugs" approach is just wrong.

It may be redundant to end article after article with "Welcome to the Downtown Eastside" but things are going to quickly come to a head iftwhen Jennifer Clarke becomes mayor (City) and combines forces with Gordon Campbell (Province) to make homelessness a crime and people on the street criminals, with the disability definition changed to cut off almost 10,000 souls and welfare being cut off for tens of thousands more come April 2004.

We have to be more than just the sum of our parts.

By PAULR TAYLOR

PS: For a good PR piece, get a copy of Changes '

Underway - a 4-page release of the Vancouver Agreement thing. Their office is at 453 W. 12"' Ave in Vancouver; www.city.vancouver.bc.ca~dtes ..... none of the above is even mentioned .....

COPE supports the I

To deal with the health crisis in the Downtown Eastside (DTES), COPE will implement the Four-Pillars 1 Approach of treatment, enforcement, prevention and harm reduction to deal with drug addiction. >

1 The NPA and Jennifer Clarke are vehemently opposed to harm reduction measures and dumped Philip Owen 1 > because of his support for Four Pillars. t r . . We will: J

J

Immediately implement the Four-Pillars Approach ofprevention, enforcement, treatment and harm reduction. 1

Implement our community economic development initiative Imal Jobs. Local Businesses. Enact an anti-demolition and anti-conversion control bylaw to stop the loss of single room occupancy hotels. Work with federal and provincial governments to build affordable housing for residents.

1

The NPA don't want to solve the city's drug crisis Jennifer Clarke refuses to be the mayor of a "ghetto" and promises to push residents out by cleaning up the DTES "block by block." Jennifer Clarke was absent fiom the May 15,200 1 motion to implement the revised Framework for Action to deal with drug issues in the DTES. "/Clarke/ will be thefirst NPA mayor in IS years to send this city's drug policy sharply into reverse."

Allen Garr Vancouver Courier, April 24,2002

economic solutions for the DTES COPE'S Local Business, Local Jobs initiative will tackle the Downtown Eastside's high unemployment rate, exodus of legitimate business and lack of new investments. The problems the community faces cannot be addressed without economic development. COPE's initiative will 3 2 address this situation by examining potential strategies to assist businesses and residents. ." 3 "Gentrification is not a bad thing. " Jennifer Clarke -Ubyssey, Oct. 16,2002 0

=i D , D

'~Clarkef speaks for a constituency that would like to solve the problem of the Downtown 3 o 2 $ Eastside b seeing the poor disappear by allowing the full-scale gentrification of what is ve y ,

valuable real estate." SFU Professor Nick Btlornely commenting on Jennifer Clarke's description of the r, 3 Downtown Eastside as a "ghetto." Vancouver Sun - June 20,2002 i Sf

2. g ; Yes, the support here is for COPE. One Candidate running for another party is Lou Demerais, Director of n [

8 - Vancouver Native Health Society. He also deserves and has earned support. "How can a paper come out in , support of a single party?" Ask the Vancouver Sun. They have a lot more resources and can be as subtle (or as = gross) as they can get away with. The Globe and Mail advertises that "Perspective is Everything!" Clarke and ! E

3 her NPA cohorts have dominated the media through outright ownership and editorial influence.. They buy f 8 stories: a fill page on emails between a cop and somebody in Europe, and making the fiasco of Bental's 3 -,

3 International Drug Conference -that was the laughing stock of almost everyone in the field - sound like the

s V,

greatest success since sliced bread. - Ed. COPE gives us a chance.

New solutions t o create healthy neighbourhoods:

Solve Vancouver's drug crisis through prevention, enforcement, treatment and harm reduction now

Invest i n affordable housing, stop slum landlords and redevelop derelict buildings

Encourage economic development through COPE'S Local Business, Local Jobs strategy

Commit as a city ta ,+assing K, ,:o targets on greenhouse-gas emissions

Create a Vancouver Cool fund t o invest i n sustainable development and upgrade buildings borrowing from future energy savings

Grow community gardens, diversify park ecosystems, and keep public space clean and safe -

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You can vote if you are a Canadian citizen, 18-plus years-of-age, have lived i n BC for at least six months and in Vancouver for at least 30 days, and are not disqualified from voting.

I f you voted in the last provincial election, then you will be on the City Voters list (call 604-873-7681 to make sure you're registered). I f you are not on the votefs list, you must show two pieces of identification at the polling station, one piece must have your signature, the other must have your address. (e.g., drivels licence and a bill for hydro).

Voting places will be open from 8am to 8pm.

If you have any other questions or need more information, call the Ci ty of $4hncouver Ot 604-873-7681.

FOR CITY COUNCIL

Fred BASS Fred is a Vancouver City CounciUor and physician trained i n oublic health and preventive 'medicine. Fred was Vancouver's first Director of Health Promotion and founded the BC Doctors' Stop-Smoking Program.

David CADMAN David is currently president of the Society Promoting

I ~nvironmktal consenation. I

He served as the administrator of Communication and Education for the GVRD and is a recipient of the UN Peace medal and the UN 50th Anniversary medaL

. , ' Jim GREEN Jim is an advocate for the Downtown Eastside. He

I Larry Campbell and COPE. I Fresh Ideas for Vancouver.

I On Nov. 16, d Vote COPE

Tim STEVENSON Tim was Canada's first openly gay United Church minister and setved ten years at the First United Church i n the Downtown Eastn'de. He was elected to the BC Legislature and setved as De~utv Swaker and Minister of ~ m p & n e n t and Investment He is currently a Langara Cdlege instructor. - Ellen WOODSWORTH Ellen is chair of Bridge Housing Society for Women. EUen ahrocaks for seniors' rights as

P a coordinator at the Seniors' Summit and the Downtown Eastside Seniors' Centre.

FOR SCHOOL BOARD

Allen BLAKEY Allen is a retired elementary

I I

school teacher, past-president of the Vancouver Elementary School TePeke~sodat ion.

Kevin MILLSIP An educator, director and co-founder of Check Your Head, Kevin has 12 years of experience working as an educator for youth. He has worked overseas and with Local organizations including the ~ n g k a n Church and - , Katimavik.

Adrienne MONTANI The former Child and Youth . Advocate for the City of Vancouver and Executive Director of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland, Adrienne is seeking her second term as a Vancouver School Board Trustee. She is also a mother of two.

Allan WONG AUan has been a teacher and is a graduate of the UBCs Multicultural Teacher education Droaram. A member of'the McCorkindale Parent Advisoly Committee, and the father of four. he is seeking his second term as a Vancover School Board Trustee.

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FORPARKSBOARD 4

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Advancing the interests and improving the lives

Sworn Legal Statements Document Torture and Other Abuse by Vancouver Police

VANCOUVER - Members of the Vancouver Police Department have been linked to incidences of torture, beatings, unlawful detention, illegal entry into homes and illegal strip searches, a new study reveals. The report, entitled To Serve and Protect and prepared by Pivot Legal Society, contains the results of a nine-

month research project that collected legal statements. called affidavits, from 50 separate individuals regarding their interactions with Vancouver police. Each statement was carefully documented and sworn before a lawyer. The affidavits, which describe systemic police misconduct in the city's marginalized Downtown Eastside,

portray a disturbing picture of abuse of power. "We've heard horrific accounts of people being beaten while handcuffed," said John Richardson, executive director of Pivot. "These stories compelled us to investigate how police were acting in the Downtown Eastside. We have discovered that reports of beatings were only a small part of a bigger problem of police abuse." To combat this problem, the Pivot report contains a series of recommendations on reforming policing practices. A major recommendation of the report is to appoint a Commissioner of Public Inquiry to investigate the nature and extent of police misconduct by officers of the Vancouver Police Department against marginalized persons. Given the upcoming municipal election, said Richardson, this is the time to implement policing reform.

Michael Jackson Q.C., a law professor at the University of British Columbia and a co-author of the report, said the study's findings cast doubt on whether Vancouver police are meeting their international human rights obligations. "The way state authorities treat the most disadvantaged members of society, whether in the back alleys of the

Downtown East side of Vancouver or in the nation's prisons, is a fair measure of how far we have come in respecting the basic human and legal rights the Universal Declaration of Human Rights accords us all," said Jackson. "By that measure, the Pivot report casts a deep and disturbing shadow over Vancouver's reputation on the international map ofjustice."

A local doctor at the Press Conference spoke of the reality of addiction -"you have a disease, likely a criminal record, virtually no job prospects, may be HlV+ or have Hep C, live in a cockroach hotel and are poor; and the police react to you as a criminal, punishing you for all this." The police are frustrated as they are affected by the arrest of obviously sick people who are right back where found as soon as the processing is over, yet being an addict is universally condemnable. The cowboy attitude makes the health situation worse, as addicts use in a hurry, share needles rather than go to the Exchange or even outside. About 25-30 percent ofthe local population is involved in the illegal drug scene, but the high-profile focus on enforcement as the answer doesn't address any of the health or socio-economic factors feeding this epidemic. Get a copy of PIVOT'S report.

are you rolling .igare in the Parking lots

was the honest outlaw YOU? Ofcheap

and are you out there now are You sitting alive and well inside at PlastX tabletops your 20th century desert? in the blue eagle honest outlaw with rock dreams riding

To whom it may concern, October, 2002

wish to register my objection to the proposed boundary changes to the federal riding of Vancouver East that would split the Downtown Eastside.

If the Commission's proposal goes ahead, about 'h of the Downtown Eastside will be .epresented by Vancouver Centre, and the other % by Vancouver East. The Downtown Fastside is a community of many common interests and goals, and we share unique :hallenges. We are a natural community of interest that should stay together.

Residents have shown extraordinary strength and solidarity to work together on common solutions to help strengthen our community. Many community services would be split between two ridings and this would undermine the cohesion of our Downtown Eastside neighbourhood.

I do not want to see this distinct community fragmented.

I urge you to respect our historical, geographical, and social boundaries that make the Downtown Eastside a real place that we call home.

Signed:

(Name & Address)

Pigs A t T h e T r o u g h

I t was the night before Thanksgiving and everything was still The MLA's had done their dirty work on Legislature Hill Each pig gorged themselves on a thousand-dollar-a-plate dinner While the rest of us living in poverty got thinner and thinner.

Members of the Lunatic Asylum is what MLA stands for We receive less while they receive more and more The Ministry of Genocide is causing a great deal of starvation BC has the widest gap between rich and poor in the entire nation.

Single mothers and children are being cut off assistance We must organize and show much resistance No one escaped Moron Cruell's drastic cuts He should be forced to live on welfare - no ifs, ands or buts.

Irene Schmidt,,

Long Term Lease Puttin' down roots, Not pullin' up stakes -.

Suits say 'get off the dime' n 'let them eat cake. '5- Get out of our faces. we gotta get some sleep You ain't gonna bully us, we're stayin' for keeps.

Hastings and Abbot is sure a good Habitat I wake up to fresh air and the good, clean dawn Take Cordova for instance - it's now a small village Where corporate hacks can no longer rape and pillage

Don't attempt to try to order us away from everyone of us If you dare expect a hell of a h s s unless there's a deal to discuss This is public property, once vacant land we'll not easily disband Yes! We're resistors, protestors - stand aside and back off!!

City Hall, damn it all, why do you-all abuse your power? Injunction, malfhction, you just tick away the hours 'Til attack, to take back that which is not rightfully yours We will hardly give it up to you -the turf and the tower.

Funny she wore

to rise again giant footsteps coming this way picks up throws down he's got to go a psychic war victim the star is on the inside is he ever going to be free it's time terrestrial life all plus extra i'm the man i'm no baby here and now i'm not like they are lost nights of sadness having no fear

charles fortin

gum boots in the pouring rain but she sure was pretty wet behind the ears; heard voices, turned, a bus sprayed a puddle on her; on the way to Judge and Priest's wedding their aweful joining spring's concession to this dealer and hooker and child (as successful as her parents) Expensive catering spiked for initiates could inlaws act as outlaws? how better to understand each other than to disrobe convention, revealing bride's talents - a new vision of connubial bliss; someone tipped Police and Judge was busted . . . being planed with ecstasy.. . . carted away A good wedding soured - Priest did nothing,

his spirit broke Motal is denial is disease on trial!?!

Robyn Livingstone

A

In the Spring of 1990 1 "unplugged" - moved out of the rental apartment and proceeded on an alternative path seeking answers for soul, body, life, love, environment and homelessness.

Lord knows what I was going through, but then we are all faced with issues each day; what is the right answer? It was a kind of adventure and so like being out of slavery - such a freedom.. not just a sense of it but real freedom!

I still worked though, riding a bicycle everywhere, walking mile after mile and constantly observing what was happening to my internal being as it was subjected to random happenings and non-linear thinking. I thought 'if only members of parliament could see the used-up tubes of airplane glue and old blankets under bridges and out-of-the-way places.'- really see them with their hearts and know what this means for our country. The night out on the s treet afew

people have tried is a move in the right direction, yet to get the real impact a person has to go through the experiment in as real a way as possible. Truth is, for most it is not an experiment; it is raw and damaging. Alternative education would show what it is about looking through garbage cans, trying to find a safe place to sleep each night, finding social support of any kind - and that's part of what happens when people get so desperate. Evil is like a lion seeking whom he may devour.

Money is a defense, and caring for one another is what makes alternatives work. You cannot put love , on a balance sheet. Discover what a real smile, warm' blanket, kind word, a few coins or a sandwich can !

do Being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, we can provide a safe place where these hurt people can grow, where they can be creative and happy again. Please don't say it can't be done.. . I know it can.

Michael Bohnert

Wish #1

twisted & used lost & confused broken & hurt got rubbed in the durt

Miserable blend, that cracked out a fiiend Dying & old, will it ever be sold

The pain that I see, will turn into glee as long as his wish comes true

Don't die & rot you're all that I've got Too soon is not fair so don't even dare to leave me.

So take back that wish. Cause it's coming true Your early death I don't want to see Cause not at all is it fair to me.

-left behind in an alley by a street kid submitted by Wilhelmina

The drugs that stole my soul Those fucken demons Sure I can't be loved But, how do I return it? I've watched the sun Rise 4 times today, I said 1 feel sorry for that hcker who borrowed my thoughts while I needed to let them down to those chemical dependencies

-from the journal of a street kid submitted by Wilhelmina

DOWNTOWN STD CLINIC - 2 19 Main: Monday to Friday, loam - 6pm EASTSIDE NEEDLE EXCHANGE - 221 Main: 8:30am - 8pm every day YOUTH NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN - 3 Routes: ACTIVITIES SOCIETY 604-685-656 1

2002 DONATIONS Libby D.881 Sam R.820 Eve E.-$18 Nancy H.$50 Margaret D.-$22 Sabitri G.-$22 Hulda R.-$25 Val A.$18 Wm B-$27 Harold D.-$21 Mary C-$71 Paula R-$35 Rolf A.-$75 Bruce 5.-$18 Peggy -$25 Kettle -$I8 Sonya S.-$100 BCTF-$20 Bill G.-$100 Wes K.-$36 Charley B-$25 DEYAS-$125 RayCam-$25 LSS$200 Paddy -$75 Sarah E.-$10 Debbie -$20 The Edge -$200 Maggie R-$100 Jo's Mom -$25 Charles F.-$10 Mennonite CC -$85 Rosemary 2.-$40

, Joanna N.-$40 Jenny K.-$18 Charlotte F.-$20 Nancy C.-$50 Glen B.-$100 Penny (3.-$40

. Jelly Bean -$20 Louise's Mom -$20 Anonymous -$2 1

- 5:45pm - 1 1 :45pm Overnight - l2:3Oam - 8:30am

Downtown Eastside - 5:30pm - I :30am

THE NEWSLETTER IS A PtIRIICATION OF TtTl? CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION

Articles represent the views ol'individual contributors and not of the Association

Submission Deadline for next issue:

Tuesday, November 12

To All Community Members:

Gordon Campbell's savage cuts to programs and services to the vulnerable, the sick and the elderly mean that individuals and families in need are now and will continue to be suffering needlessly and, in some cases, dying.

What the cuts mean to agencies and service providers everywhere is that most who rely on programming dollars to deliver services to communities have been forced to cut back and re- shape their activities. It has happened to some sooner than others and others still will experience shifts further on down the line.

For us at DERA, we have resisted succumbing to these attacks for as long as we could, but final-ly the effects have forced us to make changes we can no longer avoid. As of October, it became necessary for us to reduce our management staff to two people. Terry Hanley remains as our Exe- cutive Officer; Kim Kerr is our Housing Manag- er. Frank Gilbert, who has for many years been our Community Affairs Co-ordinator, is no longer with us as we do not have discretionary funding at our disposal to maintain that position. If financial conditions improve, we look forward to bringing him back to work with us again in some capacity, so that he can once again make the kinds of valuable contributions to our organization that we have come to expect from him over the years.

We would like to be able to say that no other staffing changes will be forthcoming but we can't. As this government continues to slowly strangle communities and their advocacy sew-ices, we must be prepared to react accordingly.

We have seen some dismal times over the last nearly 30 years and have come through them; we will survive this assault too. The real disgrace with these cutbacks is not with the re-posiffoning foisted upon organizations, but with the human suffering that accompanies the changes they bring.

In Solidarity,

Ian MacRae, President Downtown Eastside Residents' Association.

I WINK GkNkUPS JUST ACT LIKE THEY WON WHhT THEY'RE mNG.

Scott Ritter used to be a U.S. Marine. Then he was a United Nations weapons inspector looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Today he is a powerful voice speaking against the plan of the George Bush Administration in Washington, D.C., to make war with Iraq in order to replace Saddam Hussein with a regime favourable to the American Empire. Scott Ritter has been speaking all over the world.

He spoke at a rally of 400,000 people in England who were protesting against war with Iraq. On October 4,2002, he spoke at First Baptist Church in Vancouver to an overflow audience of about 1,600 people. His message was crystal clear.

There is no truth in George Bush's claim that lraq has weapons of mass destruction. By 1996, UN weapons inspectors in lraq had done their job. Iraq was disarmed. Only 5 percent of Iraq's military power was unaccounted for, and that 5 percent was not significant in terms of a danger to the world because lraq didn't have the factories, infrastructure, and complex technology to build weapons of mass destruction.

Now George Bush does have his own "experts" who say lraq has weapons of mass destruction, but when you listen to them you realize their suspicions are pure speculation. They have no proof. Bush appears willing to kill thousands of innocent women, children and men ina war based on speculation, including speculation of what lraq might do five years from now. This twisted way of thinking is absolutely immoral.

lraq is a war-devastated country. Over one million Iraqis have died since the Gulf War (1 991), and over half of those who died were children. They died from poverty, malnutrition, polluted water, lack of medical supplies, and cancer caused by depleted uranium used in American ammunition. lraq is ess-

entially a disarmed nation under a harsh regime of sanctions and constant air bombardments by American and British warplanes.

When politicians and military men tell us that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, they are not telling the truth. The American Empire has weapons of mass destruction, as do Russia, Great Britain, France and Israel, as well as other countries. lraq does not have such weapons. The UN weapons inspectors did their job in the 1990's. Why is the Bush Administration giving us misinfor-

mation about Iraq? Scott Ritter told us that the goal of George Bush is to get rid of Saddam Hussein because he stands in the way of American control of

people won't go to war over these oil fields, but they will go to war if they feel threatened by weapons of mass destruction. Hence the misinformation of the Bush Administration. Truth is the first casualty in war

In the Gulf War of 1991, the American Administra- tion said the reason for a ground attack against lraq was to liberate Kuwait, which had been invaded by Iraq's army. The real reason, however, was to dest- roy Saddam Hussein, and send a message to the Third World that any country that challenged the power of the American Empire would face high-tech bombing and an overwhelming ground assault ("Attack teaches Third World about U.S. might," by Richard Gwyn, Toronto Star, February 24; 199 1 ). The situation is the same today.

On September 20,2002, George Bush's National Security Strategy was submitted to the U.S. Cong- ress. The strategy was openly imperialist. It under- mined the dream of those who hoped the world was moving toward a system of international law. In this National Security Strategy, the Bush Administration (but not the American people) proclaimed that it intended to dominate the world militarily - as the Roman Empire did.

Scott Ritter summed up this imperial strategy when he said that a handful of neo-conservative men in the Bush Administration had highjacked U.S. foreign policy for their own ends. In other words, the Milit- ary1Industrial Complex that the late President Eisen- hower warned us about in his farewell speech is now in the driver's seat. Ritter called for the rule of international law. He thought a U.S. invasion of lraq would increase the threat of terrorism throughout the world. He asked Canadians, as friends of the Ameri- can people, to speak out strongly against war in Iraq, and he called for a return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq. "Friends don't let friends drive drunk," Ritter said to

the 1600 people at the Baptist church in Vancouver. "And fiiends, we have a drunk at the wheel of Ame- rican foreign policy. Let's pull the key out of the

ignition before he drives the vehicle over a cliff."

A public demonstration protesting war against lraq is planned for November 17th. Watch for details. --

the Iraqi oilfields. Bush knows that the American By Sandy Cameron

By the time you read this article a Hemispheric Day of Action against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) will have come and gone. On October 31 people in the Americas united in opposition against the FTAA. In Vancouver actions to oppose the FTAA includ- ed an early afternoon march and a teach-in.

It's a story you've heard many times; the FTAA is simply another

FTAA Far 8 8 6 1 1 r l t ~ aria

J u s t l e e

charter entrenching the rights of corporations. We must privatize our natural resources. Only when private property rights include the oceans, lakes and rivers will they be managed properly. Only when we eliminate trade barriers and private corporations invest in education, welfare and health will we be able to maximize growth and economize our inputs. The failure of Russia's evil experiment has shown us that socialism does not work, the only alternative is unrestricted private property rights. George W. Bush thinks the FTAA is a groovy idea and has vowed to fast track it through congress. And if W thinks it's a quality idea then who are any of us to question the wisdom of this clever man.

People throughout the hemisphere are qyestioning the judgment of little Bush. Actions on October 31 are building on protests held in Quebec City last spring. Activists are coordinating a long-term plan. The hemispheric day of action on the 3 1 st provides an excellent example of this c o o r d i n a t i o n . Where continental organization is Free rrncle Area rr [be A n e r l c r s

translated into local action. In FTAA

hoped that this momentum can build to wide spread economic disruption.

How is the FTAA relevant to our community? Housing subsidies, according to some, are considered a barrier to trade and could be affected by the imple- mentation of the FTAA. I literally need not go any further than my front door to see the ever-increasing need for housing subsidies as tarps and cardboard boxes construct the landscape of the park across the street from my apartment.

For more information about FTAA local actions contact Jagdeep Sing Mangat (604) 268-6565

[*The following is part of the contents of a 4-page handout of anit-war organizers in Great Britain. It relates directly to the imminent debacle with Iraq but can also be read as a primer for resistance to the agenda of the BC Liberals and their decision to make everyone 'below' a certain socbeconomic level - i.e. poor and not middle-class - a criminal.]

"DISOBEDIENCE, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is our original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion. "

- Oscar Wilde

DlRECT ACTION CAN STOP THIS WAR! So, we made it to the big demonstration. The app-

alling prospect of another war has moved us to put . aside our usual Saturday afternoon activities - mak-

ing love, playing with the kids, sleeping, shopping, going to the football, whatever - and do our best to make our voices heard. Right now [on September 28th 20021 we in the UK

are in the unique position of being able to stop this war. If Britain pulls out, the US will be further isol- ated and may be forced to pull back from the brink. The seemingly out of control juggernaut of history would have been stopped dead in its tracks. But how can we stop this war? What the hell is the next step, the one that follows on from attending this march? Throughout history people power has stopped wars, ousted unpopular governments, toppled dictatorial regimes. Just think of apartheid, the Communist bloc, the Vietnam war, a few examples from the recent past. But did this happen because people came together every few months to take part in a big demo ? No. It happened because people screamed "enough is enough!" and they screamed it every day, everywhere - in the streets, at work, in the schools, the universities, their neighbourhoods - and the scream transformed itself into an act, an act that said "we are going to disobey you, we're no longer going to collaborate, we're going to get in the way of your plans, we're going to pour sand into the machine and we are going to take back control of our lives." And the act inspired others to take part and share the scream and act together and remember the

beauty of solidarity. Recent polls show that more than half the UK population are against war with Iraq - that's a lot of people. If only a fraction of us began to resist in creative ways that went beyond the occasional state-sanction ed mass demonstration, we could stop this war. Some call this civil disobedience, some direct action. The recent rise of the global anticapitalist movement has shown that these powerful tactics work . From the Zapatista peasant rebels in southern Mexico, to the streets of Seattle, Genoa, Bangalore and Quebec, millions have taken creative forms of direct action and managed to put issues that a decade ago were invisible back onto the agenda. The insatiable greed of corporations and the destr-

uction of people's lives and lands by capitalism have become part of everyday debate around the world. It was inspirational actions that built a truly global movement of movements, it was people occupying motorways with street parties and planting trees in the tarmac, it was citizens pulling down the fences around leaders' summits, it was farmers burning fields of GM crops. It was not the traditional demon- strations that ritually march from a to b, however huge, noisy and diverse as they can sometimes be. At its simplest, direct action is about taking direct control of our own lives, and refusing to accept the authority of our 'leaders' to act on our behalf, on the pretext of a once-every-four-years visit to a sleepy polling station.

It's taking matters into our own hands and acting directly to address the issues that concern us. If we see someone who is hungry, we cook them a meal, (or share our land and seeds!) - it's not about asking others to do things for us, it's doing things for ourselves. There isn't a manual saying that only tried-and-

tested actions can take place. In fact, direct action thrives on originality and a willingness to play with existing norms, as well as an ability to outfox the forces that would seek to thwart us. It can be driving a large phallic cardboard tank down Whitehall, sett- ing up a peace camp, blockading a military base, refusing to pay taxes because they pay for arms, going into an army recruitment office and asking embarrassing questions for an hour, disrupting an arms fair, dismantling a Hawk jet or any other piece of military hardware. following an MP around for a

day dressed as stars and stripes painted-sheep - the only limit is our imagination.

It's certainly true that there are loads of things that can get in the way of becoming more active. Job commitments (or the fear of losing that job), lack of energy, kids, fear of aggressive treatment by police, even a creeping sense ofhopelessness, are all valid reasons to hang back. The trick maybe is to take on something manageable yet significant, and to feel some satisfaction fiom having achieved it. We can start by bringing together a few friends

that we're happy working with, deciding what limits we are comfortable with and then dreaming up ideas. The likelihood is that once we've seen our ideas becoming real, once we experience the power of imagination becoming action, then there's nothing stopping us. We discuss feelings and ideas, we push through the fear that authority tries so hard to suffo- cate us with, we move onto the next action, feeling more contident, a little stronger ...

"Everyone is as small as the fear they feel and as big as the enemy they choose" - eduardo galeano

lf you go to one demonstration and then go home, that's something, but people in power can live with that. What they can't live with is sustained pressure that keeps building, organisations that keep doing things, people that learn from the last time and do it better next time. DIRECT ACTION enables people to develop a new sense of self- confidence and an awareness of their individual and collective power. DIRECT ACTION is founded on the idea that WE can develop the ability for self-rule through practice, and that WE CAN decide directly on the important issues facing US. DIRECT ACTION is not just a tactic, it is individuals and communities running their own lives outside the control of bureaucrats or politicians. DIRECT ACTION encompasses a whole range of activities, from organising co-ops to resisting authority. DIRECT ACTION places moral commitment above national or international law. DIRECT ACTION is not a last resort when other

methods have failed, but the preferred way of doing things.

Get creative Dirty water is the biggest killer of children in lraq

today. During the Gulf War, much of the water and sanitation infrastructure, as well as electricity and transport, was directly targeted and destroyed. Be- cause of the last 12 years of economic sanctions on Iraq, these systems are still in a terrible state and have contributed to large scale disease and death. In another war, hrther destruction is likely to lead to a humanitarian catastrophe for the Iraqi people.

War is an inevitable consequence of the military machine. It's no coincidence that in the build-up to war, the face of the army becomes more public with "recruitment days" and "family days". Long on talk of adventure and training, short on mention of having to kill people. "Meet the Army" a recruitment bonanza is taking place . . .

Organise a flm screening. The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm is a documentary which contextualises the build-up to the Gulf War in 1990, providing a revealing history of western polic- ies in the Gulf both before the war and after. Greetings from Missile Street was shot in 2000 by a small group from the U.S. who lived for a month on a street in Basra, Southern Iraq, which had been hit by US missiles in January 1999. It documents the lives of the families who live there, their grief as they remember those who died and their hardship after a decade of sanctions.

When WAR starts shut your city down Thousands of people have signed the Pledge of Resistance over the past months. They are pledging to take non-violent direct action, or provide support, in the event of an attack on lraq or any other country. Local organising groups are forming and training is available. Contact:www.justicenotvengeance.org. There will be groups taking to the streets to Stop the City in cities around the country the night after bombing begins. Some have promised to bring out pots and pans and make a hell of a noise, in the style of Argentina's popular rebellion. On the day make sure there is something happening in your area.

These are just a few of the many things that are happening, as ordinary people come together to act. There are numerous actions, vigils, protests and meetings going on all around the country and in colleges, community centres, churches and on the street. Find out what is happening in your area and join in. Or better still start something yourself. You can be sure that you are not the only person who wants to make their voice is heard. Take action!

... and stop this war.

Independent Media Contacts:

*Indymedia: a network of collectively run media outlets for the creation of radical, accurate, and

passionate tellings of the truth. - Independent Media Center (Global Portal):

www.indvmedia.org ZNet:www.zmag.org

Urban75 Magazine: www.urban75.com Protest.net: www.protest.net

Corporate Watch (UK): www.corporatewatch.org

JOIN MASSIVE PEACE MARCH

To Say: "No to War on Iraq" Sunday, November 17th

12 noon-Start to gather at Peace Flame, Burrard & 1st ave OR

Sea Bus Terminal, Cordova & Richards

March to Sunset Beach for Rally with Music & speakers 2pm Join a broad based group of people of conscience: community organizations, church groups, unions, students, peace activists, academics, professionals and many more.

November 17th Peace Coalition: BC Federation of Lahour. Dr David Suzuki, Environmentalist. Anglican Diocese ofNew Westmimter Justice and Peace Unit - Physicians for Global Survival - Vancouver & District Labow Council . Campaign to End Sanctions Against the People of lraq . Canadian Peace Alliance . CAW Canada - End the Arms Race -Coalition Against War on the People of lraq -Canadian Federation of Students -Communist Party of Canada. Veterans Against Nuclear Arms -New Democtatic Party -Council of Canadians (Vancouver Chapter) - International Socialists. Justice Peace & Social Concerns Committee, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) -Youth For A Better World . ADALA. Canadian Arab Justice Committee. Anti-Poverty Committee - AMS Women's Centre . Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (BC) -Coalition of Progressive Electors -Check Your Head. Libby Davies MP - Svend Robinson MP - SFU Muslim Student .Association - St Chiara Community. Vancouver Raging Grannies. Dr Fred Bass City Councilor - Hospital Employees Union. The Canadian Latin-.American Collective -International Longshore Workers Union Local 400- Tim Louis City Councilor - Lisa Rarrett, Mayor Bowen Island -Vancouver Vigils. Communist Party ofCanada. Marxkt Leninist. Canadians Concerned About Free Trade - Jews For A Just Peace -Social Justice Committee Unitarian Church of Vancouver - Society Promoting Environmental Conservation - Palestine Solidarity Group -Dan Chamhers. United Chinch Minister. Canada Palestine Support Network - South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy - Mennonite Central Committee - Workers Communist Party oflradlraq . Medical Students For Global Survival - UBC Social Justice Club - Nursing Undergraduate Society - SFU Coalition to Stop the War -Trade Union Committee for Justice in the Middle East -Canadian Association of'Sexual Assault Centers - Emily Carr Students Against the War Coalition -Direct Action Against Refugee Exploitation - International Society for Peace & Human Rights -

november. -...

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