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NEWSLETTER 40 1 Main Strttt, Vancounr V6A lT7 (604) 665-2299

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www.carnnews.org carnnews@vcn. be. ca

MAY 15,2006

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To: kevin.mcnaney@vancouver.ca, City Planner Re: Whitecaps Soccer Stadium Proposal

REASONS TO WRrrE A t,EI"I'ER: 1. World Cup in Germany - 1 O's of thousands of sex workers (and women/children for sale) flood in to "service" fans- Sweden may boycott and Amnesty International is involved - look online 2. Southsiders (Whitecaps fanclub) post hate and violence against DTES on their internet site .. We're all "whores and crack addicts .. .live in slums and eat out of dumpsters .... kick people in head" 3. 8000 plus barseats in our area Who will benefit from the stadium and at what cost to residents? 4. Noise, pollution, emergency access, heavy car traffic, night lighting .... 5. Bruce Allen says he will book 1 00 rock concerts a year in the open air stadium 6. Will average citizens have a say in how the Cen­tral Waterfront develops? Or is the fate of the entire Central Waterfront determined by a billionaire??!.

Every letter counts!

Kevin.McN aney@vancouver .ca City Planner Re: proposed Whitecaps stadium

I wish to state that I am against the building of the Whitecaps stadium on the waterfront over the rail yards in the downtown eastside, and additionally opJX>sed to the building of condominiums east of the proposed stadium. We, the residents of the DTES, have enough difficulties without an introduction of thousands more people who will likely not respect our neighbourhood. There will be much pressure to displace local busi­

nesses who serve local residents, with higher priced stores opening up that will be out of reach of the incomes we live on, and we shall not be welcome in these stores. There will be more drinking establishments to sup­

port the thirst of these sports enthusiasts, and more intoxicated people from outside this neighbourhood will only inflame the differenc.es that exist socially and economically here. There will be a terrible clash in so many ways that

we, who have been displaced from other communi­ties, who haven't the support of big business, gov­ernment and the larger JX>pulation of this city, wiH be pushed aside. I expect that violence, both verbal insult and threat, and physical, will be more com­monplace than it already is. This is a community we live in; any and all of the above will gouge holes in this fragile .little place that is the DTES. Surely there is enough space in this giant city for a stadium to be situated, where the residents will be pleased to welcome it. Please do not multiply the difficulties we face.

Overall, I do not see that a stadium and more con­dos on the rail yards will support this community that struggles to build dignity, reasonable living conditions and a future for ourselves. Thank you.

Matthew Matthew

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.. . . . . A stadium fans gives another side of the story

My name is Brett Graham and I am responding to the article on your website titled "Stadium fans poor­bash on radio and Intentet" by Jean Swanson. On the Vancouver Southsider I post under the name Piltdownman. In the article you wrongly quote me as posting

"Eeek, what a location. If I went, I would be scared to voice my opinon in case a urine-smelling individ­ual decided to poke his syringe in my bum!" If you actually cared to research properly you would realize it was a someone posting under the name of 'Tractor Boy' who made that comment, not me. I did however attend your meeting, listened politely

to all comments, no matter how unrelated or, in my opinion, stupid I found them to be. On hearing about how local children where unable to play soccer in your neighborhood I gave the people making these comments my phone number and email and on the Vancouver Southsiders Message Board began the process of starting a soccer school for inter city youth in your neighborhood. Unfortunately not one of these people who complained about their children not having the opportunity to play soccer bothered to contact me so even with willing coaches and possi­ble funding we couldn't go forward. Funny how Swanson did not mention this. I guess it wouldn't be good for the anti-stadium argument to mention that these 'poor bashers' actually want to help the poor children of the downtown eastside.

I find it very ironic that the Carnegie community centre wants to label all soccer fans as a bunch of ultra violent jerks, ~ause half a dozen fans post derogatory things on the internet, but at the same time complain when all residence of the Downtown Eastside are labeled as drug addicts and losers. So while I understand that Jean Swanson is only

defending the poor people of the downtown eastside, I tend to disagree with most of her arguments against the stadium, and hope that that the proposed Soccer stadium will go through and provide jobs to the downtown eastside. If you wish to contact me please do at piltdownman@vancouversoutltsiders.com

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The Honourable Lawrence Cannon Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Room 556 Confederation Building House of Commons Ottawa, ON KIA OA6

Dear Minister, I am writing you today regarding an issue that has

generated serious concerns among constituents in my riding of Vancouver East. As you may be aware, there is currently a proposal to build a Whitecaps soccer facility near the Waterfront in the Downtown Eastside. However, this stadium would be located directly above existing railway lines. The concerns lie with the fact that these lines could be used to de­liver hazardous cargo near the central waterfront. The transport of unsafe or hazardous materials by

rail is a serious matter that has gained a higher pro­file recently due to the numerous CN derailments in 2005 and 2006. One of these incidents, near Squam­ish, BC, caused the spilling of 40,000 litres of so­dium hydroxide into the Cheakamus River. There have been requests made to both CPR and Transport Canada for further information into this matter, but to no avail. While Transport Canada has Emergency Response Plans that deal with the transportation of hazardous goods, this provides little comfort 'Yhen there is less than 45 minutes to evacuate everyone within a one-mile radius in the advent of a spill. If there were ever an accident involving this cargo,

the results could prove to be devastating for those utilizing the stadium, and for the surrounding com­munity. I therefore request that there be a federal review into this matter before the Whitecaps Sta­dium is constructed. This action would help to an­swer the legitimate questions and concerns of the constituents in my riding.

I thank you for your time, and I await your r sponse to this important matter.

Yours sincerely, Libby Davies, MP Vancouver East

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Another stadium . . . ?

As soon as it was mentioned - or as soon as you'd found yourself underwhelmed by the well-planned hype and ' done deal ' cmd * of the media event, there were a chorus of groans that easily rivaled tl1e Roll-

* ing Stones' cacophony of their frrst encore. For a few years an old Chinese gentleman bought

an additional season's ticket so we could go to

Whitecaps games at Swanguard Stadium - Kingsway & Boundary - for maybe 3 months a year. He got like a 10 year-old; he loved the "beautiful game". Crowds ranged from 3 5 00 when they (the White­caps) were losing up to almost 7000 when they were

• • wmmng. At the south end of the soccer pitch was/is the beer

garden where the loudmouth .. drunks screamed ob­scenities and sometimes threw smokebombs out in front of the opposing team's goal. The Whitecaps may have been complicit in that the 2nd half of every game had the other team's goal at that end of the stadium. Periodically the cops would be called when one or more of these vicious bastards attacked fans that went down to ask them to behave like human beings, but even seeing one of their own being dragged off in cuffs, kicking and screaming, didn't even put a dent in their constant verbal abuse.

Jean Swanson referred to this bunch after seeing what the videogame stars amongst them were post­ing on their Southsiders webpage. You constant readers of this rag have seen some of the more bril­liant missives. One guy, who identified himself as Piltdownman in a letter-to-the-editor of something, lived up to his handle when describing his opinion of the public meeting about this stadiun1 held here in Carnegie. Apparently he never voiced it there, never did anything except to give his name and email ad­dress to any parent who said their kids couldn't play soccer in this neighbourhood (DTES). He wanted homage and adulation because he put up a "let's help the poor kids of the downtown eastside learn soccer" on the Soutbsiders Message Board - now accessible only if you have their secret password so normal people can' t express their disgust and loath­ing about said Southsiders' rants at poor people. [See the end of the Hockey Cru.np article.] But the Stadium proposal is about much more than

soccer, drunk fans, the Whitecaps,.Blackcaps, ball­caps or other crud* for public pseudo-debate.

Like a pure-blind fool I asked if the media was be­hind this Stadium? The person asked went to the Whitecaps website and printed off their homepage: ''We'd like to thank the following sponsors for help-

. ing ~ith ~he l.awtch of the proposed Whitecaps Wa­terfront Stadium: The Province (+logo), Vancouver Sun (+logo), TEAM 1040 (+logo), Z95.3 (+logo), Global TV (+logo) and PATFISON + logo."

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Why all the hoopla about soccer? Imagine having a multi-media blitz with actual drawings and caveats, like they have to have with prescription drug ads giving all the side-effects and possible dangers, on the actual goal of building a huge concrete box over the rail tracks (dangerous and/or toxic cargo being spilled or exploding under 15-30,000 people) which is inextricably tied to building a row of very highrise condominium towers all along the waterfront to Main Street. The same billionaire who owns the Whitecaps has

bought every bit of land and space from the Water­front Station to Main Street. He will give the best socially responsible hype, mom/kids sports, no traf­fic because of Skytrain, disturbing no one, win-Win­WIN until the puppet masters of City Councillors tell their NP A employees to vote yes. Then it will be explained with all the crud* you can dig up that it is financia1ly impossible to complete the stadium with­out simultaneously getting a complete approval for this quarter-mile of development. Imagine, rather than getting bubbly support for kids etc. people were told that every view corridor, every building, every street going north through downtown will be blocked, left in shadow and come to a dead end. Every building in this new development will be higher than anything to the south of it. Forget seeing the mountains or the North Shore unless you can afford a million dollars - the absolute cheapest suite facing north- for a roof over your head. The entire downtown area is seen as the leading edge in Gordie Campbell's bosses' Executive City.

Imagine that Las Vegas-style casino, berthed on a new, man-made island in Burrard Inlet, coming back with fuJJ-force PR and plans being championed by this same billionaire and his media connections? THAT would be decent: if these vipers had to just

tell the simple truth, rather than hiding behind as much smoke and as many mirrors as they can while lying through their teeth.

So get ready boys and girls. Virtually every argu­ment, concern and logical rationale will be presented to stop this travesty from proceeding but the big money is betting on the misplaced trust that gets dismal excuses like Stephen Harper and George Bush elected.

ByPAULR TAYLOR [*Crud - synonym for the English word used to de­scribe the product of a buJl ' s bowel movement.]

Jordin Tootoo & Aaron Asham Hockey School· :) Merritt BC

Hello Everyone,

As you may or may not be aware the Shu Ius Com­munity Arena is hosting the Mike Thomas Profes­sional Hockey School. This is the first time Mike and his crew will be at the arena. They are coming here from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mike is bringing along Jordin Tootoo (Nashville Predators) and Aaron Asham (NY Islanders). Jordin has also re­quested that some of his teammates from the Nash­ville Predators attend the camp and instruct.

We figure that there will be 7-1 0 NHL players in attendance for this week long camp. At this time the registration is much lower then I expected. However I do understand that some families are waiting or just not thinking about hockey. I'm sending you tlus email on the camp because we

have had to set a deadline for the hockey school reg­istration. Our deadline is set for June 15th 2006. We need approximately l 00 youth registered in order for the camp to operate. At this time we have 30 youth enroUed. (Ages accepted: 5 - 17 yrs.) To register you may contact arena Manger Joe Que­

wezance @250-378-5180 or you may go online at www.mtprohockey.com

[*Nothing about the cost of this came through. Maybe any parent whose kids are interested could send an email to the guy mentioned in here who wants to get a good deed under the collective belt of the " We-have-a-right-to-be-drunk-and-obnoxious" Southsiders (aka Whitecaps ' fans). To save face af­ter being exposed as bigots, he/they seem gung-ho about helping the kids of the downtown eastside. Any field even remotely big enough for soccer in this area is bogarted by adult men (who piss in the bushes, park auy&everywhere ruining flower beds and lawns and swear blue streaks at residents) so bussing minors to another neighbourhood or even city is a bone-headed suggestion unless someone is willing to run a ferry service. Anyway, try pi ltdownman@vancouversouthsiders. com 1

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Hey Guys and Girls! Join us for

Soccer Saturdays

PUBLIC TALK ON SHADOW THEATRE

with Larry Reed

SATURDAY MAY 27,7:30 PM Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main St. ADMISSION IS FREE- ALL WELCOME!

* Hear about theatre's cheapest special effect * Watch DVD's of shadow theatre productions * Think about cross cultural storytelling * "ins and outs" of shadow theatre production

LARRY REED, founder and artistic director of San Francisco' s ShadowLight Productions, will talk about the evolution of the company and his artistic journey - from studying with a famous Dalang (shadow master) in Bali to his explorations in con­temporary shadow theatre in the United States. He will also share a few "tricks of the trade" for creat­ing startling, beautiful shadow effects. Larry Reed is a creator and director who specializes in shadow theatre for stage, opera and film - his award winning productions include The Wild Party (based on a 1926 jazz age poem), In Xanadu (a col­laboration between Asian opera singers, dancers and American artists), The 7 Visions of Encarnacion (written by Octavio Solis to explore the roots of La-tino heritage) and Coyote 's Journey (featuring elder Charlie "Red Hawk" Thorn in a traditional tale de­veloped with the Karuk tribe). The mission of his company is to bring the stories of the world to light. Vancouver Moving Theatre is bringing Larry Reed

to the Downtown Eastside to lead a workshop in shadow theatre building and performing techniques for a small group of community members involved in The Shadows Project: a two year project to create an original shadow play about addiction for families and the Downtown Eastside. Produced by Vancouver Moving Theatre working in

cooperation with the Carnegie Community Centre, the play will premiere in Apri12007.

11:00am SUMMER'S COMING! Time to get In SHAPE! Come Play Soccer at

Oppenhelmel' Park, 400 Powell, every

Saturday at 11a00aml

Org••aect bJ the I n tl• America• 8odetJ in Action

(l.ASIA) i11 coll•bot•tlo• with Oppettheimer Park

WORLD URBAN FORUM: Living the Global City:

Monday June 12th. 1:00-3 :~0 Pm LIVING ROOM Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main With the Carnegie Community .Centre Board and community members Et~el Whitty, Director of the Carnegie Community Centre, will join the Carnegie Community Centre Board in hosting a forum with community members on questions relating to public spaces in a densified_ urban environment.

Wednesday June 21st. 6 Pm THE INDIGENOUS CITY

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Multimedia Panel with Chief Leonard George, Kamala Todd, and Jeff Thomas UBC Robson Square Theatre, 800 Robson St.

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Co-sponsored by the Aboriginal Media Lab. , In celebration of National Aboriginal Day join Chief Leonard George, Aboriginal social planner and film maker Kamala Todd, and urban-Iroquois photogra­pher Jeff Thomas for a multimedia event that affirms thqt the Canadian city is an Indigenous City. As these leaders and artists illustrate, Aboriginal people offer much knowledge about how to live well 01i the land and with each other. Can our cities be trans­formed by the full recognition and inclusion of Abo­riginal people in planning and place making?

All events are free and open to the public with ad­vance registration, unless otherwise noted. All regis­tered seats will be released 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. For more information visit www.wuf3.ubc.ca

CO-ORDINATOR: NEIGHBOURHOOD SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM DTES/STRA THCONA 2006

We are looking for a motivated, part-time coordi­nator for a community small grants program spon­sored by the Carnegie, Ray Cam and Strathcona Community Centre Associations. A contract position will start in May and run to the end of the year (2006.) The successful applicant needs to be very familiar

with the Neighbourhood Small Grants Program and the Downtown Eastside/Strathcona area. They must be capable of working on their own, have good communication skills, some computer skills and the ability to encourage and engage residents. Good or­ganizational skills, knowledge of community devel­opment processes and some report writing would also be required. The ability to communicate in more than one language would be an asset. The Neighbourhood Small Grants program, funded

by the Vancouver Foundation, will provid~ up to $500 per project to local residents to do things of interest in their immediate area or for the community as a whole. Most of the projects are expected to take place during the months of June- September, but all must be completed by the end of Dec. 2006. The coordinator will work with a community-based

residents committee to promote, identify and ap­prove projects for funding, assist with evaluating the program and organizing a final, wrap-up celebration. The contract is for $6,500 in total (late May I early

June, actual start date is flexible - Dee. 31, 2006.) Note: Preference will be given to capable, qualified 4tdividuals from the DTES/Strathcona Communi­ties.

Please submit your letter of application and/or re­sume to: the Centre Coordinator, Strathcona Com­munity Centre, 601 Keefer Street, Vancouver, B. C., V6A 3V8. Deadline- 5:00 pm, May 16, 2006.

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If you are interested in participating in the

Carnegie CD Project

please attend the meeting on Tuesday, May 30th, 2006

at tt:oo AM in the Theatre

At this meeting, we will be discussing how the CD Project will be involved in the Heart of the Citv Festival in October 2006.

In 2000 the Carnegie Musicians created our first CD. We worked for three years to accomplish this. For the past six month we have been working to­wards creating our 2nd CD. We are looking at the possibility of creating a CD/DVD set.

Our next meeting is on May 30th at I lam in the Carnegie Theatre. This is a project for the Carnegie Musicians but we welcome in-kind support ( eg. studio space) to help us produce the CD. Thank-you

Bharbara Gudmundson

RAISE THE RATES ROAD SHOW SCRIPT WRITING WORKSHOP

FRIDAY, MAY 26 12:30 - 2:30

THIRD FLOOR OF THE CARNEGIE

We had a lot of fun brainstorming; now we can sit down and work on the script for a 10 -I 5 minute skit we can perform at summer festivals. . We want to get together and ~ollectively write some "street theatre" to take to communities outside the DTES. Several ideas were generated from the Ra~se the Rates Road Show workshop on May 11.

- Three people arguing .- a community member, a leftie and a Conservative.

- · A song that is continually rewritten in response t~ questions.

- Skit: panhandler asks passerby for change, passerby responds by saying · ~get a job! ' , panhandler replies, giving information about his situation On ·.

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· welfare and the difficulties in getting ·. . ·and keeping a job with no money: ·'

. · ·. · Could incorporate lots of people. . . · · · : ~ :-. :. passing by to increase amount of · ...

informatio11 being presented:- · .. · .. ~ ·. · '

- To make connections between welfare ·· ! .

· · · recipients and the working· poor-· · .. · , ··. ·.: ·... how do you spend your.pay chequ~/ .. ,

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. . . . . . . : . · · · · . ~ow do you spend your welf¥e . . ' · · . ;~ · ·: .~heque? · . · · · . · · · ., ... · · · · ··

.: A skit based on 'Hands in Your .. .. · . · ·. .' P<>cket' bank commercial - stress that .

·money for Olympics is coming out of our pockets. emphasise that workers are being laid off while CEOs are filling their pockets.

. - show welfare statistics - how many people applied for welfare and how many people were turned away?

~ skit - rich person becomes poor and : · poor person shows them how to

· survive so poor person is expert teaching rich person.

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- A game show- give audience member mock $510 and ask them to choose things to purchase. After rent and food, they won't have anything left.

- A game show - three people answer basic questions and the contestant has to guess which one is on welfare -Will the real 'weifare bum ' stand up?

- Sketch comparing dumpster diving to recycling

- game show - The Price is Right: have the audience/contestants guess the price of an SRO, a month's supply of Kraft Dinner and welfare. ·

·. - . ·: A race or a game with people starting , ·... . . at different pl~ces. As the race· : ·· . . . progresses, those at the back start . · ·. · ·. · ·: : dropping off until. only the we~lthy. · . ·

. . - the general public often thinks that

people on welfare have many choices so a skit that shows that these choices are not really choices would address that, e.g. you have a job, now how do you get to work? do you walk for three hours or skip the fare on the skytrain? you get caught on the skytrain so now you are late for work and have a fine . ..

w.~-~ I can '+ (r· v ~ 'i o u CA "' yth; ng ~t.cl- KA b"by · . -~~

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Action P ect CCAP This issue written Jean Swanson Ma 15, 2006

Carnegie workshop comes up with good ideas for welfare campaign

The Carnegie Community Action Project hosted a lively workshop on May 11 to get input for a public education campaign on the need to

• Increase welfare rates by at least 50%;

• End the barriers that keep people in need from getting welfare;

• Allow people who aren' t disabled to keep $500 of what they earn; and

• Raise minimum wage to at least $10 an hour now.

Some are calling our idea the Raise the Rates Road Show. That's because a group of groups calling themselves Raise the Rates is working on the

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campaign. CCAP is a member of Raise the Rates.

Raise the Rates wants to design a poster and leaflet or postcard on these issues and go out to community festivals over the summer with information and skits. Another workshop has been held at MOSAIC.

"We feel like we' re being criminal­ized," Sandra Pronteau told over 20 . people at the workshop. Added Rolf Auer: "People have to practically live like criminals to get through the month on $510 (the monthly rate for a single person)."

(Continued on next page)

Good ideas at workshop ... (Continued from previous page) One purpose of the education

campaign is to inform the public who aren' t on welfare, just how low the rates are, how hard it is to get on welfare, and that you can't keep any money that you earn (unless you are on a disability pension.) Polling done by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives suggests that when the public knows what welfare rates are, 74% think they should be raised. Over 80% believe people in need should be able to get welfare.

Workshop participants suggested a variety of skits including one with a

panhandler and a passerby, a song that provides info about welfare, a question and answer skit, and take-offs on TV commercials and game shows.

For the poster they suggested phrases like "We're all in this together," "You don't fare well on welfare," and others.

Now we will have to write a skit and plan our public education campaign.

There will be a Writing Workshop on the afternoon of Friday May 26, from 12:30- 2:30 on the third floor, to work the ideas we came up with into a 10 or 15 minute presentation.

CCAP meets with city councilors Over the past few weeks members of

the Carnegie Community Action Project have been meeting with city councilors one by one to discuss housing in the Downtown Eastside.

So far we have met with 5 councilors individually at Carnegie. We went over a list of 8 things that we want them to do so low income people can continue to live in the Downtown Eastside community.

The first meeting was with Kim Capri of the NP A. Capri seemed most interested in our request that the city pass a motion calling on the province to increase welfare rates by 50 per cent, end the barriers to getting on welfare that are making people homeless, and restore the earnings exemption for people on welfare

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who aren't disabled. She said she would work on a motion. Council unanimously passed her extremely weak motion on May 4th (see page 4). Still, it is significant. It shows that even a council dominated by right-leaning people is concerned about the impact of welfare rates and rules in the city.

Councilor Heather Deal of Vision said she would work on getting council to buy a couple of hotels, and lobby strongly for federal and provincial money to build new social housing.

Councilor David Cadman of COPE seemed to agree with most of what we wanted but thought the chances of it

(Continued on next page)

CCAP meets with councilors (Continued from previous page)

getting through this council were remote. Councilor Suzanne Anton, NP A, said

that she was not opposed to more social housing in the Downtown Eastside but also wanted it in the rest of the city. We explained to her what rent supplements are and said they would not help the Downtown Eastside. The next day she called back to say that staff expect about $30 million from the federal government for housing, but have not decided on what to do with it yet. We asked her to work on implementing the city policy of buying one building a year for Downtown Eastside housing. She said after our meeting that city staff are aware of the pressures on the community and haven't abandoned the idea of buying a building.

Peter Ladner of the NP A met with us on Friday, May lih. Ladner seemed to favour higher welfare rates. He agreed that the federal and provincial governments should be lobbied for money to build social housing, but not necessarily in the Downtown Eastside. He said he shared our concerns about rent supplements which the province wants to use instead ofbuilding social housing. He seemed very interested in getting private hotel owners to operate well-run housing facilities.

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Vancouver city council adopts weak motion on

welfare rates

This motion was adopted by Vancouver city council on May 4tn:

WHEREAS 1. the number of people in Greater Vancouver considered at risk of homelessness is 125,000; 2. the number of people who are homeless has doubled in the Lower Mainland and increased throughout the province in the past two years 3. the welfare rates of $51 0 per month for single adults have not been changed since 1991, and rates for families have not kept up with the rate of inflation 4. the City of Vancouver's Homeless Action Plan calls for an increase in the welfare rates as part of the solution to end homelessness 5. the only housing available for $325 per month is in rooming houses/residential hotels,and 6. it is difficult for landlords relying on rents at current welfare rates to adequately maintain their buildings, including SRO hotels

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Council requests that the Mayor be asked to discuss the issue of welfare rates, at his upcoming meetings with the Premier and Cabinet Ministers, and work with them toward addressing this problem

These are the points CCAP is making with city councilors as we meet with them individually:

1. Make a motion at council and lobby strongly to get the province to increase welfare rates by at least 50%, end the barriers that are keeping people in need from getting on welfare, and restore the earnings exemption.

2. Lobby strongly for provincial and federal money to build new social housing units in the Downtown Eastside.

3. Work hard to get as much as possible of the $1 .6 billion in federal housing money that came from the NDP-Liberal budget deal

4. Buy at least 2 Downtown Eastside hotels, one for last year and one for this year. The Homeless Action Plan, adopted unanimously by council last year, made this recommendation, but it hasn' t been done yet.

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5. Beef up enforcement of the Standards of Maintenance bylaw by doing more inspections, using section 23.8 to have the city go in buildings and do work the owners refuse to do.

6. Implement a rate of change bylaw in the entire Downtown Eastside to prevent displacement of local low income residents and ensure that housing low income residents can afford is replaced 1 for 1 as council agreed in the Downtown Eastside Housing Plan.

7. Use the $12.4 million in last year' s capital plan for housing to build a new building for low income Downtown Eastside residents.

8. Strengthen and enforce the anti­conversion bylaw. Increase the penalty for conversion enough to make it a serious deterrent.

ATTENTION-ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS!

~ Many people who aren't poor believe those ~ of us on welfare are getting a "free ride" and a

generous monthly income. They have been turning a blind eye to our situation and blam­ing us for the government's policies. The plan is to make our situation understood outside of the DTES, and achieve a broad base of support for our demands. Hopefully we can create un-

' derstanding and solidarity for a campaign to raise the welfare rates and encourage others to take some action.

The plan is to create a leaflet and a poster we can use as tools to educate people who don't know how low the welfare rates are. We want to print up hundreds of posters, leaflets and possibly postcards, to give out at neigh­bourhood festivals. People can take the . posters and put them up which will get our message out. Leaflets can contain the facts and figures. We are looking for images - artwork or photographs that will catch peoples' eye. Please explain to people whose pictures you are taking that they will be used in a poster campaign to raise welfare rates, and only if they agree will you photograph them. This is along the lines of what PIVOT

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did with the cameras they gave out to use for their calendars. No one's face, body or situa­tion will be used without their consent.

We haven't reached a final decision on the wording of the posters, some of the ideas we are working with are -

"Our economy is booming ... and so is poverty"

"Divide and conquer no longer works I We are in this together I Sink or swim"

"Will this kid be the next prime minister of BC ... or the next president of Hell's Angels?"

"De-criminalize poverty" "1994 was 12 years ago - Could YOU live

on $510 a month?" "With no roof over your head, you can't

wait 3 weeks and look for work." ... and any more you come up with!

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Rights? Whose rights?

I have been seeing a TV Talk Show where they were talking about rape -like 'How can we help rapists?' 'How can we help rapists before they do it?' They say that we can help them. I saw a ranch program where they show how to kill

a cow with a sharp knife to the neck and then drain the blood. They had a pig as well and they cut out its balls! They said the pig would get calm.

In some countries they cut off sex offender's balls; if the man refuses he dies. But not in Canada.

Doris Leslie

Important change

The meeting for Coitus Lake Camp planning has been changed from Thursday May 18th at noon to Tuesday May 16th at II :00 AM in the theatre.

Please plan to attend to sign up for camp with Col­leen, Marlene, Ian & John D. Members in good standing and actively participating in Carnegie pro­grams are welcome to attend.

etm~e e-r~e Wrlterf eoli~6 Meets every Tuesday, 10:30-12

in the Carnegie Learning Centre (3rd floor)

All welcome . . . to share and discuss their work.

Raise the Rates

Raise the rates: gets rid of hate, makes the city look great

Raise the rates: no one is hungry, no one is poor Smiles on all faces, that's for sure

Raise the rates: you don't want to be seen as a government mean

Raise the rates: A world-class city shows its colours by taking care of its own and others

Raise the rates or show your shame when the world comes to your 2010 Games.

Kelly

SUS.JO

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ow Supervisory and non-supervisory jobs in your area

We offer: . meaningful employment . a variety of temporary positions . flexible hours

Are you: . 1 8 years of age or older? . detail-oriented . organized and reliable?

. work from home . knowledgeable about your community?

Ideal for: . those too young to retire . stay-at-home parents . students . those seeking job experience

Can you: . pass a written test? . travel locally? . walk extensively? . use good judgement? -- ---- ---------- ----

How to apply - Online at www.census2006.ca ----

For more infonnation call 1-800-862-6381 . -- -- ------ ---- ---- -------I I -

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MATRICIDE

With the advent of this glorious spring season my thoughts turn to the miracle of life and rebirth. From the simple pleasure of cherry trees in bloom to being wonderstruck at how much the new leaves seem to be truly alive with a verdant, vibrant green flora­essence. Thoughts of love, hope and renewal abound. Then I remember how on a daily basis your and my planet is raped, poisoned and otherwise dis­respected to the Nth degree and I cringe at the thoughts that then assail my sensibilities as a child of the Mother Earth, our planet and the only home that we and our future ancestors will ever know. Now I'm not sure about you but if anyone would

ever dare to threaten my maternal mother with even a suggestion of the crimes committed on a daily ba­sis against the Mother of us all, well old W.S. (that 17th century sonnets' scribe) said it the best, I would "imitate the actions of the tiger" and "lend the eye a terrible aspect" and proceed to immediately neutral­ize that threat. No discussion , no quarter. But it seems that matricide has become an acceptable and legislated reality; doesn't anyone have a problem with this obscenity? The Earth is the Mother of all that has been, all that is now and all that ever will be so should we not protect her the same way that we would be totally within our legal rights to do if any­one ever threatened our maternal mothers, God bless them all? How can it be that we became such bad seeds in the

first place that we would rape our mother each and every day for our own pleasure and comfort, pimp

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her body when we were done and then poison her at night by defecating on her like some cheap old rug? That is exactly what we are doing when we forsake the welfare of our and our children's environment, so that some obscenely rich matronly fornicator can live like some kind of modem day Gatsby admiring the size of his financial portfolio. And all in th name of profits, the true God of the last three centuries.

Until the advent of the industrial revolution and the practice of modern, consumer based economics, the good Mother Earth provided for us all. Arable land was not bulldozed over in a mad development rush, fields were left to fallow and indigenous populations in un-europeanized parts of the world lived in per­fect harmony with the nature of the good and abun­dant Mother Earth. To the point that from season to season you would have been hard pressed to notice that there had been any human living with Mother taking only what was needed, something I think she doesn' t mind as long as it is done not with excess but respect. . · It is only the last few hundred years out of over 20,000 in the evolution of modern man that we as a

· species have gotten away from having love and re­spect for our Mother. Is it not time that we wake up and realize that we need to suckle the breast gently and not engage in some Neo-Roman gore fest? If we continue with our wickedness towards our Mother then the day will come that she will issue forth life no more. I for one will not stand idly by while the murder of my, and your, Mother takes place.

• One in Five

A World of TROUBLE in Shanghai Alley. (Vancouver 1936). Chinatown. Private Eye. Thafs the adver­

tising on the back of the book. The book is about. .. I' ll let you guess and if you really want to find out then come to our regular bookcJub reading on Wednesday morning at 11 :30. W c usually meet in the Learning Centre on the third

floor. Then we decide where we are going to read. It's usually out in the 3rd floor gallery but it's getting warm out and we are planning to go out into the neighbourhood to do our reading. Last year we went to the Chinese garden and then Crab Park. We also just went down to the patio and read.

We are planning to go to the real Shanghai Alley just down Pender a ways and try reading there be­cause that ' s the name of the book. I' m looking for­ward to going back to the park because it's so nice there. If you come to our reading then you can have a say in where we go. The book itself is pretty good and we are getting

some great explanations for some of the terms in the book. Mike seems to know a lot about some of those terms that the author, Jim Christy, uses. There are some spelling errors in the book and it makes for some funny moments as we read aloud. Beth sup­plies the books and she reads along with us, also shes been known to bring something to snack on. I remember chocolate covered strawberries from last year. Anyway we're looking for a few more people to join our little band of readers' to help us read and discuss the story. Come on over and join our group and enjoy an hour or so of escapist reality. hal

Humanities 101 Events at the Carnegie Centre:

Existentialist Reading Group, Saturday May 20th, 2pm

Community, Politics, Economics Study Group, Saturday May 27, 12 noon

Steering Committee Meeting Saturday June 1Oth, 12 noon

Take Humanities 101 or Writing 101 next year: If you are interested in applying to take either of

these FREE courses, please attend one of our first infonnation and application sessions, where you can hear about the courses from graduates and staff:

Saturday June 17th, 12 noon Saturday June 24th, 12 noon

Applications are available on the 3rd floor bulletin board. For more information, please call Peter at 604.822.0028 or email bum101@interchange.ubc.ca

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Love I love the person I see in the mirror - Me I love smiles they are free I love laughter it is good medicine I love positive people in my life I love honest people in my life I love respectful people in my life I love volunteering at Carnegie Centre I love meetings at the Aboriginal Front Doo!" I love NA and AA meetings I love being clean and sober I love walks to St Paul ' s Hospital

to see brother John I love family reunions

I start each day with a prayer. I am so blessed with numerous friends, family and co-volunteers I have trust in. I wish everyone a Happy Mothers Day ..

Norma-Jean B.

Many years ago my job at the airport was the unloading of thousands of pounds of food into the disposal bins to just rot away. It was a heart breaking task, knowing about the starving millions of people , not just on the other side of the world, but as well as right-here in the city Vancouver. Now that is just so appalling , as well as a lack of common sense, .. I have a lot of Restaurant variety experience; I had to leave this kind of work in disgust, knowing what I know about it. We here in the developed world use and waste three quarter's of the world' s goods now tell me please, what's wrong with this pitcher? There is a time coming when we will all have to make a choice between greed or sharing war or peace.

Mike j Hughes ·

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'Q\! Q.i\d n~~1(hnx-~ throughout

the Wl'CKCnd.

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Update on the DES opera process:

There is now a volunteer community advisory group helping to make decisions about crucial ele­ments of the opera. These people are longtime community members with an interest in the arts, and who are not interested in writing or performing in the opera. Their frrst assignment was to choose the writer-mentor, Joan Skogan. Joan chose from among the writing samples submitted (on the basis of adaptability for music, quality of writing, and breadth of representation, and minus the authors' names) and created a writers' group for the libretto, which has started work. The writers are: Terri Wil­liams, James Elmore, Jason Logan, Patrick Foley, Leith Harris, Stacey Grayer, Grant Chancey and Muriel Williams

The budget, terms of reference for the entire opera process, and for the community advisors, the writer­mentor, the composer and the director, will be avail­able for view in the library by anyone interested. Comments and suggestions are welcome, and may be left in Rika's box. Watch this newsletter for fur­ther bulletins!

Cherry Blossom Blizzard

I was walking on East Pender Street where the street was lined with cherry trees on both sides. The trees were heavy with cherry blossoms and a big wind came up and cherry blossoms went flying everywhere. It was a snowstorm of cheny blossoms, a blizzard from one end of the block to the other, and I couldn' t see anything but pink petals swirling and falling swirling and falling "Holy month of May," I said. "Nothing is forever."

Sandy Cameron

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News from the Library

New Books: The Illustrator's Notebook by Mohieddin Ellabbad (741 .6) is a gorgeous mix of art and calligraphy in the Arabic tradition. Each page is reproduced as originally published in Egypt, with beautiful draw­ings and hand lettering. English translations at the side enlighten us to Ellabbad's gentle philosophical wanderings: "Does a palm tree need to be told that it's a palm tree? Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto (940.53) When the walls of the Warsaw Ghetto first went up in 1940, Emmanuel Ringelblum was there. From inside the Ghetto, Ringel blum wrote about the brutality of life under Nazi rule and of the acts of courage by the Ghetto's Jewish residents, up until the Ghetto upris­ing in April1943. Weesquachack by Ruby Slipperjack (First Nations fiction). Janice longs for independence and urban life, but when she returns to her reserve in northwest , Ontario she meets Fred, who lives a traditional life­style as a trapper. When Weesquachak, the Trickster of the Anishinabeg who changes from man to raven, a

starts to make mysterious appearances, both Fred and Janice's lives will be altered forever.

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Beth, your libranan

Review a a·ook It Win a Prizel Want to tell everyone about a book you've read? Did you hate it? Love it? Did it live up to the hype?

1his is your chance to VENTI Fill in a book review form at the library and we'll

put it on our Book Review Board. An not only do you get to share your opinions with everyone at Car­negie, but each mont, we'll draw a name for a great

• pnze. &:;;;; iiiiiii;iiiiiiiiiiii;iiiiiiiiii

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE YOUTH ACTIVITIES SOCIETY 49 W .Cordova 604-251-3310

FREE - Oonaliofta accep .. d.

DEY AS Needle Exchange Van Schedule Telephone (604) 657-6561 AM Van 7:00am- 5:00pm (on the road 8am-4pm) PM Van 4:00pm- 2:00am (on the road 5pm-lam) 7 Days /Week .

2006 DONATIONS Libby D.-$100 Rolf A.-$50 Barry for Dave McC-$100 Christopher R.-$30 Margaret D. -$40 Bruce J. -$15 The Edge-$200 Mary C-10$ Peony G.-$50 MP/Jelly Bean -$20 RayCam-30 Janice P.-$30 Wes K.-$ 30 Paddy -$60 Glen B.-$25 John S.-$60 Leslie S.-$20 Wm.B -$20 Michael C.-$80 BumanitieslOl-$100 Gram -$20 Sheila B.-$20 Ben C.-$20 Brian $2 CEEDS -$50 Joanne H.-$20 Wilhelmina M. -$5 Saman -$20

THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION

Articlol rqnunt tho viewl or indiviooal conlributon and not of tho Alaocialion.

Clm<D> ll®~o 7IF:OO <C«J).:.(J)JP> IMJI»lle{}) W I e &I I M • M ¢4'

Editor: PauiR Taylor; cover+ layout, Diane Wooa.

Submission Deadline fnr n,.d i~~•.,.:

Carnegie Community Centre

Annual General Meeting of the

-- - -Monday, May ~9 _ __ _ _ ~ ___ _ ....., _________ _ ---1 We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and this L N,!'",!e'!!r, ~_!latpe!!.l"!. o~ th~ Sct,~~N!_'io.!!'s _terri_tory.

Contributors are not pennitted to malign or attack or relegate any person or group or class, including drug users and poor

veoote. to a level referred to or· · ' less than hwnan'.

Contact Jenny Wal Ching (wan

MLA

Working for You 1070-1641 Commercial Dr V5L 3Y3

- Phone: 775-0790 Fax:775-0881 I Downtown Eastside Residents Association

12 E. Hastings St, or call682-0931

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Carnegie Community Centre Association

Thursday, June 1, 5:30pm in the Theatre

Agenda includes Reports and election of a new Board. To vote, you must have been a member for at least 14 days (before May 18). To run for the Board, you must have been a member for at least 60 days (before April 1).

This is a public meeting. Come and see what your Association has been

doing. All welcome!

(Registration starts at 4:30pm)

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WOMEN'S SEWING CIRCLE WITH DIANE EVERY SAT AY FROM 2:00- 4:00

. AT THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE WOMEN'S CENTRE

302 COLUMBIA STREET EMBROIDERY, APPLIQUE, QUILTING, FABRIC ART

MATERIALS PROVIDED

"nobody here but us chicks!' .....

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INDIAN RESIDENnAL SCHOOL SURVIVORS . l art exhibition exploring a VlSUa . dh

p the divine feminine forceR a a Important information: The Assembly of First Nations has now released the form for Advance pay­ment for Indian Residential School Survivors on its web site. The application deadline is December 31, 2006. This advance payment is for people who were 65 or older May 30. 2005. The payment is an ad­vance of$8, 000.00 towards final compensation amounts of $10,000 for the frrst year in school and $3,000 for each year or part year after that.

The complete application form must be filled out with documentation ie: birth certificates etc.

Complete application forms are available from Marlene Trick at the lane level office, from the Car­negie Library or the Aboriginal Front Door.

The application is available on line at:

www.afn.ca click on $8,000.00 Advance Payment Application

ower of love and devot10n ••

Lction of compassion and strength

radha yoga & eatery 728 Main Street

(604) 605 0011

11:30 - 4 pm Mon - Fri

show runs to May 28