UN CEDED COAST SALISH TERRITORIES - On Monday July 16 Downtown Eastside (DTES) residents gathered outside the Pantages demolition site to draw attention to rats and rubble disaster that has festered in their community for over a year. "Nearly two months ago we conducted a community

rat count to show that 138 E Hastings was full of rats who were using the site as a staging ground to invade neighboring hotels," said organizer Jean Swanson. "And just last night again I counted 18 rats in five minutes." After the rat count the City of Vancouver promised to "work with the owner to tidy up the lot" but has taken no substantive action to remove the rubble. Swanson points to Section 4.1 (I) ofthe Standards and Mainte­nance bylaw which clearly states, "All land shall be kept clean and free from rubbish or debris, objects and materials, except for materials for immediate use in the construction, alteration or repair of a building on the site."

At the news conference coalition member Colleen Boudreau unve iled the community's "rubble house," a small model house plastered with disgusting layers of rocks, garbage and grime collected from the Pan­tages demolition site. Boudreau said, "We need hous­ing in our community. Too many of us are living on the streets & in places where our kids get taken away from us. The city has an opportunity here to make something beautiful and badly needed out of this em­barrassing and dangerous pile of rubble."

Pantages Challenge Letter Monday, 16 July 2012

Mayor Robertson and Members of City Council: We are writing as a broad coalition of residents,

community members, activists & allies of the Down­town Eastside low income community to demand that you act speedily to clean up the pile of rubble at 13 8 East Hastings, the site of the former Pantages Theatre. This was once a historic landmark that Vancouver's founding neighbourhood could be proud of. Now, thanks to the negligence of the lot' s current owner, Marc Williams, it is a toxic pile of junk that is both an eyesore and a health hazard in the heart of the com­munity.

In any other neighbourhood, the demoli tion of a building would be completed and the debris removed in just a few weeks. But Marc Williams seems to be­lieve that it is appropriate to leave the rubble on his property for almost a year, presumably because he is operating in the DTES and thinks that he can get away with this conduct there. Apparently the city agrees. That you have allowed this situation to con­tinue is clearly an act of discrimination against low­income people. It is also a form of ecological racism, since it is no coincidence that this is being permitted in the heart of one of the largest urban aboriginal communities in Canada.

Members of the low-income community are unani­mous in condemning Marc Williams for this act of negligence. "It's psychologically damaging to look at this site

every day because it makes you feel more impover­ished and creates more of the internal negativity that you already have to mentally fight," said Asia Hotel resident Ben Smith, "It says you are a loser. I am a loser because the city doesn ' t care and just lets the owner get away with a big mess." Another resident noted that it is "proof that the city

really doesn't care about people here. We're not part of this city." Not only is the city clearly guilty of racist, poor­

bashing discrimination in its negligence towards this site, but it is also in violation of its own codes. Sec­tion 4.1 (1) ofthe Standards of Maintenance bylaw clearly states that "All land shall be kept clean and free from rubbish or debris, objects & materials, ex­cept for materials for immediate use in the construc­tion, alteration or repair of a building on the site."

Marc Williams is not currently engaged in any sort of 3 "construction, a lteration or repair" of anything on the site of 138 East Hastings. He has not even applied for a building permit. All that he is doing is letting the rubble sit there, causing health problems for people in the neighbourhood.

From the standpoint of justice, equality, legality, and simple economics, Marc Williams' actions are de­stroying the DTES and we demand that you stop him. In the coming days it is imperative that you: 1. Remove all garbage, rubble & other debris from the site of 138 East Hastings in a safe, efficient manner. 2. Buy the lot from Mark Williams and designate it for I 00% resident-controlled social housing.

These actions are essential for the continued health and wellbeing of the DTES low income community and we are determined to see that you take them.

If you do not make public and substantial progress towards completing these demands in the next W\!ek, we will take action ourselves to ensure the safety of the community. The DTES has been waiting for far too long already for you to take action in this regard and we will not wait much longer. Please consider this letter to be our final warning to you before we remedy the situation. Thank you in advance for acting to protect the human rights of every person living in the City of Vancouver, especially those who reside in the DTES.

Sincerely, DTES Not for Developers Coalition: Member groups include: *Aboriginal Front Door Society *Carnegie Community Action Project *Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users *Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society *DTES Neighborhood Council *DTES Power of Women *Gallery Gachet *Streams of Justice *UBC Social Justice Centre

*For more information contact the Downtown East­side Not for Developers Coalition, Jean Swanson 604-729-2380*

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Poverty Olympics Opens - London 2012 The iconic Vancouver Poverty Olympics Torch will

make an historic appearance in London. The East London Poverty Torch Relay will.herald the 'Whose Games? Whose City?' Demonstration against the Corporate Olympics to be held on July 28th. Counter Olympics spokesperson, Julian Cheyne, said:

"'The Poverty Torch Relay highlights long-standing Olympic issues of eviction, land seizure and the ex­clusion of the poor. London 2012 is no different. The Olympics epitomises corporate power and growing social inequality.' The Torch was handed over to London at a ceremony

at the Olympic Cauldron in Jack Poole Plaza Vancou­ver in 20 10, visited Glasgow in March 2012 and was received by the Counter Olympics Network at the B ishopsgate Institute in April 20 12. Cheyne added, "This is a milestone in Olympic pro­test- the first time, to our knowledge, that a protest torch has been handed from one host city to another. We hope this will be a feature of protest in future host cities.' On Saturday 21st July, the Torch will go from 'Lym- ·

pic Stratford and end at bulldozed Wanstead Flats, where there will be an open day arranged by the Met to look at the police facility from !lam to 3pm. Our runners will be received by members of the Save Wanstead Flats campaign at the end of this event. On Friday 27th July, the Torch will go from scenic

Clissold Park to the unsightly basketball training fa­cility at Leyton Marsh. The Save Leyton Marsh cam­paign will hold a welcome party for the torch. The relays will start at 2pm & allowing roughly an

hour to complete the routes means the runners should arrive at both end points at about 3pm. Notes 1. Compulsory Purchase for London 20 12: <http://gamesmonitor.org.uk!node/640> 'A prime opportunity for the property industry.'

'We don't think it will be difficult to get partners,' says LOA head of property and development Gareth Black -er. 'If we do the site assembly we're proposing to do, we're creating a prime opportunity for the property industry.' 2. Wanstead Flats- A Terrible Precedent Is Born <http://www.blowe.org.uk/20 11 / 12/wanstead-ftats­terrible-precedent-is.htm1> The campaign against the use of Wanstead Flats dur­ing next year's Olympics by the police for a Muster Briefing and Deployment Centre has never just been about what happens in 2012. From the begin­ning, it has always been about the precedent set by choosing to enclose part of Epping Forest, an area supposedly protected by a 135-year-old Act of Par­liament. 3. History of Our Campaign: The story of Save Leytoo Marsh <http:/ /saveleyton marsh. word press. comlh is tory-of­our-campaign/> The landgrab is not just about abusing a large area of

greenbelt land in opposition to the local residents. It's not just about creating a precedent for this land to effectively become brownfield and so ready for other development. We have uncovered that it's also a Tro­jan horse whereby the Lee Valley Regional Park Au­thority (L VRPA) will be able to more easily imple­ment its pre-existing (but publicly unknown) propos­als to knock down the adjacent Ice Centre in Lea Bridge Road and build something double its size.

Principally we have learned that the weight of state oppression is on us. Save Leyton Marsh originally set out to be a local environmental campaign, and the group would have opposed whoever, whichever pub­lic body decided to start digging up Leyton Marsh for whatever reason, for whatever period of time. We have learned that because the purpose of this shame­ful destruction of our green fields is the London 2012 Olympic Games, we are not free to object, protest or campaign as we should be. 4. Planning Displacement: The Real Legacy of Ma­jor Sporting Events Three Games, three eviction stories <http://gamesmonitor.org. uk/node/93 1 >

In September 2009 Planning Theory and Practice Magazine published, in its Interface section, 3 articles on displacement caused by 3 different mega-events, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2010

Winter Olympics in Vancouver. 5. <http://gamesmonitor.org.uk/node/1305> 'What Olympic Legacy?'

In 2002, long before the credit crunch, Game Plan, a Government report signed by Tony Blair, said 'We conclude that the quantifiable evidence tosupport each of the perceived benefits for mega events is weak, The explicit costs of hosting a mega event should be weighed very carefully against the perceived bene­fits.(which) appear to be more about celebration than economic returns'. The party legacy! 6. MEGA-EVENTS, OLYMPIC GAMES AND HOUSING RIGHTS Report by Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions CCOHRE) <http://www.ruiggian.org/ressources/Report%20Fair %20Play%20FINAL%20FINAL%20

This report is dedicated to the millions of victims of housing rights abuses in the context of mega-events. lt is dedicated to those who have lost their homes and suffered displacement or eviction because of the Ol­ympic Games or other mega-events; those who have been arrested, beaten, traumatised, incarcerated, even killed; those who have been dispossessed and impov­erished; and those who have otherwise found them­selves unable to 'share the spirit' when the Olympics or other events came to town. 7. Rio Evictions: Brazil off-course for World Cup and Olympics - UN housing expert <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Displa yNews.aspx?NewsiD=1 0960&Lang UN Housing Report GENEVA (26 April2011) As Brazil prepares to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, the Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, said Tuesday she has received many allega­tions concerning displacement and evictions poten­tially leading to violations of human rights. 8. Sochi <http://garnesmonitor.org.uk/node/1087> 's Soviet style Olympics

The dismal record of mega event evictions, media manipulation, lying and overspends continues. Sochi is striving hard to compete with Delhi and Beijing as the most brutal event in recent years. 9. COHRE paper on ATLANTA'S OLYMPIC LEGACY http://www.ruiggian.org/ressources/Atlanta backgrou nd paper.pdt> The goal of this chapter is to address the housing dis­placement and criminalization of Atlanta's poor and

homeless people- both motivated and generated by 5 the Olympic Garnes. A few other interesting things from the internet about London Poverty Olympics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 49vAmVMRmU http://www.londontourguide20 \2.orglpoverty­olympics-20 12/ They still tell us: "Globalization, free trade, de-regu­lation, privatization, gentrification-- like a rising tide, will'raise all boats."' Even after their economy im­ploded. All will benefit, they say, but their tide has raised only the yachts of the 1%. The rest of us get auster­ity bud- gets, more police, service cuts, more gentrifi­cation, pension theft, more police, greater inequality, more pollution, more prohibition, more corruption, and always more police. Plus the military, and private "security."

Humanities 101 + Intake Sessions

Please tell your friends and family about our upcom­ing intake sessions for Hum 10 I, Hum20 I and Writ­ing. The courses will be starting August 28th, 2012. Hum 101 and Writing are available to everyone, and Hum 201 is for those of you who have completed Hum101. For more information about Humanities 101 please visit our• website: http:/ /humanities 1 0 ! .arts. ubc.cal

Carnegie Centre, 401 Main (3'd floor classroom): Saturday August 11: Humanities 10 1 at 1.30 p.m. & Writing at 3.30 p.m.

Vancouver Recovery Club, 2775 Sophia St. Saturday August 11 at 11 a.m. & Monday August 13 at 11 a.m.

Crabtree Corner, 533 East Hastings St. Monday August 13 at 1.30 p.m.

The Gathering Place, 607 Helmcken Tuesday August 14: Humanities 101 at 11 a.m. & Writing at 1.30 p.m.

Downtown Eastside Women's Centre (women Q!!!y), 302 Columbia St. Wednesday August 15 at 1.30 p.m.

Humanities 101 Community Programme Dr. Margot Leigh Butler, Academic Director tel. 604-822-0028 fax. 604-822-6096

News From -the Library Whether you want to jumpstart, rediscover or further your creative pursuits, this book, written by Phil Han­sen, will help you build your creative muscles by ex­perimenting with the unexpected. Tattoo a Banana: And Other Ways to Turn Anything and Everything Into Art (745.58 H249t) is entertaining, clever, and witty. Tattoo a Banana is an innovative approach to creativity by internationally recognized artist Phil Hansen. This fun and captivating guide will have you creating art with anything at hand - like a piece of toast, your own fingerprints, or a stack of marshmal­lows - showing how to develop everyday creativity with offbeat techniques. Once you tattoo a banana, print on marshmallows, or mold a Mona Lisa sugar cookie, you'll definitely be curious about what else is possible ! For more, v isit tattooabanana.com. In this deeply moving and resourceful memoir, Asy­lum: Hollywood Tales from My Great Depression: Brain Dis-Ease, R ecovery, and Being My Mother's Son (92 1 Pl98a) beloved actor-director and New York T imes bestselling author Joe Pantoliano takes aim at the stigma attached to what he calls "brain dis­ease" by writing candidly and humorously about his own journey through clinical depression and addic­tion. Most people know Joe Pantoliano from his memorable roles in such blockbuster movies as The Matrix, Risky Business, The Fugitive, and Memento, or from his Emmy-winning performance on The So­pranos. But despite all this success, the actor, known

as "Joey Pants," struggled with what he later found out was clinical depression-or brain dis-ease, as he calls it. Asylum is the story of Joe's quest for the Hol­lywood success he was sure would cure him, and the painful downhill spiral into depression and addiction that followed his success. Weaving deeply personal experience together with informative discourse this memotr creates an unflinchingly honest portrayal of the true nature of the disease, as well as Joe's own eventual diagnosis, recovery, and ongoing efforts to educate others and remove the stigma from mental illness. Another powerful book about addiction is Ninety

Days: A Memoir of R ecovery by Bill Clegg (362.29 C624n) Bill Clegg's goal is ninety. Just ninety clean and sober days to loosen the hold of the addiction that caused him to lose everything. With six weeks of his most recent rehab behind him he returns to New York and attends two or three meetings each day. It is in these refuges that Bill befriends essential allies in­cluding Polly, who struggles daily with her own cycle of recovery and relapse, and the seemingly unshaka­bly sober Asa. At first, the support is not enough: Clegg re lapses with only three days left. Written with uncompromised immediacy, NINETY DAYS begins where Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man ends and tells the wrenchiQ.g story of Clegg's battle to reclaim his life

Rick Mercer is one of Canada's sharpest and funniest political satirists and his latest book is receiving great reviews. Rick Mercer Report: The Book (971.07 M55r) is collection of rants, writings, and comic en­counters with the great and good of politics, showbiz, and literature. (Yes, relive Pierre Berton offerincr ad-o vice on rolling a joint, and Margaret Atwood showing off her hockey skills as a goalie.) Rick, a tremendous writing talent as well as a verbal one, has selected the best of his rants from the first four seasons ofRMR sprinkled in choice moments from his interviews '

' added a generous helping of other material that has never been broadcast, and arranged the whole into revealing themes and groupings with all-new intro­ductions, reflections, and updates. Who knew that Stephen Harper was quite so preoccupied with gay sex? That Paul Martin could be so forgetful? That politicians could be so sleazy? Well, no doubt most of us did - but it's wonderful to have it pointed out again by this brilliantly funny and charismatic talent.

Megan, your librarian

Saturday & Sunday

August 4 8: 5, 2012 11:30 am · 7 pm

Oppenheimer Park and surrOt."nd,ng venuc3. 400 :1loc\t of Powell Street

Summer Suspended Rain soaked, chilled up, summer surrenders to a socked in low ceiling grayish black, sun metallic clouds, depressing, the spirit of optimism -somewhat, to say the least. However I don't get down too much, I can deal with it all.. another bummer summer. If it was, October or November I'd really be extremely depressed. I just keep saying to myself, that a major heat wave is just around the corner. Gotta keep the faith. I'm so tired of hibernating, and taking cover from -------- weather, ain't you, also. {yeah, I thought, whatever mood your in, keep on slog gin, all the noise, dance, and stuff, cause were right in the middle of barbecue and festival season, sometimes you don't have to plan out going to one or several, because they are all over the map, often in clusters, and cavorting with each other, back to back, simultaneously, that's so cool, and yet quite confusing and disorientating and it makes the lousy more bearable, instead of watching, the vision or reading you can even check out old movies, in a park setting near the beach and wish fully under a few stars, setting sun or soon to be rising moon, far out, wonders never cease wealthwise if ain't feeling too summery to us yet, summer can also certainly be a state of mind like, where a pair of

shades, do not carry an umbrella, that's just an open J

invitation to the rain Gods, be very aware ofthisjust remember to be extremely nice to mother nature, she knows exactly what she is doing, she is perfection. She understands balance, sharing, we all have to take the good with the bad, what's going around is going around. Better days ahead just around the comer with climate change [so called] maybe, just maybe, some time soon, it be eighty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit, in the middle of December, in the depths of winter, how cool is that, and that scenario is certainly not out ofthe question,it's within the realm of possibilities ... Recently I read in local corporate newspapers, that ninety, percent of Greenland is literally melting before our very eyes, very rapidly I might add. Glaciers are also breaking down, falling into the ocean turning into vanishing, disappearing lesser and smaller ice flows, very peculiar, [ponder as vividly as an amaz­ing story, I heard recently on the radio air waves cluttered as they are, with commercials. I clearly heard that. A credible scientific expedition had actually and factually found the exact iceberg that the Titanic cruise ship had struck, quickly sank exactly one hundred years ago, the journalist interviewed this scientist and explorer, excitedly and promptly, questioned him that, it being this prize discovery, would he be ~unning tourist boats out to it, so he could charge people also for being photographed and posing on it or beside it. No he said, certainly not he stated quite sanely. How about cutting it up and

selling for souvenirs?!.also saying no to this travesty­train-of- thought. No he said with no hesitation I plan to blow it up, blow it to smithereens in fac~ good on him, now there's poetic justice, as I never heard it so beautifully before. Remember I remind you, what goes around comes around. Truer words may have never been spoken.

ROBYN LIVINGSTONE.

'\ If it doesn't include the majority residents it's not a neighbourhood plan Carnegie Community Action Project statement on the 2012 Chinatown Neighbourhood Plan

The Chinatown Neighbourhood Plan is rooted in 11 "Vision Directions" which treat low income people as

though they don't even exist in the neighbourhood. They are implicitly referred to as impediments to

economic revitalization and development.

The low-income community is mentioned in when the report tells us that the median income in Chinatown

is $17,000 a year; that 67% of the population is low-income, and over half of the residents live in single­

person homes. (p. 11) It sums up the demographic sketch by explaining the "neighbourhood has been and

continues to be predominately low-income." And it asks, in a way that seems to set the question for the

rest of the report to answer , "How will t he existing low-income community and new residents define a new

vision for the neighbourhood?" Unfortunately this question is not answered. No where are low-income

residents' voices audible nor are t heir interests represented.

The explanations of issues and visions for each section of the report are totally missing any sort of low­

income community perspective. And worse, the record of actions already taken and recommendations for

future actions consistently overlook the needs of low-income people or contribute to their displacement

from Chinatown altogether.

The Heritage and Culture section is focused on a "Society Building Strategy" that aims at the heritage

and real estate renovation of Benevolent Society owned buildings tljat will also help with the gentrification

of Chinatown. Two key tools have been used to accomplish this "revitalization" of privately owned

buildings. The "Transfer of Density" heritage incentive policy helped renovate Bob Rennie's Wing Sang

building into an exclusive art, real estat e office , and now museum space. And 5 out of 11 society owned

buildings have received $100,000 each to support their "rehabilitation plans" (p. 19)

One of these buildings is the Asia Hotel, owned by the Mah Society. The Mah society recently informed its

34 low-income tenants that they will all be evicted some time this year to allow a major renovation. The

society has been tight lipped about what t he rents will be in the building after the renovations are

complete. Has the c ity directly funded a major renovict ion of a society owned hotel? Are there any

measures the city is using to stop renovic tions from the hotels in Chinatown under the guidance of this

report?

The 2005 Downtown Eastside Housing Plan's section on Chinatown says to "recognize housing objectives

when implementing heritage policies in Chinatown, and vice versa. " (2005 Housing Plan, Pg 56, section

9.3.4) This is suspect because the AECOM consultant report on economic revitalization in Chinatown and

commissioned by the City of Vancouver, written in November 2011, recommends easing SRA bylaw

restrictions so that societies can get rid of tenants because " rents that can be charged for the ground floor · retail spaces and the market orientation of the retail tenants will be influenced by the residents living upstairs.' (AECOM Project Report, "Vancouver Chinatown Economic Revitalization Action Plan." Nov 2011, Page 9.)

The AECOM report also I ists, under the category of "threats" to revitalization, "The presence of population attracted to the social service facilities on Hastings Street," (Page 45) And finally, the report argues that it is important to renovate heritage and SRO buildings despite restrictive city guidelines that will not allow for the demolition of SRO rooms because, "additional pedestrian activity, particularly in the evening hours, will dilute the influence of the underprivileged population." Imagine how it feels to be underprivileged and know that some business people think your presence has to be "diluted."(Page 53) This report clearly sees the displacement of the low-income community as a precondition to and also a positive consequence of the economic revitalization of Chinatown. A lot of the recommendations of this report pop up in the Chinatown Neighbourhood Plan with amendments only to the language that has fallen out offashion for Vancouver planning because it is too strong and outwardly poor-bashing. The ideas, though, appear throughout the city report in a shallow code.

The Built form and Urban Structure section celebrates the Historic Area Height Review's success in attracting to Chinatown between 600 and 700 new condo units and t heir residents to support the business, street and shopping climates (p . 12). It is not concerned with the effects of these condo developments on land and rent prices for tenants in hundreds of privately owned SROs or rental units, nor on the effect of a sudden massive increase in higher income residents on the cultural and social assets of t he existing low­income community.

The Land Use: A living and working community explains "Chinatown has traditionally been an affordable neighbourhood with a mix of rental, SROs, non-market housing and limited owner occupied market housing." And it explains the DTES H ousing Plan calls for the replacement of "existing SROs with better quality housing targeted to low-income and aging residents" and also , at the same time, to "encourage market housing with a focus on affordable market rental and ownership housing." (p. 33)

How does this report deal with this policy contradiction of both protecting the existing low-income housing stock (until it can be replaced) and encouraging market developments that threaten to erode t hat low- · income housing stock through gentrification? It provides actions to encourage market development and defers the low- income housing action plan to staff "working on implementing the Housing Plan" through t he DTES LAPP committee.

The Housing Plan says that 1 for 1 SRO replacement in Chinatown is unlikely and to expect for replacement to take place in other DTES sub-areas. (pg. 56, 2005 HP) Replacement then, rather than destruction, requires that the city ensures that the housing is replaced before it is lost , not just that low­income housing is offloaded to another area due to economic expedience and dropped. The Chinatown Neighbourhood Plan is plotting the destruction of SRO hotels befor e there is even a plan for their replacement.

The Public places and streets section. It calls for the expansion of throughways with a rail line and to open up the alley to market development in order t o make the area distinctive (competit ive) and attractive to "modern" entrepreneurs and consumers. It specifically target s the "clean up" and "safety" improvement o the streets, sidewalks and alleys in and around Chinatown. A pilot alley revitalization project in "Market Alley," which runs parallel to Hastings and Pender between Main and Carrall will set the "tone for

commercial revitalization in the future." The planned "upgrade not only increases the recognition of this

unique historic place, it also sets the tone for commercial revitalization of Market Alley in the future ." (page 39) Again there is no concern for the low-income communities who currently call these alleys community spaces. There is no concern for the gentrifying impact of connecting the Market Alley to Hastings St. where hundreds of low income people live.

The Community and economic development and Economic revitalization strategy focus on attracting new entrepreneurs, cleaning up and tenanting storefronts, and developing a more tourist friendly heritage base

and walkable Chinatown.

The active storefronts program has already given incentives and support to six new businesses in Chinatown. The only one mentioned, as a model candidate for the program, is the high-income and non­resident oriented Sao Bei boutique restaurant on Keefer near Main St.

The conclusion of the report is as telling as the int roduction. The challenges, taken from the AEC0\11 consultant group's report, include:

"~eed more people on the street at night and on weekends" without saying direct ly which people need to be gotten rid of (not "displaced") and which are desireable.

- That the "revitalization strategy must lead with restaurant sector;" That Chinatown "needs to be clean and safe," and that; "Renovated heritage buildings ... could provide a unique competitive advantage in the long term"

because "renovated heritage buildings and revitalized laneways = unique, walkable neighbourhood (competit ive advantage)". •

Where are the low-income people? Why is the city not recognizing the assets and legitimate tenure of the low-income community? This report could represent a serious step backwards in Downtown Eastside

planning.

CCAP' s recommendations

1. Any restoration and renovation of society buildings must not risk eviction of SRO tenants of the

buildings. The city should develop a zero evictions policy for SRO hotels before supporting further renovation efforts.

2. Replacement of SROs must happen before losses are allowed to occur. The city should not permit any market development in Chinatown until potential ripple effects of market real estate prices and rents can be controlled and low-income housing protected, and tenancy guaranteed. Losing hotel rooms before they are replaced is not replacement, it's against city policy. It's displacement.

3. Public space development must not come at the cost of low-income peoples comfort and safety. Feeling a sense of belonging in the streets is a key asset of the DTES (including Chinatown) low­

income community. We cannot afford to lose this to overzealous tourist and retail development. The city should incentivize low-income serving shops and businesses and non-profit industries for

a low-income friendly revitalization of Chinatown. All market businesses should go through a social

impact assessment of their proposed business before being given a business license.

4 . Market alley and the bout ique-ization of any alley in the Downtown Eastside should be put on hold

until low-income community housing and other assets are protected and secure. Although this

report does not ment ion the Pantages condo project, the Market Alley redevelopment is

inconceivable without it. The DT ES low-income community and many others have gone on record

against the highly destructive Pantages condos proposal and we strongly recommend not basing

any city plans around this development, which the community is committed to stopping. We

recommend the city buy the Pantages lot at 138 E Hastings and build 100% resident controlled

social housing where people on welfare and pensions pay 30% of t heir income for rent.

5. Finally, t he Chinatown Neighbourhood Plan should be deferred to be coordinated with the rest of

t he DTES community, particularly as key aspects hinge on cross-sector cooperation. Currently

the plan calls for "sharing" t he recommendations of the Chinatown plan with the DTES LAPP

committee in t he fall of 2012 (page 53) so that the LAPP can learn from the Chinatown plan. We

believe t hese plans must be integrated and enrich arid challenge each other by being finalized and

implemented a longside each other.

Hello Ivan, Wendy and Jean, Thank you for undertaking this exceptional assess­ment of the Chinatown Plan. Your work is of major importance as documentation of the primary issues facing the DTES. The concerns you describe so clearly are key to the solutions that the ongoing, city-sanctioned Local Area Planning Process is searching for. The City must deal with these issues objectively, carefully and openly if it is to avoid the potential social disasters of the con­tinuing gentrification process that is occurring now. This highly relevant report deserves the attention of everyone who is concerned about the long term future quality of life in Vancouver. Thank you for your continuing efforts to make thi s city a better place.

Ray [Ray Spaxman, former director of City Planning]

[Editor's note: These 3 people have been giving their full time (2 at half a salary, 1 volunteering) to better lives for us on the margins for several years. Ray is so impressed with their work - analysis, organising, clarity of purpose -that his praise has warmed us all. When he was Vancouver's director of planning, Ray criticised Gordon Campbell's Vancouver: Executive City utopia as classist & stupid and was summarily fired.]

Hbmeless in London & Homeless in Vancouver

Saw my first homeless person in London in '76; at least 80 years old standing in a doorway mid card­board and newspapers. It was late at night.. cool for May. We were returning to our rooms from the pub. The elderly English lady drew herself up and spoke to me. I admit to staring. "My," she exclaimed, "how rude!" I inadvertently had breached the etiquette code of the street. She was homeless, however she was a

· lady and expected some respect. · Late in the "Tube" I met a young man playing guitar. He had green hair and safety pins for earings. He was doing something illegal. He had no licence. In this way he could make a few pounds t pay for his supper.

Now it is 36 years in the future. Homelessness and/ or poverty has grown like a fungus or the giant rag­weed. The church[ es[ and society used to look after marginalised persons. Government has taken on the job in 201 2. Is the government doing a better job? Do we care? You tell me.

Wilhelmina M Miles

HOMELESS SHELTER BILL OF RIGHTS

You have the right to feel safe You have the right to be treated humanely with respect at all times You have the right to be free from discrimination in all forms You have the right to understand the rules under which you live You have the right to have written policies and procedures clearly communicated to you You have the right to due process You have the right to help from an outside advocate of your choice You have the right not to be discharged without a viable option presented to you You have the right to privacy and personal property You have the right to have your medical needs and doctor's orders respected

The Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council Committee on Homeless Shelters aims to promote resident input into their gov· ernance, defend due process and dignity for shelter residents, and aims to promote/defend the homeless shelter "Bill of Rights."

An Outdoor-Visotai-Arts-1\-"ldrket In the N<.~J>~! r Gre•mway

Shyla S -$75, Sonia M -$25, Elsie MeG -$100, JuJie B -$100, Sue K -$40, Terry H -$250, Van-Mt.P NDP­$200, LV -$10, Jenny K -$100 Richard M -$100, Eleanor B -$60, Marsha D -$50 to the memory of Sandy Cameron, Glenn B -$100, Margaret D -$40, Sheila B -$200, Harold & Sharron D -$100, Leslie S -$175, BobS -$200, Michael C -$50, Michelle C -$20, Lazara Press -$100 to the memory of Ginger Richards, Solder & Sons Cafe -$50, Bake Sale at BC Cancer -$405, Lou-$5, Naomi N -$20, Peak House -$40, Learning Centre Tutors -$25, DE Literacy Roundtable -$1000, CUPE Local15 -$1000, Wilhelmina M ­$65, Patrick F -$90, Phoenix W -$60, Robert MeG -$65, Alexandra L -$60, Maxine T -$60, Jill I -$20, Brenda B -$8, Joan T -$50, Colin C -$50, Connie H -$100, Elizabeth M -$200, William C -$100, Alas tair C -$100, Valerie B -$100, Mel L -$200, Essop M -$200, Harley R -$200, Penny & Tim -$200, Joanne F­$25, George H -$50, Paul 0 -$50, David S -$150, Barry M -$100, Neil N -$100, Jean B -$200, Donald F -$200, Gabor M -$200, Tri-City Capital -$200, Susan S -$100, EveS -$ 100, Bruce MacD -$100, Phyllis T­$200, Valeris R -$100, Christopher R -$850, Kevin W -$100, Danielle A -$100, Nancy H -$50, Shirly R­$50, Nathan E -$200, Margot B -$100, Gail C -$20, Kyla R -$10, Stephen A -$ 100, C.S -$5, Jasmine G -$50, Marion S -$200, Janet W -$150, Bonnie McD -$1!0, Ethel W -$ 100, Libby D -$ 175, Ann T -$100, Jaqueline L -$75, Wendy P -$SO~ Sheiia K--$25,-Y~kiko T -$30, Dave M-$20, Laila B-$40, Rob D -$25, Anon -$161. Advertising revenues: JK -$460, HiS -$200.

2012 Fundraising (January through July): Total revenue realised = $11,999

International Remembrance Day- 21 July 2012

PROHIBITION IS DEADLY! Every year people who use drugs around the world

take this day as an opportunity to remember their friends, and members of our community who've died needlessly of overdose, of complications aris ing from Hepatitis-C, from HIV/AIDS, from contaminated heroin, and from the depredations of prohibition. This is our day to remember those who have fallen victim to the war that is being waged, systematically, glob­ally and deliberately upon our community. This year too, we remember especially those who've

died in those detention centers that masquerade as 'rehabilitation' facilities around the world; most nota­bly the 27 who died in the February fire at the 'Christ is Love' center and the 14 who died in a fire in a simi­lar facility, the 'Sacred Heart of Jesus' center in May, both in Lima, Peru - held against their will, behind bars, and often chained.

The roll call of egregious, and often lethal, practice that claims the mantle of drug treatment, or that is carried out in the name of drug control, is too long and varied to document here. We know, and the much welcomed report on the 'War on Drugs & HIV/AIDS' from the Global Commission on Drug Policy, makes it abundantly clear, that there is a direct correlation between repressive legal environments in which drug use is criminalised and:

- Higher rates of stigma and discrimination against people who use illegal drugs -A lack of access to necessary services including

NSPand OST - Inordinately high rates of HlV amongst injecting

drug users We also know that such repressive legal environ­

ments make it less likely that those who witness over-

doses will call the relevant emergency services, and still less likely that those services will be carrying Naloxone. In this light, we welcome the resolution passed at this year's Commission on Narcotic Drugs that called upon governments to scale up measures to prevent overdose, including critically, a call for Nal­oxone to be made easily avai lable.

We remember on this day that overdoses are easily reversible and call for Naloxone to be made readily available and universally distributed along with other injecting equipment at NSPs.

We remember too on this day that in those countries with the most repressive legal environments for peo­ple who use drugs, most notably Russia, the U.S.A., Thailand and China, which have ignored scientific evidence and resisted, or actively refused to imple­ment evidence-based HIV prevention measures for injecting drug users, that the epidemic is claiming lives daily, and runs rampant with prevalence rates of up to 85%, whilst in countries that have relaxed the level of repression and fully implemented harm re­duction measures either early or comprehensively, and preferably both, have managed to keep HIV amongst people who inject drugs at low levels. We know that in Russia, in which methadone is illegal, and whtre NSP is only provided by a few brave NGOs at a level far below that which is needed, 1 in 100 adults are now infected with HIV. In a highly retrograde step, the American Congress recently rein-stated the long-standing ban on the use of federal funds for NSPs. On this International Remembrance Day INPUD calls for: - A recognition that the war on drug users legitimized by global prohibition has failed by every metric and only resulted in harm, needless death, corruption, and human rights abuses on a systematic scale -A transparent review of alternatives to punitive pro­hibition -The decriminalization of drug use -The immediate universal provision of Naloxone - An unequivocal demand from the UN that member states implement the UNAIDS/UNODCIWHO tech­nical guidelines and provide NSP and OST - A recognition that repressive drug control policies are the major driver of the HIV epidemic amongst injecting drug users & immediate action to redress it.

Transmitted by Ann Livingston

Dear CrYStal, I start to come down you no longer have me, I love you, All I see is pain around, by my crying eyes,

I want you now I find myself I'm breaking away but you have me no longer, crashing down, taking off these chains I need you. the pain I felt before but so many times I want you. is doubled now I failed my clean time .. but you have me no longer, I hurt myself this time is forever, Here's a few things by letting you in, so I must say goodbye I need to say: Crystal I love you it's now life and death You've been my best friend but this has to end so I'm not going to die until this day I'm tired of the misery, it's a new life you hurt my family this is what you say: starting with dry eyes you brought me down 'I kill your fear. my family is back you made my head hit the ground, I numb your pain it's time to be free you killed my values Inhale and it will from the pain you caused me you forced me to drown all go away." this time it's real you promise happiness now that J realize Goodbye Methamphetamine but that' s not what I found, you're all full of lies Stephanie Sotlar

----------~~·~--~----------------~ BeSt Friends I'll welcome myself into your life. Maybe you'll need

me for your aches and pains or maybe you met me at a party? I promise I'll make you fee l like the royalty you are. You'll begin to worship and praise me, you'll introduce me to your friends and we'll all be best friends. Your family won't like me; in fact they will hate me .. you won't care. You'll scream and argue and call it quits but I'm not worried because I know you' ll come running back to me. I plan on ruining your life, but you don't know that yet. Now we're best friends. You've been saying how you

want nothing to do with me ... unfortunately that isn't an option. I've now made you sell your clothes, your car, your life and even your body. I don't want to treat you nice anymore. Your body knows if you leave me you are going to suffer the worst pain you could ever imagine. Now you're thjn.king, "Maybe we shouldn't have become friends?" It's too late now because you are stuck with me ... Your friends and family want nothing to do with you because you lied, cheated and stole from them. It's just me, you and the streets.

Today you broke the chains. You're free from me now. You cut your losses and found it in you to run ... I called your name but you kept running. Looks like I have to move on and find a new best friend now .. Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Oxycontin

Just remember where you came from, because you might have to go back one day.

Jaymee Belton

l An or.iginal by Tryston Addiction causes lots of friction My life has turned into fiction Left feeling lost and hopeless eventually I became dopeless I committed a crime I might be serving time I found the room it's time to bloom I'm leaving the dope

In return I receive hope This life can be turned around I need to put my foot down even though I don't wanna I have to say bye to marijuana

COCQl~n~e~------------------------­farewell, so long, goodbye you tried, too bad for you that doesn't work for me, today or ever, hmmmm raise your standards I call a spade a spade - ur fading fast as a fading bullet whistle while you work you're a FUCKENJERK

Nora Kay

Home Home again from the mild mild West Koots nary a toot nary a substitute high and dry only soakin' wet in the Queen City water's all you get DOCTAsaid not one pill or he'll kill my methadone Rx bloody hex no mercy for such wrecks as lonely old me so i buggered off back to the city where i can be free

At Carnegie we find food

without Dr Demento punishing me zero tolerance on all manner of high i just can't get by once in a while gettin' high but Dr Demento said it's bye-bye if i even try to lie or he catches me trying to get by what a freakin lie his own daddy was a Dr type yet he's a hype So Sonny Boy wants to whip all the hypes that are still hip

Mikey Van Vliet never tasted the street education incomplete yet he cuts off anyone so rash to get wasted at some bash maybe get high some kinda way You're cut off the Dr. Say So out from under the jackboot of this prick before the Dr. makes me sick I dunno why but I just hadda fly so good-bye good-bye

AI

That is very, very good \ In fact we really should Spread the word, 'knock on wood'.

Cost-effective computer and IT support for non-profits

It sure beats free food lines

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And the beers and the wines And all other alcohol Remember protocol is found in our Carnegie staff And here we all have a laugh When we pitch in & work together ln all kinds of weather We have a reason to live and others who can make us happy in the process.

With access to others who have made a success of their individual lives, they have even found wives! Remember one who9 strives will always reach his goal and when you find the one who makes you not half but whole, you redeem your very soul. Here's to everyone in town, let's wear a smile, not a frown, and forget about renown or a white wedding

gown. Love, Joyce Morgan

PS: However, if your love prevails, maybe you will wear a wedding gown nonetheless!

LOST

Lost in the city I'm out of my mind Isn't it a pity Love is so hard to find Lost in the world Slowing down time Look over my shoulder To find the next crime Lost in my eyes So hard to see A II the dragons Rushing after me Lost in the city Losing my mind Looking for someone Who's so hard to find

Anne Thrax

Don't Be Alone

as I go thru life I find it hard to be "alone"

Komance

It's a matter of concern How us girls often do yearn All we want is a turn But the boys, they do spurn.

Alone means lonely, empty & nothingness Alone is that place We call a void, a shallow fakeness Friends And how our hearts do churn

What really do we earn? Try to be more of a social person Be aggressive in your search friends Do not give up Keep searching & looking To meet like people of your character.

I find that life isn't meant to be for strictly one And the sights can be more enjoyed with an agreeing companion; and finding another person to contemplate life with is a good philosophy!

You'll be happier with other people The sharing and give & take of conversation teaches that we can see the sameness & diversity of life in others. Also you can laugh off

the bad times together Enjoying talk is also the highlight of life!

Jennifer Talia Stelmacker

l!/'aO 6eM!J 81U11me1"8af«Mw Nlpllt Music booming from the Crab Shell

Let us not forget our dear ones That have passed Remember the good & bad Always treasure your friendships They may have passed

But, always remember They are no longer suffering We are the ones who are!

So my dear friends Let them go to their resting place Don't let them suffer

All my relations, Bonnie E Stevens

I Have to Believe

Not much, in the end But as each day we do spend We find that if we lend A helping hand to another We can find a kind brother Who will really be a friend. You can be to him a sister And help him with his blister That friend is the only one Who will bend like a willow, not an oak, . And no longer is life a joke; You don't even need a toke­You have a friend for life You're even called his wife.

Joyce Morgan.

Have to believe the extravagant words love you -lovely - make you a star - take you to the star Maker, mayb~ state occasions Nasty thoughts, worse words, like Welcome to everybody's Nightdream

I ponder these conflicted utterances Do not delve too deeply I am not a stranger to misfortune This planet's purpose

Smell of hot dogs, stink of barbeque starter in my nostrils Pretty women on the grass texting & talking about boys

My own purpose A grand scheme veiled Genetic privilege, time and Place between now and then My father's homemade brew- apples and raisins EJSploding in the basement heat

And shoes, Too loud I move to the memorial rock and fix a filmy blue scarf

To a rose bush It flutters in the breeze. No rest here no peace For the lost women or for me. Except for the gentle sloshing of the waves against

the pebbles And the sand Tide's coming in one more time.

Wilhelmina Miles

Our noses black with furnace soot Yung street Halifas gray Warden of the North

Canada British North America the Mic Mac loyal Shubenacadie, Stadacona, Land of Evangeline And Lunenburg, the Bluenose And so I try to understand using my primitive science Still I notice the patterns over and over And Mystery and magic draw me away from the ordinary, from realty back to the past and maybe forward

IGNITE The convoy of Terrorist countries begin to filter on in with their hatred, ill will and plans so evil you just know they are true. take a tip from a harmless country land-locked to what a lot believe to be out Earth's police, yes, the United Prisons of Red, White & Blue. Now I am just stating a fact they are Number One on the Hit Parade to be attacked let us hope that our Red & White just stays attached to our flag, yet there are no ground rules other than be polite go on out and inspire and ignite imaginations but remember the bodybags, it's every 4 years that th world's best com­pete with their competitive peers but there are sick minds at work that want to turn dreams into streams of blood and tears, of course the masterminds will be half-a-world away anywhere but here as they com­municate their demands how brave cowards are these days; for those who don't win it's not the end of the world You've already accomplished something most will never even begin .. now show your true colours (don't hide them until they've begun to decay), now back to reality others run marathons that turn out to be full of roadside bombs very scary business this living can become annoying but that is what living is, uni­maged horrors com e pouring out of football field­sized screens talk about twisted selfish human beings but then again what is life without risk? like those strings of roadside bombs waiting to be turned on they just wait as long as it takes ' til they are gently touched ... if your life means very little your worth­lessness is in demand Selfishists love using people who stick their heads under the sand they call them­selves Saviours but they are terrorists and the more they kill the bigger they feel you are their crutch. Protestors die but Protests live on tear down the fences to their continent-sized waxed lawns there will always be human scum that need a good slap across their vacuum-sealed face, be it promises or threats selfishists will always be hedging their bets on who will come out on top of the human race - like being told you're overqualified for welfare I'm only 3 Y2 grades plus college from being there only in my dreams woulod I have a degree, my resume like time will have its hands full of empty praise this is not a crime yet terrorists strongly disagree; expectations of Gold, Silver or Bronze mean nothing if you don't leave with the same suit of skin you had on ...... . I wouldn't be cutting no ribbons Big Ben could come crashing to the ground, that's the legacy pure evil

wants remembered- sorry but go fuck yo9urselves ­they'll need dental records to figure exactly who lost . face as well as their temper, LONDON 20 12 could be the day we avoided the beginning of another World War and in some insignificant way Canada could shake off the horrors of2010 but probably not I'm just making a calculated guess other countries would be dancing in the street to be stuck with our Mess I guess the trick is to make the most oof what you have and haven't got.

By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY "Dig within, within is the wellspring of good, and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig."

Marcus Aurelius PS: If Land Destruction were an event or Synchro­nized Evictions 'cause you have tripled the rent Marc Williams (Owner & Breeder of dog-sized rats a~ Pan­tages) would be winning Mold & Slivers and Black­ened Lawns his expulsion from our human race would be vastly welcomed Stop tearing so much down or don't we get a say?!!

Missing out ... or look who's artsy now ...

I don't know how many times or how many hours I waited by the swamp While my ten year-old stood chest-deep looking for frogs and God only knows what else.

When he was an older teen I took him to a one-man play

Hello people,

Today I'm an Elder (80). Came to Van - 1938 had to pass to go to Residential School on Vancouver Island.

It was pretty fascinating for us Indian children. We always managed to stay in China Town, where people were people and welcomed us. My home town has many origins of nationalities­

menanites- French- Chinese- Greeks ... We all sur­vived and got along. Those days everyone helped. Your neighbour nowa­

days is different Chris

PS: I don't bother with phones- like past tense- we always went to source or location of so-called Dr's, Schools or wherever!! People are lazy now!

on C.S . Louis He kept falling asleep 'What did you think?' I asked on the way home, 'It was too bombastic for me and uh, you're so artsy.' I bet not one of you has been in a swamp in your lives

My swamp became a serious actor & bird photographer.. look who's artsy now.

Just last week he built a huge scaffold in the woods so he could stand on a board on top and photograph barred owls and their young 'til midnight nite after night They dive-bombed his head drawing blood so he wore a hardhat and safety glasses after that

always on the hunt for nests tlie little birds don't bother with him mostly -Once in awhile one of them will tell him off-

but that 's about it

Dorette

SUMMERBBQ Community Celebration Come and enjoy food, drinks, live entertainment,

arts and crafts, and everyone's company at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre's third

annual end-of-summer BBQ.

12-3pm, August 22 Crab Park

Women and Children only Please

THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION

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

WANTED Artwork for the Camegie.newsletter

• Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry. • Cover art - Max size: 17cm(6 %")wide x 15cm(6')high. • Subject matter pertaining to issues relevant to the

Downtown Eastside, but all work considered. • Black & White printing only. • Size restrictions apply (i.e. if your piece is too large, • it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit). • All artists will receive credit for their work. • Originals will be returned to the artist after being

copied for publication. • Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets

Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.

carnnews@shaw.ca email www.carnnews.org website

http:/ I chodarr. org/taxonom y/term/3 Index

FREE LEGAL ADVICE Law Students Legal Advice Program (LSLAP) All cases checked with lawyers; confidential Monday & Thursday 10am-4pm; Tues 2-8pm Carnegie's 3•d floor. Call UBC for info: 604-822-5791

GET CLEAN! . St]ower up at the Lord's Rain

327 Carra II Street (just off Pigeon Park)

HOT SHOWERS (towels, soap, shampoo, the works! & coffee)

Monday 7-lOam; LADIES Only!; Tues to Fri 7-8:30am; Saturday 7-lOam

lei on parle Francois; Hob/amos Espana/

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Meade

Next l~sue: SUBMI SSI_ON DEADLINE MONDAY, AUGUST 13TH

Jenny Wai Ching Kwan MLA Working for You

1070- 1641 Commercial Dr, VSL 3Y3 Phone: 604-773-0790

ATTENTION, HOA"RDERS Select your favourite community organisation, and

ask for their WTSH LIST to be emailed to the Carne­gie Newsletter. Then choose a wish or two and fill it­for them! Ask for someone with a vehicle from their group to please pick up any awkward or heavy items. Offer to bring light ones. Please make sure all items are clean and work well. (Take broken items to Re­gional Recycling on Evans Ave across from Home Depot or at the Salvation Army store, 12th & Cambie) Complete the cycle of treasure hunting by making

someone smile© You' ll feel so great.

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION • AIDS • POVERTY • HOMELESSNESS • VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN • TOTALITARIAN CAPIT AUSM • IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR