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NEWSLETTER 01 Main Str eet, Va ncouver V6A 2T7 (604) 665-2289

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If or when the stick is removed,

SEPTEMBER 1, 2007

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would you trust a crocodile that promises to keep its mouth open?

Echoes Blue mountain ranges envelop my mind Warm breezes blow Thru the valley on the hottest day

Air stands still I can't even breathe

Hear the leaves rustle In their quiet way And the birds twitter As they tell Echoes of my mind They've seen and heard No longer secret

Sound of waters rush as the muddy Fraser n Thompson Rivers merge Flows thru the earth Continues on their way Swirls with inner rage Echoes of my mind

Echoes of my past Have never been secret Warm breezes leaves and birds hear echoes of my mind Rivers of water Rush thru my soul an effort to control

Betty A. Spinks

• Dear Mr Paul Taylor, I got so many revtews on this LETTER TO MAMA, many people in the east side asked me to write more about true feelings of things of this sort, many asked me to write in every news letter, and many said they look forward to the news letter, they can't-wait for the next issue. I asked them to writ~ the letters to you, to let you know how they fed, but many in the east side said they can't express it in letters or dont know how to write,

Sincerely

Sylvia Sharon Isaac

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

Minister, Members of the Session and Elders Stamford United Church Niagara Falls, Ontario

Dear Minister, Session, Elders: I am writing to cancel my membership to Stam­

ford United Church and to withdraw from the United Church of Canada.

I have just seen the movie "Unrepentant" and researched the material on the website www.hiddenfromhistory.org I have spoken to local natives and survivors of the residential school system in BC. I won't detail the crimes and abuses therein, but I am sure you are well aware of the history of this situation. It is for that reason, therefore, that I feel I cannot be associated with a church that would be complicit in this affair.

In my spiritual journey, I still support and try to live by what Christ taught, but I ha·;e also found more light in Buddhism, Feminist spirituality, and Wicca. Having said that, I have always been proud to be a member of the United Church, due to its liberal orientation. Unfortunately, I no longer feel proud of the church.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the 21st century; it is time to take responsibility for the past, to make atonement and then move on. If not, what does the church stand for? Basically, it is time to "walk the talk". I urge you. Please.

Sincerely, and in faith, Marilyn Sundeen

cc Moderator and General Council, United Church of Canada

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Film review: Unrepentant- Kevin Annett & Canada's Genocide

By Brent E rickson Briarpatch Magazine

"Their reason for killing and destroying such an infinite number of souls is that the Christians have an ultimate aim, which is to acquire gold, and to swell themselves with riches in a very brief time and thus rise to a high estate, disproportionate to their merits. It should be kept in mind that their insatiable greed and ambition, the greatest ever seen in the world, is the cause of their v illainies." - Bishop Bartolome de Las Casas, from Brief Account Of The Devastation Of The Indies, 1542.

When Kevin Annett accepted the position of Minister at St. Andrews United Church in Port Alberni, BC, in 1992, he was a little naive. After leading his first service he asked a colleague why no First Nations people attended the church, con­sidering that over 1/3 of the city's population was First Nations. Unsatisfied with the answer he received, Annett began a journey of discovery that would get him fired and physically assaulted, and destroy his reputation and marriage, but would produce a film that is of monumental importance to our country's efforts to come to terms with its own history. Unrepentant: Kevin Annett and Canada's Genocide

is a I 06-minute documentary that chronicles the deliberate genocide of Canada's Indigenous people, from early colonization and the first use of biological warfare, to church-run residential schools, to the ongoing theft of resource-rich Native land. Solid historical information and first­hand testimonies of residential school survivors are interwoven with Annett's own story to create a powerful and educational film. Unrepentant is based on Kevin Annett's self­

published 2001 book Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust, an important and moving work in its own right. The Unrepentant project was a completely self-funded, grassroots effort, and the low budget is evident in the production quality of the film.

-Un like other recent political doct~mentaries, :S

Unrepentant is not witty, cute, or campy. It has no ironic music, clever editing or technical wizardry, just a straightforward, stark, and often disturbing account of a people who survived over four hund­red years of ethnic cleansing, and of a man will-ing to sacrifice everything to help tell their story.

It may be difficult for many non-Native Canadians to come to grips with the information

_presented in Unrepentant, as it has been long sup­pressed and denied. Beatings, electric shocks, forced steri lization, medical experimentation, starvation, rape, and the deaths and disappearance of more than 50,000 First Nations children in residential schools-Annett's film exposes the depth of Canada's savagery towards Aboriginal people.

Unrepentant draws on personal t~stimony and eyewitness accounts to bring this r.istory to life, whi le drawing upon Annett' s own experiences to demonstrate the systematic denial of the historic and ongoing violation of Aboriginal people.

"I witnessed the murder of Maisie Shaw," testified Harriet Nahanee, Elder of the Pacheedaht Nation (1935-2007). In December 1946, Alfred Caldwell, then Principal of the Alberni Resident­a! School, k icked fourteen-year-old Maisie Shaw down a flight of stairs to her death. Annett report­ed the Maisie Shaw murder the day he learned about it, in December 1995, but encountered a familiar resistance when requesting an investiga­tion. "They had the same response to any of the deaths I reported, year after year. Complete refusal," he says. But Kevin Annett wasn't fired for helping to ex­pose the murders of First Nations ryeople. Instead, it was his exposure of the colonial lust for land and resources, which continues to ciefine our society's relationship to its Aboriginal people, which provoked such severe censure. As Annett states, "The Achilles heel here is the issue of the land."

"In the course of my work with residential school survivors whi le I was still a Minister in Port Alberni," he explains, "I stumbled over the fact that the church had engaged in the theft and speculation of Aboriginal land in Ahousat, B.C., in order to profit its corporate benefactor, the logging company MacMillan-B loedel." In

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October 1994, Annett wrote a letter to church officials expressing concern about the issue of stolen Native land.

"A week later," he says, "Presbytery officials began meeting secretly with my church board to arrange my removal as Minister at St. Andrew's."

"Unrepentant is many things, but for me it is a mirror, held up to my own Euro-Canadian culture and people," he states. For Annett, our antipathy towards the original people of this land represents a deep and abiding disrespect of life itself.

"I am counseling and speaking to the dying in this film: to the members of a collapsing culture whose ways are causing their own planetary self­destruction in the wake of their extermination of millions of Indigenous people."

With the film recently garnering a Best Director Award at the 2006 New York Independent Film and Video Festival, and winning the award for Best International Documentary at the 2006 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, Annett's efforts are finally being recognized.

Go to www.hidden{romhistory.org, to order Unrepentant. View it online at video.google.ca.

To start your subscription to Briarpatch or order this issue immediately, call (306) 525-2949 or, toll-free, 1-866-431-5777, email us, or subscribe online. Your support keeps us publishing!

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Different Insects My ex-pardner, husband, significant

whatever, is an Ant it seems Truly he appears to be characteristically so Forever stocking up on Campbell's soups Brunswick Sardines and corned beef Toilet paper too. Prepared for Armageddon or the Apocalypse

a family trait Bro' in Alberta has 'nuff stuff

to outlast fire and flood Come to think of it My family is pretty much the same.

Along comes Grasshopper moi Depending on the Grace of God

or the kindness of strangers And ah do mean "Strange" baby I' ve had rides back in my hitchhikin' days I swear the driver was from "somewhere else" you ken my meaning?

Go in' back to the Grace of God I don't necessarily swallow the whole story Atheists tend to be educated

(if that means anything) And perhaps all those 'Do nots'

tend to set one up for failure The only occupation 'cept talkin'

that I excel at Oops! I used a preposition to end a sentence

Failure again! The questions are obvious: "Does anyone really give a shit?" The answers many, various and confusing.

He - God that is - maybe got bored with his new game

Wandered off to a nice forest glade on a sunny day and fell asleep!

Nature seems to be filling in the gap lately But She' s new to people shit.

Transition Wilhelmina

~e now have economic killing fields .

Dear Sir: (Letter to the Editor- Vancouver Sun] Dianne Rinehart's article ("Just say 'No' to

panhandling for the benefit of everyone") is not "the story of one panhandler" who approached her, as she states. It is, in fact, a story about Dianne Rinehart's feelings about panhandlers. If we want to get to the root of the problem it would be better to have stories about panhandlers and the situations they face: So many barriers to getting on welfare that they just give up; even if they do get on welfare, the rates aren't high enough to live a safe and healthy life; if they try working part time at a real job, every cent of their earnings are deducted from welfare.

People panhandle because it is the most legal way they can see of meeting their basic survival needs. Before we say no to panhandlers we should demand that the government says 'yes' to meeting basic needs of people who, for the most part, are sick and unemployable.

LeHer

Jean Swanson Carnegie Community Action Project

(Vancouver Sun, 8/27 I

With a provincial surplus of $4. !:billion and a federal surplus of $9.2 billion, why can we not live up to our international promises to meet our Olympics-related social housing goals?

Building 800 units of social housing each year would not require a radical government expenditure. In fact, it is 1 ,200 units less than what we built prior to 1993, when we had far fewer homeless people. Back then, we interspersed social housing among market housing and created some of the hest neighbourhoods in the world.

It's up to Vancouverites of privilege and conscience to convince all levels of government that we do not want to live in a citv of two

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solitudes. Affordable housing for a~l is not only a possibility; it is a necessity if we want to be a caring and civil society.

Laura Stannard Citywide Housing Coalition (Vancouver)

Editor I was at the entrance of the PNE yesterday when

Bruce (the handicapped gentleman who has no feet or fingers from the Portland) was told by security he had to move from the entrance of the PNE. At the time, there was hardly any traffic. Up to nine goons arrived to insist that he " move on". I was there screaming at Bruce not to move as where he was was public space but the security told us that the PNE leased the sidewalk from the City each year. This I am sure is .99% not true.

I am tired of seeing security people, by intimida­tion, force people to move on when it is clearly against our civil rights. I refused to move as I was collecting signatures for STORYEUM as a SHELTER and told them to phone the police. The police came (they did not talk to me) but after that they left me alone.

It really upsets me when DTES residents do not stand up for thei r rights. But, I was scared. Five of the goons were huge and they referred to me as a little old lady. Bruce was attempting to play a guitar and told

me that he wanted the money to go visit his . : : mother this fall. That is another one of my proj­

ects: the sidewalks should be used for commerce be it panhandling, husking or selling home-made articles.

Audrey Laferriere

Sickening poverty is here Letter Published: Friday, August 24, 2007

In response to your editorial on "poverty tourism," British Columbians don't need to travel to South Africa to see "sickening" poverty.

All they need to do is tour Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, within the city that the magazine Economist has rated as the world's most "liveable" for the fifth year in a row. Then they can ask themselves why our govern­

ments don't increase income assistance rates and minimum wages so that these are at least at the poverty line instead of far below it. Maybe then they will take action to "ameliorate" these condi­tions in the world's most "liveable" city.

Rolf Auer, Vancouver ©The Vancouver Province 2007

The 2007 Thakore Visiting Scholar Award

Sponsored by Simon Fraser University for the Humanities on behalf of the Thakore Charitable Foundation and the India Club, this has been awarded to Dr. James ChiMing Pau and will be given at a ceremony to be held on October 2. '07

Dr. Pau is a retired Heal th Care professional in Nursing, Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCN). No stranger to the Downtown Eastside, Dr. Pau lives what he practices- he works with the community and the neighbours with whom he lives, often free of ~harge.

In treating a client Dr. Pau believ~s in the Buddhist ethics of Intention, Purpose, Non-rushed Approach; responding to the client in a holistic sense, not merely addressing his or her symptoms. Unlike most health care providers, Dr. Pau holds that spending quality time (45 minutes - 1 hr) with the client initially will save a great deal of time in the long run and that this non-rushed approach ass ists greatly in reaching an accurate diagnosis.

Furthermore, rapport is established between doctor and patient which, in turn, fosters trust. It is often difficult in the Health Care community

for practitioners and clients to be able to establish trust, due to previous abuse issues endured by the client and particularly if the client is female.

Dr. Pau has resided in the DTES for many years and deeply ascribes to the Buddhist ethic of living simply, humbly and providing ser tices free of charge. This aspect of service is vc.:ry important to him. Dr. Pau is also involved in r..umerous volunteer activities which help the disadvantaged, his neighbours. This includes persons living with addiction issues (chemical or otherwise) and persons living with life-threatening health condi-

tions such as HIV I AIDS, Hep C and mental maladies. He is especially involved with both Vancouver

General and St. Paul's Hospitals as he sits on their Advisory Committees in association with the Downtown Eastside Intravenous Drug Users Consumer Board. Dr. Pau also sits on the Advis­ory Committee with the City of Vancouver that deals with Access & Inclusiveness for the past 7 years.

Dr. Pau is "James" at the Carnegie Community Centre, where his membership in its non-profit Association has meant much over the years. He has been an active member on Board of Directors ~s the sitti~g representative of the Seniors, report­Ing on thetr concerns, plans and ongoing projects. Dr. Pau respects and admires his neighbours and

learns from them just as much as he is able to teach them. He hopes that his behav.iour as an active citizen living simply, living purely and living well is a model to which all who come in c?ntact with him and his philosophy can aspire. Stmply put, when we are in a position to do good to affect positive change, then we should. It takes' a great deal of courage to be kind and gentle especially when the streets of the Down tow~ Eastside can get so mean. I think that Dr. Pau exemplifies the best that we can be.

A former patient of Dr. Pau' s

VDLC Labour Cabaret Friday, Sept 28-7:30 PM

Rhizome Cafe, 317 E. Broadway.

We're interested in music, poetry, drama or any other performance art form based on the experie­nce of working people.

It may be a labour tune you know and like. It may be a song or skit or dance you made up on a picket line. It may be something you always wished you could say to the boss (but remember this is a family show)! It may even be a reminis~ cence you have of some person or si tuation related to your work.

If it's art related to the themes o[work and/or •

struggle, we want you to come and share it.

Contact Earle Peach at 604 874 1256 or earlepeach@yahoo.ca for more details.

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All Our Sisters: an overview

All Our Sisters: Stories of Homeless Women in Canada is a 2007 book by Susan Scott.

Susan Scott gave a reading from the book at Rhizome Cafe on August 8. The event was adeptly moderated by Penny Goldsmith, publisher and PovNet organizer. It was attended by about 40 people.

Ms. Scott talked a bit about the book and the writing of it, read an excerpt from the introduction, and then read from one of the women's stories, which make up 90 per cent of the book. After the reading, several women in the audience recounted firsthand experiences with being homeless, finding social housing, etc.

Just to diverge for a moment, one of the women said that she was having a lot of trouble finding social housing. Then someone told her to lie and say that she was in an abusive relationship. She got housing very quickly after that.

That's about the gist of the situation for homeless women in Canada. They are forced to be untrue to themselves and to others, and then perhaps, somehow, find help as a result.

The 60 or so stories in the book are heartrend­ing. Women are the one of the most vulnerable segments of the homeless, yet there is little being done to alleviate the situation, which, most often, is not their fau lts.

Very often, the women suffer from sexual or physical abuse in childhood, or as adults. They often are the products of broken families, and go to foster homes, which often have problems. They develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result, which is rarely recognized and therefore not taken into account when considering their circumstances, and certainly rarely treated.

I just read an article that states that homeless­ness causes drug abuse (not the other way around). Reading these stories seems to bear that out. The women are often caught in a vicious circle, where, for example, their children are apprehended by social services, and as a result,

•7 they lose their social housing, then can't get their· children back because they have no housing.

Women who are homeless and have an addic­tion are forced to seek help in various locations, instead of being able to find the help all in one place. The red tape is sometimes so overwhelming that the women give up seeking any help at all, and go back to the streets.

Often undereducated, trying to support children, and maybe feeding an addiction, there is little such women can do except be sex trade workers to finance themselves (because without a fixed address, there is no income assistance available).

Aboriginal women have it even worse. In addition to everything else, there is the systemic racism, the residential schools witn their culture stultifying, abuse ridden ways, and the numerous foster homes, almost as bad, for both themselves and their children.

Homeless women with a d ifferent sexual orient­ation find it even more difficult than ordinary ones to stay in shelters because of the beatings from other residents and the Jack of understanding from the staff (this in addition to the common problem of abuse of women at shelters. I also need to mention inadequate income assistance and minimum wages, or lack of affordable housing and social housing, iack of enough childcare spaces, and the difficulties of dealing with an often punitive and intractable social bureaucracy.

I'll just close with a quote from the conclusion: " ... [O]ne of the points of Dickens' romanticized portrayal [in A Christmas Carol] was that the Cratchits' value system was far st.. peri or to Scrooge's. Today, though, it's a different matter. Instead of glamourizing the poor, we have come to demonize them; and, instead of taking assist­ance to them, we expect them to gather it where they may."

I plan to lend this book to a friend, who, after reading it, wil1 in turn lend it to a friend of hers to read. Then I wi ll donate it to the Women 's Centre in the Downtown Eastside (even though it's sign­ed by the author (drat!)). It cost me $27.00. If you can afford it, I highly recommend it. If not, after the strike is over, get the Carnegie Library to lay in some copies so you can read the book.

By Rolf Auer

Inspired by Healing the Wounds (the promise of ecofeminism) edited by Judith Plant.

Bound to Boundaries ..... or not? I Know Myself

Deadly privileges thwart inspirations Socialized compassion short on cleaning up The patriarchal mess Scorning us, not impressed by gentleness and caring

We must value diversity in the planetary dance Corporate invasion violates our boundaries Planting imps of implanted lies and voices

Local communities thrive, grass-roots grow Power from within not power over, Lead our way. Unity in Diversity

We must not change but transform Step along the path while Healing the Wounds Draw life, breath into the Earth Mother the earth and the people

Others among us defend delusions "They " civilize' our minds to obey and destroy spirit Guises of rape of Earth in rape of women

We know what we know Evidence denied Our race to be one Erase emotional detachment and make human creativity our nature Organic It is our power from within Humility is the other side of arrogance

Fear and manipulatior. in ideas of old In science Rights of civility degraded Peace is not war

Sterile mutants from radiation no final solution Holocausts must be negated Like Hitler's self-hate projected Wandering Jews wonder why?

A vast wisdom resounds in the body song For the Earth Love listens A secret knowledge of wholeness A body memory of breath resonates So we can hear each other Reach Our digging sticks

ELDERLY AND DISABLED

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Private profits prophets not Bought, sold, beaten, and used How the west was won Feminization of poverty Wortd view of male Are we so invisible?

Be it the chador veil, covering the face? Mutilated genitals in Egypt and Africa? European burning of millions of wome'l for knowing ourselves .... .... .. We did not succumb to the foot binding of China So they called us witches.

Response-able to heal ourselves with herbs Spi.rit binding today a hollow sound Traditions and cultures respectfully rupture with Hope Inner voice, unbroken wholeness we are SACRED, don't' put asbestos in our tampons and deplete our soils.

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We bleed on mosses for the earth Water the earth with Our blood?

The tresses of trees blesses Nonviolence can move mountains Drums and songs. Move mountians to where, and why? We will defend the mothers' home beloved Listen to our bodies tell us truths - Dignity

Herstory has women as healers, herbs first No pesticides or homicides All medicines derived from plants Science copies microscopically.

HERBERIA a witch was called, one who gathers herbs Burned at the stake, in the crosswalk, nowhere to run

Laboratories that bore holes in children's' skulls, in the name of science, . they give it a name MK-Uitra, mind-Kontrol ... funded by the alphabet agencies .. Wanting to see how we operate inside, theirs is vacant.. .. No feeling, caring, all intuition Banned from the lab Rational mind conquers compassion

The "church" , in HIStory thought women and animals were " lacking in souls" Profit motive - billions Healing herbs or toxic drugs To give grief a quick chemical cure manufactured by man.

The Bear knows the fern roots are her healing agent The wolf knows to chew snakeroot for the snakebite Animals know to seek solitude and relaxation when they are ill Aboriginal peoples' wisdom watch Bears for food and medicine

Dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, or holistic health? We choose ... intuition versus science Wisdom of the living in harmony with nature known by our ancestors Embrace this heritage Integrate not dissect Body, mind, spirit, intuition, wisdom Honour the vital way.

Beth Buchanan

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in Carnegie~ ~o~ ~.73 ~n ~he 2° Suttday o£, .. ,1"' the month- dance . you:r;_ own ,epge,. i11. a · place of your 'own . choo,si~g, :to .':'·. :.r

music of your own choi;e.:~· . . •.• ,,,.: . ~ . . -~':: ~- ·: - '·' :(

Move your edge up a notch and ~ . '.~ . : ~. dance yourself free! · · .. · · · ·: ·

Window in the Darkness

I'm just trying to get by you know I've got my own ups and downs While some are making and breaking promises I'm hardly steady on the ground I'm looking for a one-way ticket On a magic carpet ride Where everyone is for real and sure We're on the way to the other side. Chorus Nothing is better than something That you never get Yesterday promised tomorrow But I ain't seen it yet Promises, promises, promises Yesterday was gone last night Through a window in the darkness Shines tomorrow's light so bright.

While sleeping I'm dreaming on forever When awake I show no surprise When someone' s telling a story About someone else's alibis. We've got billion dollar pictures Of superstars from Mars We've got limo drivers, jet airplar.es And extremely fast sports cars But if you hang around too long on the corner You might get arrested for getting in the way Ofarich man On his way to the convenience store. And the politicians keep saying "Pull up! You know times are tough .. Don't forget to give to charity And, oh yeah, your taxes are going up." Chorus

Freedome

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ON STRIKE FOR FAIRNESS

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Our Righ

I strike, you strike, we < Yeh, just makin' it righ They go their way and , Contract talks are stalle From here, like near, to 'What's the beef?' big­As we hold the fort witl They just don ' t wanna 1

15's rough road is tra\ We got numbers (and tt City Hall ' s team is all a They want harsh cone~ Hard fought gains that ' That courts checked ou We gonna keep ... Not Your public discourse, stale, so old, so staged, Cut your non-conning r you've dropped the bal

391 is solid, reinforce-. . . Librarians respectfully to hammer out the rcin As rubbish I refuse I tn, Food Banks shut; clos Proud to sacrifice to k~ Picketers pound -~he pJ Under the risinfsim ar No pain, no gain. · Where does this· end -" . A fight the elusive rna} When ifs all played m;

Politely reign victoriOt .. The delightful and bit1e

Penny Goldsmith, PovNet (penny@povnet. 604 876 8638 (ph); 604 #300-1140 W Pender S! "Washing one's hands o, powerful and the poweriE powerful, not to be neutr

On Strike

strike ust say in ' it right go ours the passing hours -:ar, gs seem to b I uster Jl we can muster I . ..

ed, tried and true ~sa fact): ew, Jns we ain't gonna give 've collectively earned hat court's adjourned :-away. 1 suits anonymous, so· ·ipts so preposterous :orical drivel! Yeh, 1 your psychobabble

teel- strong throughout earn and shout ;t detai Is of legalese stacks high, community ) needy throngs who are the unions strong. 1ent, hit the bricks, 1ithstand pelting rain-

·il Cities" lowball show :;annot win, because td done, we will 1d seize the moment: 1eet afterglow.

Robyn Livingston

;utive Co-ordinator

7611 (fax) 1couver V6E 4G 1 conflict between the 'Jeans to side with the

--Paulo Freire

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If you don't recognise anyone, you must be the new kid on the block ...

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Is it possible to increase your circulation? In August last year circulation was increased for

the 2nd time in 2006 - mostly because of the 20th Anniversary the 2nd time- to 1,200 copies per issue. Distribution includes Insite, Co-op Radio, Pigeon Park Savings, DERA, DE Women's Centre, Dugout, MEIA Powell/Main, Leamiong Exchange, Listening Post, Pathways, First United Church, Native Health Clinic, Life· Skills Centre ( 410 E. Cordova), Living Room, Powell Street Clinic, Lookout, Evelyne Saller Centre and Robyn Livingstone has a route that. includes SFU, VCC, UBC, Aboriginal Friendsh:p Centre, The Kettle, Magpie Books (Kevin Potvin's store), Jenny Kwan's Constituency Office, DE Mental Health Research and other places that he frequents. Libby Davies Constituency Office gets their copies by mail, as does CEEDS (organic farming cooperative near 1 00-Mile House. It also goes to the Wisconsin Historical Society to be included in their National Library of alternative press/publications.

Increasing circulation more is a matter of budget and volunteer time. Right now it takes at least four and (hopefully) as many as nine people to work together to collate, staple, fold and distribute the current run. The Front Desk staff here in Carnegie have begun a practice of putting no more than 12-15 copies at a time io a pile on the desktop. Several people were corning in and tak­ing the entire pile of 50 or more 3-5 times on the first hour or two of availability, some saying ~'for my friends or building or organisation", some not saying anything, and some to take to other parts of the city to sell ~:m the street. That's why the FREE. Donations accepted. at the top of every front page was changed to FREE. .

All in all, the newsletter will remain at 1200 copies per issue for awhile.

My Hands My worker hands want to build love Universal peace amongst the races of the world.

My painter hands want to paint over The discrimination, the inequality

My peasant hands want to sow, In the earth of injustice some flowers of equality

My miner hands want to root out from the earth Metallic stones, fusing them into an arch of peace

My fisherman hands want to extend the nets Of social solidarity for all workers of the world.

Alejandro Mujica-Olea [Translated by Ariadne Sawyer]

Inadequacies, regrets - I had a Few

I never learned to ride a bike To drive a car, to type a write Now that I am growing old I start to wear my trousers rolled But I still eat Peaches!

Young, I dreamed of castles Knights on steeds A land where might rewarded noble deeds The knights they came and went Proving their ignobility Their fear of responsibility, but not their forgettability -They haunt me still.

Causes I espoused, giving Purpose or Pretense To keep the Boogeyman away Now here am I on this darkening plain Serene, alone, unchained by society

other than mine own. Contemplating Pain and Plato ... Still, wouldn't it be nice to ride a bike?

Wilhelmina Miles [*Much gratitude to M.Arnold, T.S.Eiiot, the Brothers Grimm, Walt Whitmqn et a/.l

Religious leaders take on city hall Permit policy would limit services to poor and homeless Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun

Fourteen worried interfaith leaders spoke out strongly on Friday against what they called Vancouver city hall's unprecedented attempt to define a religious building as solely a place for worshipping God, not a place from which to serve the poor.

The Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders rallied to support Tenth Ave. Alliance Church's longstanding mission to offer meals and a place to sleep to scores of homeless people -- despite the protests of a handful of nearby residents who say they fear poor people bring­ing drugs and crime to the increasingly upscale neigh­bourhood. The diverse religious leaders are deeply concerned

faith communities across the country could be harmed by Vancouver city hall's unusual attempt to make Tenth Avenue Alliance Church, a 1,200-member evangelical congregation at the corner of Ontario and Tenth, take out a "social-service-use" permit so its members can continue to volunteer to support the destitute.

Representatives of many faith communities gathered Friday to comment on the situation of the Tenth Avenue Alliance Church that is facing a City of Vancouver demand to obtain additional permits for its charity work. These included San Chan of the Vancouver Chinese Evangelical Ministries Fellowship, Dave Diewert of Streams of Justice, Pastor Mardi Dolfo-Smith of the Tenth Avenue Alliance Church, and Bill Chu of Chinese Christians in Action. "Historically and theologically, the Christian church has

always taught that it's more than a place to praise God: It is called to serve the poor and the needy and to seek justice for the least among us," said Bill Chu, a member of Grandview Calvary Baptist church who organized the social-action group, Faith Communities Called to Solid­arity with the Poor. Under Chu's leadership, the organization has gained

significant backing from key Chinese evangelical Christian pastors, as well as the leaders of many faiths. "One of the five pillars of Islam is to provide charity. So we're disturbed when the city dictates to us that our

purpose must be restricted to worship only," said Raza Mirani, past-president of the Pakistan Canada Association, speaking on behalf of Muslims. After the evangel ical, mainline Prote>tant, Muslim,

Jewish and Sikh leaders and clergy df)scribed on Friday how each of their faiths teaches that serving the needy is a sacred mandate, they called on Vancouver city councillors to immediately withdraw the city's first attempt to make a religious organization apply for the "social-service-use" permit. Among other things, the permit would require the church to police the poor as they gather and obtain information about their place of residence. "We want to offer dignity to fellow human beings, not

be a source of surveillance, policing and data collec­tion," said David Diewart, a sessional lecturer at Regent College, an evangelical graduate school on the UBC campus. Like other speakers at the rare gathering of multi-faith leaders, Diewart was concerned that Mayor .Sam Sullivan's proposed Civil City program, headed by former Liberal cabinet minister Geoff Plant, will end up being another way to justify harassinr and "criminaliz­ing" Vancouvers poor people prior to ?.01 0. Susan Henry, a program leader in the First Ur.ited Church in the Downtown Eastside, read a statement of support for Tenth Avenue Alliance's program from United Church of Canada moderator David Giuliano. Henry said she feared city hall might soon require First

United Church, which for years has allowed 80 street people a day to sleep in its pews, to also apply for a "social-services-use" permit. Tenth Avenue Alliance Pastor Mardi Dolfo-Smith said

her large congregation offers a drop-in lunch for more than 100 people that's been running for about nine years, a one-night-a-week dinner for another 100 people and an overnight shelter program for 25 people. Taking the protest beyond the specifics ofT enth

Avenue Alliance Church, Rabbi David Mivasair, of Ahavat Olam Synagogue, emphasized that many Christian churches, Sikh gurdwaras, Jewish synago­gues and other places of worship have long had traditions of offering food and lodging to members of their community and others. Are all those religious groups, he asked rhetorically,

now to take out "social-service-use" permits? The multi-ethnic speakers urged the public to sign their petition before the end of August and to seek more information about their campaign on behalf of the poor from the website, WVNV.streamsofjustice.org

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When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee, Scotland, it was believed that she had nothing left of any value.

One nurse took her copy to Ireland. The old lady's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health.

Later, when the nurses were going through her meagre possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

This little old Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this "anonymous" poem winging across the Internet:

Crabby Old Woman

What do you see, nurses? What do you see? What are you thinking When you're looking at me?

A crabby old woman, Not very wise, Uncertain of habit With faraway eyes?

Who dribbles her food And· makes no reply When you say in a loud voice, "I do wish you'd try!"

Who seems not to notice The things that you do, And forever is losing A stocking or shoe?

Who, resisting or not, Lets you do as you will, With bathing and feeding, The long day to fill?

Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you see? Then open your eyes, nurse, You're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am As I sit here so still, As I do at your bidding,

.

Dreaming that soon now A lover she'll meet.

A bride soon at twenty, My heart gives a leap, Remembering the vows That I promised to keep

At twenty-five now I have young of my own Who need me to guide And a secure happy home.

A woman ofthirty, My young now grown fast, Bound to each other With ties that should last.

At forty, my young sons Have grown and are gone, But my man's beside me To see I don't mourn

At fifty once more, Babies play round my knee Again we know children, My loved one and me .

Dark days are upon me, My husband is dead, I I ook at the future, ... I shudder with dread

I'm now an old

•

For my young are all rearing Young of their own And I think of the years And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old woman And nature is cruel; 'Tis jest to make old age Look like a fool.

The body, it crumbles, Grace and vigour depart, There is now a stone Where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass A young girl still dwells, And now and again, My battered heart swells

I remember the joys, I remember the pain, And I'm loving and living Life over again.

I think of the years AI I too few, gone too fast, And accept the stark fact That nothing can last.

So open your eyes people Open and see, Not a crabby old woman; Look closer .. see ME!! As I eat at your will.

I'm a small child often With a father and mother

\ woman And nature

: Brothers and· sisters, Who love one another.

A young girl of sixteen With wings on her feet

t- is cruel.; 'Tis jest to -make old age Look

like a fool .

-Anonymous

Remember this poem when you next meet an old person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!

Submitted by Sue Kane

, ..

Chuck Strahl Minister of Indian Affairs, Ottawa

Dear Mr. Strahl, 17 August, 2007

I'd like to welcome you as the ne·.v federal Mini­ster of Indian Affairs, and in that capacity, I hope that you will respond to the burni;:tg issue of the disappearance of thousands of children in church-run Indian Residential Schools across Canada.

Your predecessor, Mr. Prentice, promised to search for documents and other evidence regard­ing the fate and buried location of these children, but over several months, he never publicly disclo­sed any such evidence. I consider that your office can and must be held accountable to respond to the concerns put to Mr. Prentice by me and many aboriginal families, and to answer the foll­owing question: Will your government undertake the following

course of action? 1. The creation of an all-party National Commis­

sion of Inquiry that would be mandated to docu­ment all of the evidence concerning the deaths and disappearances of children in Indian Residen­tial Schools and their associated hospitals, indu­ing through holding public forums and investiga­tions, to present their findings in a public report, and to recommend judicial action to prosecute those responsible for the deaths of these children. 2. The extending of an invitation to international human rights observers and indigenous organiza­tions, and to indigenous nations across Canada and residential school survivors' groups, to over­see and advise such a Commission of Inquiry. 3. The issuing of subpoenas to the churches responsible for the Indian residential schools - the Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican and United Churchs -ordering them to surrender all evidence in their knowledge or possession related to the deaths of children in their residential schools and associated hospitals, including all evidence regarding the sites of the buried remains of these chi ldren. 4. The exhuming of these burial sites and the undertaking of forensic analysis of t~eir remains under the direction and supervision of aboriginal elders and experts authorized by the families of the deceased children; and the immediate repatria­tion of these remains without conditions to their

respective families and aboriginal nations, at the expense of your government and the aforement­ioned churches. 5. The creation of Public Memorial Sites and Museums at the location of these burial sites and former Indian Residential Schools containing the names of the children who died there, their ages and causes of death, along with artefacts, stories and other evidence of the planned genocide of native people in Canada. 6. The declaration of a National Aboriginal Holocaust Memorial Day as a statutory holiday across Canada, when the evidence of the full story of the residential schools, the accounts of eyewitnesses and the chronology of genocide in Canada is presented to all Canadians.

7. The cooperation of your Department and Government, and the aforementioned all-party Commission of Inquiry, with an International War· Crimes Tribunal that will investigate the full evidence of genocide by church and state in Canada, and with any recommendations by this Tribunal for the prosecution of those persons and organizations responsible for such genocide. I ask you again, will you and your government be willing to undertake such a course of action in order to put substance to your ver~al claim of concern regarding the fate of thousands of children who died in Indian residential schools?

I look forward to your reply, prior to the comm.­encement of further public protest actions by our network,

Sincerely, Rev. Kevin D. Annett, Secretary,

The Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada

Read and Hear the truth of Genocide in Canada, past and present, at www.hiddenfromhistory.org ... and on this radio program: "Hidden from History", every Monday from 1-2 pm (PST) on CFRO 102.7 FM (www.coopradio.org "When the desire for Truth and Virtue becomes the only bias in our mind, only then can we know in ourselves what is right. " Peter Annett, Humanist and dissident, 1769 Gailed and persecuted by the Church of England for his questioning of the Bible and the church)

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DO YOU HAVE A LEGAL PROBLEM?

Come to our FREE CLINIC On Carnegie's 3rd floor

UBC Law Students' Legal Advice Program Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm

Tuesdays also 5pm-9pm

Somewhere, Deep Inside

somewhere along the West Coast cries a city that shouldn't boast for deep inside creeps a ghost which uses a smoke as a host?

it sings for eight blocks long on Hastings where lives are wrong "cr~ck" is its best seductive song many sang it and now they're gone

-souls to haunt are happily ~ought for the weak are easily caught and the poor are certainly bought Then they fall and are left to rot

within time, their dreams a mess sidewalk beds, sales and homeless howling silently, are they in stress their sunken eyes is anyone(s) guess

yet they display a chilling cry as they dance waiting to die but they'd rather play and fly with the devil that made them high

1 and deep inside screams a flame when it's lit, it's difficult to tame then it's greater than anyone's fame for it wins mysteriously at any game

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it is our 'divine love' that prevails within us where it always sails and it heals all sorts of ai Is by striking with its blessing hails

·so perceive every tune and "feel" · for each world of tears is real

and only our love can truly heal within God's eyes without any deal

roger deranger

The Downtown Eastside Residents Association

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

At 12 East Hastin sSt. or call 604-682-0931

To the unnamed member: The letter you wrote about the Board is not

going to be published. The tone and the technique of answering your own questions make for a mis­representative take on how and why the format and structure of the Association's meetings are the way they are. It did not just drop on Carnegie one day and lock everyone into an unfair 'undemocratic' straitjacket of elitist stupidity, but that is exactly what is implied by both the words and actions of a small number of Board members -(easily identified in the current incarnation but for now I'll leave them anonymous as well) and at least one plant in the audience who does his best to antagonise, berate and disrupt members & meetings. That you bought their whole line is sad.

There's been nothing done to single you out. When individual members want to challenge the structure or have feelings ofnot_being heard at the top level, up to 15 people are not going to suspend their business (and extend their voluntary commitment of time to many hours) just to let you rant and question what is simple and obvious to them because they've done their homework and learned about why things are the way they are in the first place.

When I first got involved in the Carnegie, Board meetings lasted for 2-3 DAYS. There was no committee structure, anything anyone wanted to do or get support for or whatever came directly to the Board. At that time the single-vote majority on the Board was held by people ({the same

j

mindset as this current few - "We" run things our way and to hell with the membershtp." They had ruled that the Association and Carnegie had to patronise their businesses -their baked goods in the concession, any volunteers wanting to learn baking would have to 'volunteer' for them etc They touted, economic development but Carnegie was to be just one more place in their growing little empire. Volunteers here could not do stuff for the membership if these people were paying one or two people to do it at a higher cost and lower quality.

Members rallied and fi nally voted this bunch out at a Special General Membership meeting by a vote of 133-1. Now that mindset is back using "democracy" and other words to try to get entrenched once more.

Right now, and after about 2 ye3.rs of wrangling to change that boondoggle, there are up to six committees, each with from 3-15 p~ople who regularly attend. That translates into at least 9 hours of talk to deal with stuff relevant to each. If you go to any one of them, their agenda and work is also not going to be suspended to put you at the top of that agenda and allowed to question stuff that they may not or do not want to waste their time with. You cannot force volunteers to listen to you just because you think you have important stuffto say.

The seniors are now separate with reporting to the Board like everything else, but with their own President, vice and so on. Add another 5 hours of talk to deal with all the stuff they now deal with through their own internal structure. So far that's 14 hours. Now this small group wants to scrap everything, using buzzwords like "entrenched', Dinosaurs" Elitist crap", "UNdemocratic" and so on, with the sole purpose of monopolising :he meeting time and getting people who are either ignorant of the reasons why things function in the current structure or who are willing to believe that any established system must be wrong if people are self-righteous enough to claim it's all wrong because!" they know what's right (meaning them at the top running things) but just waste everyone's volunteer time with their own selfish delusions.

Wake up. PRT

EcoDensity doesn't include affordable housing

Published: Saturday, August 25, 2007 Re We need density -- done right, Aug. 23

As it stands now, affordable housing is not part of the EcoDensity plan. If EcoDensity proceeds in the direction it has been going, all Vancouver will get is more high-priced condominiums. More than 50 per cent of Vancouverites rent. We need to preserve affordable rental housing, especially for low-income renters. Otherwise, we will only see increased gentrification in places like the Down town Eastside in the name of EcoDensity.

ROLFAUER ©The Vancouver Sun 2007

We hope to see you at the Humanities 101 Steering Committee meeting on September 15, 1-3 pm, location to be announced due to the strike. It will be the first meeting of this ar:ademic year, so please come and help welcom~ the new stu­dents.

As well, WE NEED YOUR HELP FINDING STUDENTS for our NEW COURSE, Humanities 100, which is for youth 18-24, living in and around the Downtown Eastside, who have a passion for learning and have experienced barriers to further education.

Starting in October, this free nine week course focuses on Popular Culture as an introduction to

the Humanities. It is much like the other Humanities 101 courses, yet for a younger set. It takes place at UBC one evening a week, on Thursdays, and students are supported with bus and meal tickets, and childcare if needed, as well as school supplies and books. Students will need to do course readings and assignments, and will be most welcome to participate in Steering Com­mittee meetings and to join in all Humanities 101 Public Programmes held at Downtown Eastside and Downtown South locations.

So please send us any passionate learners, 18-24, living in and around the Downtown Eastside, who you feel would enjoy this course. For more infor­mation email Michael Barnholden, Associate Director, at hum101 @interchange.ubc.ca

00\VNTO\VN EAS1~11>E

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1

uncle sam

dear uncle sam i have some questions some things i need to know some comments, some suggestions on reaping what you sow

so tell me. how you can pull the trigger tell me how you drop the bomb tell me just how you figure that what your do' aint wrong

tell me how you think it's different how a I i fe lost here weighs more than a thousand in a place so distant; how it's only levelling the score

tel l me how your cause is true tell me how it's right tell me just how all you do isn't party to the plight

tell me how you sleep at night tell me how you rest wi th hands so bloodied from the fi ght from so many senseless deaths

But instead you say to close my eyes don't ask to see the truth to swal low your propaganda-coated I ies and the rusted burden of proof

but i have to tell you uncle sam your blindfold's stretched too thin and as disillusioned as i am i just won't let you win.

Rebecca McDonald.