HEALTH ALERT! Have you heard about Hepatitis C?

What is Hevatitis C? It is a disease in which the liver becomes inflamed.

What causes it? It is caused by a virus that infectss the liver.

How do I pet He0 C? Like HIV, Hep C is found in the blood, and IV drug users have been catching it at a very high rate This happens by:

Sharing needles, spoons, filters or containers used to mix drugs. This is the most comon way Hep C is spread. Sharing toothbrushes or razors. Tattooing and body piercing where proper sterillizing isn't done. Unprotected sex. Not the most common way to get it, but still possible. Women may pass it on to their baby while pregnant or during birth.

How do I vrevent it? Use your needle once then exchange it. Don't share spoons or filters. Bleach kills Hep C virus. If you're unsure of how to clean a rig, ask. Always use your own toothbrush and razors.

Refreshments - Fun - Talk

CARNEGIE'S WOMEN'S

GROUP meets

every Wednesday I-3pm

3rd Floor Learning Centre

AM., WOMImwEU30MEttt

NEEDED The police discovered a man on September I st.

He was dead. The only ID on the body was a card from the Camegie Reading Room. The Public Trustee contacted our library; Eleanor and Daniela have asked around and no one recognizes the name on the card - OLARVE TORN.

Anyone knowing anything about this person contact either of our librarians. Thank you

I

Che~yl Joyce Vicklund

She was a mother. She had a partner. She was a friend. There were about 30-40 people at the memorial service, with Rev. Bob Smith fiom First United speaking. One brother from the Ford Building did a smudge during Bob's prayers.

We all walk together in this journey. In order to let our sister go we need to allow our pain to go ... and to allow our tears to roll and our anger to go.

A plant was set at the site on the comer of Columbia & Alexander. The flower - clematis - was donated. This plant will crawl the fence. At the memorial there was a bouquet of flowers surrounding a picture of Cheryl plus candles and a food offering. Go in peace.

READING ROOM ROUNDUP

Come and take a look at the New Books display. The library has received new books that deal with meditation, self-healing and playing chess like the masters.

We have also processed new Literacy readers, and are waiting for another batch to arrive. Keep your eye out for "Footprints: Oral History at the O'Keefe Ranch". The stories in this book were written by students taking a course to improve their literacy skills. It is very interesting reading.

In closing I would like to remind everyone to come to the

poem #1 from the suicide ward

john my room-mate tells me about being over 60 no job since he was fired as maintenance man from this same hospital

john grew up in an orphanage shipped to sea never married said he never knew anything about it

john has just one room now no money to go anywhere nothing but alcohol pills depression overdoses the same 4 walls and heart trouble

"nothing to do" says john hunches over his belly and cries

"I try to tell them" he sobs "but they just don't understand!"

deep long heart trouble

Bud Osborn

LIBRARY COMMITTEE MEETING on Monday, September 30th

4 p.m. in tbe Association Omce.

This meeting has been set up to discuss the problems of security and theft in the library. We hope that you can come and help us find solutions with this serious neighbourhood problem.

Daniela (while Eleanor's away)

Jack Latek dropped into the Newsletter's ofice to explain this idea he has. He is collecting and selling pins to raise money for needed things - like a bike rack outside the foodbank, other little things that no one has the time or money for - and hopes that people will donate some if they have any. Expo country pins, special event pins, travel pins, memento pins, etc. Drop them off to the Newsletter or mail to Jack Latek at 4383 Main in Vancouver. (V5V 3R 1) Thanks!

joseph poems

joseph my friend a haida indian spent another night in the bucket where he found a feather and wondered why it couldn't be an eagle feather but then he remembered where he was and h e w it had to be a ftather h m a pigeon

on the sidewalk blood dark red

jose~h was talking about another beating white men gave him white police

"no offense" joseph said "to white people"

joseph was trying to get condoms out of the machine in the men's room

at the balmoral and when he cranked the handle the package of safes flipped straight from the machine into the piss trough and floated away

joseph watched a moment then said "you think that's a sign?"

joseph tells me about a poem he wrote in lock-up called PROBLEMS

joseph said there's always problems but if you kill over a problem the problem says MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

1 / 1 Reve FlambC

sirens through the night while I dream

of a burning city

Shawn Millar

Urban Pastorale

wondrously lost in mystery animated flesh steeps

in mellow golden sunset hues

Shawn Millar

Divestment - now why would a lower working- class guy like me do such? It may seem strange, even futile, but I have been doing just that.

Does anyone believe in the human right to shelter one's self? Needn't we do everything we can while we are alive? Some believe that doing nothing is the divine answer. Me, I believe we need progressive answers coming from "ordinary" people, to help others struggling in this very damaging city.

What of the totally different worlds of the rich & poor.. Young people wash dishes in restaurants to pay rent or, worse, a mortgage. They know they can work, pay the bank and still to have a life they can be 'proud' of.. . others believe we don't have a choice.

Having control of one's life after being heavily ' indoctrinated or trained by "the system" is no easy feat. Social pressures and thinking abound to entice one into this "system".

Since quitting a $1 5 an hour well-established driving job in 1989, my life has certainly been

+ interesting. I do recommend people have a say over what they do each day. It is your life, isn't it.

Let's not have any of that "freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose" ... I'm still on the prowl for a better life but at least I can't blame the boss 'cause I don't have one.

Dumpster diving was my first non-traditional work, while my activism and learning in the University of Life went on. Now I know what it means to be "down on the street", yet I don't have it as hard as some that are there due to some other reason than personal choice. I discovered a sense of community while squatt-

ing in the Eco-House during the last 3 months of Frances Street. We almost got people to actually do something about housing in Vancouver. That Gordon Campbell.. he couldn't see the value of people utilizing unused space for housing.. too radical for politicians then (and now).

Now C.S.I.S. has our faces and assorted numbers

and information, yet we were only ordinaty people trying to be heard before Vancouver gentrified the whole damned city--suburbs too!

It may be that city councillors and Mayor Owen don't like a voice like the Carnegie Newsletter but it is one of the few ways that ordinary people have to communicate -- such politicians and their supporters might realize just how far away they are from the actual realities of poverty in this world?!

Let's count the ways: here is a suggestion for those with too much --- divest. I'll leave it at that for now. Peace Y 'all.

Sincerely, Mike Bohnert

PS: Distribution of wealth is a concern when we see increasing wealth for some, yet oppression of poor people continues in a widespread fashion.

THE GOLDEN YEARS ARE HERE AT LAST

I CANNOT SEE ..... I CANNOT PEE ,':

I CANNOT CHEW .... I CANNOT SCREW

MY MEMORY SHIUBKS ... MY HEARING STINKS

NO SENSE OF SMELL .... I LOOK LIKE HELL

TEE GOLDEN YEARS HAVE COME AT LAST

THE GOLDEN YEARS CAN KISS MY ASS !!!

The Fee

A careful drive down crowded Yale Road in Chilliwack can be costly and traumatic, so I found out not so long ago. A golden Lab darted out between parked cars and attempted to rush across the road in front of my car. My instant braking action did not prevent a jolt and a loud yelp. On getting out I saw the dog lying motionless

under the car. Several bystanders helped me extract the dog whose bleeding and limp body appeared lifeless, but some verbal directions to the nearest veterinarian gave faint hope. Off I went with the dog wrapped in a blanket and placed in the back of my station wagon.

Priority action was taken at the clinic. The dog, lying on the examination table, gave the appearance that there was no hope. After a cursory examination, the vet left and brought in a cat in his arms. He passed it over the dog in a number of crossing motions. Finally the vet shook his head, looked me in the eye and said, "The dog is dead." "What do I owe you?" sadly asked. "One hundred dollars: thirty for the examination

and ten to tell you the dog is dead." There was a pause and I interjected, "Why the

extra sixty dollars?" "That is for the CAT scan," came the emotionless

reply. (Submitted by Dora Sanders)

To: PaulR Taylor From: ECT

Re: Stability (Things the Mental Health Authorities or Have Told Me)

13 Steps to Mental Health or (brain damage)

1. Empathy is morally wrong. 2. After starting smoking for the first time -

"Welcome to the Club." 3. Eat meat or starve. 4. Tranquillizers aren't addictive. 5. Meds (medications) are harmless. 6. After becoming weak from meds, be physically

active i.e. lift weights. 7. Being telepathic is ill, sick, wrong. 8. Being vegetarian is bad for your health. 9. Peanut butter and honey sandwiches are junkie

food. 10. We staff are always right; you patients are

always wrong. 1 1 .You can't take care of yourself unless you are

constantly told what to do. 1 12. Electro-Convulsive Therapy is harmless and is - .

I \ good treatment.

13,Staff are perfectly mentally healthy constantly and patients are dangerous to themselves and to society.

Anonymous

STREET WRITERSIPOETSISIDEWALK CHALKERSINEW WRITERS

Tell or write our stuff in the Cirrnegie Learning Centre

2-4pm. Tuesday Afternoons Starts Sept. 17, 1996

Sheila Baxter, Carnegie poet-writer, is the volunteer host and would like to hang out with ya,

all in a non-academic settine.

Family Reunion 7.

Saskatchewan for a family reunion. It is wonderful to get back to your roots.

Wayne and I took a flight on Air BC from Vancouver, but it was a milk run with stops in Kelowna, an hour in Calgary, then on to Saskatoon. There was a lot of turbulence, which didn't help Wayne's nervousness about flying. The temperature when we arrived was like an

oven, over one hundred degrees. My cousin picked us up and drove us to our relatives' place; as soon as we arrived there was a tornado! The power went out and we had dinner by candlelight. The force of the winds was enough to uproot

trees, and it rained with thunder and lightning for hours. Movie crews should have been there as the special effects were perfect for a horror film.

Saskatoon still has a drive-in theatre. As a side- story, the owner had brought her two babies with her to the drive-in that night and was preparing things for the employees - the movie was Twister - and ths real thing happened! The next morning the theatre looked like a pile of kindling but no one was iniured.

BASIC WRITING

Thaiday we went to North Batlleford where I I sit alone in a room full of memories of you saw a former teacher who taught me when I was The air is cold - it makes my heart ache seven years old, and then to the fatnily reunion on The flame of our love has withered away and died the old farm. My Aunt Catherine celebrated her

One of the highlights of the summer was a trip to

Self-inflicted pain.. hanging onto a love lost 80th birthday and it was wonderful seeing old What can 1 do friends - even though things like grain elevators My whole being started and ended with you were squashed like sardine cans by the weather.

I know in my heart of hearts 1'11 have the strength to cany on Time will be the healer, we all know

People had come from as far away as St. John's, New Erunswick. Commg back was much smoother as we took a

large plane and a direct route.

I realize I don't sit alone Next summer the relatives are coming out here as Choices, self-esteem, coinrnon sense my cousin's son is taking part in the Aboriginal will see me through this pain Games in Victoria.

Through the years I've learned to love myself By IRENE SCHMIDT

This is my salvation to carry on and to keep the past a learning experience and grow once again

Lance Sowan-Sound

In The Dumpster

Greetings fellow binners & binnerettes. Got some news from Shitty Hall. Seems Mayor

(PO) Philip Owen blames our street and alley garbage problem on "dumpster divers" - at least he said that on Cable 4.

I seem to recall dopers ripping through bins. looking for lost dope and they aren't no divers. Let's keep it clean out there and please watch out for needles. A friend of mine told me that his fiiend is in a

coma 'cause a driver in a car opened his door on him while he was riding his bike. This was before the helmet laws. Please pray for him.

On Sept.3rd, the same day the helmet went into effect, a young man with his helmet on got hit fiom behind and died fiom his injuries in Burnaby Case closed on the life-saving law for this binner. I wonder if Tom Lewis is reading this.

I ride my bike as best I can, trymg hard to avoid Da Man. A cop on his motorcycle, his pencil as hard as a pickle, waits impatiently as I approach. Quite dismayed, I have no roach. "Where's your helmet?" he asks. Well he can kiss my binning - . Good Day!"

May the bins be wtth you.

By MR. McBINNER

Trashhopper Says!

I have put a hold on my Zargon Country for a while. It seems the City or the province, can't recall which, is going to do something about the noise law. Things like concerts, machinery, etc. are on the agenda. I don't know when it's happening but it wouldn't hurt to make a list of what gets you bothered.

Speaking of noise, the Molson Indy brung United We Can its highest return all year - 42,463 containers. I didn't go 'cause I had the 'swine flu'

Attention Gastown Rich Snobs: Keep your claws off the planet Pluto. It's my private property and is not for sale!

Shane's World at 16 W.Hastings has music books on at 112 price. Shane has been very resourcell to Carnegie in the past - thanks.

Smokers are now welcome in the non-smoking lounge on Carnegie's second floor.. as long as they don't smoke. Thank you Carnegie; at least I can breathe. Have a good month. Please respect one another.

NEWS FLASR!!! Joan Sawiki, NDP-MLA, has been assigned to

look into non-returnable containers and will be at United We Can in the near future. Ken Lyotier, fearless leader at UWC, has been approached by C.O.P.E. to run in the November election. As of this date the DE has no reps that I know of on our side. and from Ken ... Joan Sawiki, the Parliarnentaty Secretary, Minister of the Environment, was assigned the task of improving recycling. As every binner knows, the first step is to expand the program to include non-refundable containers. Maybe the first step would be to increase the deposit on cans and all containers to 10 cents, like it already is for beer bottles and cans ...

OKAY, BYE-BYE G a r r y G u s t (C)1996

Wai Ching g o t o f f t h e b u s a s t o p la te . She u n f o l d e d h e r s h o p p i n g c a r t and moved s l o w l y back toward Chinatown where s h e ' d buy some v e g e t a b l e s and l a t e r meet h e r g r a n d d a u g h t e r a t New Town Bakery f o r some sweet buns and tea. A s s h e p a s s e d a mus ic s t o r e n e a r ,KEEFER S t r e e t , Wai Ching h e a r d a s o n g p l a y i n g f rom a n o u t s i d e l o u d s p e a k e r . She s t o p p e d and l i s t e n e d . I t was a Wes te rn s o u n d i n g s o n g , b u t somehow s h e knew i t ; b u t f rom where?

Then i t h i t h e r l i k e a s o f t wind. She c l e a r e d t h e c l o u d s f rom h e r mind and saw h e r s e l f a s a small c h i l d o f f o u r s i t t i n g on t h e f l o o r o f h e r f a m i l y ' s home i n Guangzhou, Ch ina .

A f o r e i g n e r f rom Canada was s t a y i n g w i t h them f o r a month. He had funny ways b u t t h e f a m i l y had grown fond o f him. It was a t t h a t time t h a t h e r s is ter Mae, who was 13 y e a r s o l d e r t h a n Wai Ch ing , was h e a r t b r o k e n b e c a u s e h e r b o y f r i e n d had found someone new. The p a r e n t s t r i e d . t o c o n s o l e h e r , b u t Mae would n o t be c o n s o l e d and s h e was c e r t a i n t h a t h e r l i f e was n e a r l y o v e r .

With h i s small v o c a b u l a r y o f e n g l i s h words , Wai C h i n g ' s f a t h e r e x p l a i n e d Mae's s a d n e s s t o t h e f o r e i g n e r who seemed g e n u i n e l y c o n c e r n e d . One e v e n i n g t h e f o r e i g n e r b r o u g h t o u t h i s g u i t a r , and t r i e d t o e x p l a i n t h e meaning o f t h e s o n g h e was a b o u t t o s i n g . Wai Ching remembered t h e word "karma" was u s e d o f t e n i n t h e e x p l a n a t i o n , a n d h e r f a t h e r t r a n s l a t i n g t o Mae t h a t h e r b o y f r i e n d was a f o o l , and t h e p a i n h e h e c a u s e d h e r would o n e day come back o n him. Then t h e f o r e i g n e r s a n g t h e s o n g look- i n g a l m o s t c o n s t a n t l y a t Mae. H i s e y e s

grew damp and Wai Ch ing was p o s i t i v ? ' s h e saw a tear r o l l down h i s f a c e as h e f i n i s h e d . A few d a y s l a te r , Mae was h e r o l d s e l f , b u t somehow s h e seemed more grown up. A t t h e d i n n e r t a b l e s h e s a t erect and h e l d h e r c h o p s t i c k s v e r y l a d y l i k e , and no l o n g e r s l u r p e d h e r tea. The who f a m i l y was happy a n d t h e f o r - e i g n e r ' s l a s t week was f i l l e d w i t h much l a u g h t e r and t e a s i n g . A f t e r h e had gone back t o Canada, Mae f e l l i n t o a l i f e o f s t u d y i n g f o r h e r u n i v e r s i t y c o u r s e s . Wai Ching watched h e r s i s te r grow i n t o a n a d u l t woman who q u i e t l y d r i f t e d i n t o h e r own wor ld o f c o n t e n t l y t e a c h i n g p h i l o s o p h y a t t h e u n i v e r s i t y . When Wai C h i n g ' s f a m i l y moved t o van- c o u v e r , Mae s t a y e d i n C h i n a where s h e t a u g h t u n t i l 1978 when s h e d i e d a v i r g i n . '1 Granny! Where h a v e you been? I ' v e been l o o k i n g a l l o v e r f o r you." Wai Ching f o c u s e d on h e r grand- d a u g h t e r . "Quick, Lan, go i n s i d e and buy some song . I pay. 1'

T h a t e v e n i n g , a f t e r l i s t e n i n g t o t h e CD c o u n t l e s s times and h e a r i n g Wai Ch ings s t o r y , Lan w r o t e o u t t h e words o f t h e s o n g and p r e s e n t e d them t o h e r . P u t t i n g down t h e a l m o s t f i n i s h e d box o f K leenex , Wai Ching s i g h e d " I ' m t h a n k i n g you," a s s h e hugged h e r g r a n d d a u g h t e r who h e l p e d h e r r e a d t h e words .

THE WAY OF LOVE * "Men you mt someone that you like a l o t And you f a l l in love but they love you not If a f h should start when they hold you near Better keep your heart out of danger dear. .

'1 For the m y of love is the way of we And the day m y care when you see them go 'Ihen what w i l l you do wfien they set you free Just the way tha t you said good-bye t o w."

C Downtown Eastside Residents' Association 7"- The Friends of DEW - ' - 2

The following letters were received by the Carnegie Newsletter in menection with the debate over DERA and the Friends of DERA. The letters were edited accarding to CCCA policy, tha we will1 not print anything racist, sexist or hmopbobic, nor will we print defamatory pemna 1 invective, religious denominational material or promotional material from political parties.

DERA Unrest Result of War Against The Poor

People are becoming poorer in the Downtown Eastside. More people are homeless. Hurt people, especially those with addictions, do not have the services they need. Lany Campbell, the city coroner, has said that the stress people are under is far too much for many to bear. That is one of the reasons why there have been so many deaths in our neighbourhood during the pasts couple of years.

In our despair we turn against each other because we lack the strength or knowledge to resist effectively the war against the poor waged by big business and all levels of government.

We are in desperate need of decent, affordable housing in the Downtown Eastside, and the federal government has cut off all money for housing.. provincial money is inadequate. Also, City Hall is promoting gentrification in our neighbourhood - the building of condos - without guaranteeing homes for the residents who will be displaced. We need a healthy space in which to live, yet we fear that our community will be destroyed by profit- driven development, and we are resentfil and angry. We take our hstration out on each other.

On April 1, 1996, the federal Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST) went into effect, abolishing the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) and cutting $7 billion in transfer payments to the provinces for health, post-secondary education and social assistance. Gone was the right to an income when a person was in need, the right to adequate income, the right to appeal, and the right not to have to work for welfare. The only CAP right maintained in the CHST was the right to income

assistance regardless of the province a person is fiom - and the BC government abolished that right with its three-month waiting period. Theses federal and provincial actions were part

of the war against the poor, and they have created suffering, distrust and despair among low income citizens.

DERA executive director Barb Daniel said, "They (the Liberal federal government) want people at each other's throats so we won't notice that the country is being given to the rich."

The provincial government, with its BC Benefits, has wrecked havoc among poor people. The requirement that all welfare claimants must have three months residency in BC has forced people to live in the streets and to stand in ever-growing free food line-ups. This requirement is flatly against federal law and Canada's international commit- ments. The reduction of $46 per month per person in income assistance for all employable singles and couples without dependents is vicious. It is impossible to live on $500 per month (rent is approximately $350 per month and rising), let alone look for work. Crisis grants have been cut, hardship grants have become more difficult to get, the appeal process has become more difficult, people addicted to drugs and alcohol (who decides?) have lost $46 per month, and singles have lost the $100 exemption and families the $200 exemption on money they earn. These exemptions meant the difference between making it and going under. On top of these changes, the BC government has

changed the management culture of its welfare administration program from a 'passive' program where income assistance workers are expected to pay cheques based on the regulations, to an 'active' program where workers are expected to

encourage (hound) claimants to pursue all alternatives (Ron Hikel, KPMG, April 19, 1996). In other words, get tougher, get nastier. Make people applying for assistance feel so bad they won't come back. When people are treated badly, they tend to treat others badly. This provincial policy has made life in the Downtown Eastside uglier. It is part of the war against the poor.

DERA, as well as many other community organizations, has spoken out strongly against this war against the poor but government and the media have ignored them for the most part. We have had some victories - defeating the casino, working for low income housing in Woodward's, and stopping a condo development on Hastings Street, for example.

We have to stop demonizing each other, and understand that the war against the poor is global and is led by powerful corporate forces in business and government. As Irene Schmidt, a welfare advocate at Carnegie, said, "When we fight each other, we let the politicians off the hook." We have to listen to each other more, and record the stories of those being crushed by a Scrooge-had-it- right economy.

Danny Korica, a respected Carnegie Board member who died in 199 1, described a positive relationship to the Community in this way:

"I have come to believe that we ... must help each other more that we do ... We are put down by federal, provincial and city governments as winos and skid road people. To beat that, we should stick together, respect each other, fight for one another. Organized in this way, we can prove to all of them that we are people like them, not the people they categorize us to be."

By SANDY CAMERON

POWER STRUGGLES

teenager in front of me: YOU MADE THE

WORLD IN WHICH WE GROW. WE WILL GROW TO HATE YOU.

I found this message very disturbing. Quotes from the past came to my mind:

To have no voice is to have no power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

It seems to me that when people become part of the power they often become part of the problem. That's happened to me. So I try to stay out of power politics as much as possible. But if I don't speak up, will my children grow to hate me? I didn't say anything against "Free" Trade and I regret that. I didn't realize how strong the "swing to the right" and the "workfare mentality" could become. The right-wing mentality has hit the Downtown Eastside hard. Paid workers are so worried about keeping their jobs, the unemployed are so pressured to get jobs, and more and more young people give up in the alleys.

It can hurt more to be oppressed by someone you know, who is being paid to help you, than by politicians in Ottawa or Washington. When we criticize those who have immediate power over us, it can be called "divisive". Getting an equal "piece of the pie" seems impossible so we squabble over crumbs.

Someone told me that the "insurgents" at DERA were trying to get "power back to the people". "Not a good time for that," I said.

With all this mudslinging, I don't really understand what's going on at DERA, but I suspect that it stems from the same increased dissatisfaction spreading through other Downtown Eastside "helping" agencies. I would like to attend an open community forum concerning these issues. I would suggest a 3-minute time limit for all speakers. -

Leith Harris

As I was walking down Powell Street the other day, I read the writing on the T-shirt of the young

"We did not and will not ..." The circle needs to be kept strong. The time has

come for all of us to join hand in hand. Over the pasts 23 years DERA has fought to

keep this community strong and growing. Housing has always been a big issue - affordable housing needed to be built with safe places for children to play and grow up. They are our future and learn from our actions; how do you present yourself to others? When I first moved here (to the Downtown

Eastside) in the 80's, I was told at the beginning that I was making a big mistake. People were afraid for my well-being and told me I should move out of Vancouver altogether.

At the time I didn't have any other place to go. My 'home town' really never was. My family was and is scattered throughout BC.

I didn't have a place to live. My worker got me a place at the Lookout for about 5 weeks and 1 cruised the neighbourhood with my brother, going to every hotel in this neighbourhood. None of them were accessible to me; if they were I had to go down the hall to the washroom but I couldn't get my wheelchair into the washroom. Then we stumbled in front of the DERA office.

My brother went up and asked them to help me and they gave him an application to fill out. They said at the time their waiting list was two years long and I got angry. I went back to the Lookout and watched whatever was on TV for the next two days. No phone calls came so I made some. There was absolutely nothing available in Vancouver, After getting housing through the help of DERA

1 spent the first while sleeping on the floor and listening to my radio. I had nothing when I moved into my home. The first week 1 did a lot of -g because I was running away from everyone. I didn't want people close to me just to abandon me, like before. One day I was really hungry and I only had a

little money left. I went to Main and Hastings and into the Carnegie Centre. WOW! With the bit of money I was able to buy a sandwich, a coffee and

two fruit. I went into the library i n the first floor but thought I'd have to buy a library card, so didn't try to take anything out. I read a few pages of a book and came home.

After awhile I got involved. The k t step was to learn about writing, so I went upstairs to the Learning Centre. My first story went into the Carnegie Newsletter, and that was how I met Paul. Between the Learning Centre and the Newsletter I learned how to use my voice.

From there I met a young lady named Muggs. She invited me to a couple of meetings and the next thing I knew I was on the Board. My goal was and is to help others like me to get proper access to our sidewalks. At that time I was in a manual chair, so for me to

get down the comer of a sidewalk was to pop up on my back wheels and pop down onto the road. After awhile it took a toll on my back. That was when I met Ken Lyotier, Hany Dawson and Joan Meister. We got to writing letters, talking to newspapers and even got on TV.

The purpose of this story is to let you know that in the beginning 1 had no hope - but then I was given another chance. 1 had and have a lot to give back to my Community for what it and you have given to me. I have a home and friends who believe in me and the volunteer work I do for our people who need help.

I could go on and on but the most important message I want you to hear is this: our community was and is being built with the help of everyone. In the last 23 years we have lost many good people and we have watched the young grow to be leaders. We have battled with many a monster who wanted to destroy what you and I have built as a community. The threat is here again. I ask you to come and

support yourselves as DERA members at our next stupidity DERA General Meeting on September 2 1 st. It is It all has to do with attitude - over the past few 13. at First United Church and in attendance will be years there have been a few people who didn't get the Board of Directors you elected in February. what they wanted, didn't get their way. So they

We did not and will not step aside for anyone decided to try and cause confhion among us with who wants to come in and destroy a community manipulation and tall tales. still in the making. Our community and DERA have grown together Some people want to take over the Downtown over the past 23 years ...

Eastside Residents' Association. I know DERA will prevail and we will rise above all this M.O.D.E.

(Member of the Downtown Eastside)

Greeetings to the Community

You have been receiving many confusing messages from the Downtown Eastside Residents' Association - known as DERA. We would like to explain exactly what has happened and how it may effect you.

Each year DERA holds an election of a Board of Directors The law has certain requirements all organiza- tions must meet. All the past boards and paid management of DERA has never bothered to follow these rules. Instead they have held quiet election meetings and only encouraged some of the tenants from their buildings like Pendera to attend. This way they could continue to do what ever they wished and no one could stop them.

On February 9, 1996, DERA held one of their election meetings but several people who believed that DERA - was not doing the right things were voted to the board. These three people tried very hard to make the rest of the board understand that they were breaking many laws. After seven months these people went to the members and told them what was happening.

On August 10, 1996, the members held a new election and voted out the old board. The new board they elected has been trying to convince the few remaining old board members that they must give up their positions. Unfortunately the management people like Barb Daniel are afraid of what the new board might do to change some of the things she has done and she is fighting to discredit the new board.

They have been saying we are violent and do not live in this community. This is not so. We have all lived here from 4 to 25 years at least. Because we are non-violent, we have tied to do everything legally rather than force these people to leave the organization.

There was never any intention of stopping or changing programs that are working and are enjoyed by the community. We will however listen carefully to what you tell us you would like to see happen. We want to see that the large sums of money coming into the community are really spent on people and programs and not for the enjoyment of very few. We would like to hear from you and are looking for a translator that can

I I volunteer time to help us communicate better with you.

I If we can help you or you can help us please call Thia Walter - 252-9883

Alison Cameron, Thia Walter, Ann Livingston, William Kay, David Goodwin, Earl Greyeyes, Eaglestam, i Warren Wyss, Linda Tesky, Anthony Ryder, Olivia Williams, Gary Thompson, Andrew Telechuk. I Delivered by Richard Calcutta

To the Members of DERA and other residents of the Downtown Eastside

Regarding the accusations of board and staff of DERA having contempt for the laws of the Province (i.e. the constitution of DERA)

At the first board meeting (February 15, 1996) of DERA after the February 9, 1996 Annual General Meeting, the DERA Board established a constitutional committee to review the bylaws and constitution of DERA and DERA Housing Society. The committee was to bring a report to the board so that the board could see where there were weaknesses in procedure or where the bylaws should be amended. Thia Walters (elected board member) volunteered to chair this committee. One of the other board members, Ann Livingston, was going to be in Victoria and promised to pick up copies of the constitution from the Registrar of Companies. DERA has copies of the constitution in its office, but board members wanted to ensure that these copies were complete and up to date. Ann picked up the copies. DERA paid for the copies.

Thia had (to the board's knowledge) one committee meeting. When she reported back to the board on April 4, 1996, she said that no one had attended. The board then, with Thia in agreement, selected one staff person and one other board member to be on the committee with Thia. Nothing more was heard from the committee until the end of the board meeting of June 20, 1996. AAer the meeting had been adjourned, Thia handed out a report. She refused to give any copies of this report to the resource staff present at the meeting. Margaret Prevost gave me her copy of the report. Thia came over and tried to pull it out of my hands. I held on.

As she presented the report, Thia gave the board 2 weeks to respond. "You (as lfshe were not a board member) have two weeks to do something about this." She did not put the report on the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. She is also aware that the board only meets twice a month. By giving out the report in this manner, she knew (or should have known) that the only way that the board could do anything with it was to hold a special meeting. Since the meeting had already adjourned and some board members had already left the room, the only way the board could have set a meeting was for someone to call all the board members and try to arrange a time where everyone could attend.

The board did not obey her ultimatum. The next regularly scheduled board meeting was July 4, 1996. There the report was discussed. It was noted that contained in the report was the statement that she was presenting the report on her own authority; that she accepted full responsibility for its content and actions arising from it, and that she retained the right and obligation to take additional action should the situation warrant it. Also in the report is the statement that three of the members of the committee (what input did they get to have in the report, I wonder?) insisted that they not be named because of possible reprisals against themselves or their relatives living in DERA-operated housing. At no point had Thia brought this to the board as a problem and

..., A'. I

Rewsletter ol the earnegie

Community Action Project

September 16,1996

Want to get involved ? Call 689 - 0397 or come see u s at Carnegie (2nd floor)

What's Livable ? Up Coming Workshops on small suites

By Jim Ford

A meeting was held in the Jim Green Room at the Four Sisters Co-op on August 28 regarding plans for a small suite workshop.

h This effort is part of the City's Housing Plan which relates to the future of, as well as

.. existing, housing in Downtown Eastside. Jill Davidson, of the City's Housing Centre, chaired the meeting with other city personnel from various departments in attendence.

Strategies and phases of this involvement were dwelt with dong with a context of topics. The essence of critical information was stressed as well as the creation of a realistic wish list that includes: short term protection of the more than 6,000 existing single residence occupancies (SROs) along with how and when to replace them; and the projected costs to build and operate small suites. Also included were the City's current housing plans and proposals, and existing by- laws on size and facilities were considered

important topics. Another subject of concern was a mutual agreement relevant to room dimensions. The statistics and information related to the SROs were regarded as vital resources. The service of a competent facilitator was advised in order to encourage resourcehl and interested attendance.

Proceeding the workshop, a mock-up display of suite sizes will be assembled at the Four Corners Bank on October 1,2, &3 (see add on next page). Cardboard assemblies of room dimensions will be exhibited with the possibility of furniture - if it can be obtained. Spokespeople will be on hand to assist the public with information. Volunteers from NHP who live in SROs may take on this as well as some city staff.

If all works out this project could prove a valuable tool in solving some of the housing needs in the area. It will include input fiom those greatest affected - ones living SROs. The city intiated this endeavour and invited our responses and the more involved we are with it the greater our impact will be on its outcome.

Come to the Four Comers Community Savings, 390 Main St. on

October 1,2, & 3 930 am - 4 :30 am

to experience what it would be like to live in a self-contained unit close to the size of a hotel unit. There will be a number of suite displays on- hand of varying sizes for you to check out.

Presented by the City of Vancouver, Housing Centre

Carnegie 's Community Action Project (CCAP) would like your thoughts regarding small suites. Are they livable ? CCAP representative will be available to take note of your opinions, or drop by our ofice in Carnegie, 2ndjloor.

DO YOU CALL YOURfl lF rl CITItEIV rl NO RESIDENT O f THE DO WNTO WN EASTSIDE, OR rl 'JOCIrll f lRVICE CllENT WHO FREQUENTS THE r l R W ?

The following paragraph is an excerpt from a discussion paper prepared for the Gastown Business Improvement Society in 1992.

3 The market projects pay high costs to upgrade their projects to current standards. The market projects therefore ask for rents and clientele who can economically support their investment. This 'upscaling ' of clientele and tenants invariably conflicts on the street with those social service clients who fiequent the area. @age 6)

Stay tuned for more insightll analysis of our neighbourhood from this professionally prepared report in the next issue of the CCAP Newsletter. The report is entitled A D iscussion Pa-per of Issues and Topics . .. c t m the Vutb-wth Qf Gastown by Urban Design and Development Ltd..

If Multinational Developments Can be Stopped In Mexlco, Then So Can Gentrification In The Downtown Eastside.

The following news note appeared in the Pravince, July 25, 1996.

Jack Loses: For those who think mu?tinational developments too o#en run rozrghshod over indigenous cultural as well as environmental concerns, comes word of a victory for the little guy.

A poposed $300 million US gated housing prc ject containing a Jack Nicklaus course near Mexico City was a target of three years of intense, occasionally violent opposition by local people. Now, developer Francisco Kludt has finally admitted defeat and abandoned the partly built work

Lets not forget the Brad Holmes victory.

CCAP Workshop At The Woodbine Hotel

On Aug 27, CCAP visited the Woodbine as part of its continuing effort to reach out to residents of the Downtown Eastside. The discussion focussed on the development activity in and around the Downtown Eastside. Concerns were raised regarding the hture of hotels like the Woodbine (will they survive ?) and hotel residents, like Bob, :I resident of the Woodbine for over 1 1 years.

Here's what some Woodbine Residents had to say

"We're not going to be here long"

"I can see the neighbourhood moving eust "

"They [upscale developers] got the monc y to move people out"

"The problem is that there are no other areas, towns, cities, etc., where you can rent a place at this price on your own''

"Oppenhiemer Lodge, Christ you can't get smaller than tha* my friend used to live there. To visit was stifling"

"A bathroom is not essential if it is sharzd with less than four people, it can create socialization". . .. . "well for me [other resident] I need a bathroom"

More workshops at the Woodbine to happen in the near htyre.

asked for direction. Instead, she just decided on her own that the board-appointed members of the committee were no longer on the committee.

I At the same meeting that the report was discussed, Thia handed out a letter (already typed and copied) ' demanding among other things the "formal" resignation of the board.

Yes - Thia did present a constitutional report and the board did not accept it. The report was not presented by the appointed committee of the board but by one individual who chose on her own to "fire" the committee. She never expressed any concern about other (unknown to DERA) committee members' alleged fears nor did she ask for help or direction from the board on this issue. The report was presented as an ultimatum and not as a paper for the board to discuss and prepare motions or questions to bring to the membership for voting or information.

I Yes - Thia did request a special meeting and the board did not act on it. One person cannot demand that a special general meeting take place or that the duly elected board of an organization resign and expect to be

I obeyed. She claimed in the letter to speak for other DERA members, but presented no proof.

Yes - there are some things that need to be changed in the bylaws or some ways of operating that DERA needs to change. This is true in almost any organization as the organization grows older and gets larger (or smaller). For example in DERA's constitution it says that the annual general meeting is to be held in October. Now that DERA's financial statements are audited, this is not possible. The AGM has, for years, been held in late January or early February. DERA had set up a constitutional committee to look at these diI'screpancies. It did not expect the process to be hijacked in such a callow and self-serving manner.

The board of directors of an organization has a responsibility to protect the organization. It must act responsibly. The board of DERA was elected legitimately at the Annual General Meeting on Feb. 9, 1996. It would have been grossly negligent if it had jumped to Thia's demands just because Thia demanded. Now she and the so-called "Friends of DERA" are trying to use just that integrity to demolish not only the board but the staff of DERA.

And Thia - you may say to others that what is contained in this letter is not the truth. You and I both know what the truth is and the only thing on my conscience is not having written this letter sooner.

Rosalind Breckner

There has been much criticism of the Downtown Eastside Residents' Association - DERA - in the last month and a half. It has come from people who either live here'or who have adopted this neighbourhood as their own. The criticism started with an 'almost' - several people tried to elect a slate of their number to DERA's Board of Directors and "almost" succeeded. It was pointed out during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) that members of DERA had to live in the Downtown Eastside. The boundary bylaw would exclude 4 nominees fiom - let's call them 'radicals' since that's how they see themselves - fiom the 'radicals' and a further 10 of their number from even voting. There was a number of procedural things that were also gone over by the President, Ian MacRae, on voting, ballots, candidates unable to attend, and after each point, he

asked "Discussion?" (None) "Those in favour?" (a vote) "Those opposed?" (No one.) On April 30 a letter was delivered to the Carnegie Newsletter from Ann Livingston, supported by and

supporter of the same self-styled 'radicals'. Ann has been on the board of DERA for the past two years. During that time she has been active in the community, principally with the umbrella-group of the 'radicals' known as Innovative Empowerment Society (IES). It is through IES that IV Feed had its origins - IV Feed being open about saying heroin addiction is an "alternative lifestyle" and getting funding to operate a safe "fixing" site (a place where addicts can go to inject heroin). Ann's letter was printed in the Newsletter in the May 15th issue, with a response by me. Her letter damned DERA ('held the DERA AGM in a DERA building!')and DERA staff ('attending a DERA meeting and those who lived in the area voted!'), implying that all such people were liars and cheats and had violated every sane and ethical principle in order to specifically deny these 'radicals' voting rights and, by extension, being elected to the board. I ended my reply with this sentence: "DERA, like Carnegie, has come too far through too much shit to be waylaid by this crap." Somewhere in here the board of DERA voted to withdraw support from Innovative Empowerment Society,

after reports of threats and misinforming people on the expediency of welfare appeals came in. A further action taken by the Board of DERA was to pass a motion of official censure against Ann for her

letter and her attacks on the integrity of DERA and its staff. This meant that Ann could no longer sit on any other board as a representative of DERA, that she could not attend any function or event as a DERA rep and that DERA would not fund her attendance to any such, and that the association would not be accountable for any actions or words coming from her if she did state that she was a representative of DERA.

On June 20, 1996, one of the three board members from this group, Thia Walter, presented a lengthy report on all the constitutional violations that DERA had 'perpetrated' at its election meeting. Rosalind Breckner speaks to 'this in her letter. What's not spoken of is that this 'report' was mailed or faxed to every one of DERA's funders, every politician in the municipal govenunent and every ally of DERA's in various

I coalitions. ThB reason for this move on the part of Thia Walter, Ann Livingston and Alison Cameron is unclear. Those receiving it were adult enough to contact DERA and ask what the fuss was about. It was explained to the several people who called, and all were assured that this was being dealt with on top of everything else.

When Alison Cameron asked that the 'report' presented by Thia be taken directly to the membership, the board refused. Reasons are, again, in Rosalind Breckner's letter. When faxing it to everyone didn't get enough of the desired response, Thia wrote the first "Friends of DERAIPOW Free Press" newsletter. In it the gloves seemed to come off, with her true opinions of DERA, the staff and other board members coming out:

"WHAT IS DERA DOING? They are spendrng millrons of dollars to provrde amusements for a few senrors; union wages and subsidrzed housrng for a few frrends fightmng w~th anyone who doesn't agree wrth them; providing an rnformation service for MSS, delrberately sabotaging and meaningfiul service that they

can't control. .. While you stand rn food lines for stale sanhsrches and spoiled stew, the DEW devotees lunch out m Gastown or rush oflto Reno for the weekend. .. " (A guess is that "meaninghl service" referred to any activity of Innovative Empowerment.) Thia went on about '~overtypimps" and "the DERA Mafia" This newsletter was handed out before and during a meeting on August 10th in Carnegie's theatre. It was a gathering of about 100 people, half of whom were wondering what was going on, and in the other half were many people who were angry about their own situations and maybe believed that DERA, having one of the highest profiles in the neighbourhood for over 20 years, might be to blame for not 'doing something'. The meeting was invalid, as a specid general meeting can only be called after a specific legal procedure has been followed. "Any first-year law student would know that this meeting had no legitimacy. It's curious that this William Kay didn't tell them." William Kay is the self-admitted disbarred lawyer.. (You don't just forget the

I law when you get disbarred, do you?)

-

This meeting proceeded to "invalidate" the duly-elected Board of DERA, based on the repeated misinformation of Ann, Thia, Alison and William. They had advertised it as a "DERA" meeting, and after electing themselves and others as the "new DERA Board", went with the other 8 or 10 people to their first meeting. One person, a senior from the Dera Co-op, thought he was doing the right thing but later woke up. He reported on this first 'secret' meeting as follows: " These four (William, Ann, Thia, Alison) started out saying that we'd have to take DERA's office by storm; smash the computers, smash the windows, get control of the bank accounts, cut off their hydro, phones, power ... and they even wanted to sell off all the housing. All the rest of us got real nervous about these terror tactics. The same four said they'd volunteer to go off and come up with a better strategy. I got the hell out."

At that meeting there was an amount of coffee and refreshments ordered by this group. When it came time to pay, Thia said that DERA had to pay because it was a "DERA" meeting.(??) DERA wouldn't accept a bill incurred by an unrelated group. These people tried to continue this deception but eventually paid from their own resources. It was for $100. In the first week or so after this meeting a few people, saying they were "DERA", called Carnegie to cancel the food ordered for a seniors' outing, called Vancity and called BC Housing. This required straightening out. Various media gave this group the benefit of a doubt and articles started appearing. This has been presented as two equal but opposite sides, but the ranting and raving of the "Free Press" newsletters is pretty sad.

A second meeting on August 24 was advertised as a "DERA" meeting but only about 30 people came. Most wanted to blame DERA for all the ills in the neighbourhood. Some were more rational than others, but the underlying theme was to use the event as a place to 1 .) damn Barb Daniel, DERA's executive director, for being paid -- for doing a job entailing usually 50 or more hours a week, meetings with anyone who might help provide more housing and running an organization with over 60 staff and over 450 units of housing doing political work to improve our lives as residents; 2.) to continue damning DERA for (Thia's writing) -" funding seniors.. . paying union wages.. . having subsidized housing.. . doing welfare advocacy for people.. ." and 3.) damning DERA staff ... for having lunch once in Gastown instead of standing in a food line ... and when all else failed reverting to the ever-popular "poverty pimps" and "DERA Mafia". This meeting was supposed to have a theme of "What has DERA been doing?" and "What should DERA be doing?" Some good ideas came up, but much of the positive stuff got drowned out by those who just wanted to bash DERA. This piece is my opinion, just as those other pieces printed here are the opinions of the respective authors.

All I ask is that people read and then come to the special general meeting on September 2 1. This is not DERA divided, but DERA growing strong because of some blanks being fired.

Respectfully submitted, PaulR Taylor

PS: Please don't get me wrong. DERA is as fallible as any people's organisation and can certainly be changed. What is galling is the amount of time and energy that overworked staff and board members and volunteers are now putting in just to help people understand where this 'radical' bunch is coming from and what they really want.

DIRECTORS REPORT

Congratulations to the Board and its enthusiastic Editor, John Leighton, for giving birth to this first edition of the "No Name News", the official newsletter of "The Gathering Place". There have been kinks in the system, things we need to talk about and solve. Its been a year and a half since "The Gathering Place" quietly opened its doors to the public. Lots of time to figure out what works and what doesn't work. Time to make mistakes and to try to correct them. We

know we're not perfect, but we do try.

One thing we know for certain, this place could not exist without the work and energy of our volunteers. -,hose of you that use our services having a meal, having a shower and washing your clothes, taking out a book, need to know that our volunteers are unpaid arid we couldn't do without them.

So, when you are having a bad day and the cafeteria lineup is

long and slow and you would like to grumble at someone, please don't. The volunteer serving you has the same problems as you and is not there to be a punching bag for your bad mood. Chill out, put things into their proper prospective, and give the volunteers a break by not hassling them. You may have noticed some new signs posted around the building. These signs give notice that we will not tolerate racist, sexist or homophobic comments within

I the confines of "The Gathering Place".

We will soon have a new staff position to assist Mary-Anne Davidson in her work with

fl volunteers. This will allow her to process more people to become volunteers and give "The Gathering Place" the opportunity to provide more services to the patrons.

Women in particular have reported feeling uncomfortable in the sometimes overwhelming

macho atmosphere. Some men are not particularly sensitive to creating an atmosphere where all can feel accepted and appreciated. Gentleman, please mind your manners.

Have you noticed lately that it seems to be raining inside? Yes, we are having some plumbing problems. Some are due to condensation from the air conditioning, others are due to renovations. The hot tub is a heart breaker that has the people with arthritis and sore backs

anxiously waiting for the problem to be solved. We hope to have everything in place and working by the fall.

So keep participating in "The Gathering Place", use the services, volunteer, join a committee, if we all work together we can improve the quality of life for ourselves and the community.

See you next newsletter.

Diane MacKenzie

THE GOOSE STORY

Next fall, when you see Geese heading South for the Winter . . . flying along in V formdon . . . you might consider what Science has discovered as to Why they fly that Way:

As each birdjlaps its Wings, it creates an Upliftfor the bird immediately Following.

By flying in V formclrion the Whole Flock adds at least 71 % greater Flying Range, than if each bird Flew on its Own.

People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because

they are travelling on the thrust of one another.

When a goose Falls out of Formation it suddenly feels the Drag and Resistance of trying to go it alone and quick& gets back into Formation to take Advantage of the Lifting Power of the bird in front.

If we have as much sense as a goose we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are.

When the Head Goose gets tired it rotales back in the Wing and another goose flies Point.

It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs . . . with people or with geese flying south.

Geese honk from behind to Encourage those up Front to keep up their Speed.

- What do we say when we honk from behind?

Finally , . . and this is Important . . . when a goose gets Sick, or is wounded by Gunshots, and fals out of Formtion,

two other Geese fall out with that goose and follow if down to lend Help and Protection.

They stay with the Fallen Goose until it is able to Fly or until it Dies and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another Formation

to catch up with their Group.

If we have the sense of a goose we will stand by each other like that.

Source Unknown

-- -

with domestic production. Why buy And why stop there? According to Chinese when many of our welfare the ministry of finance, people aged families have perfectly serviceable 80 to 84 cost an annual average of infants for would-be adoptive $16,000 apiece in health care alone, parents? Even Adolf Hitler allowed while the 85-plus crowd consumes the more ~ryan-appearing Polish and almost $30,000 each. Hmm, I Ukrainian babies to be raised in wonder what Swift would have proper Germanic households. And as proposed for the octogenarian set. for any remaining children, well, as BY the way, S ~ i f t ' ~ modest Dean swift suggested, a sprinkle of proposal was a satire meant to lemon juice, a dash of paprika et denounce the callous public policies

. . voila, a new taste sensation is born of his day. Of course, 20th-century along with a final solution for Canada is far more enlightened than child poverty. Heck, we could even 18th-century Ireland, isn't it? U empty out the juvenile detention centres through special culinary treatment.

milton my main man one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen used to sing with the dominoes

carry a gun I walk down east hastings street know sam cooke to buy coffee at the army & navy store and I see my old friend james milton helped save my life beside an old white man saying hard truths who is making painfully slow progress sticking by me behind a walker 1 think of him tonight james tells me the old man my heart's got a major M p e was knocked down last week I feel like stabbing God with a knife in "broad daylight" but milton jumps into my head knocked down just about where we're standing and I can hear in front of the dodson hotel what he always said and robbed of all his money when 1 was twisted james has since been accompanying and came to him the old man "milton I got a problem" on his errands and before 1 could to protect him wail the details james is a very dark-skinned native indian milton said who recently became "lemme guess 25 years old somebody ain't doin and has been diagnosed what you want em to do with "full-blown aids" ain't that right?' james is a drug addict make me so mad and knows he will never live milton say that half the length of time forget other people the old white man want to flatten has been alive that milton cat

Bud Osborn Bud Osborn

There's nothing tastier than cn DOUGLAS BROOME came up with a modest proposal Vancouver Sun editorial writer startling in its simplicity: Eat 'em! ,

As Swift knew, you've got to be care- ;

T hank goodness for welfare recip- ful when presenting a new idea. For ients- about the only instance, slavery is generally held to group left to scapegoat. In the be a Bad Thing, while voluntary labor

Past, we had an abundance of people is one of the best things going. to disparage: blacks, aboriginals, Indeed, as the Fraser Institute so Jews, Ukrainians, Chinese. Japanese, eloquentlyargues, the onlything Irish, just about anything nowEnglish standing bemeen us and full employ- would do in a pinch. From this abun- ment is wages, a minor obstacle that dance of targets for contempt. we've could be overcome with voluntary la- been reduced to just the welfare bor. loungers. Canadians have given voluntary la-

And small wonder t h e ~ come in for bor that old maple-leaf try before - ridicule. After all, with every 18-year- when we rounded up single men in old new worker besieged by the Dirty Thirties and dispatched em~lo~ers l and every 50-year-old them to voluntary labor camps, albeit displaced worker swamped with job the hearwarmingvoluntarism of it all offers, these layabouts have nobody was somewhat diluted by the dime-a- to blame but themselves for their daycompensadon. voluntary unemployment. They'd China now uses voluntary labor rather live off the fat of the land in organized in country camps to pro- the form of their ludicrously duce everything from toys to tractors, generous $500-a-month welfare with beneficial results for both the na- benefits. tional accounts and the personal ac-

Fortunately, bashing welfare counts of communist cadres. So the recipients is one issue where our next time our political leaders honor political leaders are ahead of the one ,fthe visiting heroes who helped public. JOY MacPhail had the guts to calm that unfortunate Tiananmen cut $46 off the incomes of single disturbance, maybe we could ask for a welfare recipients to murmurs of few pointers on how to set up our own ,approval from her cabinet colleagues. work camps. Texas has talked

This was a tough act to follow but with Beijing about contracts to look Gordon Campbell was UP to the . after the lone star state's surplus pris- challenge, promising an extra $30 oners. reduction to prevent the province China also knows how to make from becoming a "destination resort," Drofits out of criminals without all which wasn't quite enough to get him ;his due process nonsense that clogs into the premier's office. Maybe he up our couns. Need a kidney or liver? should learn from President Bill Clinton, who signed a bill to take OM bullet equals crime welfare benefits down to zero for export earnings up. Since many of singles, which should keep the our welfare poor have perfectly good burgeoning U.S. prison industry well OrganSwe could stop this leakage stocked. Canadian dollars to China by

But try as they might, our harvesting some of those organs I politicians lack the panache of we've all paid into.

Jonathan Swift, the late, great dean And not the 3f St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. body parts, they sell whole babies to Confronted with the problem of Western families, another obvious rurplus Irish babies, the good dean case where we

Stop Blaming Youth for I> I

Unemployment

When Premier Glen Clark used the term "tough love" with regard to young men and women in British Columbia and the Youth Works Program, he was wrong. (BC To Youth, The Province, 1817)

Tough love is generally used in relation to delinquent children or adolescents who are out of control. The great majority of young people in BC are not out of control, and would give anything for a decent full-time job at a decent wage. It is wrong to scapegoat youth for the failed economic policies of the past two decades.

Our Premier's tough love remark trivialized the crisis of youth which has been documented for at least sixteen years. For example, in May, 1985, the BC Youth Forum Brief to the Special Senate Committee on Youth deplored high youth unemployment that created apathy, frustration and a loss of hope in the future. It stated, "Young people today are facing a crisis of existence." The Special Senate Committee on Youth

published its report in February, 1986. The Hon. Jacques Hebert, Chair of this committee, referred to young people in general as "a lost generation" and called for youth job creation projects. In spite of Senator Hebert's warning, the situation for youth in Canada continued to deteriorate.

Youth unemployment is twice the adult rate, and 70% of employed youth between the ages of 15

and 19 only work part-time. The proportion of young families living in poverty in Canada increased sharply from 28% in 1989 to 45.1% in 1994, and the poverty rate of families led by single-parent mothers under 25 is 90.2%. In the past, youth was a time of transition into

work, marriage and community. For many young people today, it has become a transition to nowhere. Unless the BC Government takes more responsibility for meaningfbl job creation, Youth Works will do little to brighten a grim future.

A society that condemns its citizens, and especially its youth, to unemployment, under- employment, drudgery and exploitative work will neither be just nor safe. "Forcing people into any kind of work, no matter how demeaning, will be ktile at best, destructive at worst." (Confronting Crime, by Elliott Currie, p. 1 17). In truth, it is our political and economic leaders who could use some tough love. If we don't provide decent jobs, decent wages

and healthy communities for young women and men, we will pay health and crime costs far exceeding anything we pay for social assistance and job creation. Also, we might learn from the animals who know that a species that doesn't care for its young will not survive.

By SANDY CAMERON

New World Order

starve off the poor and all will be wealthy let the sick die and all will be healthy safe in the comfort you work to deserve plug into the network; stay home and serve out in the wasteland drug fiends are berserk damned lower life forms simply don't work bloodthirsty hoards of degenerate thieves set them aside.. have 'em raked out like leaves good guys wear blue, gun on the side saddle up - those who know how to ride the villains are ruthless, cunning and cruel we need one and all, come dullard, come fool. on the horizon a great golden light the ones who are worthy, the ones who are right kneel down, shield your eyes, their beauty is blinding you're welcome 'nd blessed for not really minding breathe in the bubble, bread in the box nothing is said and everyone talks all vision is perfect, all hair divine all teeth pearly white and in perfect line food's always fresh when credit is good there's right and there's wrong just do what you should ask no more questions you'll hear no more lies sit back relax and close your eyes

Goblin

Apocalypse Now

On Thursday, August 1, the elevated platform on 125th Street and Broadway is crowded with p ~ p - le waiting for the subway. It is finally a sunny day. It should be cool to sit on the platform and read the paper while waiting for the train. But the head- line of The New York Times reads, "Clinton 'I o Sign Welfare Bill That Ends US Aid Guarantee and Gives States Broad Power," and instead of sun and busy people all I can see is the devastation that is sure to come. This is the story that the media did not convey.

The superficial and dishonest coverage of the provisions and likely impact of the welfare bill - with a few exceptions - is yet another example of the media's failure to inform the citizenry before it is too late.

With the announcement that he will sign the legislation, Bill Clinton has revealed himself ss the ultimate political whore, a man who stands fol nothing and lies down for anything. Listening to his pollsters and not his policy-makers, he did what was politically expedient. In so doing, he became the driving force behind the governmmt- sponsored destruction of community. It may Like a village to raise a child, but it takes only one immoral President to impoverish millions of t ?em. For the government to shift the responsibility, but

not the money, for welfare programs to the sktes and expect states to administer them adequateiy or fairly or, let's face it, intelligently, is absurd. Ilist- orically, the power of the federal government is necessary when the states will not do what is I ight. None of us should forget what the cry for "states' rights" meant for black Americans living in ths states of the old Confederacy before the Southern civil rights revolution of the fifties and sixties You can see a good chunk of Harlem from the el

platform on 125th and Broadway, a few blocks from where I live. It is a community populatecl by the poor, the working poor, the middle class. It is a community in which more than 250,000 peop!e, citizens and legal immigrants, receive some sort of government subsidy, fiom Supplemental Security

Income to Aid to Families with Dependent Child- ren, to food stamps and Medicaid. It is a commun- ity in a delicate balance, and it will be devastated by the impact of the welfare bill.

It is not just Harlem that will be cruelly affected but communities all over the nation. Those on the edge will either die or be shoved into the abyss of permanent economic exclusion. Those thinking they were moving away from the edge will be pushed onto it. The impact will be immediate on those most vulnerable: women, children, the eld- erly - but it will not stop there. Denied SSI benef- its, kicked off welfare after two years and told to frnd a nonexistent job, denied food stamps-- essentially told, You are expendable - few will roll over and die, disappear, just go away, as the House, Senate and President would prefer. Instead, they will do what any of us would do: survive by any means necessary. If that means stealing food from the supermarket, or hitting someone over the head on their way home from work for a few dollars, or breaking and entering, so be it.

I am terrified by what will likely happen. Here, we are already on the edge; there is no shoulder by the side of the road. Many of my neighbors are legal immigrants, long out of the workforce and sometimes pensionless, subsisting on SSI. Many are families with children, who receive food stamps or Medicaid because, even working a full- time job, they can't quite put enough food on the table or purchase health care. Some of the young women I can see coming outside with their babies

as soon as it gets warm receive A.F.D.C. Then there are all the other people who get no direct benefits from social welfare programs (although many, like myself, once did), but co-exist peace- fully with those who do - beneficiaries of the fragile state of grace that suggests we are our sisters' and brothers' keepers. That is what community is fimdamentally about. The welfare bill will destroy that state of grace.

In its place will come massive and deadly poverty, sickness and all manner of violence. People will die, businesses will close, infant mortality will soar, everyone who can will move. Working- and middle-class communities all over America will become scary, violent wastelands created by a government that decided it has no obligation to its neediest citizens. In such a landscape, each of us becomes either predator or prey. We'll all be fair game to one another, the ones who used to be our neighbors, back when we had a community. The bill does not signal simply the "end of

welfare as we know it" but the end of any idealistic notions of an America we thought could be. In stripping away society's supports for the weakest - whether children born in poverty, or young mothers in need of a leg up, or legal immigrants who came here in search of a better life, or unemployed workers in a time of record corporate profits and rampant downsizing - the government announces the death of a dream of America. Forget you heard the words written on the Statue of Liberty, written in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. All that is simply obsolete lip service. The only sound now is the death knell of any government-supported vision of an equitable, egalitarian America. Sitting on the el platform reading the paper, I

want to shriek, grab my neighbors who wait along- side me, thrust the newspaper in their faces, scream, "Have you read this? Do you believe this? We have to organize and do something!" Instead, I lean against the railing and look out over Harlem, prematurely nostalgic for the good old days of today, when things are bad enough, but inconse- quential in the face of what is to come. When the train finally pulls into the station, the screech of wheel against track could just as well be a national howl of pain as this odious bill squeezes the life out of us.

By JILL NELSON (*Ms. Nelson wrote this for August 26 issue of The Nation. She's author of Volunteer Wavery)

Dear Paul,

I can hardly believe it! Your note is dated May 3 1 st and hear it is already September. Thank you for telling me about your illness* and

hospitalisation, particularly because the time in hospital had such a beneficial effect.

I have followed Downtown Eastside events in the Carnegie Newsletter and been impressed by the way the various people's groups have combined on major social issues, while continuing action on each one's specific concerns. The blocking of the City's plan to build lO'xl2' boxes (smaller than horse stalls, it seems to me) to re-house people from the present atrocious pub/hotels is a great achievement.

I enclose a donation to the Newsletter and one to DERA, whose move to a better location and space on Carrall Street I fully intended to support by coming to the gala opening. I cannot now recall why I couldn't get there. Anyway - congrats are in order. I shall certainly keep in touch.

Respectfully and with love,

Bea Ferneyhough

(*Bea is a great lady - her age is now past 90 and ;

she is a former board member of DERA with a 'long record of political involvement over the last 70-odd years. Live forever Bea!)

DOWNTOWN ST0 CLINIC - 219 Main; Monday - Friday, 10a.m. - 6p.m. EASTSIDE NEEDLE EXCHANGE - 221 Main; 9a.m. - 8p.m. everyday YOUTH Needle Exchange Van - on the street every night, 6p.m. - ACTIVITIES 2p.m. (except Mondays, 6p.m. - midnight

\Vlll/ 13/ - $2 0 Lillian 11. -$25 Surlya S. -$I00 Kettle F.S. - $ I 6 flazel M. $10 Joy 'I'. -$I0 Bea I:.-$30 Frances -$SO Charley -$25 Libby D. -$40 GUY M. -$20 Tom D.-$17

Lorrie 'I'. -$20 Me1 L.-$17 S a r a D.-$20 c c m 4 2 0 Susan S. - $ X U DEYAS -$I00 13rigid R. -$SO Amy E.-$20 Rene F.-$50 Kay F.-$15 Anonymous $67 Sam R.-$35

THE NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION

Articles represent the views 01 individual contributors and not of (he Association.

Submission Deadline for the next issue:

NEED HELP? The Downtown Eastside Residentsq Association can help you with:

* any welfare problem "information on legal rights "disputes with landlords *unsafe living conditions *income tax *UIC problems *finding housing "opening a bank account

Come into the Dera office at 425 Carrall St. or phone us at 682-0931.

DERA HAS BEEN SERVING THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE

FOR 23 YEARS.