MAY 1, 2013

ca rn news@shaw.ca carnnews@vcn.bc.ca www.carnnews.org

Town Hall meeting4

What•s happening to our housing in the DTES?

Learn about CCAP•s housing research

• What has gentrification done to hotel room rents?

• Brainstorm about what we can do to stop the rent increases

Tbunday May gm, ·3 to 5 PID Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main Street

Gentle Readers: Snacks I In the February 1st edition of the Newsletter _there_ was an article written by Dave Diewert, expressmg h1s outrage ~nd disgust in a bold presentation on the website of the Sequel 138 developer Marc Williams. There for the public's edification was the apparent business relationship indicating the wholesale support of this project by that champion ?f ethic~! investment, Vancity. The statement had Vanc1ty offenng lo~­interest mortgage loans for prospective b~yer~, m_ what Dave was righteously detailing as v1~latmg ·~ almost every respect Vancity's moral & ph•losoph1cal foundations. As a proponent and active member of the ~T~S Not For Developers Coalition, Dave held up th1s b1zarrc turnabout of a 'friend & support ' of many aspects of our community to ridicule and scorn. There was no explanation for this betrayal. . The following letter was sent in response to an ·~em­

by-item appraisal of conflicts this stand by Van_c•ty presented to the ethics and m_oral courage reqLII~ed of it in supporting our commumty. Lo and behold 1t was all a "misunderstanding" (so far) on the part of Marc Wi lliams. He did, in fact, use Vancity's name and reputation to further hisself- interest_ in profi_t. There was no authorization given by Vanc1ty for h1m to use

that institution as a shi~ld fo-r his -n~fa;ious activities, to somehow lend justification for his violation of every precept of decency and his moral turpitude. 'Twas hoped that legal action by Vancity against Williams would tnsue. Near the end of April, another salvo commenced as contact was made with both the director of Carnegie and the president of the Board by Vancity. Pressure was mounting, due to the "false flag" operations of unscrupulous business interests who'd manufactured scenarios of seeming support, by Carnegie through the Carnegie Community Action Project, of violent and unlaqwful actions - damage of property, theft of a missing sign, verbal & physical assaults against upstanding citizens. Vancity now wanted a retraction of statements made by Dave in the Carnegie News-

1 letter. The chronological line is entirely defensible, and the words of both Dave Diewert & Gena Thompson are sufficient to acknowledge Vancity's concern while quietly sure that no conscious error or malicious intent was in evidence. Rather than a retraction. editor eagerly awaits confirmation of legal act: against Williams and his Sequel 138 for fraud, ana will immediately publish a laudatory article on Vancity's behalf.

Respectfully, PauiR Taylor

city March 20, 20 13

The DTES Not For Developers Coalition C/0 Dave Diewert and Jean Swanson

Dear Dave and Jean,

Vanc• ty Centre ;113 Tcr~' ,,. d ,\v· 1 1..~

t'O 13cx 2120. 5'1Lm Tt>rnt r·,J '/ar,~;)..;V!H 3C V6S 5R8 T 6C·1 Bl / /COO v:mciry.cor:1

Thank you for your recent letter to the Van city Board, expressing concern about the rate of change and develop­ments in the Downtown Eastside, and specifically about the development at 138 East Hastings. The Vancity Boarc takes your concerns very seriously and has asked me to share with you some of what we are doing.

First of all , let me assure you that Vancity has not invested in Sequel 138. There was some miscommunication by the developer, who had attached our logo to his project without our knowledge. We have since asked the develope to take down our logo, which he has done. In addition, Vancity is not financing the development. We are providin members with the option to obtain a mortgage from Vancity and wi ll hold the rate until the construction of the pre jcct is complete. Other financial institutions are providing the same service.

Second, we want you to know that we are working on an overview of how and when we invest in this community to ensure we are making positive investments that both respect the needs and aspirations of' the residents, and also find the best opportunities for economic supports to bring new infrastructure, including new housing, into the community. We understand the concern about the rate of change in the neighbourhood.

Third, we are committed to the Poverty Reduction Coalition priority goals of calling for 2,000 new units of social housing per year, and for the Province to increase the number of supported housing units for people with mental health and/or addiction issues. CCAP has made a very important distinction between the need for more social housing and the need for low-income housing that is affordable and accessible for people living on constrained incomes; we appreciate that important distinction.

Dave and Jean, we hear your concerns and understand this is a complex area, with many different stakeholders an• voices at the table. We are committed to being a responsive credit union that invests back in community for posi­tive impacts, and we look forward to sharing the results of our staff review with partners such as CCAP and other: in the near future.

'Sincerely,

VU\KVINGS <CREDIT UNION I

Rick Sielski Acting Chief Executive Officer

cc Vancity Board of Directors

So just to be clea r, I wrote the piece that appeared in the Newslette r o n Jan 17,201 3. It was revised and edited on Jan 26, 2013 and this revised vers ion was printed in the DT East (Feb edition). The information about the nature of Vancity's par­

ticipation in the Sequel138 project was lifted entirely from the Sequel 138 website. I was careful to stick closely to the statements, claims and wordino that b

appeared on the Sequel138 website. Since the web-site existed in the public domain and (ostensibly) provided information on the project, I assumed that what was said about Vancity's involvement was cor­rect and approved by Vancity staff.

lt is worrisome, though not surprising, that Marc Williams of Sequel138 did not have the financial institution's authorization to state its involvement in the project in the way he did, and once we alerted Vancity to it, they asked him to remove it. Rather than demand a retraction from the Newsletter or the DT East, Vancity should consider disciplinary action against Sequel138 Development Inc. for its misrep­resentation of them to the public, especially the DTES community. The provision of misinformation on our part was not wilful, though it might have been avoided by check­ing the information with Vancity directly, and given Marc Williams' track record on such matters, we should have double checked the claims of his web­

site. According to Senior VP of Business Development,

Member and Community Engagement, who spoke with Hunger Strike activist Dave today, Vancity does not partner with Sequel138 and does not di­rectly support the project in any way financially. lf one of Vancity's members wanted to arrange a mort­gage for purchasing a condo in Sequel138, they would consider it from a strictly financi a l point of view, as they would if the mortgage were for any other housing. That's my understanding .

What baffles me is that CCAP is under such severe public duress with repeated threats of funding cuts because of the strong anti-gentrification work that it does, while problematic developers like Marc Wil­liams operate outside the radar of public critique or scrutiny, and receive support from the City (Devel­opment Permit approval) and the Province (low­interest loans). It's truly disturbing.

Dave Diewert

. Carnegie Community Centre Association (CCCA) IS a grassroots organization that supports programs at the Carnegie Community Centre and works to oive vo i_ce to low-income Downtown Eastside (DTES) rest dents. Our board of directors is elected democ­ratically and represents some 5000 members of the Carnegie Centre.

There has been considerable confusion in the med ia and in the public eye about our project, the Carnegie Community Action Proj ect (CCAP), and its role in the various anti-gentrification actions currently un­derway in the DTES. We formed CCAP 17 years ago to be a research & advocacy organization whose goal is to track the real effects of poverty and gentri­fication on low-income DT ES people, and to seek to protect and expand the assets and tenure of the low­income community in the neighbourhood. At th core of this work at present is CCAP's 20 10 document "Assets to Action: Community Vision for Chang~ in the Downtown Eastside" and the 12 key actions the report identified after collecting the stories and views of over 1200 DTES residents. CCA~, its few employees, and numerous volunteers, occas tonally plan and execute protest actions in sup­port of the 12 key actions. These actions come from the grassroots, str~et level, straight from the minds of low-income people living in the Downtown Eastside and have the complete support of the CCCA. Re- ' cently, some ne ighbourhood protests have been at­tributed to CCAP which they have not organized. CCCA ~ndorses Homeless Dave's hunger strike, along wtth numerous commun ity organizations in­cluding the Union ofBC Indian Chiefs, but had no role in organizing it. Other actions, which have in­cluded smashing windows and stealing private property, are completely outside ofCCCA's mandate from the community and go against our non-violent values, yet have been wrongly linked in the media with CCAP and its organizers.

CCCA supports the democratic right to protest.

Sincerely, Gena Thompson, President, CCCA

ELECTIONS. OF BOARD

CARNEGIE CENTRE COlVI~IUNITY ASSOCIATION

NOlVIINATIONS FOR BOAH.D MElVIBEHS '\VILL DE IIELD AT THE BOARD MEETING

0~ "£HUI~SDAY, 1\tiAY 2;o..rn, 201:l

IN THE TIIEA TRl~ @ 5:30

5

TO RU~ FOR THE BOARD YOU lVIUST HAVE A CCCA lVIElVIBERSHIP CARD \>VITH A DATE NO LATER THAN 1\IIARCH 3nn, 2013 AND YOU

lVIUST BE PRESENT AT THE lVIEETING ON l\1A Y 2;o..rn

•:• IF YOU \>YANT TO NOMINATE SON'IEO:'\"'E AT THIS lVIEETI~G YOU lVIUST HAVE A lVIE1\1BERSHIP CARD \VITH A DATE NO LATER THAN APRIL 19'1'H, 2013

• TO RUN FOR THE BOARD YOU lVIUST HAVE VOLU~TEERED IN THE CARNEGIE FOR 30 HOURS DURING THE PAST YEAR

ELECTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS '-".ILL TAKE PLACE AT:

THE AN~UAL GE~ERAL 1\'IEETING ON THURSDAY, JUNE 6'~'11 , 2013

IN THE THEATRE@ 5:30

IN ORDER TO VOTE AT THIS 1\,1EETING YOU "MUST HAVE A 'MEMBERSHIP CARD WITH A DATE ~0 LATER THAN 1\IIA Y 24'~'11 , 2013

TI-lE CARNEGIE :"J'EEDS PEOPI~E Llli..E YOU!

I .

Hope In Shadows

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

What: 3-day photo contest, free to enter, cameras provided. No photo experience necessary.

When: Saturday June 1, 10:30 am. Pick up an official contest camera (150 available) . • First come, first-served.

Where: Pivot Legal Society, 121 Heatley (between Powell & Alexander. Close to Strathcona welfare office and Triage)

Contest theme: What I value in my DTES community

Contest is open only to DTES community members living on low fixed incomes. Each

contestant will get a free single-use camera. Enter your photos by returning your camera

to the Pivot office {121 Heatley) on Tuesday June 4, 11 am to 4pm. Each contestant will

get $5 cash when they return their camera+ copies of their photos.

Want more info? Come to a free info session at Carnegie (3rd floor classroom) on Tuesday,

May 21 , 3:30pm to 4:30pm, call 604-255-9701 or visit www.hopeinshadows.com

HOPE IN SHADOWS PI V OT P&rtmit,, uf our r:ommuniiJ

Private Security Guards and Your Rights

Guards cannot: • Issue tickets. • Demand that you move off public property. • Ban you from a neighbourhood, public

street or park • Take or destroy your belongings. • Press criminal charges.

Vancouver- Pivot Legal Society has produced a ""Know Your Rights" cards" for people interacting with private security guards. The publication of the cards comes after years of conflict between private security guards and marginalized people in Vancou­ver's Downtown Eastside. The cards will help resi­dents better understand their rights and what they can do when their rights have been violated.

The release of the cards comes at a time when the current contract for private security services in

'l Strathcona is up for renewal. Many res idents have expressed dissatisfaction with the way the current company, CSC Security, has handled their patrols.

"lt is important to remember that private security guards patrolling public property have no more rights than you or I do, and these cards aim to dispel some of the myths about the power security guards have" said Douglas King, staff lawyer with Pivot Legal Society. "Our hope is that the business im­provement associations will eventually realize that private security patrols on public property are a rec­ipe for disaster". Over the last two years, the community has raised

multiple concerns about CSC Security, many of which centre around the treatment of sex workers by private security guards. While the VPD has been proactive in drafting a policy designed to protect the safety of sex workers, private security firms have been accused of picking up where the police left off.

Jennifer Allan, who supports sex workers through her peer support group "Jen's Kitchen", commented "During the ten years I have been doing outreach with sex workers in the DTES one of the main bat­tles [ have seen women face is against abuse from private security guards. Security guards harass and abuse sex workers instead of helping them. They film and take pictures of women without permission and push them off public streets into secluded areas.

Private security treat sex workers even worse tha~ police do."

The rights cards, which will be made available throughout the province, provide the contact infor­mation for the Ministry of Justice, where people who

believe they have had their rights violated by private security can make a complaint. Recently, the Minis­try's investigators intervened and severed the license of a security guard found guilty of excessive force at Vancouver's Pacific Centre Mall. Pivot hopes the rights cards will encourage people to file more com­plaints and further engage the provincial regulator in addressing misconduct by private security guards. At the press conference announcing the release of

this card Pivot was joined by numerous community groups whose members have experienced harass­ment or violence at the hands of private security. They spoke about their experiences, and talked about alternatives to private security companies, including community based patrols which are currently oper­ated by the non-profit group Mission Possible

For more information contact: Douglas King (778) 898-6349, doug@pivotlegal.org Pivot- 121 Heatley Ave, Vancouver, BC V6A 3E9,

By propos ing a pathetically small rate increase of $20 per month, does Adrian Dix think that those of us on social assistance are a bunch of idiots? Or has Dix been possessed by the demonic spirit of Ralph Klein, the fascist former premier of Alberta who threw a pittance in coins at the people in an Edmon­ton homeless shelter then told them to get a job? Why did the NDP not ask Jagrup Brar, the MLA who tried to survive for a month on $610 a month, if this insultingly small increase would make a signifi­cant difference in the ability of a person to survive a month on social assistance? And by the time we start receiving it in a year's time, the landlords will have increased SRO rent by at least that much. Personally, I'm not voting in this BC election lest I look like a fool for agreeing with this joke of a rate increase.

Terry

Welfare, the NDP and Elections This is a story of welfare, the N.D.P. and four elec-

tions. In December 1975 B.C. held an election. In a huge

stadi um in Vancouver's east end, the opposition So-cial credit party gathered for a big rally. .

A short man w ith a five o'clock shadow on hts face came out on the stage. "Welfare," Bill Bennett said and the crowd went wild. The governing N.D.P. and their leader Dave Barett had raised welfare rates 40 per cent to about $140 a month for singles. {That's about $840 a month in to-day's values}.

Now Bill Bennett and his Socreds accused the N.D.P. of wasting taxpayers dollars on what they called "waste, welfare and bureaucracy". The Socreds won a massive victory in the December 1975 election and Bill Bennett, son of long-time B.C. premier W.A.C. Bennett went on to be premier for the next I 1 years. Bennett was surely no friend of welfare recipients.

Nearly 20 years later in 1993 the N.D.P. was back in power in B.C. But the Conservatives now ran Canada. They called an election in 1993 and were just about wiped out, as was the N.D.P. The right wing Reform party came in third and they were very ant i-welfare. The Reform party came in second in English Canada, but behind the sovereignist bloc Quebecois who only won seats in Quebec. The fed­eral Liberals won the e lection but they were scared ofthe Reformers. Led by Jean Chretien and guided by Finance Minister Paul Martin the Liberals s lashed social programs to the bone and beyond

They scrapped the Canada Assistance Plan that gave five rights to people on welfare. They threw half the unemployed off the unemployment insur­ance rolls. They fired 56,000 government workers and s lashed transfer payments to the provinces by a whopping 40 per cent. Norm Levi, Minister of Hu­man Resources in Dave Barrett's short-lived gov­ernment saw a change in the B.C. government back then. "The N.D.P. lost many seats in B.C. to theRe­form Party," Levi pointed out back then. "The Mike Harcourt government is certainly worried about the Reformers."

Premier Mike Harcourt, elected N.D.P. premier in 1991 bowed to the Reform Party conservatism. he put the tough Joy McPhail in charge of running wel­fare. McPhail cut welfare rates, limited the rights of

people on welfare, and -in the short term- saved Har­court's government millions of dollars. The New Democratic Party across Canada had now ended any commitment to helping people on welfare. The Sas­katchewan government of New Democrats Roy Ro­manow and then Dick Calvert were elected in the same year as the Harcourt New Democrats. They lasted in power from 1991 to 2002. Not once did they raise welfare rates.

In 2001 B.C. held another election. The governing N.D.P. was wiped out. The Gordon Campbell-led Liberals won 77 out of79 seats. Premier Campbell and his Minister responsible for welfare, Murray Coell, tried to throw 20,000 people off hand icapped allowance. Many of these people had been moved from straight welfare to disability status by the pre­vious N. D.P. government.

Moe Sihota, minister responsible for welfare in the late 1990's did something good for 20,000 or more welfare recipients. "Sihota got it right," a wei­

advocate said years later. "B.C. premier Mike . ..:ourt and his welfare minister Joy McPhail failed

on the welfare issue. " But Sihota, this advocate said, was a smart man helped people move from welfare to disability and therefore move from di re poverty to decent destitution.

"Sihota got th~ wei fare issue right." Campbell and his minister Murray Coell fai led in

their attempt to dislodge people off disability though they made it much harder for people to get on the disability rolls. So then they made it very hard to get straight wei fare. Result? Lots and lots of homeless people, I think.

But remember in the 2001 provincial election where the N.D.P. was decimated, two ridings stayed faithful to the N.D.P. namely Vancouver Mount Pleasant which includes the Downtown Eastside, and Vancouver Hastings. In both these ridings live thou­sands of people who were on welfare or unemploy­ment insurance. They voted for the N.D.P. even though the N.D.P., apart from Moe Sihota, had done nothing for them, and didn't plan to do anything for them in the future.

Now in 20 13 there's another election but N.D.P. Adrian Dix said a day or so ago in effect, "we will raise welfare rates $20 a month nqt now but in two years time."

I'm not surprised. The N.D.P. spends all its time

wooing the rich, the middle class and the conserva­tives in the working class. I call the N.O.P. 'The new Liberal Party." a man I know calls it "the D.N.P.' or the 'Do Nothing Party'. "People on welfare should expect nothing from the N.D.P.,' says another wel­fare advocate. "They will do nothing for the people on welfare."

By Dave Jaffe

It started way back when I was young always feeling like I had no one, had no respect for my family and my mum until finally she said one day that she was done, it was time that I got my shit together and I moved in with my grandfather for a time in my life someone was there but then his wife said we can't have him here, for the second time l was on my own not caring about anything until I was told it's not your fault kid give it another chance, so I started go­ing to school and I made a few friends and there were a couple kids who downed on my past so I held my ground and started kicking their ass, I started fighting every s ingle day" until these kids had nothing to say, but maybe it was time to face the facts that I wasn't perfect and my pace was too fast but I would­n't believe it and then one of my brothers said I was worthless I freaked the fuck out and grabbed the closest knife to this day I can't believe that I would of took his life for the third time I was alone so 1 moved in to a group home, for a while there I was doing really good until I made some different friends and started hanging in the wrong hood, it was from that point on where it went downhill moving home to home and never understood, that I can't do this shit my entire life but I didn't give a fuck I j ust wanted to get high, but one day I started to cry I phoned my mother and she said it was time I agreed with her, thinking about what she was going through knowing that her son had some work to do, so I made some calls and started to get clean, and now I'm in treat­ment getting my life on track and it makes me happy that my mom's getting her son back so 1 wrote this song throwing away all my shitty years but now on this day I'm clean forever and I thank my treatment center for helping me get my life together

Jeff Holhbein

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum,

and, like the group it portrays, breaks all the rules. 9 This documentary about the Mental Patients Asso­ciation (MPA) publicly premieres at the Cameoie Community Centre on May I I. There will be t~o back-to-back screenings: the first at 4:00 pm with a panel discussion after, the 2"d at 6:00. Both are free.

MP A was founded in the early 1970s as a reaction to the dehumanizing experience many faced when they came out of mental hospitals.

Unabashedly political, MPA was an advocacy and prote~t organization as well as a support group . They recla1med the words used as slurs against them. MPA's "mad pride" philosophy was unfathomable to the psychiatric mainstream. But their approach worked. There was an awareness that mental health rights are strongly connected to other social j ustice issues. ·'JvlPA was very consciously modelled on the women's rights and gay rights movements," said Lanny Beckman, the group's original instigator. "And had the same goal: liberation." But with less visible victories than those groups, history has for­gotten the early mad movement.

The film is a blend of interviews, animation and original music. Forty two years after its creation, MPA's story is be ing told.

Volunteer of the Year: Paul Taylor

VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION WEEK 2013

J

Special Merit Award: Marilyn Baker Special Merit Award: Brad Hurlburt

Special Merit Award: Garnet Wiens Special Merit Award: Darwin Stevens

Presentation to Communications Energy and Papenvorkers BC Provincial Council (27/4/13) by Gene McGuckin, CEP Local 1129 (Retired) I\ .

Good morning, sisters and brothers. lt 's been just over six years since I found myself in a CEP crowd like this. Last time, in this very room, 1 was a delegate for Local 1129 at the Pulp and Paper Wage Caucus.

So, how did l get here today? Well the answer is kind of a story, a story that started last January 14 on a cold, sleet ing Monday night in Vancouver. I was walking in the middle of a downtown street' with I I 00 other people. We were on our vvay to the Wall Centre, just up the block here, to protest the phony Joint Review Panel hearings on the En bridge's Not1hern Gateway Pipeline from the Alberta oil patch to Kitimat.

As we walked - marched - I noticed there was no visible union presence in th is crowd of committed, progressive Ca­nadians trying to democratically shape our future. And then I thought of the other times in recent years that I'd missed seeing unions at progressive protests and rallies.

I remembered the 5,000 protesters outside the opening ceremonies for the 20 I 0 Olympics, a event that transferred $6-10 billion from public coffers into corporate hands. While the governments donating our tax dollars continued making

· vicious cuts to programs for the sick, the elderly, children at risk, the poor, etc. Anther necessary cost-saving measure involved tearing up collective agreements, firing thousands of health care workers, and tuming their work over to non­

. union contractors. T also recalled the Occupy movement, when hundreds of thousands around the world almost spontaneously erupted,

opposing the econom ic and political stranglehold on our world by the super-rich. Opposing the very corporations that unions oppose across bargaining tables, on picket lines, and at the ballot box. To the several thousand "occupiers" across BC and Canada, some verbal and monetary support did come from unions. But union members were not a significant, visible part of the occupations.

Then there have been the numerous actions of Idle No More, another near-spontaneous continent-wide series of protest actions against proposed oil and gas pipelines, against Stephen Harper's anti-democratic omnibus bills. Against, specifi­cally, the parts of those now-enacted laws that endanger all our futures by scrapping page after page of environmental protections (some of them a century old). And, yes. Idle No More actions have also protested and continue to protest unjust treatment of First Nations by govern­ment. As well they should since we can see a pattern of confl ict not unlike the one we're more familiar with when corpo-• rations and governments attack unions. The bosses and their political puppets aim to crush unions because we block their unchecked profiteering in our workplaces. They aim to crush First Nations because they block environmental ly destructive profiteering by controlling or laying claim to large tracts of resource-rich land.

Again, some good verbal support for Idle No More from CEP, CAW, CUPW, and CUPE. A nice media shot ofCEP President Dave Coles with hunger-striking Chief Teresa Spencer on the frozen Ottawa River behind the Parliament Buildings. But again, at least in the actions l 've attended, no appreciable visible presence of union members. So, why are union members not part of these struggles? Not long ago we were leading such fights. (Now, these observa­

tions are based on Vancouver. Maybe they don't apply to the rest of the province. If that' s true, it would make my heart glad to hear about it.)

As mentioned, some of these struggles have received strong support from some of our union leaders, Brother Coles prominent among them. But that's not the same as seeing dozens or hundreds or thousands of union members in their union hats and coats and shirts, banners and flags flying,

At this point, people I meet in various struggles, especially young people, think unions are pretty much irrelevant. They don't even question why unions are absent. They don't think unions matter.

So, T was worried about this separation between unions and progressive struggles for two main reasons. First, because T

d1ink the strength of unions can be extremely important, decisive even, in gaining ground in some of these struggles. But second, I was concerned, because all kinds of corporate and government attacks coming down on unions are based

on bosses' and their pet government politicians' telling the genera l public that unions and union members are better off than most people, unfairly better off. They say that we're too rich, that we don't deserve the wages and benefits and pen­sions we' ve won by "ganging up on" employers, and ignoring people who aren't in our gang. Really, they portray us as acting like gangs and rising above regular folks by unfair means.

So, if you're NOTa union member, don't worry when they tear up contracts as the BC Lie-berals did to healthcare workers in 2002 and Ontario !,-ie-berals did to teachers just recently. Don' t shed cry if pro-business governments legis-

late strike-breaking and impose contracts- as Harper Tories have done to postal , airline, and rail workers. And don ' t even blink when union-busting, right-to-work laws come north from the U.S. - begun with the passage of Bill C-377 in the I louse of Commons last December.

I think you get the point. When we're attacked, we expect our friends and allies to come to our support, people we ' ve stood shoulder-to-shoulder with , people we ' ve s upponed in their struggles and in the battles we share an interest in win­ning. But if we've iso lated ourselves, then what? Of course, even if you agree with that point, it doesn' t mean you agree that CEP members should be more involved in

the rall ies and marches I' m talking about. Which brings me back to the story. You see, after I got a ll wonied about unions being separated from progressive struggles I started raising it with every

trade unionist I ran into. One of whom was Sister Andrea McBride - near the meat section of our local Safeway. She suggested I e-mail her a proposal for a 20-minute presentation to this Provincial Council Meeting? This was a totally unexpected, but very welcome, chance to bring my concerns to you and through you to our sisters and brothers prov­ince-wide.

But it was also much more than that. Completely unknown to me at the time, it was a suggestion that has changed my life. Because I now had to go and read up on the anti-pipelines/anti-tankers movement and the Idle No More movement, so I could sound more like I actually know what I'm talking about today.

f first found out how consistently Brother Coles has been writing all over the internet & speaking al l over North Amer­ica against the proposed Northern Gateway and Keystone XL pipelines. He and other CEPers have a lso forcefully voiced the need to halt climate change. l discovered CEP is one of two unions al lied with environmentalists in Blue Green Canada. And I read the many informative documents on the CEP website opposing pipelines and climate change, and calling for a national energy strategy. A lot of what's in those website documents harmonizes with what I'm going to te ll you, especia lly CEP's slightly outdated but still highly impressive 2008 Energy Policy.

But... that wasn't the life-changing part. • Elsewhere on the internet, as I read up on pipeline spills, I remembered the reports in recent years about the Enbridge

spill into a Michigan river, and then the two spills in Alberta, and then the spill in Wisconsin, and then the spill a few kilometres from my own residence in North Burnaby, the Arkansas spill earlier this month .. . damn, there's been a lot of them. Leaving aside the other pipeline corporations, En bridge alone, from 2000 to 20 I 0, had 720 spills onto land and into water, totaling 132,7 15 barrels of oil. • And how about the tanker spills? How about hundreds of them each year, some stretching from here to the back door ol

St. Paul' s Hospital ' s, squeezing in and o ut of the Pon of Vancouver, in and out o f the Pon of Kitimat, winding through the stormy, narrow, twisty channels a long the BC coast?

When- not if - there is a major spill , there will be irreparable damage to the ecology of the turbulent seas and jagged shore lines. But the dollar cost wi ll also be humongous. According to Robyn Allan, former president and CEO of the Insurance Corporation ofBC and former senior economist at BC Central Credit Union, there isn't an existing insurance package that pays enough to cover the clean-up costs. So who pays? Guesses?

Finding out about the particularly dirty and hard-to-c lean-up properties of tar sands oil - diluted bin1men or dilbit­made the spill stories and stats even more worrisome. Thirty miles of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan is still fouled with dilbit, 33 months and nearly one billion dollars worth of clean-up costs later.

But none of that was life-chang ing. In my research I checked the supposedly "rigourous" environmental assessments of Northern Gateway by the Joint Re­view Panel. Its membership stacked with pro- industry appointees, the rule change giving federal cabinet the final say, the outcome of revealed two months before the panel's l:irst hearing with the Tories' unveiling their proposed legislation.

Far from life-changing, however, all that just confirmed what 1 already expected from transnational corporations and their government lapdogs.

Nor did my life turn over when I discovered more and more about the huge inter-national opposition that is growing to the proposed p ipelines, to tankers and to the increased use of tar sands oil they would guarantee. Protests, often leading to arrests, across Canada and the US, grandmas locking themse lves to excavators in Texas, First Nations warrior camps set up in the paths of proposed pipelines in northern B.C. and southern Oklahoma. Motions adopted by municipalities; Hundreds testifying at hearings against pipelines; Educational materials be ing put together and brought into schools by the students themselves; Court cases filed by private citizens; Campaigns on University and college campuses to get

schools to disinvest from fossil fuel companies; Even a California billionaire pledging millions to block construction of Keystone XL.

And finally, I was not knocked sideways by the numerous lies and scams !learned of. Not just the disappearing islands on the Enbridge map of Douglas Channel out of Kitimat. Or the company's ridiculous claim that dilbit spills are no more difficult to clean up than any other kind of crude oil.

But also about the economics of bringing the world's dirtiest oil to tidewater and then to foreign markets. As it turns out, oceans of tar sands oil, flowing to China would not lower our fuel prices or enrich us through jobs and

tax revenues. Rather, because all our domestically produced oil would trade at world prices, it would create a "price shock" bumping up our vehicle and home heating costs, raising energy expenses for manufacturing and shipping, and making only some obscenely wealthy corporate honchos even richer.

As federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair has pointed out (to cries of"traitor" .from right-wing hacks) the production and sale of tar sands oil is already driving up the international exchange value of the Canadian dollar and making other man­ufacturing exports (possibly including those from the now-shutdown mill I used to work in) too expensive for our for­eign customers. If di lbit sales triple in 10-1 5 years, as planned, so much the worse. Robyn Allan, claiming agreement with the Bank of Canada, the World Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and others, says it will boost inflation and interest rates and be a net killer of jobs- including well-paying ones.

1 could probably keep you here until next week ifl kept going, fleshing out what I've said with evidence and quotes, adding a huge pile of stuff 1 haven't said. But time is short, and I have to get to the part that changed my life.

That happened when I became more acquainted with the most important logic, or should I say the "eco-logic," behind the anti-pipelines, anti-tankers protests. I started reading about the science of climate change.

1 was boggled that no one had told me this stuff before. I mean I read a lot, so l ~new we were in for more big storms, some hotter weather creeping fut1her north, maybe some more drought in different places. Eventually. But I didn't know about the drastic forecasts and the urgent need for immediate action revealed by this science. And no, it isn't fringe Iuna­ti~ stuff. Though right-wing corporate billionaires like the Koch brothers pay people to dispute climate change, the sci­ence is actually agreed on by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, numerous professional societies of scien­tists, almost all national academies of science, the International Energy Agency, and an unusual, overwhelming majority of individual scientists (meteorologists, geophysicists, oceanographers, etc.).

Moreover, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have recently come out with statements on the need to "mitigate" climate change because it poses major "fiscal, financial, and economic" prbblems. The main US government auditor, the General Accounting Office, has put climate change on its list of the highest financial risks to the government and country. And even stockbrokers and bankers are starting to talk about a looming "carbon bubble." You'll want to check this out

because it potentially threatens our negotiated pensions. In shot1, stock values in fossil fuel companies are based on their assets, most of which are still in the ground. If governments become convinced of cl imate change dangers and start to make laws that keep those assets in the ground, trillions of dollars of stock value could disappear in a flash with dire impacts on the world economy- and on our pensions. So what's the deal? What does the science say? It says basically that we have to stop putting carbon dioxide into the air. We have to do this because C02 is the most

dangerous greenhouse gas causing the earth's atmosphere to heat up. And the C02 is not like pollution that we've learned we can fix by simply stopping putting it into the air. You do that with many pollutants for weeks or months or years, the amount in the air is reduced. With C02 though, it takes decades, maybe up to a century for the stuff already in the air to slowly diminish. So, we have to stop putting it in the air to begin with. The numbers? The scientists say the maximum amount of C02 in the air, which will allow us to (probably) avoid cata­

strophic climate warming is 350 parts per million. Unfmtunately, we are now, worldwide, at 395 parts per million and rising at an acce lerating rate. If we keep going the way we're going for another 20-30 years, we will be on track to have 650 parts per million before the end of the century.

How does that translate into temperature and other effects? 350 ppm means probably the average world temperature will rise 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. That causes what, indeed, we are already seeing with a rise of only .8 degrees so far: extreme storms like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy; serious droughts like those in two-thirds of the US last year, in Russia the year before, and in Australia right now; disastrous flooding in other places; multiplying crop fail­ures; the melting of arctic sea ice, and ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, resulting in rising sea levels and the ,

drowning of a few low-lying islands and coastal areas around the world; growing ocean warming and acidification (an­other effect of C02) which have already, since 1950, ki lled off 40 per cent of the world's phytoplankton, the bottom of the marine food chain and producers of half the world's oxygen, etc. Beyond 350 ppm, we approach what scientists call dangerous "tipping points," which will set in motion self-reinforcing

domino effects. Melting nor1hern tundra will release a hell of a lot of C02 and methane, a greenhouse gas that is 36 times as bad as C02. Solar heat once reflected back into space by polar ice will be absorbed by the darker, ice-free ocean. Forests that historically soaked up tons of C02 wi ll be killed by drought and fire. Etc., etc.

650 ppm means an average worldwide temperature hike of at least four degrees celsius, more likely six, a change not seen since the end of the last ice age 11 ,000 years ago. It also means the extinction of 40 to 70 per cent of all earth spe­cies, plant and animal.

Rising sea levels, possibly up to the front steps of this building, wi ll inundate major cities around the planet, submerge low-lying valley farmlands, and contaminate dwindling fresh water sources.

As temperate climate zones retreat toward the North Pole and South Po le, much of Asia and North America, the bottom half of Europe, and nearly all of Africa and South America will become vit1ually uninhabitable for humans. The billions displaced by these changes will move toward places like Canada and northern Europe. Fierce conflicts over disappearing survival necessities will like ly be the final experiences of most people. Obviously, civilization would collapse.

I have left out many descript ions of the results of c limate change in the last few paragraphs. I want to scare you into action, not paralysis. But 1 hope this information, and what you can find yourse lves, starting with the hand-outs I've pre­pared for you, will impact your lives as it did mine.

If I'm successful in this, l know I've created a dilemma for you, as members of CEP, a union with many members who want to keep making good wages and benefits off the tar sands. As a CEP member, l feel that d ilemma too. And it comes even closer, because I know if the tar sands shut down and the pipe lines aren't built, there are going to be a hell of a lot o f tradespeople in the coming years who are scrambling for a terrible few jobs, and my son is a 25-year-old millwright.

But, the science won't change because of any of tha t. The science says we have to start NOW to change the way we do pretty much everything, and that includes gearing up for launching who le new green industries with tens of thousands of well-paid jobs. We can't wait 20 years. What we do or don't do now will have effects in 20 years. If we don't start until then, it wil l be - a scary expression being used more and more these days- "game over for the environment."

And the most crucial thing the science says we must do ASAP, ASAP, ASAP is to start leaving as much carbon as pos­sible right where it is, in the ground. Another set of climate science numbers says that we have a global "carbon budget" that wi ll let us put another roughly 530 gigatons of C02 in the atmosphere before we hit the dreaded 2 degrees C global temperature increase. If current trends continue, we will blow through that budget fifteen years from now. Conventional crude, tar sands bitumen, natural gas, shale gas, coal - every bit possible must stay buried. Either that or tell our grand­children that they are going to have to pay a very severe price.

It's going to take all of us to figure out how to shi ft quickly to a non-carbon-based economy and overcome the greed­mot ivated corporations standing in the way. Many detailed ideas on what is needed are contained in the CEP's own En-

ergy Policy. There's also some stuff in the handout- green alternatives that are a lready being implemented in various places, others that are st ill just ideas or proposals.

I want to end by emphasiz ing that reining in climate change is not a just a cho ice we might find preferable. 1t is some­thing that must be done. It 's something that we have to do. We absolutely have to do it!

Thanks for hearing me· o ut. I'm looking forward to some lively discussion - and, 1 hope, to some fellow CEP members keeping me company at coming protests.

I STAND UP FOR COMMUNITY I

From the LibrarY Hello from the Library! We've been getting lots of

hot-off-the-press material and we hope you'll come have a look. While you're in, please say Hi to a cou­ple of new faces. Joanne will be replacing me as branch head for about 6 weeks, until the middle of June. On alternate Saturdays, you will see Ana Rosa here in the afternoons. Both of them are looking forward to being here at Carnegie.

Here are a few examples of books we've added to the collection: Speak peace in a world of conflict (Marshall B Rosenberg)

Marshall Rosenberg is an American psychologist & the creator of Nonviolent Communication, a process that helps people to exchange the information neces­sary to resolve conflicts and differences peacefully. He talks about conflict resolution is simple language, and gives many examples and stories based on his experience, and his contacts with world leaders. His belief that we can produce change through respectful and compassionate communication is inspiring. Hauntings (Ellen Datlow, ed.)

Datlow has collected some of the most disturbing & chilling ghost stories published between 1983 &20 12 Hauntings is a fine literary collection of award­winning short fiction. Modem literary masters such as Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates and Peter Straub expand the boundaries of the traditional ghost story with tales that are "strange, monstrous and exhilarat­ing, horrific and transformative ...... " The grand design (Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow)

Hawking and Mlodinow present an exploration of the latest thinking about the origins of our universe. T heir "scientific determinist" viewpoint on the Laws that govern the operation of the universe may offend readers with other belief systems. They do not make room for miracles, or Divine intervention. Complex subjects like String Theory, Quantum Physics and Relativity become accessible to the lay reader in a series of fast-paced chapters. The Rough Guide to Men's health. (Lloyd Bradley). The successful Rough Guide series has gone far

beyond its original focus on Travel guides, and takes on other undiscovered territory such as conspiracy theory, belly dancing, and now .... the health issues

specific to men. The "definitive body bible and life­style resource" uses the familiar s idebar and maga­zine style layout to bring the guys tips on the gym. the bedroom, weight loss, hair loss, and other kinds of losses we don't want to mention .... Clean: Overcoming addiction and ending Amer­ica's greatest tragedy. (David Sheff)

Sheff begins with the fundamental humanist view­point that "addiction is a disease, and one that is pro­gressive and chronic." His review of current think­ing on prevention & treatment seems well-researched and humane. Sheffs previous book "Beautifid Boy,'· the story of his family's struggle with his son Nic's addiction was named the best nonfiction book ofthe year by Entertainment Weekly. The book also won the Barnes & Noble "Discover Great New Writers Award" for nonfiction and was an Amazon Best Book of the Year.

Stephanie. your librarian

Finger on the trigger Silence to deliver Thoughts of something bigger Collapsing amidst confusion Drowning in delusion Comfort.is an illusion No source of substitution The world is crashing down upon me Crushing weight of my insanity Reflection of compulsive vanity Voices whisper from within the darkest corners Trapped within my minds own borders Run away as fast as you can Down the road that has no end Deafened by the laughter Of happily ever after Strung along by disaster Falling faster and faster The whispers begin to yell What they're saying r cannot tell Close my eyes tight As I realize where 1 fell When I open them again l'm in the depths of hell.

Sarah Faisy

Come along Walk with me Take my hand Where we begin Another journey On the road Called nurture and self acceptance

with me always seeing what I see you're never far From my side Hold my hand r know for sure m not alone l am comforted

I see your pain I hear you cry Tugs at my heart Gives me hope and the strength To understand I'm not alone I am comforted

Together we share The same hope Of quiet beauty And inner strength We are one and the same I'm not alone I am comforted

In your strength r feel strong On the road To love And self-acceptance Always trusting that I'm not alone I am comforted

Betty Ann Spinks

The History of the Resume Most of us often ask ourselves why do we want or

need money? It 's quite obvious to put food on our tables, put clothes on our backs, support our families & ch ildren, and ultimately to survive. Unfortunately, as long as free-market enterprise continues to have its way it is virtually impossible to obtain. On aver­age people usually submit numerous resumes per week to potential employers. However, the dynamics of it do not even out the playing field. Certainly for those who have academic credentials, solid work experience then great, you're in the game. But for those who have challenges, barriers to employment, or lack of skills and/or lack of work experience, then you' re just out of luck. The history of the resume dates back about 500 years, a lthough it couldn't have

been all that complicated back then. Up until the 1950's it was only utilized as a formality. Sadly. subsequently it became mandatory by most employ­ers. The fundamental problem in regards to the re­sume is that it's based on fierce, brute dog-eat-dog competition, where the strong survive and the weak perish. In my ostensible opinion it is nothing but a form of class ism at best and social apartheid at worst. It doesn't have to be this way if only employ­ers and governments were to find and create alterna­tive and progressive solutions to fast track people into the workforce and eradicate poverty once and for all. The disgraceful irony is that the less fortu­nate fall between the cracks of the welfare system, develop drug/alcohol addictions, end up in prisons, etc. And so it becomes a revolv ing door. The con­cept and philosophy of the resume is to secure the ind ividual an interview and finally a job. Competi­tion is excellent in the field of spor1s, such as soccer, basketball , football, boxing al l the way to board games such as poker, chess and checkers. lt defi­nitely should not apply in the work force. As long as the spirit of greed continues to thrive and as long as our elected representatives continue to enable it, nothing is going to change. It's totally reasonable and understandable that no one can walk into a hos­pital, or educatiqnal institute and say "may I become a doctor, engineer or scientist" for that matter, it simply entai Is intense and stressful amounts of edu­cation and tra ini ng. Given the circumstances, restau­rants, coffee shops and retai l stores wouldn't deny its customers service based on their background, their hair color, skin co lor and so on. This resume situa­tion has gotten so out of hand over the years that it is only a matter of time when employers will want the history of your ancestors, even DNA. It's so prepos­terous. Only in developed countries does this form of injustice and prejudice exist. What I propose is a three-point system to solve the problem: a.) Gov­ernments work with the private sector to create entry level jobs in fields such as law, social work, in vari­ous types of government jobs. b.) create incentives for volunteer work which can lead to paid work. c.) Hire people based on their skills . Then and only then can we all live in a fair and egalitarian society based on the person's needs rather than anti-social Darwin society where only a small percentage enjoy the wealth and the rest are forced to fend for themselves.

By Nick Scard illo

shared living room * community space * social justice resource hub movement-building centre * venue for critical discussions * forum for important voices catalyst for resource- and information-sharing * classroom for mutual learn ing * cafe

April IS, 2013 Dear Friends-

It is with both sadness and gratitude that we write to you to te ll you that we've made the difficult decision to close Rhizome by mid-July, 2013.

For the past seven years, Rhizome has been our home, and you have been our family and community. Together, we' ve created a particular kind of magic in this space, one that has allowed us to develop our collective resistance to injustice, and to imagine and build a better world together. We've developed relationships that co uldn't have been forged elsewhere, and we've created a shared home where many of us have been able to take root. It pains us tremendously that this part of the journey is coming to an end, yet we hope that together we will find ways to en­

sure that these connections are able to live on.

Our reasons for this decision are multifold. Most importantly, we've decided that we need to have time and en­ergy to focus on other things that we also care deeply about: our family who are elsewhere in Canada and the U.S., and the social justice struggles that we are a part of in the U.S. and beyond. Despite these challenges, we know that this project that we started seven years ago has been a tremendous success. We hope that our last three months at 317 East Broadway will be a time for us to celebrate and enjoy what we have built together, and to strategize about how the best of Rhizome can live on in Vancouver. With those goals in mind, we'd like to invite you to do the following: Hold one last event at Rhizome! If your group would like to hold an event at. Rhizome sometime in the next three months, please contact us (lisa@rhizomecafe.ca) ASAP. We'd like to prioritize groups with whom we've had long relationships as we fill these last slots on our calendar. Talk with us about legacy. Please join us on Thursday, June 13111

, at 7pm for a discussion on how Rhizome's val­ues, vision and programming can live on in other spaces. Celebrate with us! Please join us for a celebration and open house farewell on Sunday, June 22nct (ironically, the exact anniversary of Rhizome's opening, seven years ago.) We'll have performances throughout the day, ending with a community supper and program from 5:00-lO:OOpm. Details TBA. Help us make this transition . Become a Friend of Rhizome- or hold a fund raiser-to help us pay off Rhizome's

debts and ensure that the dedicated and talented Rhizome staff wi ll have good severance and the support they need to find new work. Help us find a buyer to take over the rights to the lease, the equipment and other e lements of the business. We hope that we will be able to find someone who can ensure that this space continues to be a warm and welcoming one. lfyou know anyone who might be interested, please contact lisa@rhizomecafe.ca. There are no words to express our gratitude for all that you have done in and for this space. Our lives have been enriched in countless ways through our collaborations with you, and we have been endlessly inspired and ener­gized by your creativity, vision and commitment. Though it may lie dormant for a while, Rhizome will sprout up again, albeit in a different location. As Carl Jung put it, "Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. Its true life is invisible, hidden in the rhizome . The part that appears above ground lasts only a single summer. What we see is the blossom, which passes. The rhizome remains."

With love and gratitude, and in struggle,

Lisa and Vinetta

Flamenco Dance Workshops with Kelty McKerracher at

Carnegie Community Centre!

Fridays May 3, 10, 17, 31 and

June 7, 14 2pm- 4:30pm

Carnegie Theatre

Want to move your body in a new way, build self-confidence, and stomp around a bit? Come and learn Flamenco, the fiery dance from Southern Spain! We will learn to express ourselves through the exciting and proud tradition of flamenco music,

dance, and rhythm. No dance experience necessary, just curiosity and a desire to try something new. Open to all genders and ages. Look forward to seeing you there -

Ole!

2- 3:15pm This will be an introductory class in the art ofBulerias and Solea. Solea means 'solitude' and is a slow, deep and emotional dance, while Bulerias 'por fiesta' is faster and usually danced 'for a party'! These two forms are considered by many to be the heart of flamenco. We will focus on rhythm and palmas, postura, and working towards dancing in the centre of the circle. New and experienced students welcome.

3:15 - 4:30pm In this class, we will create an ensemble flamenco choreography using movement that is inspired by the poetry of our own lives. Within the rhythm and tradition of Solea, participants will have a chance to help shape the piece that \Vill eventually be presented at Barrio Flamenco in November. Please note: participants who wish to be part of this process must be able to cotrunit ro all 6 of our

classes . Participants are in'.rited but not required to perform the choreography.

Thank you to Face the World Foundation for their generous donation.

A FJ'ieml

I went to the hospital often, using the Skytrain. I'd read the Bible to him. One day I went and the nurses made me wear a mask and gown. I told my friend not to give up .. to pray every night. One Sunday I went for services at the Longhouse. I asked Pastor Barry to pray for my fr iend and he

said, "He's right behind you."

Many years ago I used to drink rice wine with my fri ends. My friend went to the General Hospital for that and my Unc le Bill got me into a treatment centre connected to YGH. l was liv ing in Port Coquitlam.

I turned and looked, recognising my friend; he'd lost so much weight. Later on he went back to Sas­katchewan and never drank again.

I be lieve in prayer. Marlene Wuttunee

AN EVENING OF

RAGTIME AND JAZZ

WITH JIM RADLOFF

WEDNESDAY, MAY grH, 7:00PM

CARNEGIE THEATRE Jim is bringing his love of ragtime and jazz to communities across the United States and Canada -as a retirement project. He concentrates on tunes of the Ragtime, Classic Jazz, Vaudeville, Prohibition War time and Great Depression eras. He is the founder of the Eau

Claire Ragtime Festival which donates funds to local non-profits. In 2009 he received the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation Award.

Jim is visiting Vancouver from Wisconsin and has kindly offered to provide this free concert at Carnegie.

See you there! For further information: Michael Clague- mclague@telus.net

To OUR MARLENE Marlene

You are my special friend . You inspired me in many ways. I'm going to miss you a lot. You are like a s ister to me.

Hope you have a wonderful retirement.. keep in touch and take care oflsabella for me. Love you!

All my re lations, Bonnie Stevens

Marlene George is Retiring

Fourteen years ago, the Carnegie Seniors Support Group welcomed a wonderful lady to work as the Seniors Programmer. Throughout those years she worked tirelessly to provide a good qual ity of life to its members.

The Support Group was able to purchase 2 vans to take seniors on out-trips a few times a month. T he Group also helps support the Volunteer Camping Trips, which are very expensive.

Seniors with eye problems are given glasses for free, with the sponsorship of the optical company. The Group donates to assist the Annual Women 's Memorial March; The Smudge, the aboriginal elder's magazine; the Carnegie Newsletter, the Christmas parties, etc.

Occasionally health-care professionals are invited to talk about healthcare issues. The Seniors executive meetings, the monthly mem­

bers' meetings and the annual general meeting are all well-organised, thanks to Marlene.

She always serves food at the monthly Volunteer dinners and makes everyone feel welcome.

All of the above-mentioned could not be achieved without the work of this wonderful lady.

Marlene worked for many years on the Missing and Murdered Women. To my knowledge she has never minded working extra hours to make our DTES community a safer and better place to live in.

We - members of Carnegie, seniors, residents­wish her a ll the best in her future. Marlene, we want you to know you'll always be remembered.

James Pau for Seniors Support Group Executive

Marlene George l met Marlene, our Seniors' Programmer. in the

mid-90s. She was present and instrumental in coor­dinating the Learning Centre and Cultural Sharing. We were making our own hand drums in those days under the instruction of Tim Michiele The First Na­tions people supplied the skins & other materials. The men in C ultural Sharing cut the cedar for the frames. It was an exciting time.

When we had pow-wows in the theatre, Marlene & Basi l DeNeault officiated. Lots of excellent food­sockeye salmon, fresh salads, bannock and native­made gifts.

So many programs were under Marlene's experi­enced eye. The free eyeglasses program was one of her tasks.

All through her time here Marlene was unfailingly enthusiastic and hospitable. I could always get breakfast & coffee if no one else was around and I was broke.

We will mi ss you a great deal Marlene.

All my relations, Wilhelmina

Dear Carnegie Newsletter,

I don't knov.+ Marlene on a daily basis as many Car­negie regulars do. I know her more from afar, for over I 0 years, which gives you a sense of who a per­son is. So this is what I know about Marlene:

She's seemingly quiet but her presence is everywhere where there's action happening. She moves around quietly and knows what is going on and who is doing what. If you want to know about what's really going down, ask Marlene. She doesn't have a big ego and she cares a lot about people. She's more interested in getting important things done, than making a name for herself. She's a good organizer and a good bridge builder. She knows everyone, and has everyone's respect. (This is not an easy thing to do). She follows up in an organized way and doesn't le t people down. She's politically smart and savvy and has a lot of stuff figured out, that people learn from. But as Paul Taylor says, don't fool with her! Thank you Marlene- you are pretty terrific- and

where ever your path leads you, those on the same path will be the better for it.

Libby Davies MP

INVITATION

Films by

FIRST NATIONS TOPICS STUDENTS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND FILM

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

FRIDAY, MAY 3rd, 6-9pm

CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE 401 Main Street, Vancouver

• Please come to screen films led by Professor Dwayne Beaver and the class of 2013.

• There will be a selection of First Nations Topics films from three years of the program. • There will be a short Question & Answer and reception to follow. • We hope you' ll be able to join us - doors open at 5:30pm

Corruption, deceit, and lies Supporting the foundation of life Built up with false hope Blinded by denial Hidden by a forced half-smile A subtle disguise That remains unrecognised Only to crumble under the weight

of the truth This is a game I'm going to lose. Unmasked to reveal insecurities Plastered with impurities Staring through confus ion Unsure of reality Or delusion God, save my innocence From this world of pollution I'm getting lost on this road Of hopeless substitution Every breathing being Unaware of their contribution.

Sarah Faisy

Prima verite, instinctive honesty comes like a spring from the innocent whole races basically innocent now there's a threat to the status quo, the capitalist machine

Poets are the last heroes of a civilisation lost in its own entrails

People claim I read minds 1 don't I just observe to some that which is opaque, hidden to some perfectly clear

AI Loewen

for Bill Home is only a concept until ... you make friends and you share ... your friendship, create a strong bond transform and make flesh that which was only a wishful concep1 into the shit, blood and tears that make us all equal and human You can't find your way home Home is in your heart a place all your friends live a pocket close to your heart and soul a medicine pouch you carry beads wrap your neck

friends protect friends always that bond stronger than just being kin a bond you sought out a friend you made, not one who by accident floundered into your orbit, onto your path friends are always welcome no reservations required

Al

The Sligbtat ldm Observations from a bi-polar soldier there is another new world odour woman wear red dresses with shreds of white this new style is from Abigail Folger boy she went thru he ll , every roof in the DTES cele­brates leap year nearly every day a couple minutes later out come the shoes as a warning for those who try ripping off their pimp, this is their way of re­minding them the man owns what yoOu have to sell, on the Drive it's a different scene people glued to highrise-tall TV screens football watching with smoke firmly in sterile faces. The ones who have bet their wives & their cars how will they explain the line-up of men & kids outside the door, up the Drive a block or two there are a couple music shops that always keep me in tune .. People of every faith pass each other, if this was their home base machinegun fire would have you sticking to the floor. .. The compassion towards the poor is roughly half the size of the world's smallest violin today the misery begs and begs me to pull up a chair and let it pour in humiliation is so neat the very first time, with bil­lions of galaxies in the outer limits ofthis universe do other life forms take pleasure punching your face and grinding it into our own earth if there be gods real even mental entities for God's sake drop the End Times. Over two hundred billion stars in our galaxy the Milky Way is ours of which one star is our sun no one seems to give a shite as long as sex and drugs never disappear the thug-lites show off their acidic charms childish almost cowardly yet witness-filled crimes, like the Waltons' episode where hal f the kids get Hepatitis people have every disease known and give them freely on the Drive more random acts of mankindness - what sickness is growing in your mind? In the Westend liquid sewage is shooting out of firehoses (some 'pieces' being clocked at 90 miles an hour!! Hey Saint Minus warned Moses real water will be the one and only power as our burning atmosphere will kill alllifeforms that can't take the heat.. South Van has a dozen Caucasian and half a dozen black & g rey every other person I live with or talk to or get in line at the market is of Asian decent - I mean abso­lutely no disrespect of any kind or way just stating a fact - we all have 2 hands our own opinions and two feet, parts of our world will always be on fire de­struction and devastation are man and its kinds true

desire as I keep setting distances so far yet even fur­ther I can always do better but I am always behind, like asking someone to hold your breath the one thing we are good at is patiently waiting for death 1 hear exotic safaris and deserts have slowly but most assuredly become our newest garbage mines, the Arctic icecap is melting as slow as it can to be a sea or not be a sea let's get it together man the Antarctic and Indian oceans say Yes but as for ideas for the future Let's hear some ... Silence so clear the s light­est sound shatters into tears like plant shops selling hatred & sorrow seeds 'and here's Officer Down to obtain his weekly ton' Like a million locks and just one key enough ofthis Anarchy Is Energy & when used properly that acidic charm slithers back to whence it came, observations and new worries let's pull up a chair and watch (al­ready got my doomsday refreshment commie t-shirt and it's extra large) Thanx very much even though we all know tomor­row will just be a worse version of the same: Anothr mass protest will take place and suicide bombing strippers will discharge into space but come on folks you have to admit it's been one hell of a game

By ROBERT McGILLIVRAY

"It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us. In joy we face the storm and defy it."

Amelia Barr

Heart of ice and eyes of fire I believed that you're a truthful liar Posed as all that I desire You gave me your wings And we flew higher.

Broke free from the grasp of darkness Emerged in the brightest of light Together we soared above the world A false, but fearless flight. Sarah Faisy

CRUNCH,.. c:ltes

• • • • • • • • • • •

18th Annual

Stone Soup Festival Saturday May 11, 2013 12-5pm

Napier Greenway & Britannia Centre Site

Food Market • Artists • Community Groups • Music n Info • Workshops • Author Talk • Free Sou and More!

THIS NEWSLEITER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION

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

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

http://chodarr.org/taxonomy/term/3 lndex

WANTED Artwork for the Carnegie newsletter

Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry . Cover art- Max size: 17cm(6 :Y.')wide x 15cm(6')high. Subject matter pertaining to issues relevant to the Downtown Eastside, but all work considered . Black & White printing only . Size restrictions apply (i .e. if your piece is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit) . All artists will receive credit for their work . Originals will be returned to the artist after being copied for publication . Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets

Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. ~ Indeed, it is the only thing that ever bas. ·1

-Margaret Meade 1

Vancouver' s non-commercial , I istener-supported, community station.

Next Issue: SUBMISSION DEADLINE

MONDAY, MAY 13TH

DONATIONS 2013: (Money is always needed & welcome.) Sheila B.-$100 Jenny K.-$25 Elsie McG.-$50 Terry & Savannah -$100 Robert McG.-$100 Leslie S.-$25