Contents
- International Volunteer Recognition
- Pool Challenges Continue
- POSTCARDS FOR PEACE
- CRY JUSTICE
- To Vote or Not to Vote
- National Housing and Homelessness Network:
- Ontario’s and BC’s Safe Streets Act
- ...treats poor people like cockroaches?
- Methadone Madness
- News from the Library
- Slainte! From Mary Ann
- So Long Mary Ann (2: Mary & Diane)
- So Long Mike
- A note to Michael Clague…
- Car by Liam Turnbull, age 9
- Warrior Princess
- To You Lover / À toi mon amour
- "Picturing the Downtown Eastside"
- The fight to make poverty history
- JOY
- The Guys’ Rules - Rebuttal
- The End of the Affair
- The Key
Last week was International Volunteer Recognition Week all across the land. But of course, I am prejudiced; I think our Carnegie volunteers are the best of all. All week we had events, dinners, entertainment and awards for the express purpose of showing our appreciation and gratitude to the positive effects you have on the community.
When you are volunteering at Carnegie, you are not just serving Carnegie but the DTES community in general. I know what a lot of you do is hard work that may even get tedious at times, making you wonder if it’s even worth it? I want to remind you that every single person who walks in our doors is benefited in one way or another by what you do. Different people were recognized last week, but I want to recognize each one of you for the special gift you bring to the community.
This year's Volunteer Of The Year is our very own Bonnie Stevens who is also one of our long-term volunteer recognition recipients. Bonnie has given of herself in many areas and in even more ways over the past 25 years. For all who know her, you cannot help but love her unique laugh and impish smile.
The four special merit award recipients for outstanding service are Diane Wood, Darcy Rice, Bill Mucikowsky, Ross Drybrough. I join the multitudes in thanking you for significantly being willing to give of yourselves in the myriad of ways you do.
As this is our 25th Anniversary for the Volunteer Program there are six volunteers who have been here since the beginning of time. This is greatly heroic, and I am thrilled to be a part of their public recognition. The following are the folks who were recognized for long-time continuous volunteer service: Andy Huclack, Bonnie Stevens, Egor Marov, Bharbara Gudmundson, Norman Mark, Sam Snobelen.
Sincerely! To all volunteers, and especially to those named this year: Stay strong. Stay here with us as long as you want or need to. Stay loving
Colleen
PS: THE MOUTH
is an area of flesh of great potential for destruction and encouragement, positive/negative, to lift up or and tear down. The little tongue inside The Mouth is a small part of the body but it can make great boasts. Consider that a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue can also be a fire, a world of harm among the parts of the body. It can corrupt the whole person setting the whole course of his life on fire. Please join me in being more aware of how we use our little mouth and tongue, using words to build each other up rather than tear down. Let's work together on making the whole building a 'Gossip Free Zone'.
Pool Challenges ContinueCarnegie’s Pool Challenges Continue
The Carnegie Ball Breakers vs the Homenchuks
This friendly rivalry is ongoing. The BB’s are Reg Mallot, Rick Pelletier, Mark Danback, Bill Piggott, Al W, Steve A and Jeff. The Homenchuks include John, Fred, Albert, Len, Elmer, Howard and niece Mary-Ellen.
The last challenge had the Ball Breakers better in snooker but getting creamed in 9-Ball.
The Homenchuks are a pool-playing family, including their Dad.
Len was BC Amateur Champ in ’71 &’76 and the
Western Canadian Amateur Champ in ’74. Len was also one of six players representing
Mary-Ellen, Elmer’s daughter, placed 3rd in the Ladies Canadian Snooker Championship in ’79, ’80 & ’81. In ’97 & ’98 she placed 1st, 2nd & 3rd (multiple events) in the Dufferin 9-Ball Tour. In 2001 Mary-Ellen placed 9th (out of 561 entries) in the North American Women’s 8-Ball Championship.
Both Len and Mary-Ellen will be competing for the Canadian Championship in
May the Rolls & Drifts be With You!
POSTCARDS FOR PEACEPOSTCARDS FOR PEACE
The Voice of Women in
Yanar Mohammed of the Organization of Women's Freedom in
A year ago, hundreds of women marched in the streets of central
How to create a postcard for peace:
Using 4x6 card stock, draw, paint, or attach a photograph. On the left half of the back of your card, write your brief, personal message of peace. Please avoid religious language or symbols out of respect for the diversity of beliefs. Leave the right half of the back blank to provide space for the translation of your message. Please sign your first name only. Put the postcard in an envelope and mail to:
Postcards for Peace
Park Mall Postal 2
Deadline for entries: MAY 31,2005 Contact us: postcardsforpeace@svmpatico.ca
Or visit our website at: www.vowpeace.org
CRY JUSTICEThis poem, "Cry Justice," appeared in the Carnegie Newsletter two years ago. Read it before voting on May 17th. We have to remember how Gordon Campbell and his provincial government have hurt many ordinary people in
CRY JUSTICE
There are times
in our lives
when we have
to take a stand,
when we have to
speak out for what
we know is right.
Such a time arrived
on February 11, 2003,
when four thousand Canadian citizens,
many of them seniors and students,
gathered on the front lawn
of the Legislature
in
to protest the
Scrooge-had-it-right policies
of the provincial government.
The occasion was
the start of a new session
of the Legislature,
and the Premier,
Gordon Campbell,
planned to escort the Lieutenant-Governor,
up the red-carpeted stone stairs
into the Legislative building.
* * * *
A police-protected fence
kept the people
away from the entrance
to the Legislature,
but citizens crowded
against the fence,
and waited patiently
for the Lieutenant-Governor
to arrive in a limousine,
and for the Premier
to descend the crimson-covered stairs
to greet her.
* * * *
The mood of the people
was defiant but festive.
They listened to speeches
describing how
undermined the social cohesion
of the province,
destroyed public institutions
that regulate private power,
and abolished social programs
that gave ordinary citizens
a measure of security
and therefore a measure of power.
The raging Grannies sang,
these gentle, elderly folk
with the souls of warriors,
their songs one more weapon
in the armory of justice.
* * * *
Yellow-coated police
patrolled the fence.
A platoon of
red-coated Mounties
stood at the ready.
A dark blue honour guard,
with rifles,
waited to greet
the Queen's representative,
Ms. Campagnolo.
A military band lurked
in the background,
and the army positioned
two small howitzers
at the harbour edge,
ready to fire
a ten gun salute,
or whatever protocol demanded.
The trappings
of royal power
guarded the entrance
of the Legislature, while
the people congregated
on the other side
of the fence,
waiting.
* * * *
A limousine arrived
and
She was booed by the people
in a half-hearted way,
as she waited with dignity
for the Premier
to descend
the red-carpeted stairs.
Then the people saw
coming down the stairs,
supported by a woman aide.
He was smiling
that same sickly smile
we saw on his
and he moved with the alacrity
of a scared rabbit.
A thunderclap of boos
greeted the Premier,
a tsunami of disapproval
that bounced off
the Legislative building
and echoed over the harbour
the city
the province
and the nation.
"Shame, shame,"
people shouted with passion,
and their cry
was taken up
by the seagulls
swirling overhead.
* * * *
"Liar, liar," people shouted,
for
his tax cuts
would pay for themselves,
but they created
the largest deficit
in B. C. history.
He promised he wouldn't
cut health care,
but he closed hospitals
and laid off nurses
and health care workers.
He promised he wouldn't
devastate the public service,
but he did the opposite.
He promised to maintain
environmental standards,
but he reduced them.
He promised he wouldn't
cut education,
but schools are closing
class sizes are increasing
and teachers are losing
their jobs.
He promised to honour
signed contracts,
but he didn't.
He said there were no plans
to reduce welfare,
but he cut benefits cruelly
and made it harder to qualify
for assistance.
How can citizens dialogue
in good faith
with a Premier
who does not keep
his word?
* * * *
"Shame, shame,"
people shouted again.
Shame on
for the deaths
of seniors who feared
losing their nursing homes,
or could no longer afford
the medicines they needed
to survive.
Shame on
for the deaths
of people with disabilities
who could not cope
with the stress
of feared loss of income.
Shame on
for the increasing numbers
of young people
who are turning to
prostitution, drugs, begging
or suicide, because
they have neither
adequate jobs
or adequate incomes,
and live in despair
rather than hope.
Shame on
for the students
forced to abandon their education
because of enormous
tuition increases.
Shame on
for the people
who are homeless,
many of whom
cannot get welfare.
Shame on
for the pain
of working people
who are seeing
a massive transfer
or power and money
from workers to employers.
Shame on
for the loss
of court houses,
and legal aid
for our poorest citizens.
* * * *
So did people shout
the language of resistance
against the government's language
of oily equivocation.
Alternatives to corporate greed exist,
and First Nations
have shown us the way
with five hundred years
of resistance
to imperial injustice.
Environmentalists showed us
the way at Clayoquot Sound
where eight hundred people
chose civil disobedience
to make their voices heard.
Downtown Eastside citizens
showed us the way
when they occupied
the Woodward's building
and set up tent camps
in public parks.
Seniors and students
showed us the way
when they shouted defiance
directly at the Premier
on February 11, 2003.
* * * *
In the face of
an avalanche of outrage,
Gordon Campbell scurried up
the red-carpeted stairs
with
The massive doors
at the top of the stairs
closed slowly behind them,
and we, the people, were left
on the outside.
We'll be back, though.
No lie can live forever,
and the cry for justice
will be heard.
Sandy Cameron
To Vote or Not to VoteTO VOTE OR NOT TO VOTE
At the Carnegie poetry reading on April 2nd, Stephen Lytton reminded us to vote in the provincial election on May 17th because the Gordon Campbell government has hurt poor people badly with its cuts to income assistance and its barriers to welfare that make getting income assistance almost impossible for many people who have no money.
I agree with Stephen, but it's going to take more than just voting every four years in order to make this province a democracy. Why vote when we no longer believe that the concerns of ordinary people will be considered by the political party in power? Why vote when we feel that corporate money is more powerful than the ballot box? Why vote when we know that the media, corporate-owned and profit driven, tries to control what we voters think about, and what we think is important? Why vote when we've seen over and over that political parties, once in office, break their promises to ordinary citizens?
Still, it is important that we vote, even if it is only to hit back at a provincial government that has declared war on poor people. Ordinary citizens fought for over one hundred years to get the vote. Voting is a way power can shift from one group to another without a civil war breaking out. Sure, the marketeers, with Gordon Campbell as their political bus boy, and the media as their propaganda machine, have seized control of our province, but that doesn't mean we have to give up the fight for a just society. After all, Bruce Eriksen never, ever, gave up.
Voting is just one tool for democracy, but we had better use it. What if Gordon Campbell decided to cancel the May 17th election, and declared himself the king of
We have to work together all the time - not just on election day. One way to do this is to join a group in our neighbourhood that is working to make things better. In this way we can support each other, encourage each other, and vote together. We can find our own words to describe our own experience, and use those words to fight for justice. In this way we can create our own authentic reasons for voting. A wise old guy from
are trying to make things better in this community.
Most of the creative politics today are happening outside the framework of traditional political parties - in the environmental movement, the women's movement, the social justice movement, and the independent media movement, for example. These social movements challenge the corporate ideology of unrestrained profit. They work for the common good, and believe strongly in human rights. They use the vote to further their cause, but their main strength is getting people involved in the struggle for a better world on a day-to-day basis.
Please vote, not just as an individual, but as a member of a community with a common dream of justice for all people. Clarify what side of the fence you're on, and discover who is there with you. As Pat Smith wrote on one of her posters, "Class consciousness is knowing what side of the fence you're on. Class analysis is finding out who is there with you."
Ordinary people outnumber the wealthy ruling elite by a large margin. If all the ordinary people in
By SANDY CAMERON
National Housing and Homelessness Network:National Housing and Homelessness Network:
Federal NDP leader Jack Layton has negotiated a budget deal with Prime Minister Paul Martin that calls for $1.6 billion in new housing spending over the next year. There is no requirement for matching funding from the provinces, which eliminates a major barrier in a number of parts of the country, including
This is terrific news, since the most recent federal budget contained no new spending on housing. If the deal holds, then
The NDP budget deal also calls for new spending in other priority areas, including child care and the environment. The new social spending - which most Canadians support, according to recent opinion polls – will be funded through a reduction in corporate tax cuts. Canadian corporations already pay a lower rate than corporations in the
sure that there is revenue to pay for the spending.
However, there is plenty of work to be done to make sure that the deal sticks.
First, the budget implementation bill (which could come in front of Parliament as early as next week, and could be one package, or a series of votes) has to be passed by Parliament and move through all stages, including royal assent.
Second, once the spending is authorized, then the money must be committed as quickly as possible. The volatile political environment in
But don't stop there. It's important to deliver a message that, once the budget is approved, the housing dollars need to be committed right away. For provinces like
For provinces where the existing affordable housing program has stalled, we need to deliver a strong and clear message: The provinces need to either get on the bandwagon, or get out of the way!
The housing dollars are critically needed and too important to be squandered on continuing federal-provincial squabbling.
Michael Shapcott, Research Co-ordinator
One Percent Solution* project,
*The proposal that the federal gov’t commit just 1.0% of annual revenues to affordable, social housing.
Ontario’s and BC’s Safe Streets Act
This article results from reading a paper by my sister, written during her third year of legal studies, about
I thought it could be interesting to us here in British Columbia, since our provincial government has recently enacted its own version of a Safe Streets Act, and therefore discussion of this paper could have bearing on that legislation.
Mr. Edward Hughes was arrested in 2001, along with a number of other people, for contravening the Ontario Safe Streets Act, specifically, it seems, for aggressive panhandling on a sidewalk. (His co-defendants were charged under the Highways Act, since their panhandling took place in roadways (i.e., cleaning cars for spare change, soliciting drivers for spare change, etc.))
The Ontario Safe Streets Act was passed in 1999, and seems to be less about making streets safer, than about curtailing certain types of behavior (i.e., aggressive or threatening panhandling). The author points out that this legislation came about near the same time as Toronto was making its bid for holding the Olympics in its city, and certainly the language used by the legislators bears out this relationship. Even though
The author points out that a constitutional challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms could be mounted on the basis of the law’s violating defendants’ freedom of expression, but continues by stating that a stronger case could be made for the province straying into the field of federal jurisprudence when it passes criminal law that is legally under the purview of the federal government.
Interestingly, the concept of outlawing egregious forms of begging has been in force in one way or another for at least 700 years. (My sister determined this by examining laws passed in
Mr. Hughes was convicted under
In conclusion, my sister wrote, “[The case] may result in further attempts by provinces or other levels of government to assert their jurisdiction into matters that properly rest with the federal government. In my view, the resulting patchwork quilt of by-laws infractions, provincial offences and federal crimes will increase the risk that ‘law-abiding’ Canadians who travel will face arrest if they unwittingly commit an illegal act that, in their own home town, is perfectly legal.” Based on what I know of
Since BC’s Safe Streets Act is a watered-down version of
Considering that it was the decimation of social programs by the Provincial Liberals that resulted in them bringing in the BC Safe Streets Act in the first place, it seems only right that on that basis alone, it be challenged.
And here is the latest on BC’s Safe Streets Act: by January 27, 2005, fines were established for people ticketed under the Act. For aggressive panhandling, $86. For squeegee cleaners, $115.
By April 6, 10 people had been ticketed for various violations. Vancouver Police Department Inspector Val Harrison, in charge of the Downtown Eastside, said in a Vancouver Sun interview (April 6), “We are obviously enforcing this, but frankly, fining homeless, mentally ill, drug addicted poor people isn’t the solution.” On CBC radio,
Remember this Act as one of the many mean-spirited actions of the provincial Liberals when it comes time to vote on May 17.
By Rolf Auer
[Note: The number of homeless persons in the Lower Mainland has more than doubled since 2002. Lorne Mayencourt, the MLA who championed BC’s Safe Streets Act, said “A few people always fall through the cracks.” In Socredese Liberalese, 2112 people (as counted in an exhaustive and independently verified study be almost 160 volunteers under the auspice of the Social Planning and Research Council of BC (SPARC) are a few. Mayencourt himself aggressively provoked and attempted to arrest a person quietly panhandling outside a Starbuck’s in the
To the editor.
I travel
If the above is true we are forcing people into illegal activities just to survive or to pay the fine.
Is this a preliminary to the Olympics’ clean up that
treats poor people like cockroaches?
Sheila Baxter
Methadone MadnessWhile it may seem to some that I’m on some kind of anti-methadone trip, the truth is that methadone is not the answer to heroin addiction. Talking to a friend this morning I was not shocked to hear that his M.D. had refused to lower his daily intake. When doctors determine the direction of your life, you effectively have lost control of your own destiny. We all like to believe that we live in a free society but the truth is we don’t. As poor people in the DTES we find ourselves restricted by cops, doctors, rules, regulations, workers at welfare, etc. etc. till we end up feeling like pawns in a chess game we sure as hell will never win.
Yes, I am on an anti-methadone kick. It’s the vilest, most evil thing I’ve ever had to battle against. For those who are happily drugged to the tits I say good for you. For those who want their freedom back, freedom not to be chained down to doctor and drugstore till the day they die I say fight! Reduce until you can kick and then steel yourself for what may be the biggest fight of your entire life. The prize you win is your own freedom; freedom to move anywhere you damn well please; freedom from the false paradise of a drug that leaves you half alive and constantly at the mercy of the medical police.
Doctors have become yet another tentacled of Big Brother’s control apparatus. Gone are the days you could trust an MD, especially in the DTES where medical malfeasance seems to be standard operating procedure.
Like Marlet said:’Stand up, stand up for your Rights Stand up, don’t give up the fight.’ So brothers and sisters I say Get Yourself Free. Fight those who would rob you of your freedom.
Al
News from the LibraryNews from the Library
Here are some new titles available in the library:
Liberalized: the Tyee report on
Finding my talk; how fourteen native women reclaimed their lives after residential school by Agnes Grant. These women describe how they overcame tremendous obstacles to become strong, independent members of Aboriginal cultures.
Painted lives and shifting landscapes: paintings, prints and murals by Richard Tetrault. (reference book) This beautiful book shows Tetrault’s unique views of Vancouver and the Downtown Eastside.
Whore by Nelly Arcan. This is a novelized “autobiographical memoir” of one young woman, coming to terms with making a living by selling her body.
Mathematics elsewhere: an exploration of ideas across cultures by Marcia Ascher. This book humanizes our view of mathematics and expands our conception of it.
A Scientific romance: a novel by Ronald Wright. This is an elegant fantasy novel, witty, suspenseful and romantic: Globe and Mail “Book of the Year”.
Safe medicine for sober people: how to avoid relapsing on pain, sleep, cold or any other medication by Jeffrey Weisberg, M.D. Which medications can a recovering addict safely take, and which can’t they? This book is the guide.
In the shadow of a saint: a son’s journey to understand his father’s legacy by Ken Wiwa.The author sets out to understand his African father’s life, and their relationship.
Only a beginning: ananarchist anthology – edited by Allan Antliff. A comprehensive overview of anarchist theory and practice in
There are also lots of other new books in the library – Westerns, Sci Fi, True Crime and more ……
Check us OUT !!!
Slainte! From Mary AnnSlainte! From Mary Ann, your OLD librarian.
It has been not “a slice” but a whole four layers of Jackie and Diane’s best chocolate cake to work for and with the Carnegie Centre.
Dear friends. Thank you for welcoming me into the community!
Thank you for making my job rewarding and challenging and ever new.
Thank you for your patience and your many suggestions for improving library services.
Thank you for showing me the ways where I could try to make a difference through my work and thus providing me with a job I loved.
Like Tennessee Williams, in my life “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”, and I now leave the library with a life much enriched by having been offered the precious gift of friendship by so many of you. I do not feel I am leaving this position as a stranger.
I head off to
I know you will make my replacements Claudia, Mary and Beth (who will be your new full time librarian)very welcome so I leave you with an old Irish Blessing:
“May the road rise with you; the sun be on your face, the wind at your back, and ‘till we meet again May you be held in the palm of the Creator’s hand!"
Mary Ann
So Long Mary Ann (2: Mary & Diane)So Long Mary Ann
It’s Maryann Cantillon’s second last week working as Branch Head of the Carnegie library. She is busy visiting a sick Carnegie board member in hospital, then comforting parents who have flown in for the funeral of a regular library visitor before rushing off to hospital to see a staff member who has just had an accident. And that’s all after her 8-5 shift in the library is finished.
This week library staff also hear that Maryann has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement in Library Science Award from the British Columbia Library Association. Eight of Mary Ann’s library colleagues, several of the Carnegie staff, local writers and BCLA members nominated her for this. They were motivated to do so because Mary Ann has taught us to always listen to “the words and music” of the community around us.
During her time at Carnegie she’s been involved in everything from helping people daily to find books to helping with the massive 100th anniversary of the Carnegie Centre to assisting with resources for the amazing Downtown Eastside Community Play “In the Heart of the City” to assisting with the monthly poetry night to bringing in writers in cooperation with the Learning Centre to participating in the book give-away outside the library on at the corner of Hastings and Main.
WHEW! I’m already tired from typing and that’s not the half of what Mary Ann does.
In a letter to BCLA Nancy Hannum and Alex Youngberg of the library write:
“Mary Ann has been a long term active member of the BCLA First Nations Interest Group and the
While doing her day job Mary Ann also managed to mentor and inspire many. Her colleague for many years, Jane Curry, Branch Head Librarian of Marpole and former resident of Strathcona for sixteen years says with obvious sincerity “ I love working with Mary Ann because she has a strong social conscience. She is down to earth and she speaks her mind. She is an exemplary Librarian. She gives us all a good name.” Mary Ann’s social conscience is legendary. Over the years she has worked for peace and to combat poverty.
Newly graduated librarian, Gladys Chen, the DTES/ Strathcona Outreach Librarian is also a huge fan. Gladys is currently gathering information on how the community would like library services enhanced. She says, “ Mary Ann taught me you have to be able to listen to the people’s heart. That is the most important part.”
Gladys continues, “She was my coach. She not only taught me how to do outreach but she also taught me how to be a librarian. She changed my whole perspective on service -on reaching out to communities and people who are not currently being served by the library”.
AND Gladys continues!
“She is dedicated. She goes beyond boundaries, beyond regular library service. She does much more than that. In fact, the whole team at Carnegie is dedicated and united – everyone working together. It’s a great place to be.” (HEAR HEAR!)
Gladys finally finishes: “I’m going to miss her.”
So are we all!
When I tell Mary Ann that I will miss her, my “big sister” she laughs and says she will still be in the community doing volunteer work plus not to worry she will invite myself and my daughter over for a home cooked meal.
I think I’ll tell her how much I like salmon!
Mary Duffy,
Branch Head at Strathcona Library
SO LONG MARY ANN
She brings so much of herself to her job, it's easy to love her. I do, and I now many of us here at the Carnegie do as well.
We love her for her quick smile, her generosity, her love of word-play and her passion for the Downtown Eastside. She concerns herself with the deaths and injustices as well as our successes. She champions the arts in our neighbourhood, with her help, praise and encouragement. She's gone way beyond being a librarian to become A Muse Of The Arts! She's so humble, if she finds that too flattering, and we all know how she tries to brush off any kind of praise, let's call her A Culture Vulture! She goes to EVERYTHING! Where does she get that energy? I've told her when she retires she can sleep for three months; I wonder if she will?
She is a very political person; she knows EVERYBODY! For me the personal is the political, but for her it's the other way around. She makes politics personal by remembering the names and faces to flesh out the fights. She takes great care to introduce people, and often with such a glowing list of accomplishments, you can't believe she's talking about YOU!
She knows many great women; it is an honour to be included in her circle of friends...and it's a BIG circle. With Mary Ann, I don't think there's any such thing as "acquaintances" - we're all friends.
I think Leonard Cohen was thinking of her when he wrote the song "So Long Mary Ann"!
Diane
So Long MikeSo Long Mike
Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, I have the honor to participate in this dubious occasion. Let me explain. This party is to say farewell to the man who has contributed so much of himself to our community in such a short time. And speaking of time we now know that there was precious little of it left when we were granted this wonderful human being.
When he arrived there were no fire works or bells ringing to let us know. We saw this hum drum looking guy circulating and socializing... .with everybody and anybody. He certainly was nice enough and so we were caught a little unaware when he started to make the earth move. I guess what I'm trying to say is seldom do you see such gracious humility in a person who displays such proven attributes of greatness!
Please lend me your indulgence as I read an excerpt from his thoughts... and I quote:
"We have shared tears of sadness and of joy. We have railed against injustice. We have celebrated. We have laughed. We have created. We have found new allies and supporters within the community and without. We are under no illusion about new and old challenges - the struggle for this community of predominately low income people to be free to dream your own futures and to have the strength to act on them in solidarity and in partnership with everyone who lives and works here and who cares."
These thoughts are indicative of his actions in the short time we've had to experience this kind and gentle enigma. And yet there is a power within him such as I have experienced in so few human beings. How he came to be with us in the sunset of his career activity is still a mystery to me, although a pleasant pondering.
In my opinion, when God made this man he sure knew what he was doing! On occasion I've told him that he resembles Picard -Captain Jean-Luc Picard- and of course that's a good thing. But on this occasion I'm sure that I speak for so many persons when I say thanks Mike... thank you so much for being you and affording us so many fond memories that should be with us for the rest of our lives.
We know that you have passed the gauntlet over to our new Director, Ethel Whitty. And at some point you'll ride off into the horizon to what the future holds for you. I'm of the opinion that you are worthy of that little corner of my heart that will go with you. And you know you'll be in our thoughts and prayers!
I have to say, once again, our many heart-felt thanks for that part of your life that created so much of our happiness. You will be sorely missed. And you must know, by now, that we at Carnegie Community Centre hold you in the highest esteem!
Gerald Wells
Volunteer of the Year 2004
A note to Michael Clague…A note to Michael Clague…
Today I say goodbye to someone I do not know. I know it must be him, for he is responsible: for my being here today, for my commitment to the volunteer program, for the welcome so inviting that there really is community, for all that the Carnegie Community Centre is. He has influenced my life, each day I live in this community, and my future. A smile comes to my face as I write this, for you have harboured the goodwill of the people, and more, you have enriched it.
This building nourishes a fragile ideal. So I celebrate this man: What courage to have taken on this position, what effort of will must have been required to accomplish the day, through five years, and now what grace to accept our gratitude, our thanks, our promise to tend this garden while you go on to another.
Matthew Matthew
Car by Liam Turnbull, age 9Car
fast, cool
speeding, polluting, driving
wheels, windows, laces, leather
tying, walking, wearing
slow, natural
Shoes
Liam Turnbull, age 9
Warrior PrincessWarrior Princess
As I wander along the shores
of enlightenment and despair
Such extremes sometimes, somehow
leave me incomplete
I warm my toes in the heat
of the sun as sand shifts eternal
around the fractured moments
of a beautiful soul
I become aware
of the Warrior Princess within.
To You Lover
You who touch my heart
I like to tell you
How you touch my heart
Like I know you
Let me know what I can do
To be and what I can do
To show you my love
And open my heart
Which is my love
For you in my heart
I like to give you everything
Whatever happens
So to you my love
I tell you how you touch my heart
To give you everything
And don't ask for nothing
Touch and trust
That's Love.
roger b.
À toi mon amour
Tu as touché mon coeur
Je voudrais te dire
À quel point tu as touché mon coeur
Comme je te connais
Dis moi quoi faire
Et comment être et ce que je dois faire
Pour te démontrer mon amour
Et ouvrir mon coeur
Comment est mon amour
Pour toi dans mon coeur
Je voudrais tout te donner
Quoiqu'il en soit.
Alors à toi mon amour
Je voudrais te dire
À quel point tu as touché mon coeur
Je voudrais tout te donner
Et ne rien te demander en retour
Toucher et avoir confiance
C'est ca l'amour.
roger b.
"Picturing the Downtown Eastside""Picturing the Downtown Eastside"
Curated by Charo Neville
30 April - 29 May 2005
What is art in the Downtown Eastside? How do you picture this part of our city? Six years after the Or Gallery presented its last exhibition in its Downtown Eastside location, 112
The exhibition poses questions about the complexities of representing
Picturing the Downtown Eastside displays photographic and video works, and alternative community-based projects. The exhibition presents work by Rita Beiks, Rebecca Belmore, Clint Burnham, Margot Leigh Butler, Stan Douglas, Arni Haraldsson, Sharon Kravitz, and Susan Stewart, all of whom have addressed the Downtown Eastside in their past work and community projects. The show also features work by resident Downtown Eastside painter, Paul St. Germain and graffiti artist Hermes. In addition, the desmedia collective are re-initiating their Downtown Eastside video archive project with a camera set up once a week in the gallery for people in the community to tell their stories, and share their poems and songs.
This exhibition is curated by Master of Arts candidate, Charo Neville, with support from the Vancouver Foundation, the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, the Alvin Balkind Fund for Curatorial Initiatives and the Art History, Visual Art and Art Theory Department, UBC.
The fight to make poverty historyThe fight to make poverty history
Unfair world trade rules imposed by wealthy nations force the world's poorest people further into poverty
Special to the
This week, 10 million people in 70 countries will take to the streets to protest unfair trade rules. The Global Week of Action is the largest mobilization for trade justice the world has seen.
Campaigners and people living in poverty will join forces to demand changes to the trade rules that force the world's poorest people further into poverty and deny them the right to defend themselves.
Some of the events planned include:
- In rural
- In
- In
- In central
- In the
- In
For Oxfam, the week is about building solidarity with poor farmers, who make up most of the billion people living on less than a dollar a day.
Oxfam's new report on trade, Kicking Down the Door, describes the inhuman scam that keeps trade from becoming the solution to global poverty.
First, IMF and World Bank loan conditions force countries to drastically open their markets to imported rice, wheat, corn and other staples. Then WTO rules permit Europe and the
The result: more hunger, more poverty. Rather than encouraging food production for local consumption and letting people work their way out of poverty, trade rules do the opposite. And now rich countries are insisting on further tariff cuts at the WTO for all but the poorest.
Rice is the world's most vital crop, providing livelihoods for two billion people -- one-third of humanity. Fully half of the world's people rely on rice for food. Yet under the WTO negotiations,
Open markets make for a great sermon. But no country that is rich today ever practised what they preach. None of them opened up to cheap food imports before their farmers were competitive. Abruptly lowering tariffs on food in a country where most people are poor farmers is a recipe for disaster.
Tony Blair's Africa Commission report said it forthrightly: Decisions on whether to open markets "should not be dictated with trade agreements as part of mercantilist negotiations, or as part of World Bank or IMF programs."
And at the WTO,
Our desire to export must not come at the cost of undermining efforts to fight hunger and poverty in the developing world. As Nelson Mandela stated at the launch of the Make Poverty History Campaign, "Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by actions of human beings. Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It’s an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is not true freedom."
The millions of poor farmers who will demonstrate this week know only too well that making trade fair is essential if we are to ever make progress in the fight to make poverty history.
By Miriam Palacios
[Miriam Palacios is the B.C. program coordinator for Oxfam
JOY
I was at house party celebrating Canada Day
When I met a woman named Joy.
I said: "It's a joy to meet you Joy."
She beamed at me.
Then said: "I am manic depressive,"
At once the conversation dried up.
Not knowing what to say
made an excuse
I had to call my girlfriend.
A lie.
I avoided her staying upstairs
while she waited lost in the party below.
She reminded me of a dog I once had.
Always happy to see me,
Jumping and licking my face,
Overwhelmed by its affection
I fled upstairs, afraid to come down.
Eventually my mother lost her patience:
"OK we’ll give him away to the SPCA."
She made me accompany her.
I carried the dog in my arms.
It looked at me with the saddest eyes.
Wavering on the brink of tears
He spoke to me:
"Don't leave me."
I swear I did not imagine it.
By the time we arrived at the SPCA
I said: "Mum I changed my mind
I want to keep him."
"No. After all the trouble
You've caused me,
dragging me all the way here.
You don't deserve a dog. "
This is the way I feel every time
I am led back to the psych ward.
An obedient dog
Crying to God don't leave me.
I am sorry Joy.
I was afraid.
I didn't understand
Until I too was diagnosed manic-depressive
8 years ago on Valentine’s Day of all days.
I used to believe the mentally ill
Were weak and felt sorry for themselves.
Now it hurts, hearing the same words
Coming out of other people's mouths:
"Yeah, they just enjoy being depressed
lying in bed all day long."
I almost punched him.
They don’t know the mentally ill
must be stronger, braver, more street smart
just to get through the day.
Even though they hear their violent thoughts
They'd rather turn the blade inwards
to silence themselves instead.
You have to be a survivor
If your life is 10 times worse than Jobs.
So be careful what you say,
For what you really fear
is that if you dig deep enough,
We are all crazy,
Only you try to hide it.
So be wary of what you say
for one day you might
find yourself in my shoes,
the victim of your own prejudices.
Kagan Goh
The Guys’ Rules - RebuttalThe Guys’ Rules - Rebuttal
1. We learned how to work a toilet seat a long time ago. Why haven’t you?
2. There’s no such thing as Sunday sports. Football is an extended weekend; hockey is eternal, etc.
3. Shopping is a necessity. Since we’ve no interest in sports, why would it be compared to shopping?
4. Crying is venting. Men do it also.
5. Usually, when we ask for what we want, we never get it. Therefore we invented a more creative way of asking for it.. that should entertain you.
6. Reality is largely composed of gray areas, not just ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
7. You usually are the problem. Why in the world would we seek your direction?
8. Between man and woman there are no statutes of verbal limitations. Anything you said can and will be used against you.
9. The fat issue also relates to the shape issue. At least we care enough about our appearance to ask.
10. If something you said can be interpreted two ways, please spare us the semantics.
11. We wouldn’t ask you to do something unless we had assumed you already knew how to do it.
12. By the time we’ve prepared your snack and procured your refreshment, the commercials are over.
13. Christopher Columbus had a woman for a boss. Queen Isabella. He’d have gone nowhere without her assistance.
14. I know men who can discern more than sixteen colours. They are called painters. They are not fruits.
15. Scratching in public is a simian habit. Haven’t we evolved?
16. You ask what is wrong and we say “nothing.” Let sleeping dogs lie.
17. Anything we wear anywhere is “fine” unless it arouses the interest of other men.
18. If monster trucks, guns and sports are the apex of your intellect, you’re welcome to it. Ignorance is bliss.
19. We never will have enough clothes.
20. We never will have enough shoes. Ask Eneloa Marcos.
21. You’re right: Round is a shape, although not my shape.
22. We know you must like the couch. It’s usually
where you pass out.
ADDENDUM
Harmony between the sexes is the impossible dream.
The End of the Affair
You’re a habit I’ve finally broken
Not to say some lapses of memory
And a confused sense of forgiving
Won’t remind me
Won’t pole into the tender place
of my heart.
Momenties stroke me back to that
Grassy field of love & want
But mostly want.
My teenage son in his wisdom declares
The sex goes after seven or eight years
Only fear of “the Dark” a reason for sharing
A little longer.
Always asking, begging to be heard
Always a child in your mind
My five years hang heavy on your head.
Correct in every way, you reassured me
My age was irrelevant
I never believed it
Your friends with MA degrees & buxom chests
or boyish style
Every second word was “ironic.”
Going with the flow was your creed
a matter of battle to me
I never learned to follow you.
Goodbye is not too god a word
Your last word “good riddance.”
Wilhelmina
The KeyI am a powerful, positive individual and all events in
this day are for my highest good.
What I am is beautiful and I pull to me this day only
beauty and refreshment.
This day is a day of balance. I am completely aware of my body and all its needs.
What I am is eternal, immortal, universal, and infinite. I see only beauty and strength every moment of my life.
I see only beauty in all the people who are pulled to me, and what I am strengthens and refreshes what they are.
What I am is infinite. I do not judge the evolution of others. What they are right now is for their highest good.
Each action I take this day is an expression of the godforce. Therefore, each action I take is a part of my infinite creativity.
There is no real sin, only energy. I follow the energy
of my highest evolution at all times, and so be it.
I am open at all times to communication from my inner self and that communication leads me to my highest evolution.
I give thanks for the beauty of this day, and may the energy of this night bring re-building and re-view. So be it.
Submitted by Videha
