ca rnegienewsletter
AUGUST 15, 2022
.org FREE ~donation; acc~Pte,~
•
·_1' ."'""' ·-·~D~~ *
NE'WSLETTER
~
401 Main Street Vancouver Canada V6A 2T7
#'
~
carnnews@vcn,bc.ca
(604) 665-2289
People help move belongings after tents were dismantled on East Hastings Street in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood in Vancouver on Tuesday (Ben Nelms/CBC) "A big part of the issue is that there is nowhere for people to go. Forced evictions to nowhere run afoul of multiple human rights issues," said Anna Cooper, a staff lawyer with PIVOT Legal society.
[This story was posted on the CBC website. Its headline was about violence outside Carnegie Centre, unrelated to the dismantling of the tents and sidewalk encampments along East Hastings. The police were present because of this eviction process, dealt with the disturbance and were immediately challenged by people taking the man's side. Neither side had the particulars but it was a flash point.] Read on (PRT): A number of people have been arrested following violence with police in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside as city staff began the process of removing tents and other structures along a busy street in the neighbourhood, forcing dozens of people living in the area to move. The arrests came after a brawl broke out outside the Camegie Centre on Main and Hastings streets around 3 p.m. Security guards at the centre alerted police to a man causing a disturbance. Residents and community activists came to the defence of the man, and a brawl ensued with police deploying pepper spray. . Police said officers were assaulted following the arrest ofthe man causing a disturbance in the centre. Police shut down the intersection of Main and Hastings. Three organizers from the Stop the Sweeps Coalition were arrested, in addition to other advocates. Vancouver police did not confirm the number of arrests but did say officers were assaulted following the arrest of a man who was throwing computers and behaving erratically at the centre. Police said the man resisted arrest and fought with police. "A large crowd gathered and became hostile and combative with the officers," Vancouver police said in a statement. Sarah Blyth, executive director of the Overdose Prevention Society, questioned the large police presence in the area. "I think at the beginning of the day, people were working together - community members with the firefighters and the engineers. But the police presence really causes a lot of issues for people. There's not a lot of trust there .. Right now, it's dissolved into complete chaos, actually," Blyth told CBC's On The Coast on Tuesday afternoon A notice handed out Tuesday said removal would first focus on the highest risk areas, adding in a statement that the process would begin outside the Regent Hotel on East Hastings Street and continue for weeks. Several residents said they hadn't heard about the removal until reporters asked. . Edgar Alan Rossetti, an artist, said he'd move if city workers came but planned to return as he's done before. "My game plan is pack my stuff up, and anybody needs help,I'll help them because these guys have been more my family than anybody else over the past few years," said Rossetti, 55, who said he's lived in the same spot outside Portland Hotel Society for more than two years. Asked where he'll go next, he said, "Two feet away. I'll go around the block, and I'll camp back over there." One woman sat and quietly played a wooden piano as people shuffled around her on East Hastings Street. "I give a lot of credit to people who have a tent and make it a home," said Laura Gravis. "It's a neighbourhood, and they're trying to make the best out of what they've got. Because of our economy, today and the lack of available housing and the stigma put on particular individuals because of their drug use or because of jailor because of the way they look ... some people are just trying to live." Forced evictions a human rights issue: advocate The sidewalks were still packed with dozens of tents in many areas of East Hastings by late morning. In some sections, sidewalks were impassable because tents and shelters were grouped so tightly. The city's fire chief ordered the tents to be cleared last month, saying they were an' extreme fire safety hazard. Advocacy group Pivot Legal Society said clearing the community will violate a pact signed by the city, the province and Vancouver's park board to ensure supports for those without shelter. "The reason there is nowhere for people to go is B.C. Housing and the city have actually admitted we do not have enough adequate housing options available at this moment."
The society said in a statement the city created the deteriorating conditions in the encampment by failing to provide promised storage, hygiene facilities and garbage disposal, but is now citing those safety and health concerns as the reason for the forced removal. Pivot called on Vancouver to provide "livable, dignified, and accessible housing" and for the fire department to acknowledge the unique needs of encampment residents by creating a harm reduction approach to fire safety that accounts for challenges ranging from toxic drugs to police violence and trauma due to colonization. City cites risk to public safety Last month, Vancouver's fire department ordered the immediate removal of tents and structures along East Hastings Street due to "numerous urgent safety concerns." On Tuesday, fire crews said their priority was creating a clear path for firefighters to access buildings in the event of a fire. Tents and other structures outside buildings currently block doorways, fire hydrants, fire escapes, hose connections and spaces where crews would need to plant ladders for rescues from upper floors, they said. "Our crews are going to be facing a really difficult time pulling up here ... and getting adequate water onto that fire in a reasonable amount of time [with tents here]," said Matthew Trudeau, public information officer with Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services. "This is incredibly dangerous." There had been several fires in the area in the weeks before the order came down, including ones that destroyed a community church and a Value Village store. Trudeau said the fire department had seen an increase in fires of more than 103 per cent since 2018. As of Tuesday, there had been 1,016 fires in the '" downtown core this year.
I
·1
Anna Cooper of Pivot said advocates agree fire safety needs to be addressed but disagree with the city's approach. . "Fire safety is 100 per cent a public safety issue, and none of the advocates are saying that it isn't," she said. "What we're saying is it's not the only public safety issue, and it cannot be atldressed in a way that's to the exclusion of other safety issues." ' The RC. Human Rights Commissioner estimates 400 people live in tents along several blocks of East Hastings Street. Asked where the people living in the tents were expected to move, the City of Vancouver deferred questions to RC. Housing. In a statement, RC. Housing said it does not have the spaces necessary to provide shelter for people who are being displaced. "We have been clear with the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services that, on short notice, we do not have access to large numbers of new spaces in Vancouver to accommodate the timing of the emergency order," B.C. Housing said in a statement. It went on to say it is working with partners to notify people on East Hastings of available spaces. It is also looking at new sites to lease or purchase and is working to create spaces through expediting renovations on SRO units as they become vacant.
With files from Lien Yeung, Eva Uguen-Csenge
[NOTE: In the August 1, 2022 issue of the Camegie Newsletter, the poetry entitled 'Jubilant" was written by jathinder Sandhu. J
Oppenheimer Park Art Workshop Series Mondays / 3pm - 5pm / August 15, 22, 29 This August, join Kat & Indigo at Oppenheimer park for a variety of art activities relating to community care and exploring what 'opening up means to you'. For each workshop, attendees are encouraged to bring their curiosities forward to eo-create an art making theme. Works created during this workshop series may be submitted to the upcoming 15th Annual Oppenheimer Park Community Art Show running September 5th - October 7th. Art materials will be provided free Attendees and artists alike are encouraged to submit works to the 15th Annual Oppenheimer Park Community Art Show. Deadline for submissions is September 2nd. In efforts to minimize barriers, submissions are not reviewed by a jury and artists are invited to drop by Gallery Gachet during open hours Tuesday - Saturday I 12pm - 6pm to submit their work. Participating artists will receive an artist fee of $125 at the end of the exhibition. Additionally, artists have the option of listing their work for public sale during the exhibition.
THE 7TH ANNUAL SANDY CAMERON MEMORIAL WRITHN6 CONTEST Sandy was a writer and poet and an historian emeritus who traced the years of struggle for social and economic justice in the life of the Downtown Eastside. He contributed his thoughts and feelings on subjects as diverse as class and whale watching but tied everything to our ongoing ideation on social justice. This contest is to honour him and all who use the written word to express themselves. This is for writers and poets who identify with the struggles of the Downtown Eastside, who see and feel passion in living with spiritual, mental, and physical yearnings. It may be with wealth (too much or not enough), housing (too luxurious or not good enough), homelessness (seeing people or trying to ignore reality), both sides of addiction in the drug trade, the sex trade, "free" trade, community, women (murdered, missing what it is to be safe and creative), children and growing, festivals, ceremonies, memorials, special people and their contributions (past, present) all you do to make your life meaningful both now and towards the future. Whew! Prizes will be awarded for each category. 1St, 2nd & 3rd will be $100, $75 and $50 respectively. Additional non-cash prizes for entries deserving recognition. Guidelines for Writing Contest. 1. Writing must be the original work of the person submitting the contest entry & not fiction . . 2. If plagiarism is recognised the work will be disqualified and returned. Contact information for the writer must be provided with each contest entry. Essays: This means writing in sentences, with grammar and structure attempted. Poetry: All forms accepted. Must use the same font (typeface) throughout Subject is open to the individual author. It can be about most anything relevant to readers. In the words of Sam Roddan "[It] must have a bite. It must create some kind of disturbance, a turmoil in the heart, a turbulence of memory and feeling," The length of the essay can be 250-700 words, basically what can be printed on 1 page of the Newsletter. Poetry of whatever length, but no more than can be printed on 1 page. Deadline for submissions is noon on September 15, 2022. Results will be announced at a special event during the Heart of the City Festival (early November). Each writer may submit only one essay and/or one poetry entry. Submit your work on paper to Camegie's front desk or email it to carnnews@shaw.ca with contact info
.
11: is our BirthdaY
<I,
I cb
This issue of the Carnegie Newsletter marks the 36th anniversary of its publication. The first edition came out on August 15, 1986. It was 12 pages in 60 copies made on a photocopier upstairs. The paper started after its predecessor, the Carnegie Crescent, imploded from too many editors and no one being satisfied with the [mal version that was printed. Cindy Carson was a senior programmer with City staff and brought in Al Mettrick, one-time city editor for a Toronto daily, who had moved to Vancouver after leaving his job and being hired on a UI Top-up Program. Al said he could create a newsletter in his sleep! He got the basic design, general layout and twice-a-mont publishing down at a time when computers were still just starting. Local poets and writers and graphic artists began to hand in work, all on a volunteer basis, while Al wrote maybe half or more of each issue. He stayed on for the first 7 issues with November 15 coinciding with the end of his Unemployment Insurance. Al carried on, leaving a handful of us to keep th Carnegie Newsletter going. I took on the role of editor and, strangely enough, the paper has come out (with rare exceptions) twice-a-month, 23 times a year, ever since. Homeless people were few in number in the 80s while the condition of housing, specifically the SRO hotels, was one of many major concerns. The paper kicked off during Expo 86, when the wealthy were boosting the real estate market into its ongoing hyperhot state, and the so-called "trickle-down effect" had owners oflocal SROs evicting years-long tenants to make a quick buck on tourists coming to Expo. The Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA), started in the 70s by Bruce Eriksen, Libby Davies and Jean Swanson, evolved over its 29-year legacy to include all manner of struggles of people to be recognized as human beings. Event, campaigns, community issues involving lowincome people surviving in these hotels and on the street gave voice to many. The Downtown Eastside is a microcosm of what happens when these issues affect almost everyone. Think poverty, housing & homelessness, the drug trade, sex trade, "free" trade, gentrification, street safety, murdered and missing women, Indigenous rights and land / culture identity, at-risk youth, overdoses&addiction
and harm reduction, festivals, arts, drumming, the advent of Humanities 101, casino wars, writing & drawing, settlers & colonization, theatre and singing and anniversaries (like this one!). I am touchingjust the tips of icebergs writing this. The history of the Downtown Eastside cannot be detailed in an article or a page or a book. There is always more and the intimate points are seldom widely known. It has been an honour to be at the helm of this boat as it makes its way through the waters of this community. There have been mistakes and issues of respect going both ways, but over 2300 individuals have contributed time, energy and no small amount of passion to keeping the Carnegie Newsletter one of the most respected publications here. In 1991 I put together a 'little sister' publication called Help in the Downtown Eastside. It lists places & organisations & agencies & community groups providing services. The categories include Food, both free and low-cost; Clothing; Shelter and housing advocacy; Medical Aid clinics, dental, emergencies etc; Education with peer supports, classes, learning and sharing of knowledge. There are sections on Legal advice, immigrant needs, collective responses to women's needs and Indigenous programs. It's always, like the Newsletter itself, free. The most recent edition is #55, published in March 2022. Funds have to be raised every time Help has been updated and the print run is usually 10-11,000. I could run on with specifics from different years or incidents, but this is enough. Glad to be here. By PAULR TAYLOR Volunteer Editor since 1986.
A Poet's Rhyme and Reason
Through My Children's Eyes
For many years I felt inferior,
Their unrestrained laughter and excitement
As I had no diploma, no degree.
permeate my heart as we play together.
I judged my school-mates superior
I'm learning to be less over-protective,
When they went on to university.
less controlling of their every move.
While their heads were buried in books,
As they run carefree in the park
Mine seemed lost in billowy clouds.
I both admire and envy
I favoured secluded nooks,
the valiant spirits they are.
While they favoured studious crowds. Their innocence and their simplicity Though at first my mind drew a blank,
touch a delicate chord in my soul.
Inspiration soon flowed from above.
How can any mother harm or neglect her child?
From the Poet's Fountain I drank; I had found my new labour of love.
I'm mending from the pain and void
Now I feel like an owl in the night
I knew throughout my childhood.
When to bed I refuse to retire,
Those rather-be-forgot memories
Lest ideas slip away, out of sight,
are being replaced with soulful love,
And out goes Creativity's Fire.
laughter and friendship. The wounded child within me heals
I have gained a self-respect
as I experience life
And a true appreciation
through my children's eyes.
..
Of my ability to select
.
From experience and observation That which is narratable, Of interest, and poignant, too. I write when I am capable, Hoping my words are of value to you.
© Jacqueline Angharad Giles
© Jacqueline Angharad Giles
·+.
Health Canada
Sante Canada
Your health and safety. .. our priority.
Votre sente et votre secunte ... notre priorite.
Acute Care During Extreme Heat Recommendations
and Information for Health Care Workers
•• Heat exposure ("1In'result in direct illnesses induding: Heat Edema, Heat Rash, Heat Cramps, Heat Syncope (fainting) and Heat Exhaustion. These can be self-limiting, but should always be addressed with treatment. •• Exertional Heat Stroke and Classic Heat Stroke are medical emergencies and require immediate action from a health care worker and hospitalization. •• Exposure to heat may also present as exacerbation of Cardiovascular, Renal, Pulmonary or Psychiatric illnesses.
Key Actions •• Recognize
and identify heat as a factor in illness or death.
.• Recognize Heat Stroke, and activate emergency medical services. •• Record heat as a contributing factor to illness for improved recognition
and monitoring.
are key diagno;!icfaclorS)
Heat Exhaustion
HeatStroke
Temperature
Core temperature
Core temperature
Neurological
.• Anxiety and confusion •• Dizziness and light-headedness •• Headache
Mental status changes; '1\ Delirium/hallucinations •• Ataxia (lack of coordination indicating neurological dysfunction) •• Confusion, irritability, emotional instability, aggressiveness, seizures • Loss of consciousness
Cardtac
•• Tachycardia
•• Cardiac arrhythmias
SkiD
•• Cutaneous flushing (hot, red skin) •• Sweating present
•• Classic Heat Stroke: hot, red, dry skin typically affects sedentary vulnerable people
elevated but <400C (t04"F)
~ 40°C (104"F)
and tachycardia
•• Exertional Heat Stroke: profuse sweating typically associated with high physical activity Other
.• Nausea, vomiting •• Hypotension
•• Shock •• Tachypnea
Outcome
Untreated and with ongoing heat exposure. heat exhanstion can worsen and become heat stroke.
In later stages, pulmonary edema, hepatic failure, renal failure, rhabdornyolysis (muscle fibre breakdown), death
Olde-r adults (especially >75 years) Those ha,ing
Ltvtng circumstances (confined to bed, social isolation, reduced income, malnutrition, reduced access to cooling options)
chrome diseases including:
Cardiovascular disease (hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart conduction disorders) Mental and behavfoural dtsorders (due to psycho active. substance use, alcoholism) Mental illness (dementia, depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's)
Neurological disease (Parkinson's disease) Respiratory illness (chronic obstructive pulmonary (COPD). asthma) Renal disease (renal failure) Metabolic conditions (diabetes, obesity)
disease
Acute Care During Extreme Hea1 Recommendations
Medication
and Information
for Health
Care Worker'
Mechanism
Antiadrenergics Metoprolol)
and IJ-Blockers (e.g, Atenolol,
Can decrease cardiac output, and therefore shunting of warm blood from body core to periphery, limiting cooling.
Annchohnergtcs
(e.g. Scopolamine)
Can prevent sweat glands from functioning properly (i.e. inhibit rate of sweating and therefore rate of cooling).
Antidepressants
(e.g. Prozac, Zoloft, other SSRIs)
Many have anticholinergic properties (see above) and some can raise the brain's thermal set-point decreasing centrally induced thermoregulation. SSRIs can increase the risk ofhyponatremia.
Antihistamines
(e.g, Brompheniraroine)
Can inhibit the sweating mechanism.
Anti-Parkinson's agents (e.g. Benztropine, Levodopa, Trihexyphenidyl)
Can inhibit the sweating mechanism.
Antipsychotics (e.g. Olanzapine)
Can inhibit the sweating mechanism. Can induce a hyperthermic syndrome (neuroleptic malignant syndrome) on their OVl'Il, which would be compounded by the effects of heat.
Sympatbomimetics
Can prevent dilation of the blood vessels in the skin of the periphery (hands, feet, face) reducing the. ability to dissipate heat by convection.
(e.g, Pseudoephedrine)
Diuretics (e.g. Lasix)
Can lead to dehydration and hyponatremia is a common side effect
Several drug classes (e.g, cholinesterase inhibitors, antiarrhythmics, calcium blockers)
Can provoke diarrhea and/or vomiting, leading to dehydration.
Key Actions to Address
Risk Factors
• Educate and increase awareness of the risk factors, signs and symptoms and treatment for heat illnesses, both for patients, care givers and health care workers. • Help patient assess their risk and discuss preventive actions they could take to reduce 11Sksbefore and during extreme heat events. (Refer to tile Health Canada's Heat-Health Fact Sheet Series)
Cool and Hydrate,f •• Heat stroke is a medical emergency and requires hospitalization. •• Cool the body early, mon.itor vital signs, This can prevent later stage damage and death. Exel'tional heat stroke -cool quickly with ice-water baths. Classic heat stroke -more often occurs in people with other chronic conditions; cool gradually, as to not exacerbate these conditions . ., Treat dehydration. •• Check for over-hydration, hyponatremia, especially ill athletes; assess patient's recent physical activity.
For additional information refer to Health Canada's Extreme Heat Events Guidelines: Technical Guide for Health Care Workers For further information email: Climatinfo@hc-sc.gc.ca
[Climate Scientist
~lOP£R
(1 went back to warn them, but they already knew and didn't seem to care. OPENING AFrERNOON August 11th, 2022 -3:30 pm - 6pm @artbyohmontana show August 1st - 31 st, 2022 PRESENTS A SOLO ART SHOW BYMONTANA
KING
rd
3 floor at the FAMOUS CARNH6IE
CENTR.E
401 Main Street at Hastings St
From "the Library It is challenging and heartbreaking to witness people made vulnerable being displaced from their homes. The housing crisis is not a new problem and has a long legacy. Here are some books from VPL's collection that offer some historical context and that speak to the struggle for accessible and dignified housing in Vancouver:
•
Houses for All by Jill Wade is the story of the struggle for social housing in Vancouver between 1919 and 1950. It argues that, however temporary or limited their achievements, local activists played a significant role in the introduction, implementation, or continuation of many early national housing programs. • Land of Destiny by Jesse Donaldson explores the history of real estate in Vancovuer. It also examines the backroom dealings, the skulduggery and nepotism, the racism and the obscene profits, while at the same time revealing that the same forces which made Vancouver what it is - speculation and global capitalare the same ones that shape it today, showing that more than anything else, the history of real estate and the history of Vancouver are one and the same. • The Tenants' Rights Action Coalition produced analysis titled B.C. 's Rental Housing Crisis: Social Credit's Legacy. TRAC promotes the legal protection of tenants across BC by providing information, education, support and research on residential tenancy matters. Services include a phone service, workshops, direct representation, website, online course, social media and multilingual publications. • Pivot Legal Society's Know Your Rights: a Guide for People Who Rely on Public Space is a toolkit that explains rights in general, as they relate to adults over age 19. The informationin this booklet is up to date as of June 2019. This toolkit is a work in progress. Pivot works in partnership with communities affected by poverty and social exclusion to identify priorities and develop solutions to complex human rights issues. • Downtown Eastside Speaks Up! is a report includes the findings from a survey that LSU! (Let's Speak Up!) members wrote and distributed to members of the DTES Community in 2020. The survey included a variety of topics, from healthcare, housing, and harm reduction. The survey was a way to check in and see what challenges people were facing. • We also have many Camegie Community Action Project (CCAP) reports that offer fulsome background to the crisis such as the 2018 hotel survey and housing report Displaced: Rents and the Rate of Change in the Downtown Eastside and 2012's We're Trying to Get Rid of Welfare People. Are there any books or movies (graphic novels?! zines!?!) you might add to this list that we don't have in the collection? Please visit us at the Carnegie Branch and we'll add to the list of recommendations by valued and very dear DTES patrons. ~ Danielle, Carnegie Branch Head
There are currently 27 First Nations communities facing long-term drinking water advisories in Canada.
.,
Canada is a first-world country, so you would think that all Canadians have access to clean water.Well, think again, because, tragically, there are still Indigenous communities across this country who do not. Kids are unable to bathe without burning their skin, and people are unable to wash their dishes without getting blisters. This is an emergency. These communities are being deprived of their basic human rights. All Canadians deserve access to safe and clean drinking water, and our politicians need to fix this problem immediately. So, if you want to help hold our politicians accountable by demanding meaningful action for First Nations people, go to CleanWaterNow.ca.
Longtime drug policy advocate Donald MacPherson steps down as CD PC executive director ANDREA
woo
IN THE GLOBE & MAIL
Donald MacPherson, a longtime advocate for drug-policy reform who is credited with helping change the way the public talks about illicit substances and the people who use them, is stepping down as executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. Mr. MacPherson, 70, has been founding director of the CDPC, a non-partisan advocacy group, for more than a decade. He has spoken frequently about the inadvertent harms that stem from the prohibition of drugs and served as a public critic of what he says is failed government policy, as jurisdictions across Canada fall deeper into the throes of the continuing toxic drug crisis. He has instead called for fundamental change, including legalization and regulation of currently illegal substances. • Mr. MacPherson's career in drug policy began more than 30 years ago, when he says he became an "accidental tourist" to Vancouver's drug scene. "I was running the education program at the Carnegie Community Centre on the corner of Main and Hastings, and so I had to walk through this bizarre scene every day, this open drug scene on the corner," he said. In the early 1990s, the impoverished neighbourhood was on the cusp of a public-health crisis, with overdose deaths and rates ofHIV and Hepatitis C climbing. "I was sort of stunned that there wasn't much of a response - a societal response, a health care response. Th~re was a police response, but it did nothing. It just sort of contained the problem in the Downtown Eastside." Mr. MacPherson began talking to some of the neighbourhood's most outspoken characters, among them Bud Osborn, a poet, community organizer and activist; drug-user activist Dean Wilson; and housing advocates Mark Townsend and Liz Evans. He went on to become director of the Carnegie - sometimes called "the living room of the Downtown Eastside" - before turning his sights on city hall, accepting a newly created social-planning role in 1997. He calls a 1998 trip to Switzerland for an international harm-reduction conference his epiphany. In the late 1980s, the country grappled with problems similar to those of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, including widespread public drug use, soaring overdose deaths and the highest incident rate ofHIV/AIDS in Europe. Pressured by cities and local health programs that began opening needle exchanges and supervised consumption sites, the Swiss government shifted its approach
.!.
to drug use, eventually offering what it called "low-threshold services" such as easier to access methadone treatment and heroin-assisted therapy. "They had much more to offer someone at the street level than just an abstinence-based treatment program, which was not reaching enough people," Mr. MacPherson said. "Instead of a system that just tells you, 'Come back when you're ready to quit using,' they welcomed everyone into their service whether they used or not. It was revolutionary to me." In 2000, he was named Vancouver's drug policy coordinator - the first position of its kind in North America. In that role, he authored the city's Four Pillars drug strategy, which called for new approaches to drug use based on public-health principles. He found an unlikely ally in then-mayor Philip Owen of the right-leaning Non-Partisan Association, who helped open Insite, Canada's first public supervised-consumption site. Perry Kendall met Mr. MacPherson around this time, when the former had just been appointed B.c.'s provincial health officer. He described his longtime friend and colleague as an "amazing resource" and leader in the policy field. "He's been a thought leader and public voice with a national presence, pulling various constituents from across Canada together - the voices of people with lived experience, advocates, researchers, lawyers, policy wonks, politicians," Dr. Kendall said in an interview. In 2010, Mr. MacPherson founded the CDPC, which today comprises more than 50 organizations "striving to end the harms of drug prohibition," according to its website. B.C. Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe called Mr. MacPherson a "compassionate voice of reason" that has helped the public understand that Canada's punitive approach to drug use has further harmed those who are vulnerable. "His thoughtful, academic approach to the issue of drug use has challenged the assumptions on which our laws and policies are based and has helped us understand their foundation of racism and bias," she said a statement to The Globe. "In years to come, as our country moves towards a more rational, evidence-based approach, I believe Don will be recognized as a visionary." Mr. MacPherson said he is heartened by recent policy innovations, including a push for "safe supply" and drug decriminalization around the corner, but that his successor must recognize that fundamental change is needed. "This is not something that 100 treatment beds, or 100 more supervised consumption services will solve," he said. "Structural change has to happen sooner or later, otherwise we'll be having this conversation 10 years from now. And I said that 10 years ago."
We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and this Newsletter, are occurring 01'1 Coast Salish Territory.
THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association. WANTED Artwork for the Camegie Newsletter -Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry. -Cover art - Max size: 17cm(6 y,.·)wide x 15cm(6")high. -Subject matter pertaining to issues relevant to th.e Downtown Eastslde. but all work considered. -Black & While printing only. -Size restrictions apply (Le. if your piece is too large, i! will be reduced and/or cropped to fit). -All artistswiU receive credit for their work. -Originals will be returned to the artist after being copied for publication. -Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets Please ma.kesubmissions to Paul Taylor, Editor. The editor can edit 10( clarity, format & brevity, but not atthe expense of the writers message.
401 Main Street, Vancouver VGA 217 604-665-2289 Website carnegienewsletter.org Catalogue carnnews@vcn.bc.ca email carnnews@shaw.ca
Jenny Kwan MP East NDP Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Critic
Vancouver
2572 E Hastings St Vancouver,
BC V5K IZ3
T: 604-775-5800 F: 604-77S-5811
Next issue: SUBMISSION
DEADLINE
....... .. ..... ,
Noon,MONDAY,
,
AUGUST 29
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION • • • • • •
AIDS POVERTY HOMELESSNESS • VIOLENCE ~GAINST WOptlEN TOTALITARIAN CAPITALISM IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR
,.,.~,
DONATIONS 2022 Teresa V-$50 Craig H-$500 Ken B-$20 ~ \ Michael C-$200 Wend¥ W-$20 Elaine V-$100 \ , Maureen J-$25 Penny G-$100 Margot B-$200, "'. Laurle R-$150 New..Star-$250 Chris R-$250 t "-. Farmer Family
Vancouver"s non-commercial, listener-supported community station.
,,-,
CRUNCH~dte~ No
.. -
PARk 8ENCHES
"S""{/I3BO~N~' --
FOI{
A
O,oMEN
r
*lrAltJ1' FIN!>
our
/1 A VRAG To MAKE YO() -;;UST"PI'J)N
'r
/1 JUST IN ,1/1£ I1AK£ I r IN TIME.
"'0