Older Article-Vancouver backs out on Housing Committments

Vancouver Drops Olympics Housing Pledge

Promise was ‘non-binding’ NPA votes.

View full article and comments here http:///Bigstory/2007/06/29/NoHousing/

By Monte Paulsen

Published: June 29, 2007

TheTyee.ca

Mayor Sam Sullivan and the Non-Partisan Association have rejected pleas for more new social housing by 2010. Critics warn that Thursday night’s decision by Vancouver City Council assures that homeless Canadians will outnumber athletes at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

“Homelessness is going to get a lot worse in this city, and the NPA is fully responsible,” said City Councillor David Cadman, who represents the opposing Council of Progressive Electors (COPE).

In a series of 6-5 votes, the NPA strong-armed Vancouver City Council into approving a misleading report drafted in the office of Housing Minister Rich Coleman and approved by the organizers of the 2010 games (VANOC). The report, awkwardly titled the Joint Partner Response to the Inner-City Inclusive Commitments (ICI) Housing Table Report, asserts that the housing recommendations developed for VANOC are “not binding.”

NPA councillors Suzanne Anton, Elizabeth Ball, Kim Capri, Peter Ladner and B.C. Lee also voted in lock-step with Mayor Sam Sullivan to defeat motions introduced by Vision Vancouver and COPE requesting an emergency meeting with federal and provincial housing ministers.

‘Huge things’

“We don’t need this motion,” Sullivan said. “We are working on a lot of things … Huge things.” The mayor did not provide details.

“Sullivan hasn’t delivered anything,” responded Councillor Cadman. “He claims credit for social housing at Woodward’s in spite of the fact that he voted against it. He claims credit for social housing at Southeast False Creek in spite of the fact that his first action as mayor was to slash social housing at that site. He claims credit for the SRO rooms purchased by the province, even though Minister Coleman has plainly said the city had nothing to do with that purchase.”

The Non-Partisan Alliance’s party-line votes came after a half-day of passionate public testimony, in which Vancouver citizens implored council to reject VANOC’s draft report and invite senior governments to a sit-down. Mayor Sullivan rolled out of council chambers during the second speaker, and remained missing-in-action for the remaining four hours of public testimony.

One of the many presentations that Sullivan refused to hear was a plan presented by Pivot Legal Society under which new homeless housing could be paid for out of existing provincial, city and VANOC funds. Pivot and 2010 Watch released documents on Thursday that they say show the city will earn $64.5 million from development of the Olympic Village, which is now under construction at Southeast False Creek.

‘No time to walk away’

Sullivan and his obedient NPA vote also defied an editorial in The Vancouver Sun, which stated, “2010 housing promises must be honoured.”

The June 26 editorial was uncharacteristically blunt: “…this is no time for the Olympic partners to walk away from promises made. Many of the housing commitments were key to gaining community support for the Games, and they must be honoured.”

Vision Vancouver and COPE councillors warned that since it takes a minimum of two years to develop social housing, Thursday night’s vote was probably the last chance this council would get to address Olympic homelessness.

“In all likelihood there will be a strike,” Cadman said. “That will place a hiatus on everything. And that hiatus will effectively delay action on housing until the fall. At that point, it will simply be too late to develop, permit and build new social housing in time for the 2010 Olympics.”

“I don’t want to give up hope until the day before the opening ceremonies,” said David Eby, a housing activist and staff lawyer at Pivot Legal Society. “But I’m getting a sinking feeling that the streets of Vancouver are going to look a lot worse when the Olympics arrive.”

UN’s harsh view of Vancouver

Any doubt that the world is watching was erased by a top-of-page-one headline in Thursday’s The Vancouver Sun, which declared “Vancouver a scarred paradise.” The Sun report described Vancouver as “a city with staggering wealth and soul-crushing poverty.” The article cited a report by the United Nations Population Fund stating that the Downtown Eastside “is home to a hepatitis C (HCV) rate of just below 70 per cent and an HIV prevalence rate of an estimated 30 per cent — the same as Botswana’s.”

Another high-profile report issued this week seemed to predict the NPA’s failure to act. Shelter: Homelessness in a Growth Economy was written by Gordon Laird and published by the Alberta-based Sheldon Chumir Foundation. The report estimated that as many as 300,000 Canadians are already homeless, at a cost to taxpayers of between $4.5 and $6 billion every year.

“Canadian governments,” Laird wrote, “have focused more on short-term crisis management over long-term strategic investment. Their response to homelessness over the last decade has sometimes bordered on outright neglect. In practical terms, absenteeism on housing and homelessness has exacerbated efforts to reduce poverty in Canada.”

letter to Gary Mason (journalist who ripped into the UN homeless complaint)

Dear Mr. Mason,

 

I have been a fan of your journalism since first reading your articles in the Vancouver Sun. I am a physical education highschool teacher in the lower mainland, educated at UBC, and have played, and continue to play, a variety of sports at a very high amateur level. While I whole-heartedly support sports and other physical endeavours and recreational pursuits, my position towards the 2010 Olympics has changed drastically since learning of the effects the Games have and will continue to have on my Vancouver community. I celebrated the winning of the games when I first learned they were awarded to Vancouver; now, however, I am quite adamantly opposed to the Olympics because of the tragic and inhumane effect they are having and will continue to have on the most vulnerable members of our community.

 

Your article, “blaming olympics for housing ills is wrong”, is, unfortunately, one of your worst pieces to date. How a reputable investigative journalist like yourself failed to report on the reality behind the government rhetoric is deplorable. “I think any link between Vancouver’s housing problems and the coming Olympics is misguided if not dead wrong“; perhaps you should interview Am Johal or David Eby and find out what’s really happening on the ground. Perhaps your opinion would be swayed if you interviewed tenants residing in the downtown eastside and learned of their illegal eviction stories. Please read David Eby’s blog http://davideby.blogspot.com/ … he has pasted hyperlinks into your article that challenge everything you convey as being ‘factual’. In a true democracy, the press has a responsibility to inform the people at large of the TRUTH, and neglecting to do so (whether to sell papers or to promote Government/business interests) is unbecoming of a journalist and jeopardizes your integrity. As a respected journalist, you have lost integrity with this article; you have the ability to win it back by writing a legitimate and informative article. Please do your research.

 

 

The situation for many residing in the downtown Eastside is very visibly dire. The complaint sent to the United Nations by UBC student Mike Powar makes a very strong case that Canada is violating fundamental human rights with regards to housing in the downtown eastside, and I hope that through ‘embarrassment’ and ‘shame’ the government will finally take affirmative action to improve the lives of our society’s most vulnerable. There’s no place like home…. In a country as prosperous as Canada, there’s no place for homelessness.

As much as I support the Tibetans and the ongoing struggle for human rights protections in China, it would be hypocritical of me to ignore the human rights violations taking place in our own back yard. The government can and should do more to ensure that adequate social housing is available to all Canadians, regardless of one’s socio-economic situation. As homelessness in our city as well as the rest of the GVRD increases, the situation is much more than embarrassing, it is tragic, and our government should feel ashamed of their inadequate ‘solutions’ to this issue.

To claim that “The Olympics may end up being the best thing that ever happened to the poor and homeless in this city” is outright outrageous. Mr. Mason: I expect better from you.

 

letters to editor!!

Please help us out by sending as many letters to different papers/media outlets as possible. Here’s some sample templates to help you out so we can send as many letters to the editors as possible and show that there is much support in our communities for this cause. See links at bottom of this post for quick access to editors. If you can, send one to your MP.

Peace and Love (and thanks!!)

D-F(ng)s

Dear editor,

The situation for many residing in the downtown Eastside is very visibly dire. The complaint sent to the United Nations makes a very strong case that Canada is violating fundamental human rights with regards to housing in the downtown eastside, and I hope that through ‘embarrassment’ and ‘shame’ the government will finally take affirmative action to improve the lives of our society’s most vulnerable, There’s no place like home…. In a country as prosperous as Canada, there’s no place for homelessness.

Dear editor,

As much as I support the Tibetans and the ongoing struggle for human right protections in China, it would be hypocritical of me to ignore the human rights violations taking place in our own back yard. The government can and should do more to ensure that adequate social housing is available to all Canadians, regardless of one’s socio-economic situation. As homelessness in our city increases, the situation is much more than embarrassing, it is tragic, and our government should feel ashamed of their inadequate ‘solutions’ to this issue.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/feedback/

The Province:

provletters@png.canwest.com or call 604-605-2029
(To permit speedy verification, and confirmation that the text received is uncorrupted, please provide your full name and full postal address including hometown, and a daytime telephone number.)

metro: vancouverletters@metronews.ca

Climbers scale Golden Gate Bridge to protest Olympic torch run

Three people protesting China’s human rights record and the impending arrival of the Olympic torch climbed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on Monday and tied a Tibetan flag and two banners to its cables.
(Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)

Three pro-Tibet protesters climbed the suspension cables of the Golden Gate Bridge on Monday to protest the coming arrival of the Beijing Olympics torch relay in San Francisco.

The protesters, tethered together on the suspension cables halfway up the bridge, unfurled two giant banners reading “One World, One Dream” and “Free Tibet ‘O8″ — a play on the official slogan of the Beijing Games. One of the climbers also displayed a Tibetan flag.

The climbers spent about three hours suspended more than 25 metres above traffic before descending around 1:15 p.m. PT to be taken into police custody, the CBC’s Chris Brown reported from the city.

The climbers are all American citizens and supporters of Students for a Free Tibet, said Tsering Lama, a spokeswoman for the activist group.

Four other members, including a Canadian student who attends the University of British Columbia, were arrested at the site, Lama told CBC News.

All seven face charges related to trespassing, conspiracy and causing a public nuisance, CNN reported.

The torch is due to arrive Wednesday in San Francisco, its only North American stop on a tour that has been marked by protests against China’s policies toward Tibet and Sudan.

The highly visible protest has forced San Francisco officials to make some changes to the torch procession, and police said they were taking “extraordinary precautions,” the CBC’s Brown said.

“All in all, it’s going to be a very sizable police presence,” he said.

Last leg of Olympic torch run cancelled in Paris

Meanwhile Monday, the last segment of the Olympic torch run through Paris was cancelled after thousands of anti-China protesters repeatedly prompted officials to stop the procession, extinguish the flame and put the torch aboard a bus.

Despite beefed-up security, the relay had to be suspended at least five times as demonstrators threatened the torch. A vehicle carried the Olympic flame for the last part of the route but a runner was allowed to carry the torch for the final five metres into a sports stadium in the south of Paris.

At least 28 people were arrested during the relay as thousands of people including demonstrators lined the torch’s route through the city streets.

The protesters, tethered together on the suspension cables halfway up the bridge, unfurled two giant banners reading “One World, One Dream” and “Free Tibet ‘O8″ — a play on the official slogan of the Beijing Games. One of the climbers also displayed a Tibetan flag.

The climbers spent about three hours suspended more than 25 metres above traffic before descending around 1:15 p.m. PT to be taken into police custody, the CBC’s Chris Brown reported from the city.

The climbers are all American citizens and supporters of Students for a Free Tibet, said Tsering Lama, a spokeswoman for the activist group.

Four other members, including a Canadian student who attends the University of British Columbia, were arrested at the site, Lama told CBC News.

All seven face charges related to trespassing, conspiracy and causing a public nuisance, CNN reported.

The torch is due to arrive Wednesday in San Francisco, its only North American stop on a tour that has been marked by protests against China’s policies toward Tibet and Sudan.

The highly visible protest has forced San Francisco officials to make some changes to the torch procession, and police said they were taking “extraordinary precautions,” the CBC’s Brown said.

“All in all, it’s going to be a very sizable police presence,” he said.

Tibet – 1.5 million people say it’s time for China to have dialogue with the Dalai Lama

On Monday, thousands of people in 84 cities worldwide marched for justice for Tibet–and delivered the 1.5 million-signature Avaaz petition to Chinese embassies and consulates around the globe. (Click below for photos.) Avaaz staff have engaged with Chinese diplomats in New York and London, delivering the petition and urging action. And a growing chorus of world leaders is joining the call.

China is on the fence–indicating an openness to talks with the Dalai Lama, while at the same time pressuring other governments to support its continuing crackdown. Each day, more leaders declare their stance. It’s time to redouble our efforts–click below to send a personal message to your head of state, urging support for dialogue with the Dalai Lama–and check out the photo gallery from Monday’s day of action!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_report_back/5.php/?cl=69515489

Together, we’ve built an unprecedented wave of global pressure. The Avaaz petition is one of the biggest and fastest-growing global online petitions on any topic in history; since it launched on March 18, it has been signed by 100,000 people per day–an average of more than 4,000 per hour, day and night.

Politicians understand that there is power in numbers. We need to show them that they have more to gain by listening to their own people–and heeding the cry for help from Tibet–than by giving China a pass in the lead-up to the Olympic Games. Take action now

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_report_back/5.php/?cl=69515489

We’re privileged to be alive at a time when people anywhere can reach out and support people everywhere–instantly. If we have the power to make things better, we have a responsibility to act. Thanks for what you’ve done so far, for the people of Tibet and for a more humane world for all.

With hope,

Ben, Ricken, Graziela, Galit, Paul, Iain, Pascal, and the Avaaz team

PS – The more people sign the petition, the more powerful our call for change. We will hope to deliver it to the Chinese government again once we reach our target of 2 million signers. If you haven’t already, please forward the email below to your friends and family, and urge them to sign the Tibet petition!

Now’s your chance to help us out!

Dear all you fellow fungi,

The Fungus is doing a project on homelessness in Vancouver…. and here’s your chance to help out some good ol’ fashioned grass roots democracy! Our mission requires us to sift through some data – You Tube video clips and old media archives will help us convey the story of the Downtown Eastside – and we have a request! We would like concerned citizens to contribute stories, video footage, media archive reports/articles, and anything else, directly to us at TheFungus. Please send your material (or a link to access it) to us via a submitted comment to this post.

Thanks for your support!

Peace, The Fungus

China says torch protests ’shameful’ as Tibet pressure mounts

A Tibetan woman cries inside a police van in frustration after their peace rally being held along with Amnesty International was dispersed by policemen in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday March 24, 2008. Eleven members of Amnesty International along with their country head were also detained. (AP Photo/ Saurabh Das)

Peter Harmsen, AFP

Published: Tuesday, March 25, 2008

BEIJING, March 25, 2008 (AFP) – China said Tuesday attempts to disrupt the Olympic torch relay were “shameful” after protests at the ceremony to light the flame added to pressure over its handling of ongoing unrest in Tibet.

Amid reports of new bloodshed during a major crackdown by Chinese forces, the demonstrations in Greece on Monday underlined world anger over Tibet and a determination to keep harassing China’s communist leaders on the issue.

But China’s foreign ministry had only sharp words for the protests and urged countries on the relay route to ensure its smooth progress.

“Any act to disrupt the Olympic torch relay is shameful and unpopular,” ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing in China’s first official reaction to the incidents.

“We also believe that competent authorities in countries through which the torch relay will pass have the obligation to ensure a smooth relay.”

With Tibetan exiles putting the death toll from 10 days of unrest at around 140, protesters condemning China’s rights record briefly disrupted the flame ceremony as it was broadcast live to the world from Ancient Olympia.

Later, 10 Tibetan activists staged a protest in the town’s main street.

Chinese media largely ignored the incidents in their accounts of the torch lighting, which kicked off a five-month world tour of the Olympic flame in the run-up to the August 8-24 Games, seen by Beijing as China’s great coming-out party.

The China Daily called the flame ceremony “a perfect start,” while the Global Times, a specialised newspaper focusing on international issues, carried a short reference to the protests at the end of a lengthy, positive report.

The incidents refocused international attention on China’s crackdown on the two weeks of protest over its rule of Tibet, which Beijing has blamed on the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader.

However, the Dalai Lama reiterated a pledge to quit as “spokesperson for the Tibetan people” if there are more violent anti-Chinese protests either in his homeland or in other parts of China.

“If the violent demonstrations continue, I would resign,” the exiled Buddhist leader said in India on Tuesday.

State-run Xinhua news agency reported a policeman was killed, and other officers injured, in fresh clashes Monday in Garze, a southwest region in Sichuan province with a large proportion of ethnic Tibetans.

The India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported one Tibetan protester was shot dead and another left in critical condition following “indiscriminate firing” at a group of about 200 demonstrators.

Protests began in Tibet on March 10 to mark the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule in the region, but have since turned deadly and spread to other parts of the country.

Thirteen people who took part in the March 10 demonstration are now under arrest, the state-controlled Tibet Daily reported Tuesday.

“This repression is not tolerable,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday on the Europe 1 radio network, referring to the Chinese crackdown.

By contrast, Singapore said Tuesday it “supports the declared policy of the Chinese government to protect the lives and property of its citizens from violent demonstrators with minimum use of force.”

Xinhua on Tuesday reported a visit to Tibet by Meng Jianzhu, the head of the public security ministry and China’s top police official, covering several areas in Lhasa hit by the clashes.

“Participating in the riot essentially violated the doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism,” Meng said, according to the agency.

Independent confirmation of reports from the region and areas populated by Tibetans has been extremely difficult due to curbs China has placed on foreign media.

The foreign ministry said Tuesday it would organise a three-day trip to Lhasa by about a dozen selected foreign journalists.

Tibet, a mountainous region that straddles Mount Everest and is more than twice the size of France, has been a flashpoint issue for China’s Communist leadership ever since it came to power in 1949.

Tibet has taken on greater importance in the run-up to the Olympics in August, which the country’s leaders hope will be a chance to show off China’s rapid transformation into a modern economic power.

Despite the protests, calls for a boycott of the Games have been muted.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Monday there was “deep concern” over events in Tibet but has dismissed talk of boycotting the event.

Free Tibet 2008!

One World, One Dream: Free Tibet 2008

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games offer Tibetans and their supporters an unprecedented opportunity to draw attention to China’s occupation of Tibet. As the spotlight shines on Beijing we must pressure the Chinese government to FREE TIBET!

Tibetan protesters rally outside Swiss Olympics meeting

Times Colonist

Published: Tuesday, March 18, 2008

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Tuesday at the seat of the International Olympic Committee in the Swiss city of Lausanne to denounce China’s crackdown in Tibet.

The demonstrators, many holding banners and Tibetan flags, arrived with a police escort. The procession was led by monks in traditional robes.

“Stop Killing in Tibet,” read one banner, while another said: “Mr Rogge, your silence kills Tibetans” – a plea to the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge.

One organiser put the number of demonstrators at around 500, while another said it was closer to 1,000.

Lausanne police put the number at around 450.

Despite the police presence, the demonstration was peaceful – in contrast to scenes in the eastern Swiss city of Zurich over the weekend when police fired tear gas at protestors calling for Tibet’s independence.

The demonstrators planned to hand a letter to the IOC urging them to break their silence on the unrest.

“We, the undersigned representatives of Tibetan organisations and support groups around the world, are writing to urgently request that the IOC make a public statement about the discrepancy between China’s promises to uphold human rights as an Olympic host, and its violent crackdown in Tibet over the last five days,” the letter said.

“We also urge you to immediately remove Tibet from the Beijing Olympic Torch relay route,” it added.

In a brief statement issued on Monday, the IOC said it had no plans to change the route of the Torch relay.

“The Olympic Torch Relay, which embodies the Olympic values of friendship, respect and excellence, is due to travel to Lhasa in June,” the IOC said.

“The Olympic Torch is a powerful symbol which inspires people from all over the world to overcome their differences and come together in mutual understanding in anticipation of the Games which it heralds,” it added.

But Swiss Olympic Committee president Joerg Schild said Sunday the credibility of the Olympic movement will be at stake if there is no official reaction to the recent crackdown.

“Whoever remains silent in the face of the latest events gives the impression that they do not care about the fate of the people in the host country,” Schild said in a statement.