I'm pretty sure I'm on the wrong timezone.
When I was a kid, my Mom tried everything to get me to go to bed at a regular time. She'd be heading to bed at the same time and tell me that she'd race me in painting a rainbow in my head. She probably figured that by thinking about painting a rainbow, I'd stop thinking about every other thing on the planet and fall asleep.
But I can't say any of it worked. Pretty much since I was a kid, my internal clock has been off. What's even weirder is that the world makes more sense to me at night than at any other time. It's when I do my best thinking.
I've always cared about what's going on in the world, and I've always wanted to make sense of it all. That's one of the reasons why I want to be a journalist, although more and more everyday I wonder if I'll actually be able to make sense of some things in the world for people.
A few years ago, I thought I wouldn't have a hard time being detached from stories I'd write about as a journalist. Of course, I didn't really know anything about journalism (arguably, although I know more now, my knowledge is still very limited).
Writing about the death of someone would be easy because I had no attachment to them, so I thought. I told my Mom that I wanted to report in the Middle East, and I'd be OK with war reporting. After all, it was the constant news coverage of 9/11 that first drew me into the excitment of journalism and reporting.
Now I feel like a bigger problem is detaching myself from stories.
I think to some degree I still can. I'm a bit morbid as a news junkie, I suppose. Some people avoid reading articles that upset them, but I can read about murders, tragic fires and war deaths. Can I write about them?
Can I write about someone who is homeless dying from the cold? My instinct is to write about what wasn't done to protect the person, but sometimes all that's necessary is the basic laying out of facts. The W's.
Poverty is something that I'm pretty passionate about. When I write stories about poverty, I think it comes through that it's something that I care about. With that said, I have a lot of opinions on social policy. Sometimes, I wonder if it's good to be passionate about topics as a journalist or not.
Am I able to write about things I'm passionate about without bypassing that shield of neutrality?
Certainly, when I take on a story that I am passionate about, I become more determined in writing the story. I'm pushing myself to find that determination with every story. But does every story need to evoke emotion in the reader?
Michael Harris offered a lecture at STU this fall about the Donald Marshall story. For anyone unfamiliar with the story, Marshall was convicted for a murder he did not commit. Although he was exonerated, repayment for the years he served in prison and what he endured was never given to him by the provincial government of Nova Scotia, nor the federal government. Even after being declared innocent, Marshall was treated like a criminal.
Harris, a highly-respected Canadian journalist, took on Marshall's story and got to know him well. He told the audience that most journalists have a sense of "helping people who really can't afford it."
After hearing that I thought, well yeah, that's why I want to be a journalist. Journalists are often displayed on TV shows and in movies as being willing to exploit people during times of tragedy. But is that really true of most journalists? Or are most journalists motivated to report by a sense of helping people, like Harris suggests?
As I delve more into journalism and learn more about why I want to be a journalist, I hope these questions will answer themselves. I'm learning a bit everyday, I guess.
The only thing about journalism that I am certain of is that more I learn, the more I become sure that it's what I want to do, but also I become aware of how difficult it is to be a journalist.
Just one thing running through my brain at 3am.
Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters
Friday, December 11, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
I've Been Asleep for a Long, Long Time
When I was a kid, I was a pretty big Sesame Street fan. Two of my favourite clips that I remember even to this day showed regular people all over the world doing regular things. One was called "Everybody Sleeps" and another was called "Everybody Eats" and they had catchy little songs about how everyone sleeps and eats to go along with the clips.
I think that what young me liked most about these two clips was that it made me feel good inside to know that there are small things that tie us all together. It doesn't matter where you live, what colour you are or whether you're rich or poor, every person on the planet sleeps and eats. That's still what I like about these clips.
But even at that age, I had the unfortunate realization that not everyone was treated equally in society, even though we're all created equally and we're all one and the same. Everyone eats, but not everyone has access to food all of the time. Everyone sleeps, but not everyone has a comfy bed to sleep in.
Even though these clips were designed for a young audience, I think they have one of the most important lessons a person can learn in life embedded in them. We're all the same. We have many differences, whether it be physically, mentally, or of opinion. But regardless of those differences, when we look deep down, we are the same on many levels.
It's my wish that everyone could see those clips and maybe come to the same conclusion, and then we could eradicate our conflicts with each other. Wishful thinking.
These clips came to mind when I was on my way home from my shift at work on Sunday. I saw a man running down my street. For as long as I can remember, this man has ran past my house every day, rain or shine.
No matter how much my life has changed in the last few years for the better or the worse, whether it be by losing people close to me, trying to figure out what my role on this earth is or simply growing up, he's still ran past my house every day like clockwork. And maybe it's because I'm a creature of habit and familiarity but I find it pretty damn crazy that even as your life is changing before your eyes, some things never change.
I think in a lot of ways this running man also represents determination. I've seen him run in some nasty weather. But he keeps pushing on.
For anyone who is having trouble getting through their day or wondering where they can find hope, I think sometimes you need to look no further than the small, seemingly insignificant things that we often disregard or do not take time to observe.
You can find inspiration in even the smallest of things.
I've Been Asleep for a Long, Long Time - Hey Rosetta!
I think that what young me liked most about these two clips was that it made me feel good inside to know that there are small things that tie us all together. It doesn't matter where you live, what colour you are or whether you're rich or poor, every person on the planet sleeps and eats. That's still what I like about these clips.
But even at that age, I had the unfortunate realization that not everyone was treated equally in society, even though we're all created equally and we're all one and the same. Everyone eats, but not everyone has access to food all of the time. Everyone sleeps, but not everyone has a comfy bed to sleep in.
Even though these clips were designed for a young audience, I think they have one of the most important lessons a person can learn in life embedded in them. We're all the same. We have many differences, whether it be physically, mentally, or of opinion. But regardless of those differences, when we look deep down, we are the same on many levels.
It's my wish that everyone could see those clips and maybe come to the same conclusion, and then we could eradicate our conflicts with each other. Wishful thinking.
These clips came to mind when I was on my way home from my shift at work on Sunday. I saw a man running down my street. For as long as I can remember, this man has ran past my house every day, rain or shine.
No matter how much my life has changed in the last few years for the better or the worse, whether it be by losing people close to me, trying to figure out what my role on this earth is or simply growing up, he's still ran past my house every day like clockwork. And maybe it's because I'm a creature of habit and familiarity but I find it pretty damn crazy that even as your life is changing before your eyes, some things never change.
I think in a lot of ways this running man also represents determination. I've seen him run in some nasty weather. But he keeps pushing on.
For anyone who is having trouble getting through their day or wondering where they can find hope, I think sometimes you need to look no further than the small, seemingly insignificant things that we often disregard or do not take time to observe.
You can find inspiration in even the smallest of things.
I've Been Asleep for a Long, Long Time - Hey Rosetta!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Street Sleeper
An article by Ethan Baron was published in The Province, a small daily out of BC, on June 4th, 2009 titled "Lock up the addicts until they're clean".
The online version indicates it was published under the Health section of the paper but doesn't specify whether the piece is opinion or not. Given that I'm not familiar with the columnist or the paper for that matter, I won't go futher with that. But I do have some serious qualms with what the columnist is trying to say.
The article is about the social chaos going on right now on the Downtown East Side of Vancouver, which I've blogged about a few times on here.
Baron argues, as the title suggests, that we should lock up all of the addicts on the DTES and force treatment upon them. His logic is that forcing them to be clean would save more money than is being poured into the area now for policing and other services that the homeless take advantage of everyday.
While there may not be much logic to the situation on the DTES as Baron says, I also don't think there is much logic to his solution either.
First of all, while many of the people on the DTES are addicted, they also face a number of other issues. Many face mental health issues which aren't going to go away with simple treatment. If it was that simple, addiction wouldn't exist in our society.
Second, while it is easy to force someone to become clean by detoxing them, or locking them up, that's not going to erase the addiction. Therapy might, but that requires the person to be willing and ready to tackle whatever issues are behind their addictions. And as one of the officers in Baron's story admits, many of these people do have underlying issues which has resulted in the addiction.
So, say that we lock up all of the addicts on the DTES. And we'll say that they detox so technically they are leaving treatment chemical-free. What then? While there are many services in the DTES to help people put their lives back together and find employment, where are they going to live? Certainly short-term housing isn't an issue in the DTES, but long-term housing is. And of course, all of this requires a person motivated to leave a life of addiction and poverty.
I've spoken to people directly involved in the community while researching for a piece I wrote back in March about the problem. The main consensus with all of the people I talked to was that the first step to addressing the issues in the DTES is safe housing. For someone trying to rebuild their life and stay off of drugs, if you can't afford to live somewhere in which you can maintain your dignity, it's rough.
But, alas, there is not one easy fix to the DTES. Just as there is no easy fix for kicking addiction. While programs like InSite, Vancouver's controversial safe injection site, do not necessarily intend to send every addict that walks through the door into detox or treatment, they offer a piece of dignity to these people. Yes, they're injecting drugs, but they're not doing it in a dirty alleyway and the risk of overdose or AIDS is reduced.
The thing that struck me the most when I was reading this article by Baron is something that Mark Townsend of The Portland Hotel Society told me when I was doing research for my DTES article. He told me that developing a sense of community is important to the DTES. A neighbourhood of poor people doesn't have to be a negative thing. Addiction, of course is a negative thing, but the fact that many overlook is that the DTES doesn't consist entirely of addicts.
As far as I'm concerned, poverty is just as big of an issue as addiction in this country, and that needs to be solved before we can take on the issues of this community and the issues of addiction. Give them safe housing, support and treatment for those who face addictions or other issues, and perhaps a change will happen.
But you can't "fix" anything if they're going to back to sleeping on the street or in dilapidated, overpriced and unsanitary housing. I think that's the one thing that Baron overlooks in his article.
You can lock up the addicts which will provide a band-aid fix, but if you want to solve the problem permanently, you must address the issue of poverty and everything that goes with that.
Everyone has their opinion on how we should tackle a community that faces a challenge like the DTES. Mine is that people need to bloom where they are. Turn a negative into a positive and build a strong community.
And that's why I had trouble digesting Baron's take on the situation.
Street Sleeper, Grand Theft Bus
The online version indicates it was published under the Health section of the paper but doesn't specify whether the piece is opinion or not. Given that I'm not familiar with the columnist or the paper for that matter, I won't go futher with that. But I do have some serious qualms with what the columnist is trying to say.
The article is about the social chaos going on right now on the Downtown East Side of Vancouver, which I've blogged about a few times on here.
Baron argues, as the title suggests, that we should lock up all of the addicts on the DTES and force treatment upon them. His logic is that forcing them to be clean would save more money than is being poured into the area now for policing and other services that the homeless take advantage of everyday.
While there may not be much logic to the situation on the DTES as Baron says, I also don't think there is much logic to his solution either.
First of all, while many of the people on the DTES are addicted, they also face a number of other issues. Many face mental health issues which aren't going to go away with simple treatment. If it was that simple, addiction wouldn't exist in our society.
Second, while it is easy to force someone to become clean by detoxing them, or locking them up, that's not going to erase the addiction. Therapy might, but that requires the person to be willing and ready to tackle whatever issues are behind their addictions. And as one of the officers in Baron's story admits, many of these people do have underlying issues which has resulted in the addiction.
So, say that we lock up all of the addicts on the DTES. And we'll say that they detox so technically they are leaving treatment chemical-free. What then? While there are many services in the DTES to help people put their lives back together and find employment, where are they going to live? Certainly short-term housing isn't an issue in the DTES, but long-term housing is. And of course, all of this requires a person motivated to leave a life of addiction and poverty.
I've spoken to people directly involved in the community while researching for a piece I wrote back in March about the problem. The main consensus with all of the people I talked to was that the first step to addressing the issues in the DTES is safe housing. For someone trying to rebuild their life and stay off of drugs, if you can't afford to live somewhere in which you can maintain your dignity, it's rough.
But, alas, there is not one easy fix to the DTES. Just as there is no easy fix for kicking addiction. While programs like InSite, Vancouver's controversial safe injection site, do not necessarily intend to send every addict that walks through the door into detox or treatment, they offer a piece of dignity to these people. Yes, they're injecting drugs, but they're not doing it in a dirty alleyway and the risk of overdose or AIDS is reduced.
The thing that struck me the most when I was reading this article by Baron is something that Mark Townsend of The Portland Hotel Society told me when I was doing research for my DTES article. He told me that developing a sense of community is important to the DTES. A neighbourhood of poor people doesn't have to be a negative thing. Addiction, of course is a negative thing, but the fact that many overlook is that the DTES doesn't consist entirely of addicts.
As far as I'm concerned, poverty is just as big of an issue as addiction in this country, and that needs to be solved before we can take on the issues of this community and the issues of addiction. Give them safe housing, support and treatment for those who face addictions or other issues, and perhaps a change will happen.
But you can't "fix" anything if they're going to back to sleeping on the street or in dilapidated, overpriced and unsanitary housing. I think that's the one thing that Baron overlooks in his article.
You can lock up the addicts which will provide a band-aid fix, but if you want to solve the problem permanently, you must address the issue of poverty and everything that goes with that.
Everyone has their opinion on how we should tackle a community that faces a challenge like the DTES. Mine is that people need to bloom where they are. Turn a negative into a positive and build a strong community.
And that's why I had trouble digesting Baron's take on the situation.
Street Sleeper, Grand Theft Bus
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Such Great Heights
The other thing that I've been doing all summer that doesn't involve catching up with old friends, public libraries, snacks and being melodramatic about wanting to take a year off to myself, is exercising.
I used to play a lot of sports when I was 12 or 13 at school and at the local community centre. My friends and I also used to run around outside a lot playing sports and engaging in other tomfoolery (I have always wanted to blog that word...opportunity knocks and I open enthusiastically).
Anyway, so then high school came. The combination of my less than hulking stature, ridiculous asthma and lack of coordination made me figure that I wasn't good enough to compete on the high school teams and thus, I never tried out for any of them. In some ways, not playing sports in high school did allow me to get involved in other things that I would not have realized I enjoyed or excelled at otherwise.
But on the downside, since middle school I haven't spent a lot of time just walking around my neighbourhood. I decided a few weeks ago to take up jogging and start walking more. It wasn't to lose weight but moreso as a stress reliever, a way to get back in touch with my surroundings and to get back in shape.
Thus far, I feel like it's been a success. I definitely cannot jog far by any means which is why I jog alone and I'm certainly not quite in the athletic category yet. But I'm starting to feel less out of breath when walking which is probably a plus considering I'm only 19. I also haven't watched the View in a few weeks so I'm becoming less and less like I'm retired everyday.
But the best part is definitely soaking up some sun and just enjoying my surroundings. Sometimes I even hang out at the playground and read which is either really nice or really creepy depending on what you think.
Basically, I might not have access to a deck or a beach to relax on, and uptown doesn't have a TON of greenspace, but I'm making the best of (and starting to enjoy) my surroundings for the first time in a very long time.
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
I used to play a lot of sports when I was 12 or 13 at school and at the local community centre. My friends and I also used to run around outside a lot playing sports and engaging in other tomfoolery (I have always wanted to blog that word...opportunity knocks and I open enthusiastically).
Anyway, so then high school came. The combination of my less than hulking stature, ridiculous asthma and lack of coordination made me figure that I wasn't good enough to compete on the high school teams and thus, I never tried out for any of them. In some ways, not playing sports in high school did allow me to get involved in other things that I would not have realized I enjoyed or excelled at otherwise.
But on the downside, since middle school I haven't spent a lot of time just walking around my neighbourhood. I decided a few weeks ago to take up jogging and start walking more. It wasn't to lose weight but moreso as a stress reliever, a way to get back in touch with my surroundings and to get back in shape.
Thus far, I feel like it's been a success. I definitely cannot jog far by any means which is why I jog alone and I'm certainly not quite in the athletic category yet. But I'm starting to feel less out of breath when walking which is probably a plus considering I'm only 19. I also haven't watched the View in a few weeks so I'm becoming less and less like I'm retired everyday.
But the best part is definitely soaking up some sun and just enjoying my surroundings. Sometimes I even hang out at the playground and read which is either really nice or really creepy depending on what you think.
Basically, I might not have access to a deck or a beach to relax on, and uptown doesn't have a TON of greenspace, but I'm making the best of (and starting to enjoy) my surroundings for the first time in a very long time.
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The World Spins Madly On
I'm actually a bit embarrassed that I haven't blogged in like two months. I haven't written a lot since I've been home and that's disappointing.
So, you're probably (not) wondering what I've been doing with myself for two months. To be honest, nothing exciting. As soon as I got back from Fredericton, I crashed. I basically slept, watched TV on the internet, ate snacks and stayed up until ridiculously late hours for quite a while. My sleep pattern was pretty messed up.
Mixed in with that is some hanging out with old friends who I haven't seen since last summer, a few forays into the wildly exciting (or not) bar scene of Saint John, a slight attempt at getting back in shape due to the snacks I ate for two months (which involves me jogging for the first time ever and actually enjoying it, more on that soon) and a passion for reading literature that I haven't had since before I took IB English.
When my "freedom" ended, a freedom I haven't felt since before grade 10, the chance to just literally do nothing, think and just be: I felt pretty sad. I wanted to take more time, discover myself, travel. I started regretting my choice to go to university right away and so close to where I live even though it was a smart financial decision. And money is great and I know that I have to work and go to school. But it would just be nice if I had the choice to just take a year to myself.
But that won't be happening anytime soon. For the next three years, it's alternating between working and school and hopefully keeping my sanity. I do love journalism and that's what keeps me pushing on because I believe that I can somehow make a difference with it. If I can do that, I'll feel a lot better about not taking that time for me.
And I feel a bit of regret that I didn't do more with that month or so that I had, although I didn't know when it would end and I would find a job which arguably made it difficult to take on any really big projects. But still. I'm always taking a backseat and watching life go by rather than living it. I just stick to routines and watch other people live.
I guess as a journalist, I have to be sure that I don't get caught up reporting the lives of others and understanding them and miss out on living my life and understanding me.
I guess what I'm trying to say is sometimes I feel caught in monotony or unsure if what I'm working towards is worth it. Meanwhile, other people are using their time constructively to make a difference in the world, to meet interesting people and to really live -- all things I want to do, too.
I've titled this blog with a song by the Weepies. Look up the lyrics if you have a chance. It's the most accurate description (albeit more dramatic) of what I've been feeling over the past few weeks.
The whole world is moving, and I'm standing still.
So, you're probably (not) wondering what I've been doing with myself for two months. To be honest, nothing exciting. As soon as I got back from Fredericton, I crashed. I basically slept, watched TV on the internet, ate snacks and stayed up until ridiculously late hours for quite a while. My sleep pattern was pretty messed up.
Mixed in with that is some hanging out with old friends who I haven't seen since last summer, a few forays into the wildly exciting (or not) bar scene of Saint John, a slight attempt at getting back in shape due to the snacks I ate for two months (which involves me jogging for the first time ever and actually enjoying it, more on that soon) and a passion for reading literature that I haven't had since before I took IB English.
When my "freedom" ended, a freedom I haven't felt since before grade 10, the chance to just literally do nothing, think and just be: I felt pretty sad. I wanted to take more time, discover myself, travel. I started regretting my choice to go to university right away and so close to where I live even though it was a smart financial decision. And money is great and I know that I have to work and go to school. But it would just be nice if I had the choice to just take a year to myself.
But that won't be happening anytime soon. For the next three years, it's alternating between working and school and hopefully keeping my sanity. I do love journalism and that's what keeps me pushing on because I believe that I can somehow make a difference with it. If I can do that, I'll feel a lot better about not taking that time for me.
And I feel a bit of regret that I didn't do more with that month or so that I had, although I didn't know when it would end and I would find a job which arguably made it difficult to take on any really big projects. But still. I'm always taking a backseat and watching life go by rather than living it. I just stick to routines and watch other people live.
I guess as a journalist, I have to be sure that I don't get caught up reporting the lives of others and understanding them and miss out on living my life and understanding me.
I guess what I'm trying to say is sometimes I feel caught in monotony or unsure if what I'm working towards is worth it. Meanwhile, other people are using their time constructively to make a difference in the world, to meet interesting people and to really live -- all things I want to do, too.
I've titled this blog with a song by the Weepies. Look up the lyrics if you have a chance. It's the most accurate description (albeit more dramatic) of what I've been feeling over the past few weeks.
The whole world is moving, and I'm standing still.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Chasing Cars
I went on an adventure the other day. After a few days of being lazy and mostly napping, I decided that it was time to leave the confines of my apartment and venture out in search of something, anything.
I went to the public library.
I read an article recently in the Globe & Mail about how more people are using services like public libraries now that there is a recession. This is partially because most public libraries offer resume and cover letter workshops but also probably because it is a cheap method of amusement.
I haven't had a whole lot of time to read for leisure since last summer, but reading has always been a favourite way of passing the time for me unless said reading was for a class. That kind of took the enjoyment out of it for me.
My own collection of books isn't especially expansive and I tend to stick to the same kinds of books lately. I think I need to break out a bit and try some new books, which is another reason I have found myself at the library.
This is how I see it: Our tax dollars fund public libraries so why not take advantage of the seemingly free service? The other good thing about using these services is that it allows me to go for a nice walk instead of being pasty white in my house.
So let's review, shall we? Exercise, human interaction, fresh air, and free amusement. What else could one ask for?
Plus, I spend most of my "leisure reading time" consuming news. I think everyone should know what's going on in the world and they should see things from more than one perspective. But I don't think it's necessarily haelthy for me to just read news. I think I need to escape more through literature and real news doesn't always let me do that as much as I enjoy reading it.
And I think sometimes I let news overwhelm me, which doesn't usually happen when I read literature. I'm pretty good at detaching myself from certain stories emotionally and I think that's something I need to do if I want to be a journalist, but some things occasionally get me down if I feel powerless about them.
I wrote a blog post not too long ago about how people are becoming too disconnected. This idea was first planted into my head by an essay that I read in my Canadian Government class last semester by Robert Putnam called "Civic Disengagement in Contemporary America". Putnam talks about how people are not participating in social events and thus, interacting and developing social capital, with other human beings due to a growth in technology and a growing selfishness.
A growing use of public libraries, a service offered in the public sphere to everyone regardless of their income, is something that can help solve this problem maybe. When you take advantage of the public sphere, you instantly feel more connected to those using the service and providing the service. Occasionally you even communicate with those people (although less so with the library because it's a quiet environment!)
It's a small start but if more people are using these services that they are already paying for, it might increase the feeling of connectedness that we so lack today. We would be a happier society and maybe more democratically engaged, too.
My main point is that public libraries are awesome and I will be spending some time there this summer. I think everyone else should pay a visit to their local library too; you might just be surprised at what you'll find.
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
I went to the public library.
I read an article recently in the Globe & Mail about how more people are using services like public libraries now that there is a recession. This is partially because most public libraries offer resume and cover letter workshops but also probably because it is a cheap method of amusement.
I haven't had a whole lot of time to read for leisure since last summer, but reading has always been a favourite way of passing the time for me unless said reading was for a class. That kind of took the enjoyment out of it for me.
My own collection of books isn't especially expansive and I tend to stick to the same kinds of books lately. I think I need to break out a bit and try some new books, which is another reason I have found myself at the library.
This is how I see it: Our tax dollars fund public libraries so why not take advantage of the seemingly free service? The other good thing about using these services is that it allows me to go for a nice walk instead of being pasty white in my house.
So let's review, shall we? Exercise, human interaction, fresh air, and free amusement. What else could one ask for?
Plus, I spend most of my "leisure reading time" consuming news. I think everyone should know what's going on in the world and they should see things from more than one perspective. But I don't think it's necessarily haelthy for me to just read news. I think I need to escape more through literature and real news doesn't always let me do that as much as I enjoy reading it.
And I think sometimes I let news overwhelm me, which doesn't usually happen when I read literature. I'm pretty good at detaching myself from certain stories emotionally and I think that's something I need to do if I want to be a journalist, but some things occasionally get me down if I feel powerless about them.
I wrote a blog post not too long ago about how people are becoming too disconnected. This idea was first planted into my head by an essay that I read in my Canadian Government class last semester by Robert Putnam called "Civic Disengagement in Contemporary America". Putnam talks about how people are not participating in social events and thus, interacting and developing social capital, with other human beings due to a growth in technology and a growing selfishness.
A growing use of public libraries, a service offered in the public sphere to everyone regardless of their income, is something that can help solve this problem maybe. When you take advantage of the public sphere, you instantly feel more connected to those using the service and providing the service. Occasionally you even communicate with those people (although less so with the library because it's a quiet environment!)
It's a small start but if more people are using these services that they are already paying for, it might increase the feeling of connectedness that we so lack today. We would be a happier society and maybe more democratically engaged, too.
My main point is that public libraries are awesome and I will be spending some time there this summer. I think everyone else should pay a visit to their local library too; you might just be surprised at what you'll find.
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
Friday, April 24, 2009
Aside
I'm back in Saint John for four months. It hasn't stopped raining since I've been back, until a couple of hours ago. I will definitely miss Freddy weather but seeing fog again is nice too (at least for the first couple of days).
I still haven't unpacked my life. Most of my clothes are still in bags...I really should get to that. I've been cleaning my closet out since I've realized that I'm a terrible packrat.
It's odd, because I'm throwing out and donating these things that have childhood memories attached to them (except for the game of Perfection, that thing scared the 5 year old hell out of me), and I'm thinking of the possibility of where I will be in third year, maybe I will be living in an apartment? The idea of an apartment has terrified the hell out of me, to be honest. Frankly, I'm wholeheartedly, completely and utterly frightened of growing up, and I equate an apartment, a fixed address, with growing up.
Despite the mixed feelings I had at first about everything, about leaving home, about growing up, about not going where I had expected for school and thus violating my master life plan, Fredericton has really grown on me.
I'm 19, so what if I'm not established in a career by 22? There is so much I don't know, so much I haven't experienced. I don't need to have it all figured out yet. That was the best thing I learned from being in Freddy. I just want to enjoy these next 3 years, learn more about journalism and meet some really neat people. In some ways, I even feel like I am gaining some of the things I missed out on high school, except everyone is much more mature (well, most people).
I've realized that I don't really know anything for sure anymore about the world. And that's a good thing. I am a lot more open-minded now. I am just excited to learn.
"I'm breathing deep before, I spread those maps out on my bedroom floor. And I'm leaning, on this broken fence, between past and present tense." - Aside, The Weakerthans.
I still haven't unpacked my life. Most of my clothes are still in bags...I really should get to that. I've been cleaning my closet out since I've realized that I'm a terrible packrat.
It's odd, because I'm throwing out and donating these things that have childhood memories attached to them (except for the game of Perfection, that thing scared the 5 year old hell out of me), and I'm thinking of the possibility of where I will be in third year, maybe I will be living in an apartment? The idea of an apartment has terrified the hell out of me, to be honest. Frankly, I'm wholeheartedly, completely and utterly frightened of growing up, and I equate an apartment, a fixed address, with growing up.
Despite the mixed feelings I had at first about everything, about leaving home, about growing up, about not going where I had expected for school and thus violating my master life plan, Fredericton has really grown on me.
I'm 19, so what if I'm not established in a career by 22? There is so much I don't know, so much I haven't experienced. I don't need to have it all figured out yet. That was the best thing I learned from being in Freddy. I just want to enjoy these next 3 years, learn more about journalism and meet some really neat people. In some ways, I even feel like I am gaining some of the things I missed out on high school, except everyone is much more mature (well, most people).
I've realized that I don't really know anything for sure anymore about the world. And that's a good thing. I am a lot more open-minded now. I am just excited to learn.
"I'm breathing deep before, I spread those maps out on my bedroom floor. And I'm leaning, on this broken fence, between past and present tense." - Aside, The Weakerthans.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect
I'm actually starting to get pretty excited to go back to Saint John for the summer, even though I will miss Fredericton a lot and as I mentioned in my post below, Saint John gets frustrating after a while. But I think the whole idea of it being summer soon (and thus, the weather is getting nicer), and exams are nearing the end (and thus, my stress level is getting lower), I'm starting to look forward to a "vacation" (sort of).
I realized that it's impossible to list everything I want to do this summer, and kind of limiting to do so. I'll just take whatever comes at me and I look forward to it all.
I just want to enjoy my surroundings.
Here I Dreamt I was an Architect - The Decemberists
I realized that it's impossible to list everything I want to do this summer, and kind of limiting to do so. I'll just take whatever comes at me and I look forward to it all.
I just want to enjoy my surroundings.
Here I Dreamt I was an Architect - The Decemberists
Monday, April 13, 2009
One Great City!
I'm back in Saint John for 4 months on the 21st. This is good, in that it's a change for a bit. I miss the fog, the lights and the uptown. I miss the comfort of living at home, my family, friends and familiar faces.
I miss the irony in living here. I live in a city where one company owns nearly the entire city, where a city council spent (and continues to spend) millions of dollars building a huge red sidewalk, where we dump our sewage into our harbour and then comment on how nice of a view we have.
And somehow, we're okay with all of this.
At the same time, I don't miss being frustrated, because ultimately that's what being in Saint John for too long makes me. The fog is nice, until you don't have a sunny day for 2 weeks. The people are good, until you have to fight to keep up acquaintances with people, merely out of habit.
I don't miss feeling creatively shut down.
To explain that a bit further, even though I had a really hard time adjusting to Fredericton, something about being in Fredericton makes me so much more motivated. It makes me appreciate things from home more and it charges me to make a difference. It makes me think more, visualize, debate, write, be creative, read, just be an independent human where no one expects anything specific. It's a new start, a new place. It's different in Saint John. I am not as creative or as independant at home, but maybe I need to find a place, a state, where I can be how I am here there.
I love my neighbourhood, and I appreciate it a lot more than when I have to see it everyday. Seeing it everyday and knowing that maybe I can't contribute anything to change it is frustrating. My hope is that I can contribute somehow, but sometimes I let myself get discouraged. This is the wrong thing to do. It's a great place, but when I look at the negative things, the good things go by the wayside.
Instead of turning the negative into something great, I let it consume me.
I love coming here, and at the same time, I know I couldn't live here forever. Maybe it's because of me, and it's not the city at all. I know I'm not the only one with this love/hate complex for my hometown. It's why so many of my friends have moved on, why Saint John has trouble attracting young people.
There's just so much to see, learn, understand, so many people to meet, so many places to explore, staying constant in one place with the same people in the same neighbourhood in the same apartment for 18+ years just seems smothering.
But I guess I still kind of love it sometimes. With that said, I'm making the best of it this summer, or I'll regret it.
"I'm back with scars to show. Back with the streets I know, will never take me anywhere but here." - Left and Leaving, The Weakerthans.
I miss the irony in living here. I live in a city where one company owns nearly the entire city, where a city council spent (and continues to spend) millions of dollars building a huge red sidewalk, where we dump our sewage into our harbour and then comment on how nice of a view we have.
And somehow, we're okay with all of this.
At the same time, I don't miss being frustrated, because ultimately that's what being in Saint John for too long makes me. The fog is nice, until you don't have a sunny day for 2 weeks. The people are good, until you have to fight to keep up acquaintances with people, merely out of habit.
I don't miss feeling creatively shut down.
To explain that a bit further, even though I had a really hard time adjusting to Fredericton, something about being in Fredericton makes me so much more motivated. It makes me appreciate things from home more and it charges me to make a difference. It makes me think more, visualize, debate, write, be creative, read, just be an independent human where no one expects anything specific. It's a new start, a new place. It's different in Saint John. I am not as creative or as independant at home, but maybe I need to find a place, a state, where I can be how I am here there.
I love my neighbourhood, and I appreciate it a lot more than when I have to see it everyday. Seeing it everyday and knowing that maybe I can't contribute anything to change it is frustrating. My hope is that I can contribute somehow, but sometimes I let myself get discouraged. This is the wrong thing to do. It's a great place, but when I look at the negative things, the good things go by the wayside.
Instead of turning the negative into something great, I let it consume me.
I love coming here, and at the same time, I know I couldn't live here forever. Maybe it's because of me, and it's not the city at all. I know I'm not the only one with this love/hate complex for my hometown. It's why so many of my friends have moved on, why Saint John has trouble attracting young people.
There's just so much to see, learn, understand, so many people to meet, so many places to explore, staying constant in one place with the same people in the same neighbourhood in the same apartment for 18+ years just seems smothering.
But I guess I still kind of love it sometimes. With that said, I'm making the best of it this summer, or I'll regret it.
"I'm back with scars to show. Back with the streets I know, will never take me anywhere but here." - Left and Leaving, The Weakerthans.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
A Moth is not a Butterfly
Budget Tax Cuts -- The End of Equal Opportunity?
Link to published article -- http://thebruns.ca/content/2009-04/budget-tax-cuts-end-equal-opportunity
The term “equal opportunity” became popular in New Brunswick when Louis J. Robichaud’s Liberal government was in power from 1960 until 1970. Recognizing that there was a substantial amount of income inequality in the province, Robichaud set out to create “equal opportunity” for all by pouring funding into social programs, like education and health care.
It has been over 40 years since Robichaud set out to create “equal opportunity” in New Brunswick. Does it still exist in the province today, or are people being left behind?
The 2009-10 budget released this past month by Liberal Finance Minister Victor Boudreau contained many changes to the way that individuals, small businesses and corporations are taxed in the province.
Normally, the government has four different personal income tax rates for different tax brackets. This budget created a new system where there are two rates as opposed to four. The rates for the new system should be reduced to 9% and 12% by 2012, respectively.
The aim of cutting personal income tax rates, according to “The Plan for Lower Taxes in New Brunswick” released by the Department of Finance in March, is to “leave more money in the pockets of New Brunswickers”.
The hope of the government is that people spend this money locally and thus, stimulate the economy.
While this sounds like a measure that would benefit everyone, some economic experts would argue otherwise.
Dr. Rob Moir, a Professor in Economics at the University of New Brunswick Saint John, says that how these tax cuts may affect future generations has him worried.
“It’s not just about what they’re doing right now, it’s what will be coming down in the future,” says Moir, who ran in the 2008 federal election under the NDP banner in the riding of Fundy-Royal.
“It doesn’t matter what colour government we inherit in the future, it’s not going to matter – we’re going to have major deficit on our hands.”
The deficit is predicted to be a whopping $800 million for the 2009-10 fiscal year. That number is much higher than this year’s deficit, which comes in at $285 million, and even more of a shift from 2007-08’s $86 million surplus.
St. Thomas University Economics Professor and Department Chair Dr. Andrew Secord says that it will likely be future generations or the low income that will suffer from these tax cuts.
“With the deficit, there’s two things. One, you can have somebody pay it back in the future to pay for tax reductions for the affluent today, or you can slash public programs, which is what they’re trying to do,” says Secord, who notes that the government is predicting $323 million in lost revenue by 2012 due to personal income tax cuts alone.
“Who mostly loses from the slashing of these public programs? Lower income individuals.”
Citizens in the province will not only lose government offered services due to these tax cuts, but many will also not actually benefit from the tax cuts at all.
According to information released in “The Plan for Lower Taxes in New Brunswick”, those who make under $15,000 a year, for example, will receive no monetary tax cut at all. Those making between $15,000 and $20,000 a year will have only $65 extra in their pockets thanks to the tax cut. This contrasts greatly with the benefit reaped by those who make $150,000 or more a year; they will save roughly $5,922.
“The more money you make, the more you benefit from this budget,” he explains.
Moir agrees, saying that the services most likely to be cut will hurt certain people, using the controversial ambulance fees that were re-introduced in the 2009-10 budget as an example.
“Impoverishment breeds illness. You’re going to see more people on fixed incomes who will need ambulances but now have to pay more for them. It’s a disproportionate burden.”
Corporate rates will also be cut down 1% each year from now until 2012, bringing the rate from 12% to 8%. It will be one of the lowest rates in the country. It is estimated that the government will lose $44 million in revenue between now and 2012 due to the slashed taxes.
Secord understands the rationing behind the corporate tax cuts more than that of the personal income tax cuts, but still argues there is a sense of unfairness.
“They’ve said that they think this will attract more business to New Brunswick if the corporate income tax rate is lower. How important the income tax is on corporate location is an area of significant debate because there are many other factors involved.”
“Whether it’s worth $44 million to take a gamble on that area is for debate.”
Moir believes that smaller businesses rather than large corporations need to be targeted by these tax cuts.
“The Irvings aren’t leaving – why would you give them the tax break? You are essentially taxing monopoly profits.”
He also adds that attracting businesses to “invest capital”, such as buildings, and not just money into the province would be ideal to maximize gains.
“If they do decide to leave, oh well, we still have the building, we have something from it.”
While economists like Moir and Secord and certain groups like women and labour unions have been very vocal about the negative effects of these tax reductions, criticism has been relatively low from regular citizens.
Secord attributes this lack of criticism to a failure in the public process, which includes public input. But Secord says that it is obvious that the committee did not listen to any public input.
“The people on the committee didn’t really look at the criticisms being raised. They didn’t address them, they just avoided them.”
“That committee failed in my view, as a critical committee that would seriously evaluate these proposals,” Secord admits.
“It raises the question of the extent to which the government was actually listening to people through this whole process.”
Women are one group that have been vocal about how these tax changes will negatively affect them. The Coalition for Pay Equity is one such group that made a presentation during the public input period to government on the tax systems.
In their presentation, titled “What about women’s share in NB’s tax system?” the Coalition claims that the government does not take into account wage gaps between men and women in the positive numbers they have released supporting tax cuts, nor do they address wage gaps at all in the budget.
“It seems particularly unfair to us that government is proposing regressive taxation measures that will place a greater tax burden on the least wealthy among our citizens, including women, while still failing to legislate on pay equity,” the Coalition said in a brief of their presentation to the Select Committee on Tax Review.
The Coalition emphasizes that the services that will be cut as a result of lost revenue from tax cuts will negatively affect women especially, because women are often called upon to provide services in the family unit that the public sector cannot.
“If government cuts into these services, it will increase women’s traditional work at home and significantly deprive them of jobs and income,” says the Coalition.
The removal of social workers from the family courts in the province is an example of one recent service cut by the province that will greatly affect women.
“The court social workers offer a specialized service that is very valuable, especially to mothers facing separation,” says Elsie Hambrook, Chairperson of the Advisory Council for the Status of Women, in a press release.
Unless more interest groups in the province and regular citizens become critical about the harms of these wide-reaching tax cuts, there will be a hefty price for the vulnerable to pay now and for everyone to pay in the future.
The ideals of fairness and equality embodied by Louis J. Robichaud during his time in power appear to be eroding with the idea of services being cut for the benefit of the affluent. Secord says this budget is proof of it.
“It seems like the provincial government has adopted these neoliberal policies which have much in common with Ronald Reagan and little in common with Louis J. Robichaud, or any Liberal government in a post-war era,” says Secord.
“People should understand that equal opportunity is dead in this province with this budget.”
Blog title - A Moth is not a Butterfly - Hawksley Workman
Link to published article -- http://thebruns.ca/content/2009-04/budget-tax-cuts-end-equal-opportunity
The term “equal opportunity” became popular in New Brunswick when Louis J. Robichaud’s Liberal government was in power from 1960 until 1970. Recognizing that there was a substantial amount of income inequality in the province, Robichaud set out to create “equal opportunity” for all by pouring funding into social programs, like education and health care.
It has been over 40 years since Robichaud set out to create “equal opportunity” in New Brunswick. Does it still exist in the province today, or are people being left behind?
The 2009-10 budget released this past month by Liberal Finance Minister Victor Boudreau contained many changes to the way that individuals, small businesses and corporations are taxed in the province.
Normally, the government has four different personal income tax rates for different tax brackets. This budget created a new system where there are two rates as opposed to four. The rates for the new system should be reduced to 9% and 12% by 2012, respectively.
The aim of cutting personal income tax rates, according to “The Plan for Lower Taxes in New Brunswick” released by the Department of Finance in March, is to “leave more money in the pockets of New Brunswickers”.
The hope of the government is that people spend this money locally and thus, stimulate the economy.
While this sounds like a measure that would benefit everyone, some economic experts would argue otherwise.
Dr. Rob Moir, a Professor in Economics at the University of New Brunswick Saint John, says that how these tax cuts may affect future generations has him worried.
“It’s not just about what they’re doing right now, it’s what will be coming down in the future,” says Moir, who ran in the 2008 federal election under the NDP banner in the riding of Fundy-Royal.
“It doesn’t matter what colour government we inherit in the future, it’s not going to matter – we’re going to have major deficit on our hands.”
The deficit is predicted to be a whopping $800 million for the 2009-10 fiscal year. That number is much higher than this year’s deficit, which comes in at $285 million, and even more of a shift from 2007-08’s $86 million surplus.
St. Thomas University Economics Professor and Department Chair Dr. Andrew Secord says that it will likely be future generations or the low income that will suffer from these tax cuts.
“With the deficit, there’s two things. One, you can have somebody pay it back in the future to pay for tax reductions for the affluent today, or you can slash public programs, which is what they’re trying to do,” says Secord, who notes that the government is predicting $323 million in lost revenue by 2012 due to personal income tax cuts alone.
“Who mostly loses from the slashing of these public programs? Lower income individuals.”
Citizens in the province will not only lose government offered services due to these tax cuts, but many will also not actually benefit from the tax cuts at all.
According to information released in “The Plan for Lower Taxes in New Brunswick”, those who make under $15,000 a year, for example, will receive no monetary tax cut at all. Those making between $15,000 and $20,000 a year will have only $65 extra in their pockets thanks to the tax cut. This contrasts greatly with the benefit reaped by those who make $150,000 or more a year; they will save roughly $5,922.
“The more money you make, the more you benefit from this budget,” he explains.
Moir agrees, saying that the services most likely to be cut will hurt certain people, using the controversial ambulance fees that were re-introduced in the 2009-10 budget as an example.
“Impoverishment breeds illness. You’re going to see more people on fixed incomes who will need ambulances but now have to pay more for them. It’s a disproportionate burden.”
Corporate rates will also be cut down 1% each year from now until 2012, bringing the rate from 12% to 8%. It will be one of the lowest rates in the country. It is estimated that the government will lose $44 million in revenue between now and 2012 due to the slashed taxes.
Secord understands the rationing behind the corporate tax cuts more than that of the personal income tax cuts, but still argues there is a sense of unfairness.
“They’ve said that they think this will attract more business to New Brunswick if the corporate income tax rate is lower. How important the income tax is on corporate location is an area of significant debate because there are many other factors involved.”
“Whether it’s worth $44 million to take a gamble on that area is for debate.”
Moir believes that smaller businesses rather than large corporations need to be targeted by these tax cuts.
“The Irvings aren’t leaving – why would you give them the tax break? You are essentially taxing monopoly profits.”
He also adds that attracting businesses to “invest capital”, such as buildings, and not just money into the province would be ideal to maximize gains.
“If they do decide to leave, oh well, we still have the building, we have something from it.”
While economists like Moir and Secord and certain groups like women and labour unions have been very vocal about the negative effects of these tax reductions, criticism has been relatively low from regular citizens.
Secord attributes this lack of criticism to a failure in the public process, which includes public input. But Secord says that it is obvious that the committee did not listen to any public input.
“The people on the committee didn’t really look at the criticisms being raised. They didn’t address them, they just avoided them.”
“That committee failed in my view, as a critical committee that would seriously evaluate these proposals,” Secord admits.
“It raises the question of the extent to which the government was actually listening to people through this whole process.”
Women are one group that have been vocal about how these tax changes will negatively affect them. The Coalition for Pay Equity is one such group that made a presentation during the public input period to government on the tax systems.
In their presentation, titled “What about women’s share in NB’s tax system?” the Coalition claims that the government does not take into account wage gaps between men and women in the positive numbers they have released supporting tax cuts, nor do they address wage gaps at all in the budget.
“It seems particularly unfair to us that government is proposing regressive taxation measures that will place a greater tax burden on the least wealthy among our citizens, including women, while still failing to legislate on pay equity,” the Coalition said in a brief of their presentation to the Select Committee on Tax Review.
The Coalition emphasizes that the services that will be cut as a result of lost revenue from tax cuts will negatively affect women especially, because women are often called upon to provide services in the family unit that the public sector cannot.
“If government cuts into these services, it will increase women’s traditional work at home and significantly deprive them of jobs and income,” says the Coalition.
The removal of social workers from the family courts in the province is an example of one recent service cut by the province that will greatly affect women.
“The court social workers offer a specialized service that is very valuable, especially to mothers facing separation,” says Elsie Hambrook, Chairperson of the Advisory Council for the Status of Women, in a press release.
Unless more interest groups in the province and regular citizens become critical about the harms of these wide-reaching tax cuts, there will be a hefty price for the vulnerable to pay now and for everyone to pay in the future.
The ideals of fairness and equality embodied by Louis J. Robichaud during his time in power appear to be eroding with the idea of services being cut for the benefit of the affluent. Secord says this budget is proof of it.
“It seems like the provincial government has adopted these neoliberal policies which have much in common with Ronald Reagan and little in common with Louis J. Robichaud, or any Liberal government in a post-war era,” says Secord.
“People should understand that equal opportunity is dead in this province with this budget.”
Blog title - A Moth is not a Butterfly - Hawksley Workman
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Grapevine Fires
Kelly Lamrock, the Minister of Education for the province of New Brunswick, recently announced that two schools in Saint John would remain open despite a recommendation to close them by the District Education Council.
The reasons given for closing the schools were primarily centred around the fact that both have declining populations and the upkeep of the schools are too expensive. My friend Paul has followed the issue more extensively than I have on his blog, which can be found here.
The biggest reason why I am glad to see that the schools are staying open is because the schools were designated by the province as "community schools" not long ago. Essentially, Hazen White-St. Francis and Lorne Middle School are located in the North End, another one of Saint John's vulnerable neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood concentrated poverty is a huge issue in Saint John, as I've said numerous time on this blog, and these schools are the backbone of the community.
St. John the Baptist-King Edward performs a similar role in the South End community. When I think of how different it would be to not have that building in the community, I can't help but think that there would be something missing. The community centre is there, and the province recently announced plans to run a centre for young children out of the basement of the school that would hopefully improve literacy rates, allow professionals to prepare more students for a smooth transition into school and give parents another valuable resource in the community.
Really, the school is invaluable to the community. Not only that, but there would be a lot of parents that would not be involved as much in the school community if it didn't exist. Most of the people in the South End, and the North End where the proposed changes were to be made regarding the closed schools, are on limited budgets. In other words, most people do not have cars. My Mom is one of these people, and it would have been a lot harder for her to have been involved and as proactive in my education had the school been so physically inaccesible.
The decision to not shutter the doors to these crucial community schools gets a thumbs up for me. It seems like the Graham government finally listened to what people wanted, and delivered on it.
Schools are so essential to these communities; close them and you'll find that there will be a lot more issues than there already are. And the first step to reducing poverty or at least turning these places into better and safer neighbourhoods involves creating some form of community.
Grapevine Fires - Death Cab for Cutie
The reasons given for closing the schools were primarily centred around the fact that both have declining populations and the upkeep of the schools are too expensive. My friend Paul has followed the issue more extensively than I have on his blog, which can be found here.
The biggest reason why I am glad to see that the schools are staying open is because the schools were designated by the province as "community schools" not long ago. Essentially, Hazen White-St. Francis and Lorne Middle School are located in the North End, another one of Saint John's vulnerable neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood concentrated poverty is a huge issue in Saint John, as I've said numerous time on this blog, and these schools are the backbone of the community.
St. John the Baptist-King Edward performs a similar role in the South End community. When I think of how different it would be to not have that building in the community, I can't help but think that there would be something missing. The community centre is there, and the province recently announced plans to run a centre for young children out of the basement of the school that would hopefully improve literacy rates, allow professionals to prepare more students for a smooth transition into school and give parents another valuable resource in the community.
Really, the school is invaluable to the community. Not only that, but there would be a lot of parents that would not be involved as much in the school community if it didn't exist. Most of the people in the South End, and the North End where the proposed changes were to be made regarding the closed schools, are on limited budgets. In other words, most people do not have cars. My Mom is one of these people, and it would have been a lot harder for her to have been involved and as proactive in my education had the school been so physically inaccesible.
The decision to not shutter the doors to these crucial community schools gets a thumbs up for me. It seems like the Graham government finally listened to what people wanted, and delivered on it.
Schools are so essential to these communities; close them and you'll find that there will be a lot more issues than there already are. And the first step to reducing poverty or at least turning these places into better and safer neighbourhoods involves creating some form of community.
Grapevine Fires - Death Cab for Cutie
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Bloom where you are
With the 21st Winter Olympics being held in Vancouver next year, the area has received quite a bit of attention over the last couple of years.
What can easily be forgotten by all of the attention being netted for Vancouver by the Olympics is that a group of people facing some of the most unique challenges in Canada are hidden away in the city.
The Downtown East Side of Vancouver was home to 16,590 people during the last count in 2001. However, since many residents of the neighbourhood move frequently from place to place, this number often fluctuates.
The notorious East Hastings Street is the backbone of the neighbourhood and is evidence of all of the complex issues faced by the residents. Homelessness, an open-air drug market and the sex trade industry thrive on East Hastings, a sign of a people struggling to survive from day-to-day.
Look a bit further and you will find an area known as Blood Alley, which many of the Downtown’s homeless population call home. Huddled under the shelter of the extended roofs of many of the small businesses in the area, the street population of Vancouver take refuge from the elements year-round on Blood Alley. It begs the question of how these people became concentrated into one area, and why they seem to be forgotten.
Few understand the complex social issues of the Downtown East Side as well as Mark Townsend. Townsend is a manager at the Portland Hotel Society, a non-profit organization in the Downtown East Side offering services and advocacy to those who have been left behind by the system; the most vulnerable.
Townsend says that the main issue plaguing the Downtown East Side is poverty. Clean, safe housing might be the first step to improving the quality of life for the poor.
“There could be better housing. Decent housing goes a long way to making a better life,” says Townsend.
“If you are sharing a bathroom and kitchen with many other people and living in an 80-square foot room with no resources, cable or money, it’s not very fun.”
Townsend is referring to the many former hotels in the Downtown that have been converted to rooming houses to meet an overwhelming need for cheap housing. In addition to being very cramped, the conditions inside of these rooms are often unsanitary and almost squalor, with drug paraphernalia littering the premises.
“If that’s all that your life consists of, it will really affect you,” says Townsend.
Living in unsanitary conditions with no means of escape can be mentally debilitating, making it hard for people to maintain their dignity. This is when many people turn to addiction.
Paul Ryan of Hope in Shadows, an organization ran by the Pivot Legal Society, agrees that housing could be the big difference.
“There is a major problem with homelessness. People who are homeless are often targeted more by drug dealers,” admits Ryan, who has worked in the area for four or five years now.
Located on the west end of Hastings Street, the Portland Hotel Society offers shelter for residents with nowhere else to go. Most notably, they run Insite, North America’s only safe injection site.
Insite allows intravenous drug users to inject in a sterile area with clean needles. They are monitored by staff members after they inject to ensure that no one overdoses.
Insite also offers a detox program, advocacy and most importantly, a place for addicts to come and sit and have a coffee with other people from the community.
The project has been highly controversial, with the current Conservative government calling for it to be shut down more than once, saying that the site is not helping enough people to warrant staying open and that it encourages drug use. Townsend argues that people need to look at who is being helped rather than who is not.
“It saves lives, money, and there is no evidence that it encourages drug use,” says Townsend.
Ryan agrees, saying that if 70 people use Insite, that is 70 people that would be at risk of overdosing or contracting diseases like HIV/AIDS if Insite did not exist.
“It’s really, really busy – they are running to capacity,” he says.
“The fact that it can’t help everyone doesn’t mean that that it’s not working.”
Ryan blames the need for expensive programs like Insite on a policy of containment practiced in the last 10 years which has forced all of the low-income people in Vancouver to migrate to the Downtown East Side. He says that working wages and social assistance rates were better in the 1990s and the problem of containment in the Downtown has only gotten worse since then.
Townsend thinks that the area needs to develop a sense of community instead of adopting a fully mixed income situation.
“Mixed is not necessarily the solution. We need to create a community and embrace that there are neighbourhoods of poor people.”
“It’s not just one big ghetto that should be bulldozed.”
Creating a sense of community is precisely what Paul Ryan’s organization, Hope in Shadows, is all about. Through their annual photo contest, they enable residents to share their neighbourhood through snapshots taken from their perspective.
Carolyn Wong, who also works with Hope in Shadows, says that they then create a medium for the best photographers to sell their work in a calendar and make their own profits. It gives them something to be proud of.
“We wanted to do something to highlight the community and its strengths,” says Wong.
“The feeling was that the marginalized people in the area deserve and need that opportunity to represent a positive self-identity.”
Positive things like the Hope in Shadows project are often overshadowed by negative things going on in the neighbourhood, according to Lani Russwurm, who works with the Downtown East Side Community Arts Network.
“Media coverage almost exclusively focuses on the social ills concentrated in the area,” says Russwurm.
“The underreported part of the story is that there is a very strong sense of community solidarity here, more than in any other neighbourhood I know of.”
The group looks at art not only as a feasible way to make a living, but also a method of healing. For many, art is all that they have.
“For people without much money, the ability to create is often the one thing that can’t be taken away from them.”
It does not matter how much media attention is directed towards the problems of Canada’s forgotten slum, or how many band-aid fixes are implemented.
It can only be fixed if people in poverty are humanized and a sense of community is emphasized. Through photography, art or even the small pieces of communication between fellow addicts at Insite, positive things are happening on the Downtown East Side; people are blooming where they are.
What can easily be forgotten by all of the attention being netted for Vancouver by the Olympics is that a group of people facing some of the most unique challenges in Canada are hidden away in the city.
The Downtown East Side of Vancouver was home to 16,590 people during the last count in 2001. However, since many residents of the neighbourhood move frequently from place to place, this number often fluctuates.
The notorious East Hastings Street is the backbone of the neighbourhood and is evidence of all of the complex issues faced by the residents. Homelessness, an open-air drug market and the sex trade industry thrive on East Hastings, a sign of a people struggling to survive from day-to-day.
Look a bit further and you will find an area known as Blood Alley, which many of the Downtown’s homeless population call home. Huddled under the shelter of the extended roofs of many of the small businesses in the area, the street population of Vancouver take refuge from the elements year-round on Blood Alley. It begs the question of how these people became concentrated into one area, and why they seem to be forgotten.
Few understand the complex social issues of the Downtown East Side as well as Mark Townsend. Townsend is a manager at the Portland Hotel Society, a non-profit organization in the Downtown East Side offering services and advocacy to those who have been left behind by the system; the most vulnerable.
Townsend says that the main issue plaguing the Downtown East Side is poverty. Clean, safe housing might be the first step to improving the quality of life for the poor.
“There could be better housing. Decent housing goes a long way to making a better life,” says Townsend.
“If you are sharing a bathroom and kitchen with many other people and living in an 80-square foot room with no resources, cable or money, it’s not very fun.”
Townsend is referring to the many former hotels in the Downtown that have been converted to rooming houses to meet an overwhelming need for cheap housing. In addition to being very cramped, the conditions inside of these rooms are often unsanitary and almost squalor, with drug paraphernalia littering the premises.
“If that’s all that your life consists of, it will really affect you,” says Townsend.
Living in unsanitary conditions with no means of escape can be mentally debilitating, making it hard for people to maintain their dignity. This is when many people turn to addiction.
Paul Ryan of Hope in Shadows, an organization ran by the Pivot Legal Society, agrees that housing could be the big difference.
“There is a major problem with homelessness. People who are homeless are often targeted more by drug dealers,” admits Ryan, who has worked in the area for four or five years now.
Located on the west end of Hastings Street, the Portland Hotel Society offers shelter for residents with nowhere else to go. Most notably, they run Insite, North America’s only safe injection site.
Insite allows intravenous drug users to inject in a sterile area with clean needles. They are monitored by staff members after they inject to ensure that no one overdoses.
Insite also offers a detox program, advocacy and most importantly, a place for addicts to come and sit and have a coffee with other people from the community.
The project has been highly controversial, with the current Conservative government calling for it to be shut down more than once, saying that the site is not helping enough people to warrant staying open and that it encourages drug use. Townsend argues that people need to look at who is being helped rather than who is not.
“It saves lives, money, and there is no evidence that it encourages drug use,” says Townsend.
Ryan agrees, saying that if 70 people use Insite, that is 70 people that would be at risk of overdosing or contracting diseases like HIV/AIDS if Insite did not exist.
“It’s really, really busy – they are running to capacity,” he says.
“The fact that it can’t help everyone doesn’t mean that that it’s not working.”
Ryan blames the need for expensive programs like Insite on a policy of containment practiced in the last 10 years which has forced all of the low-income people in Vancouver to migrate to the Downtown East Side. He says that working wages and social assistance rates were better in the 1990s and the problem of containment in the Downtown has only gotten worse since then.
Townsend thinks that the area needs to develop a sense of community instead of adopting a fully mixed income situation.
“Mixed is not necessarily the solution. We need to create a community and embrace that there are neighbourhoods of poor people.”
“It’s not just one big ghetto that should be bulldozed.”
Creating a sense of community is precisely what Paul Ryan’s organization, Hope in Shadows, is all about. Through their annual photo contest, they enable residents to share their neighbourhood through snapshots taken from their perspective.
Carolyn Wong, who also works with Hope in Shadows, says that they then create a medium for the best photographers to sell their work in a calendar and make their own profits. It gives them something to be proud of.
“We wanted to do something to highlight the community and its strengths,” says Wong.
“The feeling was that the marginalized people in the area deserve and need that opportunity to represent a positive self-identity.”
Positive things like the Hope in Shadows project are often overshadowed by negative things going on in the neighbourhood, according to Lani Russwurm, who works with the Downtown East Side Community Arts Network.
“Media coverage almost exclusively focuses on the social ills concentrated in the area,” says Russwurm.
“The underreported part of the story is that there is a very strong sense of community solidarity here, more than in any other neighbourhood I know of.”
The group looks at art not only as a feasible way to make a living, but also a method of healing. For many, art is all that they have.
“For people without much money, the ability to create is often the one thing that can’t be taken away from them.”
It does not matter how much media attention is directed towards the problems of Canada’s forgotten slum, or how many band-aid fixes are implemented.
It can only be fixed if people in poverty are humanized and a sense of community is emphasized. Through photography, art or even the small pieces of communication between fellow addicts at Insite, positive things are happening on the Downtown East Side; people are blooming where they are.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Little Victories
I stress myself out a lot. I blow things out of proportion sometimes, and I worry a lot. I'm willing to admit that.
I think I'm coming to a resolution though. I'm realizing what's important and who's important.
I worry about what people think of me, but I can't please everyone. I can't be friends with everyone.
I worry about little assignments and grades because I'm so afraid the GPA I busted my be-hind for in first semester will all be for nothing.
I think sometimes when I do that I lose sight of things. I said in my previous entry that I lost sight a lot in grade 12. And I did. I tried to be everything all at once. It's not possible.
Prioritize, do your best, give yourself some space, breathe. Those are a few lessons I've learned.
I think university is calming me out quite a bit in that sense. I still stress out a lot and worry a lot about how I'm perceived. But high school is over now. It's not the end of the world if you're not liked by everyone. It's nice to try, but not always possible to attain.
If I could go back in high school, I'd tell my high school self that high school isn't the end of the world. I can't tell you how many times I stressed out over little things. One bad grade, miscommunications with people, gossip, small things really.
Matt Nathanson's song "Little Victories" is one of the most honest songs I've heard. It's something I'm going to try to live by from this point on.
I'm going to live for the little victories.
"This time, I'll be sailing. No more bailing boats for me.
I'll be out there on the sea, just my confidence and me.
And I'll be awful sometimes, weakened to my knees.
But I'll learn to get by on little victories." - Little Victories, Matt Nathanson.
To me, that says that I'm not going to give up on things or not try anymore because I'm afraid of failing or being rejected. I will fail sometimes, I'm not perfect. But it's all about weighing the positives over the negatives, and letting yourself be human sometimes.
Cheesy, but a good philosophy. At least it's honest. Sometimes you just need to be pleased with being and doing your best.
This growing up thing is weird.
I think I'm coming to a resolution though. I'm realizing what's important and who's important.
I worry about what people think of me, but I can't please everyone. I can't be friends with everyone.
I worry about little assignments and grades because I'm so afraid the GPA I busted my be-hind for in first semester will all be for nothing.
I think sometimes when I do that I lose sight of things. I said in my previous entry that I lost sight a lot in grade 12. And I did. I tried to be everything all at once. It's not possible.
Prioritize, do your best, give yourself some space, breathe. Those are a few lessons I've learned.
I think university is calming me out quite a bit in that sense. I still stress out a lot and worry a lot about how I'm perceived. But high school is over now. It's not the end of the world if you're not liked by everyone. It's nice to try, but not always possible to attain.
If I could go back in high school, I'd tell my high school self that high school isn't the end of the world. I can't tell you how many times I stressed out over little things. One bad grade, miscommunications with people, gossip, small things really.
Matt Nathanson's song "Little Victories" is one of the most honest songs I've heard. It's something I'm going to try to live by from this point on.
I'm going to live for the little victories.
"This time, I'll be sailing. No more bailing boats for me.
I'll be out there on the sea, just my confidence and me.
And I'll be awful sometimes, weakened to my knees.
But I'll learn to get by on little victories." - Little Victories, Matt Nathanson.
To me, that says that I'm not going to give up on things or not try anymore because I'm afraid of failing or being rejected. I will fail sometimes, I'm not perfect. But it's all about weighing the positives over the negatives, and letting yourself be human sometimes.
Cheesy, but a good philosophy. At least it's honest. Sometimes you just need to be pleased with being and doing your best.
This growing up thing is weird.
Monday, March 9, 2009
In View
As an added note to my earlier blog post about the Downtown East Side, a really great interview was published in the Globe and Mail yesterday with a UBC prof who founded a program called The Learning Exchange. The program connects the UBC community with the inner-city communities of Vancouver. They also offer outreach programs for the community.
Here's the link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090308.wbcdtesfryer9/BNStory/thefix/home
I think she's given some of the best answers yet on what s can be done to improve the state of some of Vancouver's most troubled neighbourhoods. I hope that community leaders in other vulnerable neighbourhoods around the country take note of some of Fryer's ideas because I think that they are pretty innovative.
The idea of pairing up university students with the community is also a really great idea, because the community gains a few more role models, and the students gain knowledge on what it is like to live in those areas. That knowledge, hopefully, erases any previous stereotypes they may have had about people living under the poverty line.
Poverty isn't the only big issue in Canada's Olympic city right now. A wave of gang violence seems to have overtaken the city. While poverty and drugs are perhaps two causes of this violence, some ideas need to be formed that detail how Vancouver citizens can take their city back, in more ways than one.
In View - Tragically Hip
Here's the link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090308.wbcdtesfryer9/BNStory/thefix/home
I think she's given some of the best answers yet on what s can be done to improve the state of some of Vancouver's most troubled neighbourhoods. I hope that community leaders in other vulnerable neighbourhoods around the country take note of some of Fryer's ideas because I think that they are pretty innovative.
The idea of pairing up university students with the community is also a really great idea, because the community gains a few more role models, and the students gain knowledge on what it is like to live in those areas. That knowledge, hopefully, erases any previous stereotypes they may have had about people living under the poverty line.
Poverty isn't the only big issue in Canada's Olympic city right now. A wave of gang violence seems to have overtaken the city. While poverty and drugs are perhaps two causes of this violence, some ideas need to be formed that detail how Vancouver citizens can take their city back, in more ways than one.
In View - Tragically Hip
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Chocolate
I should be slumbering. I'm heading back to Fredericton in 5 hours and said I was going to bed 2 hours ago. Luckily, I can function well on minimal sleep, and I can always crash when I get back. Also, thanks to daylight savings time, I lost an hour of sleep tonight. That sucks. But that also means that one thing is near: spring.
I love spring. It seems like I'm always looking forward to something in the spring. Sometimes it's a break from school, end of the year activities, nice weather or the sheer greatness of being able to reflect on another year of education passed by. I sure do love reflecting. I also like spring because it's not too warm but not too cold. It's just right.
I had a decent March break. I got to see family, friends and I got to sleep a lot so I'm content with that. I can't believe that there's only a month and some change left of my first year of university. The amount that my life has changed in a year and a half or even two years is insane.
A year and a half to two years ago I hadn't really understood was stress was yet. My grade 12 year taught me that. I tried to do everything and be everywhere, and sometimes I lost the enjoyment and the real meaning of everything I was trying to balance.
I completed everything and I'm proud of what I accomplished. I'm glad I pushed myself to the limit. If it weren't for grade 12 and IB and a zillion activities, my transition to university would have been more difficult. And the reward for some of my academic efforts was that I haven't got to worry as much about paying for university as I thought I would, which is nice. Some my activities allowed me to realize things in myself that I would have never realized otherwise, like yearbook for example. It showed me that I can accomplish something even if I have no clue what I'm doing going into it, and it gave me a solid foundation in design and of what it's like to produce a publication.
But I lost perspective. I got frustrated easily, and I was on the verge of giving up several times. I missed out on a lot. I think now, even though I am still quite busy, I have struck a bit of a balance. Living in residence allows for me to keep sane and have social interactions even when I'm swamped. And intellectually, I've grown a lot this year. That's one major thing that's changed.
The second big change was with my family. My grandfather, who I considered to be my father figure and I was extremely close to, passed away in December 2007. We'd known it was coming, but you can never really prepare yourself for death. It happened on a weekend when I had a million things to do, and after his funeral, I threw myself back into the stress. It may have helped to do that, or it may have hurt. I don't really know yet. But it was a major change for me.
Our whole family changed in that he was a big part of all of our lives and there was an obvious hole. There's a hole at family gatherings, at holidays. Christmas will never be the same. No matter how much I try, it's hard to enjoy it like I used to. It's something I'm learning to get used to simply because I have no choice but to do so, I guess.
The good thing I've taken away from his death is it's made me stronger and a bit more determined, although it didn't seem that way in the couple of months after he died. The few months before he died were stressful because he was on and off life support and in and out of the hospital. It was a rollercoaster, but we somehow managed it. I talked to him before he died, and he was content with his life.
I have never understood how one can be content with what they've done in life. But that's what I want someday. When the time comes for me, I want to know that I've done all that I can, that I've fought for life as much as possible and that I've made a difference in peoples' lives.
My grandfather was an advocate for our neighbourhood, he was always fighting when he was involved in politics for affordable housing and recreation opportunities for kids. My grandparents' interest in politics initialized an interest in politics for me. That's given me a lot of perspective too. I want to honour him by making a difference with my journalism or with poverty someday.
And of course, my relationships with a lot of friends have changed. People grow apart, old relationships fail and new ones bloom. I've kept a few strong, and others I fight to keep strong. But I'm starting to learn now that it's pointless if you have to fight to keep a friendship going. I'll take steps to keep in touch with people, but at the end of the day, they have to try too.
Finally, I'm more independent now. Leaving my Mom alone was hard and I still find it hard to leave everytime I come home, but I'm glad to have this independence. It's allowed me to grow more as a person and essentially be able to not die on my own.
I went for a scholarship interview in Fredericton right before graduation last year. I couldn't figure out how to open the hotel door, I injured myself with my luggage, I couldn't figure out how to use the shower, failed at figuring out how to both iron and operate an ironing board, and the list goes on. I was pretty much hopeless at fending for myself a few months ago, and now I've improved a bit.
I guess I'm rambling but what else does one do at 4:30 in the morning? Sometimes I just like to reflect. It's been a crazy couple of years but I think I'm growing and gaining perspective. Life is good, savour the moments.
"This could be the very minute I'm aware I'm alive/all these places feel like home/With a name I've never chosen, I can make my first steps/as a child of 25." - Chocolate, Snow Patrol.
Side note: I like to pick songs that I like or that have lyrics that fit with the topic of my blogs. This particular song is one of my favourites and seemed appropriate. I like to listen to it to just chill out and think sometimes, and I remember listening to it before my first university journalism class this year just to sort of savour the moment. Awesome song.
I love spring. It seems like I'm always looking forward to something in the spring. Sometimes it's a break from school, end of the year activities, nice weather or the sheer greatness of being able to reflect on another year of education passed by. I sure do love reflecting. I also like spring because it's not too warm but not too cold. It's just right.
I had a decent March break. I got to see family, friends and I got to sleep a lot so I'm content with that. I can't believe that there's only a month and some change left of my first year of university. The amount that my life has changed in a year and a half or even two years is insane.
A year and a half to two years ago I hadn't really understood was stress was yet. My grade 12 year taught me that. I tried to do everything and be everywhere, and sometimes I lost the enjoyment and the real meaning of everything I was trying to balance.
I completed everything and I'm proud of what I accomplished. I'm glad I pushed myself to the limit. If it weren't for grade 12 and IB and a zillion activities, my transition to university would have been more difficult. And the reward for some of my academic efforts was that I haven't got to worry as much about paying for university as I thought I would, which is nice. Some my activities allowed me to realize things in myself that I would have never realized otherwise, like yearbook for example. It showed me that I can accomplish something even if I have no clue what I'm doing going into it, and it gave me a solid foundation in design and of what it's like to produce a publication.
But I lost perspective. I got frustrated easily, and I was on the verge of giving up several times. I missed out on a lot. I think now, even though I am still quite busy, I have struck a bit of a balance. Living in residence allows for me to keep sane and have social interactions even when I'm swamped. And intellectually, I've grown a lot this year. That's one major thing that's changed.
The second big change was with my family. My grandfather, who I considered to be my father figure and I was extremely close to, passed away in December 2007. We'd known it was coming, but you can never really prepare yourself for death. It happened on a weekend when I had a million things to do, and after his funeral, I threw myself back into the stress. It may have helped to do that, or it may have hurt. I don't really know yet. But it was a major change for me.
Our whole family changed in that he was a big part of all of our lives and there was an obvious hole. There's a hole at family gatherings, at holidays. Christmas will never be the same. No matter how much I try, it's hard to enjoy it like I used to. It's something I'm learning to get used to simply because I have no choice but to do so, I guess.
The good thing I've taken away from his death is it's made me stronger and a bit more determined, although it didn't seem that way in the couple of months after he died. The few months before he died were stressful because he was on and off life support and in and out of the hospital. It was a rollercoaster, but we somehow managed it. I talked to him before he died, and he was content with his life.
I have never understood how one can be content with what they've done in life. But that's what I want someday. When the time comes for me, I want to know that I've done all that I can, that I've fought for life as much as possible and that I've made a difference in peoples' lives.
My grandfather was an advocate for our neighbourhood, he was always fighting when he was involved in politics for affordable housing and recreation opportunities for kids. My grandparents' interest in politics initialized an interest in politics for me. That's given me a lot of perspective too. I want to honour him by making a difference with my journalism or with poverty someday.
And of course, my relationships with a lot of friends have changed. People grow apart, old relationships fail and new ones bloom. I've kept a few strong, and others I fight to keep strong. But I'm starting to learn now that it's pointless if you have to fight to keep a friendship going. I'll take steps to keep in touch with people, but at the end of the day, they have to try too.
Finally, I'm more independent now. Leaving my Mom alone was hard and I still find it hard to leave everytime I come home, but I'm glad to have this independence. It's allowed me to grow more as a person and essentially be able to not die on my own.
I went for a scholarship interview in Fredericton right before graduation last year. I couldn't figure out how to open the hotel door, I injured myself with my luggage, I couldn't figure out how to use the shower, failed at figuring out how to both iron and operate an ironing board, and the list goes on. I was pretty much hopeless at fending for myself a few months ago, and now I've improved a bit.
I guess I'm rambling but what else does one do at 4:30 in the morning? Sometimes I just like to reflect. It's been a crazy couple of years but I think I'm growing and gaining perspective. Life is good, savour the moments.
"This could be the very minute I'm aware I'm alive/all these places feel like home/With a name I've never chosen, I can make my first steps/as a child of 25." - Chocolate, Snow Patrol.
Side note: I like to pick songs that I like or that have lyrics that fit with the topic of my blogs. This particular song is one of my favourites and seemed appropriate. I like to listen to it to just chill out and think sometimes, and I remember listening to it before my first university journalism class this year just to sort of savour the moment. Awesome song.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Take Me to the Riot
With the 2010 Vancouver Olympics quick approaching, a lot of pressure is being put on the BC government and Vancouver municipality to clean up the Downtown East Side area.
For those not familiar, it's one of the worst cases of neighbourhood concentrated poverty in the country. The drug and prostitution markets thrive, and no one seems to know how to put the pieces back together. People in poverty seem to gravitate to the area because of the affordable housing, but it is certainly not an ideal place to live, and the sense of community is almost non-existant.
The Globe & Mail has been running an extensive series on the Downtown East Side (which can be found here). It offers suggestions on how to fix the problem, stats on what has been done so far, personal stories from residents of the neighbourhood, and lots more.
According to The Globe and Mail's estimates, $1.4 billion has been poured into the area since 2000. That's a lot of money for one neighbourhood. Yet, there seems to have been no significant change. Money has been spent largely on renovating housing (like old hotels that have long turned into drug dens), cracking down on crime, community health and outreach programs, etc.
Some say that a sense of community needs to be built to salvage the area. I think that's part of it. Giving people legitimate ways out of poverty and addiction would help too. Someone suggested turning it into a mixed income neighbourhood would help and I'd agree there too.
But there's obviously an issue if that's the only place the most vulnerable in the city can afford to live. You can't attract a wide range of incomes if the rest of the city doesn't offer anywhere for the poor to live because everyone low income will gravitate back to that area again. And why shouldn't they be entitled to a nice place to live in a safe, strong neighbourhood? They're people too. It should be somewhere that people of all walks of life can be proud of.
I'd strongly encourage people if anyone else is actually reading this to look up the subject, maybe find a documentary on the people who live there. Some of them have sad stories, some of them have amazing stories, some of them have horrible stories, but they've all got a story. They're all real people, and for one reason or another (by choice or not by choice), they found themselves on the Downtown East Side.
Until we humanize people in poverty and eradicate stereotypes and assumptions, it will never end. That's the first step to fixing the DTES and other vulnerable neighbourhoods.
"Grey skies and light fading/Headlamps making patterns on the wall/Uptown, it's dead now/But out here, no one seems to care at all."
-Take Me To The Riot, Stars.
Editor's Note: Since I've written this blog post, I have had the chance to dialogue with a couple of people leading the fight against poverty in the DTES for a feature I was working on originally for the Aquinian.
I said in this post that there is virtually no community in the neighbourhood, but that is one thing that I was wrong about. People in the neighbourhood look out for each other, and while many of them live lifestyles that are not condoned by most of us, they're still people. They still form bonds.
So, I just wanted to clear that up and say that I was wrong on that. The community in the DTES is thriving, but it can always be made stronger. The main challenge is to get the people off of the street and into safe housing and then to give them the resources to fight whatever other challenges they face.
For those not familiar, it's one of the worst cases of neighbourhood concentrated poverty in the country. The drug and prostitution markets thrive, and no one seems to know how to put the pieces back together. People in poverty seem to gravitate to the area because of the affordable housing, but it is certainly not an ideal place to live, and the sense of community is almost non-existant.
The Globe & Mail has been running an extensive series on the Downtown East Side (which can be found here). It offers suggestions on how to fix the problem, stats on what has been done so far, personal stories from residents of the neighbourhood, and lots more.
According to The Globe and Mail's estimates, $1.4 billion has been poured into the area since 2000. That's a lot of money for one neighbourhood. Yet, there seems to have been no significant change. Money has been spent largely on renovating housing (like old hotels that have long turned into drug dens), cracking down on crime, community health and outreach programs, etc.
Some say that a sense of community needs to be built to salvage the area. I think that's part of it. Giving people legitimate ways out of poverty and addiction would help too. Someone suggested turning it into a mixed income neighbourhood would help and I'd agree there too.
But there's obviously an issue if that's the only place the most vulnerable in the city can afford to live. You can't attract a wide range of incomes if the rest of the city doesn't offer anywhere for the poor to live because everyone low income will gravitate back to that area again. And why shouldn't they be entitled to a nice place to live in a safe, strong neighbourhood? They're people too. It should be somewhere that people of all walks of life can be proud of.
I'd strongly encourage people if anyone else is actually reading this to look up the subject, maybe find a documentary on the people who live there. Some of them have sad stories, some of them have amazing stories, some of them have horrible stories, but they've all got a story. They're all real people, and for one reason or another (by choice or not by choice), they found themselves on the Downtown East Side.
Until we humanize people in poverty and eradicate stereotypes and assumptions, it will never end. That's the first step to fixing the DTES and other vulnerable neighbourhoods.
"Grey skies and light fading/Headlamps making patterns on the wall/Uptown, it's dead now/But out here, no one seems to care at all."
-Take Me To The Riot, Stars.
Editor's Note: Since I've written this blog post, I have had the chance to dialogue with a couple of people leading the fight against poverty in the DTES for a feature I was working on originally for the Aquinian.
I said in this post that there is virtually no community in the neighbourhood, but that is one thing that I was wrong about. People in the neighbourhood look out for each other, and while many of them live lifestyles that are not condoned by most of us, they're still people. They still form bonds.
So, I just wanted to clear that up and say that I was wrong on that. The community in the DTES is thriving, but it can always be made stronger. The main challenge is to get the people off of the street and into safe housing and then to give them the resources to fight whatever other challenges they face.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Spectacular Views
So I'm taking a break (see: procrastinating) from doing useful things. Next week starting Friday is going to be hellish (see: 3-ish midterms and what should be an unpleasant Global Politics essay), so I guess I should enjoy some free time while I have it to procrastinate away.
This year has gone extremely fast, and this semester even faster than I expected. I'm not sure yet whether that is a good thing. I'm just kind of getting into my groove and I have mixed feelings about the summer. I will be glad to be in Saint John and see everyone and for it to actually be summer, but I know I will probably end up working all summer.
One thing that I will not miss is winter. I'm pretty sure I'm living on the wrong continent, partially because I always want to be up later than most of the rational population on the Atlantic timezone and also because I really, really hate winter and cold weather in general. I don't really love super hot summers either. That's why I like spring - I like for it to be nice enough out to not have to wear 50 zillion pounds of clothes but not die of humidity.
My friends and I had a conversation the other day about what else we want to major in or minor in aside from Journalism, and what we'd do if we didn't get in to the Journalism program next year.
I've never really considered many other career paths, but the fact that I may not succeed and have to pick something else is scary. I've always said Law was my backup, but to be honest, it doesn't interest me as something I'd want to get up for everyday. It's not exciting enough.
I really like politics, but I'm not sure how that could escalate into meaningful employment just yet. But I'll probably try to double major in it or maybe minor simply because of my strong interest in the subject. I've also always been really interested in anti-poverty initiatives. I guess I could mix Political Science with that if being a journalist didn't work out.
I'm also not really sure what exactly I want to do in Journalism. I want to tell random stories about people, like I mentioned in my last post, but I also want to travel, because I've never really been anywhere it seems. I don't want to live in a small city, and I want to leave New Brunswick, eventually. Yet, I want to give back to my community, maybe do something with an anti-poverty iniative, and dabble in political journalism.
I'm not sure what medium I want to do or even if I'd want to stick to just one. I know that I am pretty sure I want to do Journalism grad school, most likely at Ryerson, and that should hopefully open up doors (if I even get in, I'm looking pretty far ahead now).
But I kind of like the idea of seeing what comes up and not knowing where to go exactly. It's not at all what I am used to. I always have a plan and try to stick to it. Maybe I need to deviate away from planning out every aspect of my life? Who knows. But I hope it'll be exciting.
And that's my rambling for the evening.
Spectacular Views - Rilo Kiley
This year has gone extremely fast, and this semester even faster than I expected. I'm not sure yet whether that is a good thing. I'm just kind of getting into my groove and I have mixed feelings about the summer. I will be glad to be in Saint John and see everyone and for it to actually be summer, but I know I will probably end up working all summer.
One thing that I will not miss is winter. I'm pretty sure I'm living on the wrong continent, partially because I always want to be up later than most of the rational population on the Atlantic timezone and also because I really, really hate winter and cold weather in general. I don't really love super hot summers either. That's why I like spring - I like for it to be nice enough out to not have to wear 50 zillion pounds of clothes but not die of humidity.
My friends and I had a conversation the other day about what else we want to major in or minor in aside from Journalism, and what we'd do if we didn't get in to the Journalism program next year.
I've never really considered many other career paths, but the fact that I may not succeed and have to pick something else is scary. I've always said Law was my backup, but to be honest, it doesn't interest me as something I'd want to get up for everyday. It's not exciting enough.
I really like politics, but I'm not sure how that could escalate into meaningful employment just yet. But I'll probably try to double major in it or maybe minor simply because of my strong interest in the subject. I've also always been really interested in anti-poverty initiatives. I guess I could mix Political Science with that if being a journalist didn't work out.
I'm also not really sure what exactly I want to do in Journalism. I want to tell random stories about people, like I mentioned in my last post, but I also want to travel, because I've never really been anywhere it seems. I don't want to live in a small city, and I want to leave New Brunswick, eventually. Yet, I want to give back to my community, maybe do something with an anti-poverty iniative, and dabble in political journalism.
I'm not sure what medium I want to do or even if I'd want to stick to just one. I know that I am pretty sure I want to do Journalism grad school, most likely at Ryerson, and that should hopefully open up doors (if I even get in, I'm looking pretty far ahead now).
But I kind of like the idea of seeing what comes up and not knowing where to go exactly. It's not at all what I am used to. I always have a plan and try to stick to it. Maybe I need to deviate away from planning out every aspect of my life? Who knows. But I hope it'll be exciting.
And that's my rambling for the evening.
Spectacular Views - Rilo Kiley
Monday, February 9, 2009
Ain't No Reason
There are a lot of things I could be doing at 3:00 AM. There is one thing in particular I should be doing at 3:00 AM, and that is sleeping. Which I will do...really soon. But there are lots of things I potentially COULD do at this time of night/morning. Instead, I've chose to blog about something I've been thinking about lately.
When did it become weird to talk to strangers?
We're raised from a young age to not talk to strangers. As kids, we can't distinguish the sketchy from the potentially unsketchy, so parents tell us to stay away from strangers altogether. Makes sense enough.
But why as adults do we still find it weird to talk to strangers? And this isn't the case for all adults of course. In smaller towns or in some other countries, it's sometimes not the case at all. It also hasn't always been this way.
I was taking the bus back in September to the mall. An elderly man sat down beside me and started talking to me and being really friendly. Not in a creepy, perv way either; he was being genuinely nice and casually conversational. My friends and I thought this was a bit odd and amusing. Why would someone who I seemingly have nothing in common with and whom I do not know want to talk to me on a bus ride?
Now I'm thinking that maybe we were the weird ones.
As I get more and more into journalism, I find that I have to talk to strangers quite frequently. And I have a lot of trouble with this. It might be because I still have a bit of shyness to get over or because I think that I'm awkward sometimes, but I have a hard time approaching people I don't know to ask them for their opinions. I try to do it by phone or email as much as possible.
Which is foolish, because there is a lot more you can take from a personal conversation face-to-face with someone. Plus, you get to know them more, so you may get information you would not otherwise because they feel more comfortable with you.
And for everyday regular people, well, we're becoming disconnected. We're so busy and wrapped up in our lives that even the idea of talking to someone else we don't know and have no time for is too daunting of a task for us to handle. It's ridiculous, really.
My Global Politics professor mentioned in a lecture once about how society has become distrustful. We work so hard to get what we have and we are so personal, that we guard ourselves and our possessions. We're suspicious of people.
Our whole society is so much less trusting of each other and less connected that it's no wonder that we have a hard time understanding each other. And that's how conflict begins.
That's when I got to thinking that, even more than before, I want to be a journalist. I want to learn how to talk to more people, and types of people that I'm not used to associating with. I want to learn their stories and then tell them to other people, and then maybe they'll become interested too. I think it would be really cool just to travel around Canada (or maybe futher) someday and just do that, just tell average, not really newsworthy, random stories about people that no one else would.
And I think that if we started showing interest in the lives of seemingly random strangers, we'd all be a bit happier. Who doesn't feel comfort at the fact that someone cares about what's going in their lives?
Something to think about, I guess.
"There ain't no reason things are this way/It’s how they always been and they intend to stay/I can't explain why we live this way, we do it everyday."
- Ain't No Reason, Brett Dennen
When did it become weird to talk to strangers?
We're raised from a young age to not talk to strangers. As kids, we can't distinguish the sketchy from the potentially unsketchy, so parents tell us to stay away from strangers altogether. Makes sense enough.
But why as adults do we still find it weird to talk to strangers? And this isn't the case for all adults of course. In smaller towns or in some other countries, it's sometimes not the case at all. It also hasn't always been this way.
I was taking the bus back in September to the mall. An elderly man sat down beside me and started talking to me and being really friendly. Not in a creepy, perv way either; he was being genuinely nice and casually conversational. My friends and I thought this was a bit odd and amusing. Why would someone who I seemingly have nothing in common with and whom I do not know want to talk to me on a bus ride?
Now I'm thinking that maybe we were the weird ones.
As I get more and more into journalism, I find that I have to talk to strangers quite frequently. And I have a lot of trouble with this. It might be because I still have a bit of shyness to get over or because I think that I'm awkward sometimes, but I have a hard time approaching people I don't know to ask them for their opinions. I try to do it by phone or email as much as possible.
Which is foolish, because there is a lot more you can take from a personal conversation face-to-face with someone. Plus, you get to know them more, so you may get information you would not otherwise because they feel more comfortable with you.
And for everyday regular people, well, we're becoming disconnected. We're so busy and wrapped up in our lives that even the idea of talking to someone else we don't know and have no time for is too daunting of a task for us to handle. It's ridiculous, really.
My Global Politics professor mentioned in a lecture once about how society has become distrustful. We work so hard to get what we have and we are so personal, that we guard ourselves and our possessions. We're suspicious of people.
Our whole society is so much less trusting of each other and less connected that it's no wonder that we have a hard time understanding each other. And that's how conflict begins.
That's when I got to thinking that, even more than before, I want to be a journalist. I want to learn how to talk to more people, and types of people that I'm not used to associating with. I want to learn their stories and then tell them to other people, and then maybe they'll become interested too. I think it would be really cool just to travel around Canada (or maybe futher) someday and just do that, just tell average, not really newsworthy, random stories about people that no one else would.
And I think that if we started showing interest in the lives of seemingly random strangers, we'd all be a bit happier. Who doesn't feel comfort at the fact that someone cares about what's going in their lives?
Something to think about, I guess.
"There ain't no reason things are this way/It’s how they always been and they intend to stay/I can't explain why we live this way, we do it everyday."
- Ain't No Reason, Brett Dennen
Monday, January 26, 2009
Float On
Parliament resumed today and the budget for the year 2009-10 comes out tomorrow. I am really interested to see what kind of "stimulus" Harper will offer for our ailing economy. I'm also really interested to see how the opposition will respond to it.
We already know that the NDP and Bloc aren't going to support it. Now it's up to Ignatieff.
I sense that he won't vote it down. It might be the best thing for the party, and in my opinion for the Canadian public since it would give us some stability. I think he has higher ambitions than that, and he'd wait it out until the end of the year for an election, which we really can't afford, but without a coalition it is really inevitable. His chances of winning an election would be better then.
I understand fully that a recession is going on, and it's tough times in Canada right now. But what I don't understand is all of the talk about protecting the poor and flooding jobs into the economy.
Shouldn't that be the priority all of the time? Poor people without employment are going to be poor, recession or not. I know that education is a provincial responsibility, but it was Harper that just cut millions in scholarship funding and hasn't said how the money will be redistributed yet. You can't have a better economy and workforce without educated people, and people can't be educated if it's not within their financial reach.
We watched a film in Criminology class today called "No Place Called Home". It was brilliant. The film focused on one family in Ontario with 6 children. Neither of the parents have stable jobs because of their lack of education, and therefore they are in extreme poverty. They're all stuck in the cycle of poverty, with no hope of emerging anytime soon.
It was an amazing film, and I might buy the DVD off of the NFB website. I think everyone should see it. It's shocking, but it shouldn't be. People live like that. The people in the film have particularly bad luck and they're in a really bad situation, but I think people need to see that.
And the whole problem with the cycle of poverty anyway is the stigma. If we can erase that and treat people in poverty like they're human, then we'll be getting somewhere. Before people assume that anyone in poverty is lazy, actually go talk to them. And then go ahead and judge them.
I think people would be surprised.
"And we'll all float on, alright."
We already know that the NDP and Bloc aren't going to support it. Now it's up to Ignatieff.
I sense that he won't vote it down. It might be the best thing for the party, and in my opinion for the Canadian public since it would give us some stability. I think he has higher ambitions than that, and he'd wait it out until the end of the year for an election, which we really can't afford, but without a coalition it is really inevitable. His chances of winning an election would be better then.
I understand fully that a recession is going on, and it's tough times in Canada right now. But what I don't understand is all of the talk about protecting the poor and flooding jobs into the economy.
Shouldn't that be the priority all of the time? Poor people without employment are going to be poor, recession or not. I know that education is a provincial responsibility, but it was Harper that just cut millions in scholarship funding and hasn't said how the money will be redistributed yet. You can't have a better economy and workforce without educated people, and people can't be educated if it's not within their financial reach.
We watched a film in Criminology class today called "No Place Called Home". It was brilliant. The film focused on one family in Ontario with 6 children. Neither of the parents have stable jobs because of their lack of education, and therefore they are in extreme poverty. They're all stuck in the cycle of poverty, with no hope of emerging anytime soon.
It was an amazing film, and I might buy the DVD off of the NFB website. I think everyone should see it. It's shocking, but it shouldn't be. People live like that. The people in the film have particularly bad luck and they're in a really bad situation, but I think people need to see that.
And the whole problem with the cycle of poverty anyway is the stigma. If we can erase that and treat people in poverty like they're human, then we'll be getting somewhere. Before people assume that anyone in poverty is lazy, actually go talk to them. And then go ahead and judge them.
I think people would be surprised.
"And we'll all float on, alright."
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I'll Bring the Sun
I'm pretty much the biggest procrastinator in the world right now. It's not so much that I don't want to do the work or even that I can't concentrate. I'm still at the point where the new classes I am taking are pretty interesting and can keep my super short attention span.
No, it's not that. I'm just bloody lazy.
I pretty much have no motivation to do things. I'm glad once I've done them but I'm basically jonesing for a nap like 24/7. Which is pretty bad less than two weeks into a new term.
Going to sleep earlier could definitely solve it, but I've made it a New Year's resolution nearly every year to get more sleep and thus far, I've never kept it.
I think part of it is that it's winter and I never want to do as much in winter because it's so cold. I stand by my statement that it should be spring all year round. Fall is equally awesome, but you know that winter is around the corner, which makes it less awesome.
I really am going to go to the gym. I hear that gives you energy, which I need a serious boost of right now. And quite a few of my friends have started going lately or want to go, so I could definitely find a gym buddy.
But you actually need energy and motivation to go to the gym.
Damn.
On another note, I am getting pretty excited about journalism stuff. I'm really looking forward to next year, to be in a class with people equally passionate about journalism. That is, if I get into the program. We shall see.
On yet another note, this is one of the best written and most moving pieces I have read in the Telegraph-Journal in a really long time.
I'll Bring the Sun - Jason Collett
No, it's not that. I'm just bloody lazy.
I pretty much have no motivation to do things. I'm glad once I've done them but I'm basically jonesing for a nap like 24/7. Which is pretty bad less than two weeks into a new term.
Going to sleep earlier could definitely solve it, but I've made it a New Year's resolution nearly every year to get more sleep and thus far, I've never kept it.
I think part of it is that it's winter and I never want to do as much in winter because it's so cold. I stand by my statement that it should be spring all year round. Fall is equally awesome, but you know that winter is around the corner, which makes it less awesome.
I really am going to go to the gym. I hear that gives you energy, which I need a serious boost of right now. And quite a few of my friends have started going lately or want to go, so I could definitely find a gym buddy.
But you actually need energy and motivation to go to the gym.
Damn.
On another note, I am getting pretty excited about journalism stuff. I'm really looking forward to next year, to be in a class with people equally passionate about journalism. That is, if I get into the program. We shall see.
On yet another note, this is one of the best written and most moving pieces I have read in the Telegraph-Journal in a really long time.
I'll Bring the Sun - Jason Collett
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Don't Look Back in Anger
If you've turned on the news at all in the last week or so, you've probably noticed that Israel is bombing the frick out of Palestine.
The whole Israel-Palestine conflict is certainly nothing new for anyone who has been following the news for the last few decades. The whole thing is over a strip of land that really doesn't hold any benefit to the beholder...at least not anymore. Not with all of the people displaced.
So this piece of land is war torn, the people are broken, and yet, they're still fighting over it.
I was assigned a Globe & Mail commentary on the topic for my Journalism intro class. I think it has taken the best approach to the Gaza conflict that I have seen in a while, if not the best approach to the whole Middle Eastern situation in general.
The article, found here, gives me some hope that Obama can make a dent in the crisis.
The Middle East is Obama's biggest international relations challenge heading into the White House, and I don't expect him to fix it all. Not in 4 years, that's for sure. It will take decades to fix what they have broken over time.
But the best point that MacKinnon makes in that commentary is that Obama has his work cut out for him, and the best thing that anyone can do right now is not take sides. He's right when he says that he can't shut out Hamas. You can't shut out one side in peace talks and then expect peace.
And then I read this commentary, which I thought had one good point. It will take more than just American intervention to fix this, if it can be fixed.
I also think it will take more than the UN. Standing by idly won't work but I don't think offensive fighting against Hamas will either. Attacking Hamas is only going to make it worse. Just as invading Iraq only made it worse for the US in the Middle East.
I went to go make a comment on Mackenzie's commentary only to find that the story is closed to comments. Well, isn't that just great.
I love The Globe & Mail because it's generally very balanced. Both of those commentaries take different approaches, almost opposite, and both were published. I like that. But I don't like closing sections to comments. It's a controversial topic but the job of the news media is to foster discussion, not shut it down.
Communication might just be the biggest tool we can use to fix this situation, or at least aid it, and getting journalists back into Gaza is the first thing we need to do. And then, maybe, instead of trying to fix the rest of the world's issues, Obama can try to fix the problems that his own administration made.
If we can get to the point where we're working on the future more than we're criticizing the past, which is the biggest issue in the Gaza crisis over this old land, then we'll be getting somewhere.
Or maybe it will never be fixed. But I can hope.
Edit: The editors at the Globe & Mail have opened up a moderated forum for people to discuss the Gaza situation, so I take back what I said. Actually, I guess it's been common practice for quite some time now for the Globe & Mail to disallow comments on stories relating to Middle Eastern conflict. I guess I need to read the comemnts section of articles more often.
Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis
The whole Israel-Palestine conflict is certainly nothing new for anyone who has been following the news for the last few decades. The whole thing is over a strip of land that really doesn't hold any benefit to the beholder...at least not anymore. Not with all of the people displaced.
So this piece of land is war torn, the people are broken, and yet, they're still fighting over it.
I was assigned a Globe & Mail commentary on the topic for my Journalism intro class. I think it has taken the best approach to the Gaza conflict that I have seen in a while, if not the best approach to the whole Middle Eastern situation in general.
The article, found here, gives me some hope that Obama can make a dent in the crisis.
The Middle East is Obama's biggest international relations challenge heading into the White House, and I don't expect him to fix it all. Not in 4 years, that's for sure. It will take decades to fix what they have broken over time.
But the best point that MacKinnon makes in that commentary is that Obama has his work cut out for him, and the best thing that anyone can do right now is not take sides. He's right when he says that he can't shut out Hamas. You can't shut out one side in peace talks and then expect peace.
And then I read this commentary, which I thought had one good point. It will take more than just American intervention to fix this, if it can be fixed.
I also think it will take more than the UN. Standing by idly won't work but I don't think offensive fighting against Hamas will either. Attacking Hamas is only going to make it worse. Just as invading Iraq only made it worse for the US in the Middle East.
I went to go make a comment on Mackenzie's commentary only to find that the story is closed to comments. Well, isn't that just great.
I love The Globe & Mail because it's generally very balanced. Both of those commentaries take different approaches, almost opposite, and both were published. I like that. But I don't like closing sections to comments. It's a controversial topic but the job of the news media is to foster discussion, not shut it down.
Communication might just be the biggest tool we can use to fix this situation, or at least aid it, and getting journalists back into Gaza is the first thing we need to do. And then, maybe, instead of trying to fix the rest of the world's issues, Obama can try to fix the problems that his own administration made.
If we can get to the point where we're working on the future more than we're criticizing the past, which is the biggest issue in the Gaza crisis over this old land, then we'll be getting somewhere.
Or maybe it will never be fixed. But I can hope.
Edit: The editors at the Globe & Mail have opened up a moderated forum for people to discuss the Gaza situation, so I take back what I said. Actually, I guess it's been common practice for quite some time now for the Globe & Mail to disallow comments on stories relating to Middle Eastern conflict. I guess I need to read the comemnts section of articles more often.
Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis
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