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‘It is only for the sake of those without hope that hope is given to us.’ -Walter Benjamin
Vancouver, Open City
The City of Vancouver and Health Canada will Begin Formal Talks to Decriminalize Drug Use. There were more than 1500 overdose deaths in B.C. between January and December of 2020. These deaths are officially classified as Illicit Drug Toxicity Deaths. In November 2020 there were 153 recorded deaths, which was an increase of 89% from the previous year. This is about five deaths per day. Today, Mayor Stewart announced that Health Canada has agreed to meet with the city of Vancouver to begin formal talks about decriminalizing the simple possession of small drugs. These measures are desperately needed to stop the ongoing crisis of overdose deaths. The decriminalization of drugs was the topic of a report issued by Pivot Legal Society back in September 2020, that recommended exemptions be made for the offense of simple possession, not only in Vancouver, but across Canada.
CBC News: The National ran a very good report today on the push to decriminalize drugs. The Province of British Columbia and the City of Montreal have also called for decriminalization of drugs, and Oregon state is going ahead with a plan to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs beginning in February.
Photo: Tent in Vancouver. Source: Shutterstock
The Right to the City: Governments continue to fail poor and homeless residents
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, accessible outdoor public spaces are essential for physical and mental health, and for the health of a community. This need is especially pronounced for those among us who live in the cramped conditions of Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units or those who lack housing altogether. Many of these precariously-housed and unhoused individuals live in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where, as The Tyee reports, city parks remain closed and inaccessible to residents. Pigeon Park, located in the heart of the DTES, has spent the past two years covered in construction materials, allowing luxury developer Millennium to profit by diminishing the quality of life of DTES residents.
Of particular concern is the City’s abandonment of Oppenheimer Park. What used to be the lifeblood of a community now sits empty, surrounded by blue fencing that prevents all access. Last May, the City forcibly evicted residents of the tent city at Oppenheimer Park and cordoned the park off. It has remained empty since. The leadership of the City of Vancouver, it appears, is so afraid of residents using public space in a way the City does not approve of that they will not allow anyone to use it at all. Oppenheimer Park sits empty as a symbol of how little the City cares for the needs of its most marginalized communities.
Within hours after being forced out of Oppenheimer, residents set up another Tent City at nearby Crab Park. Yet again, they were forced out - this time by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which leases the land from the Federal Government (46 activities and allies were arrested during this eviction, though charges were dropped).
Now, residents have established another Tent City at Strathcona Park. Its time is also limited, with newly-appointed Housing Minister David Eby recently suggesting the Tent City would be shut down by the end of April. BC Housing appears to have frozen applications for other individuals needing housing in order to give priority to Tent City residents (too bad for those who lack housing and don’t live in the Tent City). What housing is offered is often inadequate - for example, small SROs, hardly suitable for even a single person, often unsafe and unclean. Tent City residents have family and friends who live alongside them and are now being forced to abandon their community so the City and Province can have a nice headline. Forcing residents into undesirable living situations solves nothing. Adequate public housing does.
NPA cries ‘Fake News’ instead of dealing with their far-right extremist problems
In local news, the Non-Partisan Association (NPA) has doubled down after receiving media scrutiny of some of their executive members’ ties to white supremacism and other manifestations of far-right extremism. In response to articles in the Vancouver Sun and The Tyee, the NPA executive alleged the work of local journalists was part of a “clearly coordinated smear campaign” against executive member Angelo Isidorou.
David Beers, founding editor and publisher of The Tyee, responded with a sharp rebuttal:
We stand by our story and the fair and diligent methods used by Melanie Green to report it. We reported that Angelo Isidorou, recently made a board member of the NPA, was photographed in 2017 with others flashing a hand gesture associated with white power extremists…
The NPA’s far-right extremist problem is a much bigger issue than just their current executive members. As reported in our last newsletter, NPA city councilor Melissa De Genova compared the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by white supremacists and assorted right-wing extremists to anti-poverty protests at Vancouver’s City Hall several years ago.
As their current executive attempts to portray the NPA as a broad “non-partisan” tent of various political shades, it’s worth remembering the party has always been about defending the interests of the city’s wealthy establishment. In fact, both the party’s founding and its name were a response to the electoral threat posed by the socialists of the CCF during the Great Depression.
Harm reduction workers unionize
Great News! Peer harm reduction workers from the Portland Hotel Society voted unanimously to join CUPE 1004. The PHS opened Insite, the first sanctioned Safe Injection Site in Vancouver. Peer workers are instrumental in saving lives in the face of British Columbia’s overdose public health emergency, and now they can bargain as a collective unit.
This individual news comes along with more good news: Statistics Canada is reporting an increase in unionization rates in Canada.
As we reported in an earlier newsletter, Vancouver made history with its first Unionized Animation Studio last October.
An uptick in union membership, overall, is a positive trend for workers - it puts them in a better position to bargain with employers, and even workers who aren’t part of a union benefit from their existence and aid.
Most recently, Unite Here Local 40 is supporting non-unionized Vancouver Hotel Workers in their class-action suit over wrongful terminations due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
We should not pretend, however, that all unions are perfect. Trade union leadership can become too cozy with employers and politicians, as we saw recently with the President of the Canadian Labour Congress endorsing Bill Morneau for the position of OECD Secretary-General without even consulting the rest of the CLC executive beforehand. As Canadian Dimension reports:
Indeed, Morneau is no friend to people in this country. During his time as finance minister, he was the working architect of Bill C-27, a direct attack on defined benefit pension plans. He also supported numerous anti-union legislation and, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, advocated to cut spending on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, a vital lifeline for workers during the crisis. Morneau was also slow to act on remedying the botched Phoenix pay system which afflicted thousands of federal employees, leaving many underpaid (or with no pay at all) for many months.
Many CLC member unions have issued press releases denouncing the support, including the United Steelworkers, CUPW, CUPE and UFCW.
Unions should work for the good of their collective membership, not just their leadership. This takes active participation by motivated workers, and that can only happen if workers show solidarity across workplaces and industries.
Dr. Bonnie Henry tells British Columbians to ‘do more’. But many wonder, what more can they do?
In her regular media address on Monday Dr. Henry solicited the public, "For the next two weeks, I'm asking you to do more, take a step back. Now is a dangerous time." The numbers are dropping and the vaccine is on its way, but instead of hope, or any real useful information, we were served reprimand and warning. Many question the tone and effectiveness of this approach.
Photo: Marathoners compete in the annual Vancouver Sun Run. Source: Shutterstock
So picture this: you’re in the final leg of a marathon. Your legs are rubber, you’re covered in mud, you’ve been in and out of the zone so many times you barely remember why you keep running, or pedaling, but you do. You keep on. As you turn the corner to the final lap, crowds lean forward and their noise swells. What are they saying to you?
Are they saying “You need to do more. You are about to fall. You’re going to fail if you don’t step it up. You still have miles to go. You haven’t done enough.” Of course not!
They are saying “Good job! You’re almost there! You’ve been amazing. Keep it up. Don’t give up now, you’re almost done! Only 5 more kilometres. Only one more hill! Keep going! Pedal pedal pedal! You’re amazing!”
And that’s what carries you, encourages you, keeps you moving forward, doing your best - being amazing.
Dr. Henry and the Provincial Health Authority are tired and they’re afraid. But as coaches, as team leaders, Henry and Dix, their team, and even the media could learn from those cheering crowds at the end of a marathon. This is the time when they need to ramp up the hurrah. Get everyone through these final months.
To the elders who haven’t seen their family for months and months; to the restaurants and tourism businesses who are seeing their life’s work and dreams disappear; to the arts and entertainment industry, and their creatives, who have been courageously inventing one pivot after another; to the athletes who have lost their gyms and events; to the people on the street who have lost their bathrooms; to everyone who has sacrificed and suffered and lost:
You’re amazing. You’re strong. Keep going. Good Job! It’s only a while longer. You can do it. We can do it - together. We’ll see you at the finish line - and there’ll be an amazing celebration! That’s a promise.
Vancouver City Council calls for COVID-related social assistance rate increases to be made permanent
Back in April, the B.C. government made a temporary $300 increase to the province’s criminally low social assistance and disability rates, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While originally slated to last until August, activists were successful in convincing the government to extend the increase. Unfortunately, the government reduced the increase by half starting in January, and the increase is scheduled to disappear entirely in April.
Vancouver City Councillors Jean Swanson and Christine Boyle co-wrote an Op-Ed in The Province on January 17, calling on the provincial government to make the $300 increase to social assistance rates permanent. They subsequently convinced Vancouver City Council to unanimously agree to sign on to the op-ed.
300 To Live is organizing various ways to join the campaign to make the $300 increase permanent including letter-writing, ways to share your story or testimonial, host or join an event, and more.
Ongoing opposition to Trans Mountain pipeline expansion
On January 17, 79-year old grandmother Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta was arrested during a protest against Trans Mountain pipeline activities in Burnaby, for violating a court injunction against blocking access to TMX work sites. Read the full Global News report here
Yesterday, a letter by Louise McElhill was published in the Burnaby Now, opposing Trans-Mountain pipeline activities around the Stoney Creek greenway in Burnaby.
Activists protest Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia
On Monday, January 25, Labour Against the Arms Trade held a protest against Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia, outside the production facilities of General Dynamics Land Systems--Canada in London, Ontario. Activists blocked trucks loaded with light armored vehicles from leaving the plant, as part of a day of action against Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen, which has been ongoing since 2014.
Democracy Now! covered the protest.
Social work students write letter of solidarity for farmers in India
UBC Social Work students have written a letter of solidarity for farmers in India who are actively participating in the largest protest in history. The letter is reprinted in its entirety below. Please sign and share.
We, students from the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia, stand firmly in solidarity with the over 250 million farmers in India, who have been peacefully protesting against new agricultural laws. We are descendants of Punjab and have parents and grandparents who grew up as farmers there. As we still have family members in Punjab who are farmers, we are directly connected to this issue. In India, farmers are within their democratic rights to peacefully protest against the new agricultural laws amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. As India is considered the largest democracy globally, it is abhorrent that farmers are being met with state violence as they protest peacefully. The laws being implemented will deregulate agricultural markets. They will allow private corporations to exploit farmers for profit, further pushing them into debt. Farmers already have an alarming rate of debt and suicide. The impacts of passing these laws will be devastating for farmers and their livelihoods across India.
The climate of democratic protests in India for the safety of farmers’ livelihood has been shaping since September 2020, but has only started gaining international recognition within the last month. Despite almost 250 million people protesting at the border of Delhi against the Indian Farm Reforms of 2020 and thousands around the world, we have yet to see any major news coverage or support on behalf of the School of Social Work. These bills were enacted without the consultation of agricultural associations or members working in agriculture, yet risks financial uncertainty for over 500 million farmers within India by deregulating the crop market and removing guaranteed minimum crop prices. This act effectively allows farmers to be undercut. Therefore, it risks not only their guaranteed income but also denies their ancestral right to work on their lands. This class disparity has been evident throughout India’s history, highlighted in the modern day by the Sikh genocides of 1984 and the Tamil farming protests of 2017. The continuous narrative describing the Sikh population as terrorists is apparent under the State’s portrayal of those protesting. Similar to previous demonstrations in 2017, suicide rates are increasing due to State neglect – we urge the School of Social Work to show support for our elders, family, and kin fighting against denial of human rights.
The farmers are peacefully protesting to reverse these three bills that were passed. They have been met with unnecessary use of force such as tear gas, water cannons, and barricades to prevent them from protesting. This truly goes to show the courage and resilience of the farmers. Many farmers have sustained severe injuries and even lost their lives. The Indian media is portraying these peaceful farmers as “terrorists” and “extremists.” At the same time, it is the Indian government engaging in terrorist acts towards the farmers. If these new bills are not reversed, farmers will not have enough money to put food on their families’ tables.
Moreover, there will be a spike in the already very high rates of suicides amongst farmers. The Indian government refuses to listen to their demands, portraying them as “illiterate” individuals who do not understand the benefits of these laws. These farmers live and breathe in the farms they work in. They know what is in their benefit and what is not. This bill is a corporate take-over of agriculture, and the farmers are the last line of defence. We admire our farmers and our elders’ strength, who are peacefully advocating for their rights in India.
As descendants of India, we write to express our unconditional support and solidarity for farmers in India. They struggle against a government that seeks to dispossess them from their ancestral rights to farm on their lands. We condemn India’s government for forcefully and violently suppressing India’s citizens’ human rights and democratic rights. As aspiring social workers, we are committed to justice and subsequently compelled to speak out against the human rights violations currently taking place in India. We want to emphasize the lack of media attention and social awareness in Canada, which further compels us to voice our support for farmers in India. The University of British Columbia’s stated purpose is “Pursuing excellence in research, learning and engagement to foster global citizenship and advance a sustainable and just society across British Columbia, Canada and the world.” With this in mind, we invite the University of British Columbia Social Work community, including staff, faculty, and students, to add their names as signatories below this letter as an expression of their solidarity with farmers in India.
Biden regime continues imperialist policies toward Venezuela
As Democracy Now! reported on January 21, the Biden regime in the U.S. has decided to continue the Trump regime’s decision to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as President of Venezuela, in opposition to Venezuela’s democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro. This represents a continuation of the bipartisan efforts of the U.S. government to overthrow the socialist Bolivarian government that rose to power with the election of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 1999, and reimpose U.S. imperialist hegemony on the country.
The Canadian government of Justin Trudeau has been another key backer of Juan Guaidó. They were instrumental in the creation of the Lima Group of countries in 2017 that seek to replace Nicolás Maduro with Juan Guaidó, and which backed Guaidó’s failed coup attempt of 30 April, 2019.
Upcoming Events
Vancouver Unity Assembly Meeting
Feb 7, 2021 7:00 pst
Host: Socialist Action Vancouver
https://www.democraticsocialistsyvr.ca/unity-assembly
Ecosocialist Dialogues: Growing the movement inside and outside electoral politics
Join the Vancouver Unity Assembly at their inaugural two hour event via Jitsi and hear perspectives on this topic from our three esteemed panelists: Gary Porter, Dimitri Lascaris, and Radhika Desai.
Feb 21. 4:00 pm PST.
https://www.democraticsocialistsyvr.ca/dsv-news/ecosocialist-dialogues
Media Roundup
Canadians Are In Denial About Our Right Wing Extremism Problem by Rob Rousseau
Everything You Always Wanted to Know about QAnon But Were Too Weirded Out to Ask - an Interview with Will Sommer
Western Marxism Loves Purity and Martyrdom, But Not Real Revolution by Jones Manoel
That’s all from The Thorn This Thursday! If you haven’t already, don’t forget to Subscribe: