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Copyright © 2004-2011 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.

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Tales From The Eastside: Scott Alexander – Issue 17 Preview

September 23rd, 2011 Filed under: Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

(CLICK TO ENLARGE | All Photos - Scott Alexander)

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Tales From The Eastside: Tyler Simpson – Issue 16 Preview Pt. II

July 14th, 2011 Filed under: Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

(All Photos – Tyler Simpson | observeone.com)

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observeone@gmail.com

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Man killed in Downtown Eastside stabbing

March 31st, 2011 Filed under: News/Calendar/Industry by Editor in Chief

(CBC) – One man is dead and another is in police custody following a stabbing on Vancouver’s downtown Eastside late Wednesday night.

Vancouver police says they first responded to a 911 call about a fight near the intersection of Carrall and East Hastings streets just after p.m.
When police arrived they found one man suffering from stab wounds nearby on West Pender Street. He was rushed to hospital but died a short time later, according to Const. Jana McGuinness

One man was arrested in connection with the incident, but McGuinness says it’s not immediately clear what led to the stabbing.
Charges have yet to be laid and police has not released the identities of the suspect or the victim. The homicide was Vancouver’s third of the year.

Tales From The Eastside: Tyler Simpson – Issue 16 Preview

November 10th, 2010 Filed under: Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

(All Photos – Tyler Simpson | observeone.com)

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observeone@gmail.com

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Copyright © 2004-2010 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.

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Tales From The Eastside: Scott Alexander – Issue 16 Preview

November 5th, 2010 Filed under: Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

(All Photos – Scott Alexander | Obsidianfoxphotography.com)

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EXCLUSIVE: 21 & Under With…Angela Marie MacDougall of BWSS

February 14th, 2010 Filed under: 21 & Under With..., Exclusive!, Made In Canada, Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

(Photo - Scott Alexander | ObsidianFoxPhotography.com)

The annual Downtown Eastside Memorial Women’s March commemorates the many women lost to the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. In a neighborhood marred by rampant drug use and dangerous sex trade, but also held together by a strong sense of community and identity, the March has allowed the families and friends of the lost to grieve, mourn, and get the message out to the larger masses that all is not well here in “the best place on earth”, and that these women are neither faceless nor forgotten. ABORT Magazine’s Dave”Corvid”McCallum sat with planning committee member Angela Marie MacDougall to speak on the march, the conditions, and the solutions to the problems of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

David McCallum: I’m here with Angela MacDougall of Battered Women Support Services talking about the Women’s Memorial March. Can you introduce yourself and talk about your role in BWSS?

Angela: My name is Angela Marie MacDougall and I’m in the role of Executive Director at Battered Women Support Services and sit on the planning committee for the 19th Annual Feb.14th Memorial March. The memorial march planning committee consists of women from the Downtown Eastside as well as women from other community organizations and individuals and we don’t represent any particular organization on that planning committee. Rather, we do the work of organizing the march for the community.

D: Can you talk about the march itself and how long it’s been around and what it represents etc.?

A: This is the 19th year. In 1991 a woman was found murdered and dismembered in the Downtown Eastside and her family at that time conducted a ceremony at each location where her body parts were found. And the ceremony- I wasn’t at the ceremony- but it was to honor and memorialize and it was to grieve her loss. At the request of the family we no longer say her name but the Women’s Memorial March started on that day. And what I understand is that Feb.14th was chosen as the day because as Valentine’s Day, it was a day of love, and it’s a day of particular significance for women in that it’s a way to show love to women primarily. So that’s my understanding. So for the last 19 years the march has been held and I have been on the planning committee since 1995. Each year we come together between 10 and 30 women to plan the march.

D: In the 19 years since the march started, a lot has gone on in the Downtown Eastside and this issue isn’t something- it’s really difficult to talk about honestly- but this issue hasn’t gone away. The Pickton trial, that’s wrapped up now but that’s just last year. Since the march has began, how has it grown to deal with this issue as an ongoing problem in the community where women are disappearing all the time in the Downtown Eastside? It seems the majority of missing women are of First Nations. So can you talk about what is going on and how it affects the march, the Pickton trial etc.?

A: Good question. The march after the original ceremony continued as a way to honor and to memorialize women. There was critical component early on and that was that part of the march- the procession- takes us to the Police Station at 222 Main Street. And at that time in early 90’s the police were not investigating disappearances and murders at all. So each year we would go to 222 Main Street and people would speak there and would essentially ask the police to do their job and to recognize that women were being murdered and were going missing.

Now fast-forward, what we have now is a situation where in general, some missing women are being investigated, in general there have been some investigations of murders. And we’ve had as you noted, a very high-profile arrest and conviction. And that arrest and conviction was important. We’ve had other issues as well, but they were important because they were acknowledged and it was some measure of justice for the murders and disappearances. In lots of ways it took away attention and resources and it continues to take away resources. It took away attention from women who had been found murdered prior and now post.

So why we see that women go missing, why are women getting murdered, why is there a disproportionate number of indigenous women represented among the missing and murdered? I think we can look very much at the making of this Nation for us to understand that violence against indigenous women was at the heart of the making of this Nation. And the dismantling of indigenous cultures and the dismantling of indigenous ways through that process was also a relegation of indigenous women from leadership and from where indigenous women had public roles and were a central part of the communities. Prior to colonization the very process and ideology and practice of colonization dismantled that and relegated indigenous women to the very bottom of our social structure where the process of colonization relegated women less than men in general.

So that affects everything. The police were established in a lot of ways to move indigenous peoples off their land, so the lack of investigations that we saw of indigenous women being murdered and disappearing very much goes back to the making of the nation and with law enforcement here in Canada. The factors of urbanization of people and subsequent poverty and residential schools and the effects of residential schools – all that speaks to why we see indigenous women represented. Violence against women is one of most pressing issues of our time. Right now the statistics that we see through our work at BWSS that we’ve assessed, and this is confirmed by the Provincial Government, that 1 in 3 women experiences abuse as affected by violence. And women represent 52 percent of our population and so a third of us are dealing with violence. And that grinds down in a big way and becomes very… concentrated when we’re talking about women in the Downtown Eastside where women are incredibly vulnerable to violence and that violence is rampant. And murders and disappearances are then the consequences.

D: So it takes place Feb.14 and the Olympics start on Feb.12. Concurrent with the Olympics people have organized and postered for a large anti-Olympic convergence which has gone beyond that to an anti-Colonial anti-Capitalist convergence with the focus on indigenous sovereignty with the slogan ‘No Olympics on stolen Native land.’ With 95 percent of BC being ceded land being on sovereign Native territory, do you feel like with the march taking place at the beginning of the Olympics this year and concurrent with this anti-Colonialist rally, does this give you a chance to express this sentiment to a larger audience that is coming here unaware that this is going on? The memorial normally draws so many people usually and yet you have the chance to make your statement to the larger population.

A: You know, this is very difficult and complex because V.A.N.O.C. started very early on and spoke with the elected leaders of the Four Host Nations- Squamish, Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Mount Currie, and from V.A.N.O.C.’s perspective it was the very first time that they had ever involved indigenous populations in organizing, agreeing or operating the Olympics on indigenous territory. So that has been controversial because the elected officials and to some extent the hereditary chiefs and officials within the four host nations are in support of the Olympics, and who am I as the descendant of settlers to disagree with them when you know, I’m here- quite frankly- as a visitor, and the Indian Act has given them authority and the Indian Act is the Law of the day. And the Indian Act- you know, I didn’t create it and neither did they and we’re dealing with the legacy of it. So that’s one layer is that I can’t disagree with them and their decision to do that. And the second part is that there are a number of urban- and there’s a lot of dissent within those four host nations of the indigenous populations who don’t agree and are very concerned about the legacy. They don’t agree with their leadership and there’s a large concern about what the legacy of that decision is going to be over the long haul and where those resources are going to and how it will shake down, not only to the people of those Four Nations but also to all the urban indigenous people that are in Vancouver that are without representation, without obvious representation.

So the anti-Olympic organizing, the anti-Colonial organizing – yes, it is going to happen and for me- and I recognize clearly and speak all the time about the fact that you can’t talk about violence against women in this nation now known as Canada without talking about Colonialism.

We’ve been very much focused on the committee in supporting all the sides of this and wanting to support obviously anybody that is against the Olympics. But we’ve been focused very much on the march being about mobilizing women and a place for women to honor women’s lives and grieve for missing and murdered women.

We’ve spoken with the anti-Olympic organizers, and certainly asked them to join us and to respect the intention of the march and we’ve received assurances from them that they would do that.

READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW IN ISSUE 15 OF ABORT MAGAZINE- COMING SOON

Educate yourself at BWSS.org

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TALES FROM THE EASTSIDE by Chris Webber – ISSUE 11 Preview

May 11th, 2009 Filed under: Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

View More of Chris Webber’s Work at:

chriswebber.ca

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Copyright © 2004-2009 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.

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ABORT Magazine ISSUE 10 – ONLINE NOW! FREE DOWNLOAD

April 25th, 2009 Filed under: Exclusive!, Issues by Editor in Chief

ABORT – Issue 10

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Magazines & Newspape virus classified

FEATURING EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH:

KMFDM
B-REAL of Cypress Hill
CANNIBAL CORPSE
NAUGHTY BY NATURE
OHGR
K’NAAN
CLASSIFIED
SAMAEL
LAMAR ASHE
VIRUS
MUNICIPAL WASTE

ABORTIST: Rank & File – Banned photography from Russia, Art from Italy, Toronto, London (UK), France and Victoria BC

BEHIND THE BOARDS: Drew Correa (Producer for Lil’ Wayne, Fat Joe and more)

Plus:
Audiotopsy – MODULOK gets the scalpel!
Reviews (Live, CD, DVD, Book, Film)
Headphonica
Denied!

Cover artwork by Dave MacDowell

FREE TO DOWNLOAD, PRINT AND SHARE AS ALWAYS

abortmag.com/issue10.pdf

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DTES coverage and debate intensifies

April 3rd, 2009 Filed under: News/Calendar/Industry, Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

(Photo – Chris Webber | chris webber.ca)
(The Tyree) – Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside has been the subject of much discussion over the past few weeks, receiving considerable media coverage and public debate.

Last night, Langara College hosted a panel called DTES: Myths and Realities, where panelists discussed what’s needed for the community and, perhaps as importantly, what isn’t.

“I think one of the myths about the Downtown Eastside, the one I hear the most often, is that the problems are incredibly complex,” said David Eby, the acting executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, who said he was sharing his personal views and not necessarily those of the organization.

The solutions are really quite simple, Eby said, and require government commitment to affordable housing, access to meaningful mental health and drug treatment, and health care.

All the panelists agreed that at least some investment in these areas is needed. But one of the most hotly-debated topics was the possible effects of gentrification on the neighbourhood.

(Once again repetitive jabber, all talk – no action – Ed)

SHOOTING GALLERY: Anti-Olympic Rally by Chris Webber, Feb. 12/09 (ISSUE 10 Preview)

February 17th, 2009 Filed under: Exclusive!, Shooting Gallery, Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

“…and on the 8th day God said: Get rid of those junkies, we’ve got sports to play!”

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ABORT MAGAZINE’s Anti-Olympic Rally , Vancouver photoset

no2010.com

ChrisWebber.ca

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Downtown Eastside crackdown misguided, groups say as Police increase tickets, street checks

February 12th, 2009 Filed under: News/Calendar/Industry, Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

(Source – Globe & Mail|Photo by Chris Webber)

If Doug Everitt lived anywhere besides the Downtown Eastside, he doubts he’d be getting the kinds of tickets from police he does.

The 50-year-old construction worker has had five in the past few months, some for riding his bike without a helmet, some for jaywalking on the streets near the residential hotel where he’s been living.

“I just feel like I get targeted because it’s something they can hold over my head so they can get me off the street when they need to, like the Olympics,” said Mr. Everitt, who has had his struggles with drugs and is now on methadone. “And it’s gotten a lot more aggressive lately.”

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Squalor on Vancouver’s east side may linger into 2010

February 10th, 2009 Filed under: News/Calendar/Industry, Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

(Photo- Chris Webber)

Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu admitted Monday that Downtown Eastside squalor and drug addiction will be essentially the same a year from now when tens of thousands of journalists and visitors descend upon the city.

In an exclusive interview with The Province, Chu said he knows stories about the Downtown Eastside will be broadcast back to countries around the world.

“I hope it’s a little better than it is, but it still will be a big problem, absolutely,” said Chu.

“The best we can hope for is that we can tell the world we have a plan, and that we’re trying to do things differently.”

Theories have circulated for years that during the Olympics the police will round up the homeless, throw drug offenders in jail, and sweep the streets to whitewash the chronic problems of the Downtown Eastside. But Chu said police are only interested in long-term strategies to improve conditions, not short-term fixes for the 17 days of the Olympics.

He said police won’t be able to stop the open drug dealing and public drug use in the Downtown Eastside during the Olympics.

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BC’s Media Giants To Launch Operation Phoenix Starting Feb 2, 2009

February 1st, 2009 Filed under: KauseZ, Made In Canada, Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

(Source – Vancouver Province | Photo - Chris Webber)

Beginning tomorrow, three of B.C.’s biggest media outlets will work together to focus attention on the issues of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

This neighbourhood has the largest concentration of urban poverty and addiction most of us have ever seen. And it is in our backyard.

From now until the 2010 Olympics, The Province, Global BC and CKNW will shine a light on the issues that have left some of our poorest citizens living in deplorable conditions.

Our project is called Operation Phoenix. We want to help renew hope in the Downtown Eastside.

We will celebrate things that are working and examine those that aren’t. We will be asking uncomfortable questions. Good intentions alone aren’t enough.

We aim to provoke debate about what could be done to improve people’s lives. We hope to engage the Downtown Eastside community and people all through the Lower Mainland in seeking solutions.

The project has the enthusiastic support of Province Editor-in-Chief Wayne Moriarty and Pacific Newspaper Group Publisher and President Kevin Bent.

We know this won’t be easy.

Former Vancouver mayors Philip Owen, Larry Campbell and Sam Sullivan tried to change things. Newly elected Mayor Gregor Robertson has promised to end homelessness by 2015.

Many well-meaning people have tried to improve conditions in the Downtown Eastside and a huge amount of money has been spent. Yet problems persist.

This is everyone’s issue. There are many in the province — and the country — who have brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, nieces and nephews in this neighbourhood.

There are signs of hope. There is a real appetite for change from politicians, citizens and business leaders. The provincial government announced Friday it has purchased more of the existing housing in the neighbourhoods.

Behind those on the streets is a vibrant community working to improve things.

We don’t have any magical answers. But we invite you to help us try to make this a better place for the most vulnerable members of our society, many of them so disabled and addicted that they simply cannot work. The project will offer those who want to help a way to connect with agencies that need goods or volunteers.

Operation Phoenix was inspired in part by a comment made by Judge Thomas Gove during a media tour last fall, when his new community court was being launched in the neighbourhood.

We asked what success would look like.

“Success,” he said, “will be when one can walk down the street, walk down Hastings from Gore to the Cenotaph, and not feel like weeping at what a tragedy this is.”

Together we can turn around this tragedy on our streets. Truly making a difference there could be our greatest Olympic legacy.

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Tales From The Eastside – Chris Webber’s ISSUE 10 Preview

January 11th, 2009 Filed under: Exclusive!, Tales From The Eastside™ by Editor in Chief

CLICK TO ENLARGE

chriswebber.ca

PURCHASE/CONTACT:

chris@abortmag.com

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August 13th, 2007 Filed under: by Editor in Chief

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