#ghettoization

Downtown Eastside DECLARATION

Concerned residents, business owners and community members at large have come together out of necessity to compose this document and to manifest change in our neighbourhood ultimately improving the quality of life, environment, standards of living and health for everyone in the Downtown Eastside.

We represent numerous voices in the community that have not been heard or those who have chosen to remain silent for fear of retribution. Until now, the predominant voices heard have been advocacy groups and not for profit organizations representing only marginalized residents.

The current set of policies and standards have been ineffective for the community. We are for positive change and oppose ghettoization of our neighbourhood regardless of socio-economic position.

Objectives:

1- to create a safe and healthy environment for all members of the community especially for senior citizens, women and children.

2- to encourage new business and support the prosperity and growth of those businesses in the same manner as other communities in Vancouver

3- To protect all members of the community, but most especially those most vulnerable, from all predatory criminal activities on our streets and in our alleys.  This includes but is not limited to narcotics and sex trafficking, and the inherent cycle of violence these industries create, and to support existing and new harm reduction sites and promote an increase of intelligent, long term and effective addiction recovery services in the DTES.

     The degradation of the community over the last 6 months is alarming. There is an increasing blatant disregard for basic humanity and the law.

Our philosophy aims to re-examine and reinforce the current government’s stated action plan and hold them accountable. We expect to see problem solving on a case by case basis as government addresses, executes and completes tasks necessitated by the community to ensure it’s overall health, viability and sustainability.

We feel the government must maintain statistics to ensure that programs that don’t work get cancelled or re-evaluated as need be and that the programs that do work continue to receive the funding and support they need.

  Be it knowingly or out of neglect the government has enabled the degradation of a key historic and economic cornerstone of the city. We demand the same checks and balances as any other community in Vancouver. We will no longer tolerate watching our community erode under the neglect of our elected representatives.

I don’t think I ever said that conservatives don’t care about equality, so if you could please point me to where you think I said this, I could explain better what you’re misinterpreting.

I have a suspicion that you’re talking about my article "The Republican Party Owes Us a Better Republican Party," which is about Republicans, not conservatives.

The GOP very much doesn’t care about social equality.  They’ve done everything they can to obstruct it at the federal and state levels, starting with voter ID laws.

Conservatives?  That’s a different story, because “conservative” means a lot of things to a lot of different people.  There are certainly racist, misogynist, etc. conservatives.  And there are certainly non-racist, non-misogynist ones.  Conservatives are a lot like people that way ;)

But your idea that civil unions are a good alternative to “gay marriage” is total crap.  I don’t call it gay marriage.  It’s called marriage.  People are free to marry.  Not SHOULD BE.  Are.  The government of many states happens to restrict this freedom.  That policy violates the First Amendment, as the restriction of marriage to cishet couples is an establishment of right wing Christian religious principles.

The principal of Romeo High School has called an outraged father to apologize about a controversial homework assignment.

And even when you get our children in a classroom, prepared to learn, they are often greeted with nonsense like this.