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Apples, not applause, for AFN chief

Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine's news conference in Vancouver on Feb. 18 was disrupted by an anti-Olympics native protester who dumped red apples on the podium. The red on the outside, white on the inside B.C.-grown fruit symbolizes aboriginals who adopt white peoples' values and culture.

December 10, 2009 Dec 10 by Bob Mackin 24 hrs

Homes not podiums, say Poverty Olympics organizers

The first Poverty Olympics were a light-hearted affair with an important message at Carnegie Centre in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside ghetto on Feb. 3. Activists used the satirical event to warn organizers of Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics that time is running out to fulfill the five-year-old housing and environmental promises.

December 9, 2009 Dec 9 by Bob Mackin 24 hrs
May 21, 2009 Photo Essay

Shantytown, USA

Nickelsville residents demand permanent land for the homeless

Controversy rocks lead-up to 2010 Olympics

With more than a full year before the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics begin, the games have already encountered stiff opposition. A range of groups have expressed their disagreement with the way that the Olympics are being run on Canada's west coast. Their concerns include: environmental destruction, the rights of low or no income residents, lack of transparency and consultation in decision making, and development on indigenous land that has never been surrendered to Canada.

April 26, 2009 Apr 26 by real news network
March 13, 2009 Original Peoples

Home, Moldy Home

Victoria paper investigates West Coast Indigenous housing crisis

November 1, 2008 Weblog:

Housing a "Huge Issue" in BC Politics

BC is currently in the midst of a huge election extravaganza. After the Federal Election this month, BC has faced two important provincial by-elections and will soon see municipal elections in Vancouver. A provincial election is set for next year.

Whew!

In the mean time, housing has been creeping in as an important issue.

The NDP made it a major part of their platform in the provincial by-elections calling it a "huge issue" for voters. Mayoral candidates are facing off against condos to address the lack of rental housing. Special groups are pushing for better tenants rights, similar to those in Ontario.

At the same time, the death of a homeless man who was one week away from assisted housing and homeless tent cities have drawn more attention to homelessness in Vancouver.

September 23, 2008 Weblog:

Missing Election Issues: Housing

The Liberals released their election spending plan on Monday with promises on health care, education, infrastructure, environment and aboriginal affairs.

But what about housing?

Though housing concerns have been major in certain parts of the country, the Grit plan was mum on the word.

But surprisingly this might be the norm. According to Howard Tessler of the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations (of which this author is an employee) none of the parties have released any sort of housing plan to date.

"It's one of the most important issues for all Canadians", he said. "There's nothing."

December 29, 2007 Weblog:

The Hexayurt

800px-Hexayurt_sa.jpg

The Hexayurt project is an attempt to create an extremely efficient, easy-to-construct, versatile and sustainable dwelling that can be affordable for people who live on around $1/day... in addition to the obvious structure, the project deals with heating, water purification, and sewage treatment. This is combined with an "open source," no-intellectual-property, globally collaborative approach development. The results are pretty interesting.

Here's a fascinating interview with the project founder, wherein he explains the difficulties in getting institutions to support something so obviously compelling. Here's his basic ethos:

:My goal is pretty simple: by the time I die, everybody in the world has a place to sleep and a bowl of rice a day. No starvation, no poverty of the kind that forces men and women to live like beasts of the field. We can do it: we are well past the point that Buckminster Fuller said our technology had to pass before it was possible.

Most people envisage making the poor rich: this is a social and economic approach. The rich fight it like hell all over the world.

So instead, I decided to focus on cutting the price of essential goods and services to the point where the poor can afford them. Nobody seems to be against that, and if we all agree, then the work will go so much faster than if I had to waste effort arguing with people who don’t think what I’m doing is a good idea.

November 14, 2007 Gender

For Many Women, Alberta's Boom a Bust

Rising housing costs, lack of alternatives lead to precarious situations

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The Dominion is a monthly paper published by an incipient network of independent journalists in Canada. It aims to provide accurate, critical coverage that is accountable to its readers and the subjects it tackles. Taking its name from Canada's official status as both a colony and a colonial force, the Dominion examines politics, culture and daily life with a view to understanding the exercise of power.

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