Response : A Thousand Voices
a P.O.W. production
a P.O.W. production
Are Community Services, Housing and HRM Police faux real?
liar liar pants on fire
liar liar pants on fire
Come join us as we give special attention to the many actors in our Nova Scotia government-civil services and the offices - agencies that protect them.
Bravo to these thespians on their superb performances in beguiling and confusing the NON-POOR public!
Please join us for an Education-session about the TRUTH on how the POOR in this province are really being treated by those who are mandated by legislation to assist and protect us.
Lets make Nova Scotia a safe and healthy place for EVERYONE regardless of where you live, regardless of who you are.
Halifax North Memorial Public Library
June 8 7:00 - 8:30 pm
2285 Gottingen Street Halifax
June 8 7:00 - 8:30 pm
2285 Gottingen Street Halifax
Due to the sensitive nature of the discussion we ask that this be a non child/youth function for anyone under 18 years old.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
liar liar pants on fire
Halifax North Memorial Public Library
June 8 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Agenda-
7:00-7:15pm Welcome and Introduction of the Response Team
7:15- 8:00pm Panel Discussion:
Department of Community Services
(Assistance, Disability and Housing) and
Halifax Regional Municipality Police
8:00pm-8:15pm Colluders with Corruption : Partisan Politics,
Neutral Agencies/Commissions and Media
8:15-8:30pm Questions and Comments
~~~~~~
Response : A Thousand Voices
a Prisoners Of Welfare production liar liar pants on fire
Halifax North Memorial Public Library
June 8 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Agenda-
7:00-7:15pm Welcome and Introduction of the Response Team
7:15- 8:00pm Panel Discussion:
Department of Community Services
(Assistance, Disability and Housing) and
Halifax Regional Municipality Police
8:00pm-8:15pm Colluders with Corruption : Partisan Politics,
Neutral Agencies/Commissions and Media
Tax dollars pay the wages of corrupt and abusive government and civil servants. Does this mean tax payers are culpable for damages and suffering inflicted by those whose wages they pay or are they an ally prepared to eradicate the abuses of the Impoverished?
8:15-8:30pm Questions and Comments
~~~~~~
We finally arrived! Though not really, there is so much work to do and undo, the truth has been waiting patiently for a personal invitation for a very long time!
This debut was an anxious one as there was so many issues of abuse and corruption that has to get out into the public that there was fear of not being able to do it justice in just 1.5 hours. But we at least set it up to be spoken and once that has been started there is no taking it back. We did not assume to solve the issues in one night but rather acted as the introduction to a book with a taste of things to come. We are all conduits to another event and we all play a role whether it be passive or active.
The planning for this evening was not without its own drama.
Some of the RT were exposed to the usual intimidation tactics of being threatened of losing housing or meeting spaces if I was in the room, another was told they could not attend a function that I organized and I was hit with a double whammy though I should not have been so naive.
I was a member of Community Action on Homelessness (CAH-5 years) and Community Advocacy Network(CAN-9 months), two non profits that claim to address issues of poverty in HRM. They had no problem conveniently using my unwaged labour and unpaid expertise as an academic with 3 university degrees who worked for community since I was 15 years old. No, they had no issue at all as I attended regular meeting and helped organize or contributed to events on poverty, well the poverty they wanted to talk about, you know, that polite policy induced poverty not the abusive and murderous poverty that destroys families and communities.
I asked CAH to post my flyer on their email list service so that it could get out to several hundred people who in turn would get it out to many more. The computer was great way for networking these events to the largest amount of people in the shortest time. They agreed then went silent. After 4 emails and my inevitable resignation they finally came out public with their very polite public reply ( see below).
They lied.
Now after benefiting from my energies,experience and unwaged labour I was now deemed an outlaw, a pariah or was that piranha?
These fraudmaudes and fakejakes finally were outed for who they really are: cowards and colluders of the corrupt. They had no problem with their incessant whiny and complaining behind closed doors but when it came to being out on the task they were the first to run!
See what you would not know is that most of the people on these committees are flaming NDP supporters and they usually and subtlety coerced community voice to take visible allegiance with NDP, notably Maureen MacDonald. Thankfully, those of us who 'lived' in her communities are not the least bit confused about who she thinks she is. It has been the the recent grievance of community voice I speak with that they are tired of going to events that they are told are for them and their issues to find out they are really about supporting NDP, I knew it was true as they pulled that stunt on me too but that is for another post.
Anyway as CAH disclaims on the email list serve that any posters they send out are 'outside' of their responsibility( paraphrasing). So why not post mine? They said it was radical. I guess if I spent my time with liars, sociopaths and corrupt people I would see telling the truth as being radica
Or was it that they knew what abuse and abusers they themselves colluded with causing immeasurable damages to individuals, families and communities? While boycotting my flyer they posted Maureen MacDonald's election flyer several times prior to the election. Even now they could not see how contaminated they were in their passive and active coercion of NDP into the poor communities. There are no words to reflect my disgust for those people who knowingly promoted a election debate for Maureen, their friend, while publicly claiming to be non-partisan. No one really knew Dr Guam or Andrew Black so the planned debate prior to election in that area was for Maureen alone. I am community voice and Maureen was one of many offenders. And they knew that.
They claimed to be about community voice, yet, once again they silenced mine while taking visible allegiance with a person who has harmed so many through her cultural and socio-political ignorance for diverse groups in poverty.
Paul Ohara, a supposed community voice for 20 years, sent me an email in response to my outing them for their very inappropriate visible allegiance while silencing community. They still did not get it. And it was clear, I would never get used to this need of theirs to assume to educate others on process. I guess he thought if he sent me the reply I would think differently. He had already asked me previously not to resign from CAN but now I was an outlaw, just weeks later and after a major planning project for his group while newly resigned. He was confused about the difference between tolerating someone and respecting them.
I immediately resigned, a third time, from CAH and had just resigned from CAN due to a total sum of discrimination, selectivity, inappropriate conversations, positions and unhealthy practices that sought to attack those too healthy to sit at that table.
But I must also hold myself accountable. Why did I assume that the those who spend their lives in denial and enabling would suddenly have an epiphany for the debut of NO MORE LIES? Despite knowing this on a cognitive level it did not change the fact that I felt incredibly betrayed.
Leaving it on the positive note: we went as scheduled on June 8 and had a diverse group in attendance. We did start late due to a technical problem, me and the overhead, but we covered alot of ground on various issues that needed to be put into the air. Again it served as an introduction to events and discussions that are being planned for the future. I again apologize to those who came who did not get a chance to speak. An email address was provided in the event others had comments not heard and we at RESPONSE believe it is only through the bi-directional exchange of experiences and knowledge that real work is done in meaningful and sincere manner. Our other topical discussions will include more time for such dialog as we concentrate per topic per event.
Thank you to all who stayed behind to help clean up so we were out the library on time. That to me that is where community cohesion really lies. I have been to many community events where people just up and leave without thought to the shared work load. To know that so many took the time to do just this meant the world to me. Those who stayed back to have further discussion also let me know there is a real overdue need to keep this conversation going and we, RESPONSE: A THOUSAND VOICES intend to do just that.
WE CANNOT BE A THOUSAND AND MORE WITHOUT YOUR VOICE!
We will be in touch with future planned events and hope to continue to enjoy your support.
And to one certain guest: thank you and my book is almost FINISHED!
'If fighting for your own civil rights is not worth fighting for... then what is?' Bertrand Russell
~~~~~
My email to CAH on their loud silence to boycott sending my flyer through a supposed neutral email list service.
To Community Action on Homelessness
Darcy and Claudia, if you have been told not to email out my flyer can you please let me now.Your continual silence on this matter is telling and silence will be confirmation. You already gave me permission to send it out yet it has not been sent out. You refuse to acknowledge any of my emails on this matter.
If you have decide not to print out my flyer to email as you agreed then you have decided to control community voice once again I cannot take visible allegiance with such an oppressive and exploitative practice. Controlling the information to the public is a cheap way to protect NDP or CAH government support.This is also another attempt for yet another non profit organization to take visible allegiance with NDP as it forces the POOR voice into support or there will be retaliation..You cannot enable the POOR to have a voice then try to speak FOR them. This is an ongoing issue with your organization and it was inevitable to be outed.
Please remove me from ALL CAH materials and lists.This is my formal resignation for this organization that took 6 years of my dedicated free labour for it own work despite the ongoing abuse from certain Steering Committee members and those who work in Department of Community Services and municipal offices.
If you are not for and with community voice then you are a colluder!
thank you
~~
Reply from Darcy and CAH...odd she says she was out of the office yet the flyers for Maureen MacDonald's pre- election debate were sent twice and according to the time stamp on those emails, she was in the office.
Gayle,
Sorry not to have gotten back to you - I was out of the office Friday and Monday. I do take ownership of the fact that I told you I would send out your flier without first checking with our advisory, that was hasty of me, for when your flier was reviewed by our advisory (which included first voice individuals) it was determined that it would not be appropriate to advertise this event on our list, given its radical nature.
This is not meant as silencing of First Voice but as maintaining the focus on partnerships that CAH promotes. CAH wishes your group all the best in its efforts for radical voices speak loudly and are heard in a different and important way. We believe that all types of activism are important.
I think it would be unfortunate to take you off all of our lists as you are a valuable contributor to the community, however if this is your wish, I will do this.
Darcy
----- Original Message -----
The email reply from Paul Ohara, email addresses have been removed for his privacy.
Hi Gayle,
Hope last night went well, speaking of "bugging"wanted to respond to your email posted on CAN listserve regarding cash the decision not to post the flier on the listserve was not Darcy or Claudia's. It was made by "community" members of the steering committee including myself. It was not done lightly, or without thought, I do believe the methods, tactics, or strategies for change can differ among groups or individuals. I think there are many people myself, Darcy, Claudia included who embrace values similar to your own ("imagine all the people living life in peace")
The CAH Listserve goes out to numerous groups including government agencies., the risk in posting your flyer was in alienating people we want to bring on side in terms of our "community plan" which in part is to promote partnerships with all sectors posting your flyer was the conflict for our "strategy" and does not imply where possible we will support your work.
CAH has supported HCAP for example however CAH does not endorse civil disobedience. As Housing activists many in community have advocated for social housing rather than "programs" SCPI has influenced our agenda and taken time away from advocacy through engagement in small L "liberal" social policy.
The compromise for us related mainly to having influence in the 11 million dollars that was allocated in Halifax over the past seven years.
So in short we have tried to take advantage of the opportunity to have the money spent when possible on community needs
I admire that you are uncompromisable in your work. I will support you when I can so please know that our unwillingness to post the flyer is relative to strategy not "value"
Paul
~~~~
There you have it. The 'reason' that my flyer and event was boycotted was because it was a strategy! ....It is a strategy to stop the truth from being discussed while taking visible allegiance with perpetrators. It is a strategy to silence community voice from speaking out for their dignity and rights. It is a strategy to enable the perpetrators who should be investigated for crimes against humanity. It is a strategy to take visible allegiance with abusers while publicly claiming to be a community advocate. It is a strategy to take visible allegiance with those who have immeasurable resources against those who have none. It is a strategy.....the polite answer......
Though I am confused....if they felt so convicted and substantiated in their political strategies then why feel so threatened by mine? If they are so sure of themselves with clear conscience then why boycott my stance, why not come to my event and call me to the floor for my alleged confusion? If they were so about the truth and sincerely helping community then why be so afraid to sit where truth sat?
Now please be patient it could be my brain damage getting in the way of my assessment of this situation: so is Paul saying that posting my flyer on a supposed neutral email list service that they qualify as being a network list service without responsibility for content,would have had the power to interrupt monies, 11 million dollars, that was already allocated to our province for housing strategies and initiatives?
Well I had it all wrong- I thought they wanted to protect their many abusive friends especially their NDP pal Maureen MacDonald before her election debate with Andrew Black, who look like he just started shaving and Dr Guam, who the heck is Doctor Guam?
Here I thought they wished to once again control community voice, my voice, one they know is credible and well documented and substantiated , the one voice that would out them for the frauds that they are.
Here I thought they felt threatened that their secure fragile little enabling/disabling delusional worlds of selling people down river was about to be 'outed'.
Here I thought the NDP flamers did not want a Tory government to find out that the NDP really are not representing the 'peeps' afterall!
Oh wait, that is unfair of me...they have never been in power so how can they be responsible for anything!
Dang this brain damage!
I did not reply to either Darcy or Paul for despite the 'disabilities' I have, mine pale in comparison to those they have.
Of course they neglected to mention that they were really worried about losing the new bigger room donated by Housing to the CAH office. They had been told they could have a larger more functional room from Housing offices but this seemed to be more promise than action for some time. It is NOT a coincidence that shortly after our debut at the library and CAH deliberately boycotting our event CAH did finally get that new office. CAH knew we would be speaking about the criminal abuse on the Impoverished by several Housing staff...
Talk about pimping community voice.....
~~
Oddly not one of several perpetrators attended....they, of course know what we would say about them, perhaps they knew they could not challenge the truth? I hope in their lifetimes they come to understand that it is due to the lack of timely, appropriate, sincere and adequate responding to the numerous criminal violations to Impoverished and marginalized groups in Nova Scotia that begets the RESPONSE: A THOUSAND VOICES.
'for every action there is an equal and opposing reaction'
~~~~~
Please note that this is not exclusive to Paul Ohara, he represents a population of fakejakes and fraudmaudes that sell community voice down river on a regular basis. Another is Jeanne Faye, another community advocate, that will be discussed when we get to Housing,Welfare of families, and Violent issues while hiding the laziness and apathy of a friend who just so happens to be the MLA ( Maureen) of one of the most volatile areas in Halifax. But in all fairness to Jeanne she could not do her fraudmaude without the endless assistance of Dalhousie Legal Aid constant and pathetic substandard and false empathy on the rights of poor in public housing.
It is not a coincidence that Maureen and Jeanne are affiliated with the Maritime School of Social Work (MSSW)and Dalhousie Legal Aid (DLA), two very unhealthy environments. MSSW( Wanda Thomas Bernard) and DLA ( Donna Franey) and Maureen and Jeanne were fully aware by 2002 of the violence and rapid decline in my health due to their not responding to the racial violence my family and community endured from the property manager, a government employee, Irvine Carvery and his posse and the police.
Please note that a communication was sent by me to Alexa MacDonald on Maureens' failure to respond to serious acts of violence by Housing staff, police and a youth gang that terrorized my community through property damage, physical assault and threat to assault on various people including my own family.
Not responding appropriately to the real issues of the most vulnerable, poor, elder, disabled, immigrant, youth, children, families and the traumatized is epidemic in the Nova Scotia NDP party. Instead Maureen took visible allegiance with Irvine Carvery one of the most dangerous government employees I have ever had the misfortune of being contaminated by.
Not responding appropriately to the real issues of the most vulnerable, poor, elder, disabled, immigrant, youth, children, families and the traumatized is epidemic in the Nova Scotia NDP party. Instead Maureen took visible allegiance with Irvine Carvery one of the most dangerous government employees I have ever had the misfortune of being contaminated by.
Had NDP and Maureen sincerely been the humanitarian workers as they profess to be, they and she would have set out to address the problems I had itemized and substantiated, after all I did all the dirty work, Mulgrave Park would be a very safe place immediately. This in turn would have served as a template for all housing and public housing models in Nova Scotia and perhaps the nation. Had she truly been about the people that would have been the natural and intuitive thing to do.
We will get to all those abuses that can render a person in such a state of trauma to have to take their own lives to stop the abuse that is government sanctioned.
~~~~~
email on CAH list email service June 21 2096 after mine was boycotted.....this is the other group Paul mentioned that they do not support civil disobedience..
June 21, 2006 12:10:08 PM
To :
members list
Subject :
[CAH] Community Events and Announcements
Hello Members,
Here are a couple of upcoming events and initiatives happening in the community. These are organized outside of CAH so any enquiries should be directed to the contacts provided within each listing.
listing include: ....(edited for content)
3) HCAP radio show - call for input and volunteers
Thanks, and enjoy this first day of summer!
Darcy..
[CAH] Community Events and Announcements
Hello Members,
Here are a couple of upcoming events and initiatives happening in the community. These are organized outside of CAH so any enquiries should be directed to the contacts provided within each listing.
listing include: ....(edited for content)
3) HCAP radio show - call for input and volunteers
Thanks, and enjoy this first day of summer!
Darcy..
Hello,The Halifax Coalition Against Poverty (HCAP) is starting a radio show onCKDU 88.1 FM. We hope to create and maintain a weekly half-hour show dedicated to providing analysis and coverage of poverty issues and updating the greater HRM community on the activities of the anti-poverty movement locally. We recognize that the dissemination of information is essential to building strength and winning hearts and minds.HCAP invites everyone to participate in this project. We need people to help us identify the issues of the day, host the show on air, point untoward events where we can record audio, etc. The show is still in its formative stages and probably won't get on the air for a month or so.Please contact HCAP if you'd like to contribute in any way.Some major themes of the show will be the issues of poor tenants (ie. Rentcontrol, gentrification, landlord abuse, Residential Tenancy Act, HRMby-law M100), people on social assistance (affordable housing, sub-povertyrates, bonuses for Department of Community Services bureaucrats,caseworker incompetence, students non-eligibility, etc.) homeless people(Safe Streets Act, police harassment, shelter system, etc.) and poorworking people (unionization, Labour Code, abuse by employers, minimumwage legislation, etc.)..........
~~~~~~~~~~~
So I guess HCAP was not a threat to the 11 million dollars even though they discussed many of the same issues we did in fact list them more specifically than we did in our flyer. Darcy sent out this message via the very same email list service that she /CAH disallowed mine to go through. Is the fact that it is after the election a key factor? Was it personal? Heck yes! This had been the group Paul points out they cannot support due to civil disobedience actions.
I guess they found this HCAP flyer to be civil enough for their delicate sensitivities? Yet Paul and others allow themselves to take visible allegiance with those creating the need to form groups that are about honesty? Paul and others have no issue with taking sides with those who have been uncivil and disobedient and down right illegal as they work in their oppressive positions against the Impoverished.
I guess they found this HCAP flyer to be civil enough for their delicate sensitivities? Yet Paul and others allow themselves to take visible allegiance with those creating the need to form groups that are about honesty? Paul and others have no issue with taking sides with those who have been uncivil and disobedient and down right illegal as they work in their oppressive positions against the Impoverished.
If you are getting dizzy that means you read right.This is the crap community must go through regularly trying to figure our who in fact are their real allies void of all the tiresome and pontificating rhetoric.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul had asked me to type up the report back to our Truro Conference, the one that I organized literally days before our debut. He said he would try to find some money to pay me. He then stated that he received an email for a generous donation and that there would be money: what was my fee for doing up the report back to the particpants?
I told him that my last labourous contract was for $20.00 /hour a few years back but that I would not be offended if he found some one else. I can only assume that he did and was only offended that he did not have enough respect to let me know this. I guess my fee of $20.00 was far out of reach over the usual unwaged labour I provided and was gladly taken. We never discussed how many hours that would be but lets say since I was there for the entire conference, did alot of the note taking and the planning, it would take me the least time to do the report back so how much out of pocket would that have really been? I was the most qualified afterall.
At no time did Paul counter-offer.....he had fallen victim to his own assumptions.
As predicted.
I deliberately set it at $20.00 to test a well discussed hypothesis. It is no longer a hypothesis it is fact ---that community labour is under valued, under appreciated and taken for granted and when asked to be considered as an equal in the same field, it is dismissed. That there are no boundaries to using and abusing and misusing the sincere and often last resort labours of those in the war by those who claim to be allies to the casualties of that poverty war.
But community already knew this.
Paul, among others, were the ones who strongly advocated for a higher minimum wage as not to exploit labour and reduce poverty!!!! Good thing I have a great sense of humour! Too bad it is not that funny!
Apparently my labour, knowledge and experiences, never mind my academic achievements of three university degrees, are much more valuable when they are unwaged! Who knew!
Paul, among others, were the ones who strongly advocated for a higher minimum wage as not to exploit labour and reduce poverty!!!! Good thing I have a great sense of humour! Too bad it is not that funny!
Apparently my labour, knowledge and experiences, never mind my academic achievements of three university degrees, are much more valuable when they are unwaged! Who knew!
~~~~~
The overall point is that one should not expect of another that which he or she fails to demand from self.
RESPONSE was partly formed as a response to the overwhelming hypocrisies and double standards that do exist in certain NPO and agencies claiming to be about a specific causes. The discrimination, the cliques, the retaliation, the unequal distribution of power and labour and contributions and favours, the gossiping the pitting of people against another, the insensitivities toward another are all things that we claim to be outraged against those who are harming the vulnerable yet you can find them all in abundance in the agencies or NPO that state they are the anti-thesis of such when in fact they are the micro example of such.
We hope to not resemble those we claim are our perpetrators. We hope to have higher aspirations than to settle for the barrel bottom of expectations for self and others.
'quality is not an accident, it is the deliberate result of intelligent effort' (unknown)
To those who smiled in my face and sat at my table the day before our debut at the community library and then took visible allegiance against me the next day..: I have nothing but pity for you, especially the ones who lied about why they could not attend, as you did not make just a judgment about me or this group of brave souls, you made an observation about yourselves and the ones you protect and your conditional commitment to community and the eradication of injustices found in many faces namely poverty.
~~~~
We do apologize for the following:
Those who did attend our debut were told that the evening was being taped.
We were hoping to have it transcribed and posted here so those who were unable to attend could read it.WE believe that since privacy allows the abuse to occur we wish to be as UNPRIVATE as possible. Unfortunately the tapes have alot of static and is barely audible.We have someone trying to decipher them now.WE may not be able to post the entire transcript due to this but will post what we can salvage.This is not to be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to silence information.That should be obvious by now.We will post what we can transcribe for you.Thank you.
We were hoping to have it transcribed and posted here so those who were unable to attend could read it.WE believe that since privacy allows the abuse to occur we wish to be as UNPRIVATE as possible. Unfortunately the tapes have alot of static and is barely audible.We have someone trying to decipher them now.WE may not be able to post the entire transcript due to this but will post what we can salvage.This is not to be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to silence information.That should be obvious by now.We will post what we can transcribe for you.Thank you.
Update: as of July we still cannot decipher much of the tape for the static and background noise, much to our dismay.Unlike government officials, we did not want to be seen in the same light of having secret meeting and/ or speaking bout people behind their backs. Of course the USUAL SUSPECTS were allowed to come being members of the public but chose not to for they would have been held accountable by the public that did come.
Welcome to all to our evening. We are the RESPONSE TEAM named as the result of so many before us who have failed or have refused to respond appropriately and /or sufficiently to the grievances and abuse of the POOR in Nova Scotia. WE were asked what is so different about our new group ..the only answer..we plan to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…
It is evident that the HRM Police (DeptOJustice), Housing, Social Assistance, Disability and Child Welfare divisions and programs(DeptOCommunity Services) do not wish to engage in the communities of the Impoverished in a sincere and meaningful way. As a ‘response’ to the National Report Card with a FAILURE in highest crimes rate the Police have decided to open community based offices in an areas that have been marginalized as poor violent communities. The very fact the Police have publicly identified poor communities as the most violent again shows that they are trying to distract the public from the TRUTH that crime is pervasive in all areas of HRM and the TRUTH that the Police have encouraged the state of disrepair of public housing and other poor communities. Both Mayor Kelly and Beazley have blamed the YOUTH and DRUGS for this failed report card.
Despite all the resources, legislation and policies in place, the Department of Community Services also received a FAILURE in their National Report Card for neglecting and creating more issues for the Poor as well as increasing numbers of the poor. And why is Housing, which is a division of Community Services not enforcing their own policies and Residential and Human Rights Act to ensure our communities are safe for our families? Did you know that there is a zero toleration for violence policy in the Housing manual yet public housing is a war zone?
What is the point of having property managers if they are not managing the property?
This is followed with a fail in National Health report card with Nova Scotia having the highest numbers in psychiatric issues and various chronic illnesses.
We think this is not a coincidence that all three departments: Justice, Health and Community Services have failed report cards nationally as they have refrained from bringing serious issues to the forefront despite the voices of poor people demanding immediate reform and action and civil justice.
Persons in poverty can be effected and affected by all three departments, quite often at the same time.
WE hold the employees, managers, ministers of each department responsible for the lack of humane services and delivery that has quite deliberately targeted the communities of the poor, what ever face that may wear.
WE are offended that the Police wish to embarrass the Poor by making our communities to be the most violent in all of Nova Scotia only because we are poor.
WE are offended that the Police want our communities to be the perpetual scapegoat for a failing and corrupt classist judicial system in Nova Scotia.
WE are offended the Police want this to proceed as if violence and drugs are an exclusive Black and Native and class issue.
WE are offended that Housing refuses to answer to the many grievances about maintenance and violence and in fact often promotes volatile and unhealthy living conditions by not responding at all rendering the government through public and social housing the greatest slum landlords of all.
WE are offended that Community Services uses its power to inflict further trauma on those in poverty rather than promoting elevated levels of humanity as indicated in their mission statements and policies never mind all the legislative pieces and documents that protect such things from happening yet they do.
WE are offended that the ministers of departments are fully aware that the corruptions, violations to constitutional rights and acts of inhumanity are pervasive in each department and have refused to respond judicially to remedy this very despicable reality. In fact have lied about receiving substantiated documents to these violent acts committed by their staff at various levels.
WE are offended that the department of Health has still not formed an effective alliance with DEPT of Community Services to ensure the improvements of health among poor people. Heaven forbid if we started helping poor people feel better and get well, who else will we blame for societal problems?
Violence is defined in many ways and we do not think the limited and convenient definition used by the Police is helpful to any community affected by violence BECAUSE it is defined by the Police and not the community. Despite the police deliberately not reporting real crime numbers and incidents, the true nature of crime in public housing is lost to create an image of false safety and effectiveness of policing when in fact the police have encouraged and maintained crime and violence and drugs in these communities. Having improperly trained officers in the most vulnerable of communities IS violence.
Violence is in the threats named by Housing to those who owe rents that if they dare complain about the disgraceful and unsafe and unhealthy living conditions in and around their home they will be put out with an eviction and how many know they can take this to appeals? How many have the energy and health to do such an arduous task
Violence also can be financial coercion. There are so many ways that a case worker can inflict harm on an individual or family by virtually having unmonitored and ungoverned power making very serious life altering decisions that effect the quality of human life yet…….hair dresser in NS need only do an exam and 1250 hours under supervision of a master stylist to cut your hair…these case workers need no prior qualifications other than grade 12 they do not need to be social workers, as outlined by NSASW if you have a BA you can earn candidacy in 3 years for registered status. So if that 3 years is in a very unhealthy environment then it is 3 years of unhealthy learning and habit with no real check and balances. Being a social worker in NS does not guarantee a more professional environment but it is a start. But we need not look any further why the Poor are in so much pain, the ones in control of their lives are not qualified to have such power. Why should any one take Community Services case worker seriously when the standards are so low and connote a reality that they do not take themselves seriously?
Do you know it is a $400.00 fine if you litter in HRM yet governments, case workers, unionized employees and civil servants and police 'litter' all over the place with their 'garbage'. Is the waste on our curbsides and streets deemed more valuable by our policy makers that we should have such a fine for garbage/litter and not for those who injure human life ?
The damage of this lack of sincere and accountable professional integrity to individuals, elders, families, children and communities is PRICELESS.
To allow unqualified persons to make decisions that are murdering the souls of human beings IS violence. In 1996 I graduated from the Maritime School of Social Work and it was one of the most unhealthy environments I have ever been in, I hear it is not much better all these years later.
Violence can be found in withholding necessary medications and services to individuals which happens every day with Community Service clients which inevitably exacerbates the conditions of that person and /or family to the detriment. And they know that. The anger found in public housing and among the poor in general IS trauma based yet the police with all of their lack of proper qualifications still barge in abusing people further.
Persons with mental health issues(MI) are being used for clinical drug testing without their consent causing further health and life conditions. Dalhousie University who employs one of these doctors and the College of Physicians and Tory Minister and Liberal Critic for Health and CMHA provincial and national levels are all fully aware of what is going on at the QEII/Abby Lane and have done nothing to investigate. Is it a coincidence that we have the highest rate of psychiatric illnesses in Canada and doctors having multi-pharmaceutical relationships for profits while rending these people poorer in a system that will not look after their needs.?
The poor are traumatized, many MI are poor or become poor as their illnesses progress without any meaningful supports in the hospital or community by way of Community Services and Housing to be placed in other vulnerable communities already very unhealthy. This cycle is perpetuated and exacerbated by living in volatile conditions that are promoted by Police, CS and to some degree the general public with very limited understanding of how the poor are treated in Nova Scotia.…if you do not have trauma or MI before you move into public and social housing and poverty you will develop them while you live there as it is the most barbaric of living conditions anywhere.
These are just some examples there are many but these are most pervasive nationally reporting as notable failings to meet even the most basic of measures. Abuse needs privacy and now the nation knows that NS, little polite NS has failed 3 report cards. There is nothing polite about how Nova Scotia abuses its most vulnerable.
Nova Scotia has no accountability sanctions in place. WE then are forced to use what appear to be neutral agencies such as Human Rights Commission, the Police Commission and Ombudsman Office. But they too are contaminated with their own politics and agendas based usually on nepotism or political loyalties causing more harm than good, hiding and colluding with the outrageous systemic and deliberate acts of violence committed by many government employees paid by NS tax dollars.
Does this mean that NS tax payers are sponsoring government sanctioned violence on the poor? Inadvertently these corrupt and criminal government employees and civil servants are implicating the tax paying persons of Nova Scotia in the genocide of the poor and vulnerable.
The Response Team really believes that the average tax payer in NS does not know how the poor people are really being treated hence we have taken on the arduous task of educating the masses for we truly and humanely believe that if the average NS knew they would never support or allow such inhumanity to take place. In fact we believe that they will become our strongest allies in helping improve the health of every family by holding this government accountable for acts against humanity. It is the duty and obligation and responsibility of civilized persons to do so.
WE know that the real issues of violence are maintained by the classist attitudes of Police and Community Services Department with regards to how they think they can abuse our rights as persons living in poverty and visibly impoverished areas.
Community Services and Justice departments have been well informed on the outrageous and immeasurable abuse committed by its staff and failed to respond. In fact in many cases both departments sought out those who wish to bring these matters public and retaliated causing further injury. In fact they had retaliated against me with such venom and organized deliberation that on May 25 2004 I attempted to take my life to stop the abuse inflicted on me and my son. Numerous people and government employees and agencies knew about the ongoing acts of abuse since 1992 and did nothing.
Both ministers, department of Justice and Community Services, are fully aware of the systemic corruption, abuse and exploitation of the poor especially those forced to live visibly poor communities. They failed to respond. The mayor is fully aware of same abuses and has failed to respond. The Ombudsman Office is fully aware of these abuses and failed to respond. The Human Rights Commission is fully aware of these abuses and failed to respond. The Police Commission is fully aware of these abuses and failed to respond. Not only did each of these organizations fail to respond they worked individually and in concert to hide this very disturbing information from the rest of the Nova Scotia public motivated by the sole purpose to maintain and encouraged isolation and further abuse of the poor. They have been allowed to do this with impunity.
The media has encouraged and collude with the misinformation of poor people often causing further stereotypical violence while protecting the perpetrators who are all government employees and civil servant.
There is a new vocal ideology that poverty is policy made. This is true, to some degree but changing policies to be more humane is only one aspect of the multi- dynamics of poverty as they are in reality in Nova Scotia. It is based on a very dangerous and faulty premise and assumption that those interpreting and enforcing the policy do so in the most humane manner and within professional guidelines. We know discrepancies between workers within the same agency office let alone across the province is a huge problem that cleverly hides the acts of retaliation and abuse against Impoverished persons. The discrepancies themselves are the only proof we need to show that changing policies alone is not sufficient nor the real issue of abuse. We must change the entire staff and the way the policies are enforced. A surgeon does not remove some of the cancer, they remove ALL of the cancer with a hope that it will never return.
We cannot ignore that it does not matter how well written and progressively modern our policies may appear to be, if they are not being implemented by intelligent humane persons they are futile.
‘quality is not an accident: it is the direct and deliberate result of intelligent effort’ (unknown)
Martin Luther King Jr.' states there comes a day when the oppressed get tired of their oppression'..... and today we are tired
~~~
INTRO panelists… each panelist to speak for 10 minutes.
Would like to add that we had a total of 6 panelist that was reduced on the last day to 3:one had to work , one just did not show and the other, well the real issue is that there was no media, they were boycotted, and this person really needed to continue to 'glow' having had recent media attention. Instead of being honet she sought to attack our group which just let us know she was not ready to do the great work we needed to do as community work requires one to be selfless and the think in terms of the greater good for the majority and not just for self.
~~~~~
Conclusion:
It is our long term intention to design a community based organization working in an advocacy capacity that will enable those who have grievances against the Police and Community Services/Housing to come forward to file so that we may issue reports to the ministers and the Nova Scotia public for accountability to the Voices of Thousands of Poor. We also hope to set up a website to acting as a network among other community based agencies with a deliberate task of being a watch dog on any thing and anyone acting untoward those in poverty. We hope to host quarterly ( 1 every 4 months) education-sessions ( edu-sessions) and discussions on such topics as : swarming and bullying, what is community and its allies, the welfare of children and families, cultural cohesion, appeals processes and advocates, health/wellness and poverty to name a few.
We also hope to maintain a database on decisions made by Human Rights, Ombudsman Office,Residential Tenancy Board, Police Commissions and Community Services so that others can use these materials for themselves in their own work or appeals or in an alliance with us as their advocates.
We will be asking for applications for community voice to offer their valuable resources to put these into place.
Apathy is as violent as the original criminal act and Only when that cancer is cut out can the community body begin to heal.
WE NEED your help as allies to bring this attention to the table until each person who has committed crimes against humanity be brought to task.
Thank you to Uniacke Parent Resource Centre- community based groups tend to be nomadic until you can get an office space generously donating a huge break in the rent. We also needed photocopying and such and for that we also thank an anonymous donor who also provided the refreshments and administrative costs as well. Last but not least the North End Library for allowing us to use their space. They are not responsible for the content for our information this evening they were selected by us as we hold this library with much respect for allowing Community to be heard.
Thank -you!
reference reads:
1.Thursday, November 24, 2005 General Social Survey: Criminal victimization2004 and Client Services (1-800-387-2231;613-951-9023), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
The rate of violent victimization in Canada, based on information provided by Canadians themselves, was no higher in 2004 than it was five years earlier, according to a new survey that examined the extent and nature of criminal victimization. Data from the General Social Survey (GSS) in 2004 found no significant change in self-reported rates of violent victimization, namely sexual assault, robbery or physical assault. ...
Violent crime rates highest in Alberta and Nova Scotia Residents of the western provinces generally reported higher rates of victimization, with one exception. Nova Scotia's rate of 157 incidents per 1,000population ranked among the highest for violent victimization and was similar to the rate of 160 recorded for Alberta. Halifax appeared to contribute to Nova Scotia's high rate of violent victimization. It was the census metropolitan area with the highest rate of violent incidents for every 1,000 population.
2.
HALIFAX TOPS VIOLENT CRIME STATS
Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly says he's concerned by new statistics that suggest the municipality is the violent crime capital of the country. Statistics Canada surveyed 24,000 people in 2004 to find out if they had been victims of robbery, sexual or physical assault, breaking and entering, and other offences within a 12-month period. The data, released Thursday, shows residents of Nova Scotia reported the second highest rate of victimization, at 157 incidents per 1,000 population. Only Alberta was higher, at a rate of 160.
STATISTICS CANADA: General Social Survey: Criminal victimization In fact, Halifax is the census metropolitan area with the highest rate of violent incidents per capita. There were 71,000 violent incidents in 2004, for a rate of 229. Toronto has more incidents but its rate is 107. Kelly said he will be asking for a meeting with both the federal and provincial justice ministers to try to toughen up the legislation dealing with repeat young offenders. "If you see the report there is a high discussion on the youth component, and for us there is a small group who unfortunately have a high level of charges. So the youth approach in the justice system needs to be addressed," he said. Two-thirds of those violent crimes are committed by people under the age of 24, according to the Halifax police.
Police Chief Frank Beazley said some of the rise in crime rates can be blamed on an increase in drug use in the community. "We arrested one young man in the Clayton Park area with a drug addiction problem who had done 80 break and enters, and then when we arrested him the whole activity stopped and went down again," he said. Like Kelly, Beazley wants the justice system changed when it comes to keeping young offenders off the streets. "They've committed as many as 40 new offences while they're on interim release from the courts, and it becomes like fishing. You catch and release and you catch again and release," said Beazley. Meanwhile, the police chief has set up a program called Project Breach where police officers check to see if young offenders are obeying their curfews. Kelly pointed out over the past two years the municipality has hired 32 new police officersCopyright © 2006 CBC All Rights Reserved
~please note that the youth are a very disempowered marginalized population yet they had the power to bring the NS judicial system on its knees for a national fail on their report card? The same youth responsible, in part, for the world peace pavilon in Dartmouth?
Also we would like to point out the Project Breach is a joke!
I called in so many times on offenders supposedly on house arrests when I seen them out and about drinking beers smashing beer bottles, abusing little kids or selling crack and not once did the HRM Police respond to my calls and I was Neighbourhood Watch!
I can assure you the front line police offisewers are the ones who are the greatest problems blaming everything on everyone else but themselves. Having worked on the first amendment for the Young Offender Act, and there have been a few since, I met with very dedicated people who brought together, the concerns of the community while trying to enable the healthiest solutions judicially and with the alleged offenders. Not one person in that room and I am sure the same follows for every other amendment session, misunderstood the seriousness of the task at hand. I
have often heard the YOA blamed for the youth today, that is a lie! The Act is NOT responsible for lazy government employees and civil servants who wish to ignore all the relevant and specialized sections or the enforcement of the Act in general. The Act is not to blame.The youth are responsible for their actions ONLY.
The police, the crown and the judges are the ones pushing the youth through without proper services in place that is if it even makes it to court. It is outrageous the way youth are not being treated within the philosophies of probation that could and would dismantle any thoughts of a career in crime. Director Jim MacDonald is by far one of the laziest and ignorant employees I have ever met. His answer to youth coming in and out the systems is that 'they will get tired of it eventually'. One youth I know to be on probation for 2 years was court ordered to family violence and therapy sessions. Two years later not one has been put in place. Is this the youth's fault or that of a system too incompetent to do their jobs?
We will speak more on the corruption of Peter Kelley the allege mayor of HRM, and the alleged chief of police Frank Beazley in up coming posts. I can assure you, you will no longer be confused as to where the problem lies and who has been telling lies.
3.The Chronicle-Herald NovaScotia, Friday, November 25, 2005, p. B7
Paul Everest
Think-tank gives N.S. failing grade; Child poverty rate has worsened for 4th straight year
Nova Scotia has received a failing grade in the 2005 Child Poverty Report Card.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released the report Thursday, the 16th anniversary of a parliamentary resolution to end child poverty by 2000.
According to the think-tank's report, poverty rates in Nova Scotia have worsened for the fourth straight year, with more than one in five of the province's children living below the low-income cut-off. The national average is one in six.
Nova Scotia, among five provinces in which the poverty rate has increased, has the worst record in Atlantic Canada.
The report card also reveals that impoverished children are deprived of nutritious food, dental care and extracurricular activities, and are more likely to struggle both in school and in finding jobs.
Report author Pauline Raven, research associate for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, says information was gathered from Statistics Canada, the Canadian Council on Social Development and the National Council on Welfare. The report cards offer insight into the causes and scope of the problems, but Ms. Raven says deeper digging is still needed.
"We'd love to see a report on progress from the government," she said. "But we don't get that."
Ms. Raven said she wants to know what steps the province is taking to help, specifically with transfers including rebates and child tax credits.
Child poverty rates continue to rise because of a lack of balance, she said. The federal government has increased child tax benefits, but Nova Scotia has removed children from its family welfare allowance equations. The minimum wage is also failing to keep up with the rate of inflation.
Karen White, spokeswoman for the Community Services Department, says child poverty is a "complex issue" and co-operation is needed.
"We view it as a shared responsibility between both levels of government, the private sector and individuals," Ms. White.
She said the department has increased income assistance rates over the last two years and 75,000 families are receiving the National Child Benefit, which pays up to $283 per month, per child, depending on family income.
Ms. White could not offer reasons for Nova Scotia's poor performance in tackling poverty, nor could she say if there is an agenda or timetable for dealing with the problem. But she did say that the department is committed to fixing the situation.
"So long as there's one child living in poverty in Nova Scotia, we have to continue making investments in assistance," she said.
The 2005 report card offers some encouragement. Child poverty in families with a lone-parent mother decreased from 60 to 50 per cent. But Ms. Raven isn't getting her hopes up.
"It could be the number of lone-parent mothers is going up," she said. "Regardless, one in two children who live with a lone-parent mother will live in poverty in Nova Scotia."
The low-income cut-off rate for a lone-parent mother with one child in a rural area is $19,462.
The report card offers two recommendations to government to decrease the province's child poverty rate. One is to improve economic support for low-income families. The other is to have a greater redistribution of wealth between richer and poorer families.
Ms. Raven says it will take more than that.
© 2005 The Chronicle-Herald - Halifax. All rights reserved.
Document number: news·20051125·HH·0Nov25new_txt0152
It is evident that the HRM Police (DeptOJustice), Housing, Social Assistance, Disability and Child Welfare divisions and programs(DeptOCommunity Services) do not wish to engage in the communities of the Impoverished in a sincere and meaningful way. As a ‘response’ to the National Report Card with a FAILURE in highest crimes rate the Police have decided to open community based offices in an areas that have been marginalized as poor violent communities. The very fact the Police have publicly identified poor communities as the most violent again shows that they are trying to distract the public from the TRUTH that crime is pervasive in all areas of HRM and the TRUTH that the Police have encouraged the state of disrepair of public housing and other poor communities. Both Mayor Kelly and Beazley have blamed the YOUTH and DRUGS for this failed report card.
Despite all the resources, legislation and policies in place, the Department of Community Services also received a FAILURE in their National Report Card for neglecting and creating more issues for the Poor as well as increasing numbers of the poor. And why is Housing, which is a division of Community Services not enforcing their own policies and Residential and Human Rights Act to ensure our communities are safe for our families? Did you know that there is a zero toleration for violence policy in the Housing manual yet public housing is a war zone?
What is the point of having property managers if they are not managing the property?
This is followed with a fail in National Health report card with Nova Scotia having the highest numbers in psychiatric issues and various chronic illnesses.
We think this is not a coincidence that all three departments: Justice, Health and Community Services have failed report cards nationally as they have refrained from bringing serious issues to the forefront despite the voices of poor people demanding immediate reform and action and civil justice.
Persons in poverty can be effected and affected by all three departments, quite often at the same time.
WE hold the employees, managers, ministers of each department responsible for the lack of humane services and delivery that has quite deliberately targeted the communities of the poor, what ever face that may wear.
WE are offended that the Police wish to embarrass the Poor by making our communities to be the most violent in all of Nova Scotia only because we are poor.
WE are offended that the Police want our communities to be the perpetual scapegoat for a failing and corrupt classist judicial system in Nova Scotia.
WE are offended the Police want this to proceed as if violence and drugs are an exclusive Black and Native and class issue.
WE are offended that Housing refuses to answer to the many grievances about maintenance and violence and in fact often promotes volatile and unhealthy living conditions by not responding at all rendering the government through public and social housing the greatest slum landlords of all.
WE are offended that Community Services uses its power to inflict further trauma on those in poverty rather than promoting elevated levels of humanity as indicated in their mission statements and policies never mind all the legislative pieces and documents that protect such things from happening yet they do.
WE are offended that the ministers of departments are fully aware that the corruptions, violations to constitutional rights and acts of inhumanity are pervasive in each department and have refused to respond judicially to remedy this very despicable reality. In fact have lied about receiving substantiated documents to these violent acts committed by their staff at various levels.
WE are offended that the department of Health has still not formed an effective alliance with DEPT of Community Services to ensure the improvements of health among poor people. Heaven forbid if we started helping poor people feel better and get well, who else will we blame for societal problems?
Violence is defined in many ways and we do not think the limited and convenient definition used by the Police is helpful to any community affected by violence BECAUSE it is defined by the Police and not the community. Despite the police deliberately not reporting real crime numbers and incidents, the true nature of crime in public housing is lost to create an image of false safety and effectiveness of policing when in fact the police have encouraged and maintained crime and violence and drugs in these communities. Having improperly trained officers in the most vulnerable of communities IS violence.
Violence is in the threats named by Housing to those who owe rents that if they dare complain about the disgraceful and unsafe and unhealthy living conditions in and around their home they will be put out with an eviction and how many know they can take this to appeals? How many have the energy and health to do such an arduous task
Violence also can be financial coercion. There are so many ways that a case worker can inflict harm on an individual or family by virtually having unmonitored and ungoverned power making very serious life altering decisions that effect the quality of human life yet…….hair dresser in NS need only do an exam and 1250 hours under supervision of a master stylist to cut your hair…these case workers need no prior qualifications other than grade 12 they do not need to be social workers, as outlined by NSASW if you have a BA you can earn candidacy in 3 years for registered status. So if that 3 years is in a very unhealthy environment then it is 3 years of unhealthy learning and habit with no real check and balances. Being a social worker in NS does not guarantee a more professional environment but it is a start. But we need not look any further why the Poor are in so much pain, the ones in control of their lives are not qualified to have such power. Why should any one take Community Services case worker seriously when the standards are so low and connote a reality that they do not take themselves seriously?
Do you know it is a $400.00 fine if you litter in HRM yet governments, case workers, unionized employees and civil servants and police 'litter' all over the place with their 'garbage'. Is the waste on our curbsides and streets deemed more valuable by our policy makers that we should have such a fine for garbage/litter and not for those who injure human life ?
The damage of this lack of sincere and accountable professional integrity to individuals, elders, families, children and communities is PRICELESS.
To allow unqualified persons to make decisions that are murdering the souls of human beings IS violence. In 1996 I graduated from the Maritime School of Social Work and it was one of the most unhealthy environments I have ever been in, I hear it is not much better all these years later.
Violence can be found in withholding necessary medications and services to individuals which happens every day with Community Service clients which inevitably exacerbates the conditions of that person and /or family to the detriment. And they know that. The anger found in public housing and among the poor in general IS trauma based yet the police with all of their lack of proper qualifications still barge in abusing people further.
Persons with mental health issues(MI) are being used for clinical drug testing without their consent causing further health and life conditions. Dalhousie University who employs one of these doctors and the College of Physicians and Tory Minister and Liberal Critic for Health and CMHA provincial and national levels are all fully aware of what is going on at the QEII/Abby Lane and have done nothing to investigate. Is it a coincidence that we have the highest rate of psychiatric illnesses in Canada and doctors having multi-pharmaceutical relationships for profits while rending these people poorer in a system that will not look after their needs.?
The poor are traumatized, many MI are poor or become poor as their illnesses progress without any meaningful supports in the hospital or community by way of Community Services and Housing to be placed in other vulnerable communities already very unhealthy. This cycle is perpetuated and exacerbated by living in volatile conditions that are promoted by Police, CS and to some degree the general public with very limited understanding of how the poor are treated in Nova Scotia.…if you do not have trauma or MI before you move into public and social housing and poverty you will develop them while you live there as it is the most barbaric of living conditions anywhere.
These are just some examples there are many but these are most pervasive nationally reporting as notable failings to meet even the most basic of measures. Abuse needs privacy and now the nation knows that NS, little polite NS has failed 3 report cards. There is nothing polite about how Nova Scotia abuses its most vulnerable.
Nova Scotia has no accountability sanctions in place. WE then are forced to use what appear to be neutral agencies such as Human Rights Commission, the Police Commission and Ombudsman Office. But they too are contaminated with their own politics and agendas based usually on nepotism or political loyalties causing more harm than good, hiding and colluding with the outrageous systemic and deliberate acts of violence committed by many government employees paid by NS tax dollars.
Does this mean that NS tax payers are sponsoring government sanctioned violence on the poor? Inadvertently these corrupt and criminal government employees and civil servants are implicating the tax paying persons of Nova Scotia in the genocide of the poor and vulnerable.
The Response Team really believes that the average tax payer in NS does not know how the poor people are really being treated hence we have taken on the arduous task of educating the masses for we truly and humanely believe that if the average NS knew they would never support or allow such inhumanity to take place. In fact we believe that they will become our strongest allies in helping improve the health of every family by holding this government accountable for acts against humanity. It is the duty and obligation and responsibility of civilized persons to do so.
WE know that the real issues of violence are maintained by the classist attitudes of Police and Community Services Department with regards to how they think they can abuse our rights as persons living in poverty and visibly impoverished areas.
Community Services and Justice departments have been well informed on the outrageous and immeasurable abuse committed by its staff and failed to respond. In fact in many cases both departments sought out those who wish to bring these matters public and retaliated causing further injury. In fact they had retaliated against me with such venom and organized deliberation that on May 25 2004 I attempted to take my life to stop the abuse inflicted on me and my son. Numerous people and government employees and agencies knew about the ongoing acts of abuse since 1992 and did nothing.
Both ministers, department of Justice and Community Services, are fully aware of the systemic corruption, abuse and exploitation of the poor especially those forced to live visibly poor communities. They failed to respond. The mayor is fully aware of same abuses and has failed to respond. The Ombudsman Office is fully aware of these abuses and failed to respond. The Human Rights Commission is fully aware of these abuses and failed to respond. The Police Commission is fully aware of these abuses and failed to respond. Not only did each of these organizations fail to respond they worked individually and in concert to hide this very disturbing information from the rest of the Nova Scotia public motivated by the sole purpose to maintain and encouraged isolation and further abuse of the poor. They have been allowed to do this with impunity.
The media has encouraged and collude with the misinformation of poor people often causing further stereotypical violence while protecting the perpetrators who are all government employees and civil servant.
There is a new vocal ideology that poverty is policy made. This is true, to some degree but changing policies to be more humane is only one aspect of the multi- dynamics of poverty as they are in reality in Nova Scotia. It is based on a very dangerous and faulty premise and assumption that those interpreting and enforcing the policy do so in the most humane manner and within professional guidelines. We know discrepancies between workers within the same agency office let alone across the province is a huge problem that cleverly hides the acts of retaliation and abuse against Impoverished persons. The discrepancies themselves are the only proof we need to show that changing policies alone is not sufficient nor the real issue of abuse. We must change the entire staff and the way the policies are enforced. A surgeon does not remove some of the cancer, they remove ALL of the cancer with a hope that it will never return.
We cannot ignore that it does not matter how well written and progressively modern our policies may appear to be, if they are not being implemented by intelligent humane persons they are futile.
‘quality is not an accident: it is the direct and deliberate result of intelligent effort’ (unknown)
Martin Luther King Jr.' states there comes a day when the oppressed get tired of their oppression'..... and today we are tired
We will not be silenced anymore!
~~~
INTRO panelists… each panelist to speak for 10 minutes.
Would like to add that we had a total of 6 panelist that was reduced on the last day to 3:one had to work , one just did not show and the other, well the real issue is that there was no media, they were boycotted, and this person really needed to continue to 'glow' having had recent media attention. Instead of being honet she sought to attack our group which just let us know she was not ready to do the great work we needed to do as community work requires one to be selfless and the think in terms of the greater good for the majority and not just for self.
~~~~~
Conclusion:
It is our long term intention to design a community based organization working in an advocacy capacity that will enable those who have grievances against the Police and Community Services/Housing to come forward to file so that we may issue reports to the ministers and the Nova Scotia public for accountability to the Voices of Thousands of Poor. We also hope to set up a website to acting as a network among other community based agencies with a deliberate task of being a watch dog on any thing and anyone acting untoward those in poverty. We hope to host quarterly ( 1 every 4 months) education-sessions ( edu-sessions) and discussions on such topics as : swarming and bullying, what is community and its allies, the welfare of children and families, cultural cohesion, appeals processes and advocates, health/wellness and poverty to name a few.
We also hope to maintain a database on decisions made by Human Rights, Ombudsman Office,Residential Tenancy Board, Police Commissions and Community Services so that others can use these materials for themselves in their own work or appeals or in an alliance with us as their advocates.
We will be asking for applications for community voice to offer their valuable resources to put these into place.
BY community FOR Community.
It is pass time for a new system.Apathy is as violent as the original criminal act and Only when that cancer is cut out can the community body begin to heal.
WE NEED your help as allies to bring this attention to the table until each person who has committed crimes against humanity be brought to task.
Thank you to Uniacke Parent Resource Centre- community based groups tend to be nomadic until you can get an office space generously donating a huge break in the rent. We also needed photocopying and such and for that we also thank an anonymous donor who also provided the refreshments and administrative costs as well. Last but not least the North End Library for allowing us to use their space. They are not responsible for the content for our information this evening they were selected by us as we hold this library with much respect for allowing Community to be heard.
Thank -you!
reference reads:
1.Thursday, November 24, 2005 General Social Survey: Criminal victimization2004 and Client Services (1-800-387-2231;613-951-9023), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
The rate of violent victimization in Canada, based on information provided by Canadians themselves, was no higher in 2004 than it was five years earlier, according to a new survey that examined the extent and nature of criminal victimization. Data from the General Social Survey (GSS) in 2004 found no significant change in self-reported rates of violent victimization, namely sexual assault, robbery or physical assault. ...
Violent crime rates highest in Alberta and Nova Scotia Residents of the western provinces generally reported higher rates of victimization, with one exception. Nova Scotia's rate of 157 incidents per 1,000population ranked among the highest for violent victimization and was similar to the rate of 160 recorded for Alberta. Halifax appeared to contribute to Nova Scotia's high rate of violent victimization. It was the census metropolitan area with the highest rate of violent incidents for every 1,000 population.
2.
HALIFAX TOPS VIOLENT CRIME STATS
Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly says he's concerned by new statistics that suggest the municipality is the violent crime capital of the country. Statistics Canada surveyed 24,000 people in 2004 to find out if they had been victims of robbery, sexual or physical assault, breaking and entering, and other offences within a 12-month period. The data, released Thursday, shows residents of Nova Scotia reported the second highest rate of victimization, at 157 incidents per 1,000 population. Only Alberta was higher, at a rate of 160.
STATISTICS CANADA: General Social Survey: Criminal victimization In fact, Halifax is the census metropolitan area with the highest rate of violent incidents per capita. There were 71,000 violent incidents in 2004, for a rate of 229. Toronto has more incidents but its rate is 107. Kelly said he will be asking for a meeting with both the federal and provincial justice ministers to try to toughen up the legislation dealing with repeat young offenders. "If you see the report there is a high discussion on the youth component, and for us there is a small group who unfortunately have a high level of charges. So the youth approach in the justice system needs to be addressed," he said. Two-thirds of those violent crimes are committed by people under the age of 24, according to the Halifax police.
Police Chief Frank Beazley said some of the rise in crime rates can be blamed on an increase in drug use in the community. "We arrested one young man in the Clayton Park area with a drug addiction problem who had done 80 break and enters, and then when we arrested him the whole activity stopped and went down again," he said. Like Kelly, Beazley wants the justice system changed when it comes to keeping young offenders off the streets. "They've committed as many as 40 new offences while they're on interim release from the courts, and it becomes like fishing. You catch and release and you catch again and release," said Beazley. Meanwhile, the police chief has set up a program called Project Breach where police officers check to see if young offenders are obeying their curfews. Kelly pointed out over the past two years the municipality has hired 32 new police officersCopyright © 2006 CBC All Rights Reserved
~please note that the youth are a very disempowered marginalized population yet they had the power to bring the NS judicial system on its knees for a national fail on their report card? The same youth responsible, in part, for the world peace pavilon in Dartmouth?
Also we would like to point out the Project Breach is a joke!
I called in so many times on offenders supposedly on house arrests when I seen them out and about drinking beers smashing beer bottles, abusing little kids or selling crack and not once did the HRM Police respond to my calls and I was Neighbourhood Watch!
I can assure you the front line police offisewers are the ones who are the greatest problems blaming everything on everyone else but themselves. Having worked on the first amendment for the Young Offender Act, and there have been a few since, I met with very dedicated people who brought together, the concerns of the community while trying to enable the healthiest solutions judicially and with the alleged offenders. Not one person in that room and I am sure the same follows for every other amendment session, misunderstood the seriousness of the task at hand. I
have often heard the YOA blamed for the youth today, that is a lie! The Act is NOT responsible for lazy government employees and civil servants who wish to ignore all the relevant and specialized sections or the enforcement of the Act in general. The Act is not to blame.The youth are responsible for their actions ONLY.
The police, the crown and the judges are the ones pushing the youth through without proper services in place that is if it even makes it to court. It is outrageous the way youth are not being treated within the philosophies of probation that could and would dismantle any thoughts of a career in crime. Director Jim MacDonald is by far one of the laziest and ignorant employees I have ever met. His answer to youth coming in and out the systems is that 'they will get tired of it eventually'. One youth I know to be on probation for 2 years was court ordered to family violence and therapy sessions. Two years later not one has been put in place. Is this the youth's fault or that of a system too incompetent to do their jobs?
We will speak more on the corruption of Peter Kelley the allege mayor of HRM, and the alleged chief of police Frank Beazley in up coming posts. I can assure you, you will no longer be confused as to where the problem lies and who has been telling lies.
3.The Chronicle-Herald NovaScotia, Friday, November 25, 2005, p. B7
Paul Everest
Think-tank gives N.S. failing grade; Child poverty rate has worsened for 4th straight year
Nova Scotia has received a failing grade in the 2005 Child Poverty Report Card.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released the report Thursday, the 16th anniversary of a parliamentary resolution to end child poverty by 2000.
According to the think-tank's report, poverty rates in Nova Scotia have worsened for the fourth straight year, with more than one in five of the province's children living below the low-income cut-off. The national average is one in six.
Nova Scotia, among five provinces in which the poverty rate has increased, has the worst record in Atlantic Canada.
The report card also reveals that impoverished children are deprived of nutritious food, dental care and extracurricular activities, and are more likely to struggle both in school and in finding jobs.
Report author Pauline Raven, research associate for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, says information was gathered from Statistics Canada, the Canadian Council on Social Development and the National Council on Welfare. The report cards offer insight into the causes and scope of the problems, but Ms. Raven says deeper digging is still needed.
"We'd love to see a report on progress from the government," she said. "But we don't get that."
Ms. Raven said she wants to know what steps the province is taking to help, specifically with transfers including rebates and child tax credits.
Child poverty rates continue to rise because of a lack of balance, she said. The federal government has increased child tax benefits, but Nova Scotia has removed children from its family welfare allowance equations. The minimum wage is also failing to keep up with the rate of inflation.
Karen White, spokeswoman for the Community Services Department, says child poverty is a "complex issue" and co-operation is needed.
"We view it as a shared responsibility between both levels of government, the private sector and individuals," Ms. White.
She said the department has increased income assistance rates over the last two years and 75,000 families are receiving the National Child Benefit, which pays up to $283 per month, per child, depending on family income.
Ms. White could not offer reasons for Nova Scotia's poor performance in tackling poverty, nor could she say if there is an agenda or timetable for dealing with the problem. But she did say that the department is committed to fixing the situation.
"So long as there's one child living in poverty in Nova Scotia, we have to continue making investments in assistance," she said.
The 2005 report card offers some encouragement. Child poverty in families with a lone-parent mother decreased from 60 to 50 per cent. But Ms. Raven isn't getting her hopes up.
"It could be the number of lone-parent mothers is going up," she said. "Regardless, one in two children who live with a lone-parent mother will live in poverty in Nova Scotia."
The low-income cut-off rate for a lone-parent mother with one child in a rural area is $19,462.
The report card offers two recommendations to government to decrease the province's child poverty rate. One is to improve economic support for low-income families. The other is to have a greater redistribution of wealth between richer and poorer families.
Ms. Raven says it will take more than that.
© 2005 The Chronicle-Herald - Halifax. All rights reserved.
Document number: news·20051125·HH·0Nov25new_txt0152
