Editor:
As someone who was an anti-poverty activist and advocate throughout the '90s, I was taken aback by the front page story about Lynwood Ministries' plans for Downtown Eastside women during the Olympics (Coast Reporter, Jan. 15).
Some of the things they plan to do, such as having a place to go to warm up and have a bite to eat do, indeed, sound helpful. However, the concept of dressing up Downtown Eastside women to be "hostesses" and "participate in the Olympics" strikes me as ludicrous. This is not what women in that neighbourhood need.
On Sunday, Jan. 17, I attended a lecture in Sechelt by outspoken Olympic critic Chris Shaw. He informed us that, in the several years since Olympic authorities promised that the Games would end homelessness, homelessness in Vancouver has risen 400 per cent. The Olympics will cost us at least $6 billion in tax money, an amount Shaw alleges could fund medical research in B.C. for the next 10 years.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives claims that a billion is going for security alone. Meanwhile schools and hospitals are under-funded and, of course, the residents of the Downtown Eastside are likely at the bottom of any funding priority list.
The Olympics is no friend to the poor, and encouraging Downtown Eastside women to participate may well divide the community.
Anne Miles, Gibsons
