Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Fight Breaks Out in Carnegie Kitchen


Photo: Opening of the Community Court in 2008. Judge Thomas Gove stands on the far right of the photo taken in the internal courtyard.

It's not easy getting volunteers to work alongside well paid union members in the Carnegie kitchen for 80 cents an hour in food stamps. Now the kitchen has started to take "volunteers" who are sentenced to community service by the new Community Court.

A fight that broke out Monday morning in the cafeteria reportedly involved at least one of these petty convicts/volunteers -- although that hasn't been confirmed, the kitchen definitely uses convicts from the Community Court. A volunteer with a long brown ponytail (he is a good volunteer, congenial with customers) and a customer buying breakfast (he also volunteers at Carnegie) started yelling at one another. The volunteer came around the counter to the side where the customer was standing. It got loud -- "Let's go outside!!" And there was a lot of aggressive gesturing.

But there was no actual violence. So spectators were surprised when police showed up later. Maybe if the Community Court is involved, police have to be involved.

Any defense lawyer, though, would be remiss if he or she didn't look closely at the records of staff and management at Carnegie who are writing reports or providing testimony about their clients from Community Court.

At Carnegie, the cons are not only in the kitchen.

There is evidence that when Director Ethel Whitty and Security Co-ordinator are producing reports on low income people, they allow politics to overshadow facts. If a CUPE member is involved in any sort of conflict with a volunteer, the CUPE member will be exonerated. As Whitty stated at a public meeting, "I have to support my staff." Management has been known to be selective about what witnesses they talk to, ignoring any who won't give them the slant they may find most politically desirable. And it is old news that management has been prone to manufacturing witnesses when convenient, not one or two but huge groups of them conjured up after the fact from an almost deserted room. There is even radio tape of Whitty manufacturing false accusations -- accusations that can be indisputably demonstrated to be false -- against a low income man who happened to have fallen out of favor with a CUPE staff person. Both Whitty and Everall should have been disqualified from any involvement with a Community Court.

Not only are convicts placed at risk by being sent to Carnegie for supervision by management staff with a record of operating in a manner, as lawyer Gregory Bruce put it, "contrary to the rule of law", the public is being put at risk by this joint venture between the Community Court and the Carnegie kitchen. A man who uses Carnegie on a regular basis has reported seeing a man injecting drugs into his arm in the alley next to Carnegie and, two or three days later, seeing the same man working in the kitchen at Carnegie. He told kitchen coordinator, Catriona, "You're putting us at risk!"

Judge Thomas Gove designed the Community Court. He got an award for innovation. What can eaters expect to get?

The food at the Carnegie cafeteria is actually good, much better than most cafeterias. They use lots of healthy stuff like kale and chard, which they reportedly get from stores when it is too old to be sold but still good enough to toss into salads.

Would you like the hepatitis dressing?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

scary

Anonymous said...

what do you expect from a forced labour camp?

wilfr said...

Just wondering if you were aware of this post on the relatively new blog, citycaucus.com by one jjackson on August 5/09:



i think "salesman in chief" Gregor
Robertson and city manager Penny Ballem are having difficulty with the juggling act at City hall.

Acer Inc., an Olympic sponsor, is finding issues tossed into their lap that should have been dealt with by the City.

Allegations of human rights abuses at Carnegie Centre that could have been readily addressed by Ballem, who allegedly broke her promise to the parties involved to meet to address them, have now been taken to Acer Inc. Acer has been asked to withdraw as an Olympic sponsor over the human rights issue. This is reported on the web.

Robertson has now been asked to take over this issue from ballem, but last I heard there has been no word from him.

How is the salesman in chief going to attract more Olympic sponsors when the brands of companies already signed up are being damaged.

jjackson | August 5, 2009 10:04 PM | Reply

A quick google search took me to a longer blog entry on the Blogger News Network (bloggernews.net)which can be read here:

http://www.bloggernews.net/121717

I wasn't sure if "member #1806" was the woman you've written about a number of times, but it sure sounds like it.

reliable sources said...

wifr,

"I wasn't sure if "member #1806" was the woman you've written about a number of times, but it sure sounds like it."

That is the same case we've written about.

I like that citycaucus blog.

Thanks for the feedback.