Boxing Day Deception at Carnegie

A thirty-something man says he travelled in the falling snow from 41st Ave. and Victoria Dr. to Carnegie to use the Vancouver Public Library public-access computers because "all the other libraries are closed." When he arrived, the computer room on the third floor of Carnegie which houses most of the public library computers in the building was closed.

This is false advertising. The computer room was scheduled to be open on Boxing Day. Carnegie is funded to be open 365 days a year.

The closure of the computer room was frustrating to a number of Carnegie members. One regular computer room user said the volunteer who supposedly hadn't shown up, Norman, had actually left two months ago and the Carnegie Volunteer Co-ordinators Colleen and Sindi hadn't replaced him. Director Ethel Whitty seems to make no contingency plans for the holiday season or any other season to ensure that services stay open even if a volunteer doesn't show up.

The closure of the 3rd floor computer room means that the few other computers available in the building are heavily taxed with line-ups.

(Above photo taken from inside the Carnegie Library at around 3:20 p.m. today as snow falls outside.)

Has Jim Sinclair been Naughty or Nice?

On Christmas Eve at 5 p.m. labour unions hosted their annual Christmas dinner at the Martime Labour Hall in East Vancouver. The dinner was advertised on a poster at Carnegie Center as being for the "less fortunate", but everybody who showed up was welcomed.

The hall was full, and a special City bus repeatedly circled back to the Downtown Eastside to transport more people to the dinner.


The dinner consisted of turkey, dressing, gravy, a mixture of corn and carrots, cranberries, mashed potatoes, and a bun. People donating their Christmas Eve time to dish up food from the steam trays were warm and friendly, exuding Christmas spirit -- not a grouch among them. Volunteers were walking around the tables in the hall offering people pumpkin or apple pie for dessert, and coffee, pop or juice to drink.

A few people brought plastic containers to take an extra dinner home. The servers willingly filled them up. The first thing they ran out of was dressing.

Santa turned up too, with gifts for children. And there was live music too, although one guy eating dinner thought the singer ruined John Lennon's Christmas song. "He should give silence a chance."

There was also a clothing room with donated clothing.

The line-up into the dinner wasn't as long as last year, which according to Downtown Eastsiders was the case with other free Christmas dinners on the Downtown Eastside. That could be the reason many adults leaving the Maritime Hall after dinner were given whole pumpkin or apple pies to take home, along with the usual bag of groceries containing a couple of large potatoes, two large carrots, and a can of baked beans.


Jim Sinclair, President of the BC Federation of Labour, was there as he is every year, wearing a Santa hat. Sinclair looked thinner than last year, less paunchy. He was enthusiastically serving food from a steam tray along with union elves. (He is fourth from the left in the top photo.) He later walked around the hall and chatted up the volunteers. Sinclair didn't chat Santa up though, so he never got asked whether he's been naughty or nice. You be the judge: Evidence-tampering in CUPE police complaint

Snowy Jack

The Gassy Jack statue in Gastown in Sunday's snowfall. (Photo taken Sun., Dec. 21, 08.)

Up to 20 cm. of snow is forecast for tomorrow.

Merry Christmas.

Pathways to be Locked all day Tomorrow

The povertarians are taking off early. The doors of Pathways Employment Center at Hastings & Main will be locked all day tomorrow.

Brian Adams' Music Studio just before a White Christmas

A meteorologist on the radio said that Vancouver has a white Christmas about once every ten years. This is one of those unusual years.

This photo of Brian Adams' studio in Vancouver was sent to me just after it was taken this afternoon at around 2:30 p.m.

In previous years, I've seen Christmas lights in the windows when I walked by Adams' studio, but the photographer said there don't appear to be any this year.

Orca Sculpture Snowed Under

The Spirit of Vancouver Orca sculpture in downtown Vancouver, Saturday evening, Dec. 20/08