ANNUAL DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE MARCH FOR WOMEN’S HOUSING
SATURDAY SEP 15 @ 1:30 PM AT DTES WOMEN’S CENTRE (302 COLUMBIA)
Hundreds expected at annual march organized by women in the DTES, calling on Mayor Roberston to ensure safe and affordable housing, childcare and healthcare for women, and expressing opposition to Premier Clark’s pipelines projects and Prime Minister Harper’s prison expansion.
The Power of Women Group of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre is organizing the “6th Annual March For Women’s Housing” on Saturday September 15th starting at 1:30 pm.
The march calls on all levels of government to commit to safe and long-term affordable housing. According to Priscillia Mays, an organizer of the march “There is a perception that governments are dealing with the homelessness crisis, but solutions are all band-aid ones. We have the right to safe and affordable housing, not just shelter beds. Many women are being forced into unsafe and violent situations, leading to the ongoing unacceptable tragedy of murdered women and child apprehensions.”
The march will focus on a number of key issues, from local neighbourhood issues such as gentrification and housing, to issues of national concern such as pipeline projects and prison expansion. A number of environmental groups including Council of Canadians, PIPE Up Network, and Rising Tide will be joining the march this year under the banner of “Homes Not Pipelines”.
“From condominium developers in the Downtown Eastside to big oil companies, the interests of the 1% are the same: profit over the people and the planet. And our governments at every level are supporting the rich and elite,” says Joan Morelli, an organizer of the march and a senior.
According to Beatrice Starr, Indigenous elder and organizer of the march, “The fight against gentrification is also against colonialism. This is where our people end up when we are forced from our land by governments and corporations stealing resources. And now we are being displaced again. Gentrification through condo projects and upscale businesses has created a crisis of increased rents, enhanced security and police presence, and us feeling unwelcome in our neighbourhood.”
Award-winning author Naomi Klein joined the group last year in a press conference, stating “I support the demand of no condo development in the Downtown Eastside. It’s a clear demand, it’s a fair demand, it’s a moral demand.” (Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTRxs61RA7c )
This march will also mark the two-year anniversary of the death of young Ashley Machiskinic and the ten-year anniversary of the historic Woodwards squat. Anne-Marie Monks, a 60-year old woman with disabilities, states, “I challenge any politician to switch places with me. Sleep in the alley, stand in a food line, and live off $6 a day; then perhaps you will understand our pain. No more empty talk.”
