STOP THE TACTICS

Strong-arm defamation: No matter how hot the debate gets in the
Downtown Eastside, unlawful harassment must stop, readers write.

Thank you for the article, "No defence for ugly tactics in debate on
drugs" (Dec. 22). I was amazed when I opened my paper and saw words
that expressed for the first time thoughts and feelings that have been
in the forefront in the minds of every member of the Community Alliance.

It is astounding that such ignorance and terrorism can go unchecked in
a so-called free society.

I, too, have had to step down from many public appearances for the
Community Alliance because of harassment and threats to my home and
business.

I was, as a member of the Community of Strathcona Alliance,
instrumental in getting the "resource centre" stopped. As a result my
address and net worth were published on the front page of the Carnegie
newsletter. I have been labeled a "poverty pimp" and I can no longer
walk on the streets of the Downtown Eastside without a bodyguard in
order to conduct my business affairs.

I have been told that because I don't live down there I have no right
to speak. The fact that my husband and I have owned businesses in the
Downtown Eastside for 24 years seems to have no bearing on whether I
am entitled to free speech as ensured under the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms.

We are tired of being labeled uncompassionate, hateful, capitalistic
pigs, and the list goes on. We simply want meaningful participation in
deciding what services will be provided in our neighbourhoods, and we
want equal policing throughout all jurisdictions, as you so aptly
stated in your article.

This strongarm defamation must stop. We must begin some civil,
sensible and sustainable action to deal with -- not talk about -- the
seemingly insurmountable drug and crime problems in the city of Vancouver.

It is time for the board of directors of Carnegie Centre to be
dissolved and competent people put in place. Most urgent is that the
mayor, city council, police board and police department take action to
immediately restore order in the Downtown Eastside.

Will we as a society continue to allow intimidation by special
interest groups, or will we truly take Mr. Rositch's situation as a
wakeup call?

Brigit Snider,
Vancouver

I admire Bryce Rositch for his twist on details and events that turns
deception into front page news. Bryce says that the community's
hostility toward him is all a low-life reaction to his civic virtue,
but fails to admit that his neighbours are angry about the frequent
and loud all-night parties in his building.

He talks of feeling intimidated and afraid, which is how I felt when
Alliance members were beating me with picket signs while chanting
"kill yourself!" because I showed up at their rally costumed as the
Grim Reaper.

Shawn Millar,
Vancouver

I am extremely dismayed at the harassment tactics that have forced
Community Alliance head, Bryce Rositch, to resign.

This kind of intimidation runs counter to the democratic principles of
our society, which assure any citizen the right to speak his or her
mind in a public forum, without fear of reprisal.

There is no room, in any debate, no matter how charged or urgent, for
thuggish intimidation and undemocratic behaviour.

I am a long-time resident of Gastown and have watched the escalating
polarization and campaigns of vilification reduce attempts at
meaningful exchange to the level of travesty.

The city must take a substantial amount of the responsibility for this
disheartening state of affairs. City hall should be the one force for
reconciliation and renewal.

Instead we seem to be faced with impotent elected officials and
blinkered bureaucrats who have abdicated their mandate.

The result is a community that is hollowed out. Any chance for
building a dynamic middle ground is snuffed out by the self-absorbed
bickerings of angry interest groups huddled on the margins.

It's time to reclaim that middle ground and start building the broad
agreement that is essential to meaningful and lasting change. That
centre needs to be filled with all the people who live and work here
- -- not just in the Downtown Eastside, but throughout Vancouver.

This is not just one neighbourhood's problem, but an issue for every
person living in Vancouver.

John Wellwood,
Vancouver

It is too easy to blame a few unemployed "activists" for creating an
atmosphere of fear and intimidation. In fact, this atmosphere has
existed in the Downtown Eastside for a number of years.

City council, the mayor, and the police have largely ignored
complaints of intimidation and potential violence in the community.

The Vancouver Agreement, and particularly the Drug Policy, has
listened to only certain elements in the community.

Don Larson,
Vancouver

What Bryce Rositch experienced in recent months is nothing new to me,
for his case has been widely reported in the Chinese media. But I do
wonder why the case was hardly mentioned in our only two daily English
papers.

We are proud of Canada because we have a Charter of Rights and
Freedoms that promises us freedom of speech, but does this still exist?

I recently read an article in The Sun called, "All the news unfit to
print" (Mix, Dec. 16). I wonder if the behaviour of the Downtown
Eastside activists and the experience of Bryce Rositch are categorized
as unfit.

Rose Chan,
Vancouver

The twelve articles in The Sun about Vancouver's drug problem lacked
any description of the prevention "pillar." Does it exist?

How much of the $30 million designated for solving the drug problem
has been earmarked to stop people from all over the city from coming
to the Downtown Eastside?

Local businesses, politicians, youth groups, churches, recreation
departments, parents groups, prevention workers and schools could act
together to address the needs of youth. They could support youth and
help them develop meaningful relationships and roles.

Prevention programs could help parents and children to communicate,
give children healthy ways to solve their problems, involve youth in
the community and change community attitudes. One of the largest and
most successful programs in North America is Project Northland in
Minnesota, which demonstrated a 25 per cent drop in youth alcohol use
(those who start drinking before age 15 are about four times more
likely to become drug dependent).

Perhaps the mayor's team should visit these communities instead of
European shooting galleries. Better still, why not engage the partners
in prevention who are at your doorstep?

Heather Donaldson,
Squamish