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Blessings my friends;

A paraphrased quote(To inspire folks to do their own research and think for themselves) in honor of a great man;

"It is really mean to tell a shoeless man to pull himself up by his bootstraps...
It is extremely cruel to tell him that while standing on them."

I realize that from time to time many of you question my sanity and choices in life, but i think most of you will agree that, whether or not mis-guided, they do come from the heart. I feel one of the major problems that our society faces on whole is how APATHY has been programmed into us...To paraphrase a quote i saw while my buddy was checking his  facebook today; "Why is it when we are kids, we are told it's good to question everyone's intentions and actions, but when we are adults we are told it's bad to question the intentions and actions of government and media?"

Belowis a letter i received from a man living in Victoria, B.C. I was first told about him years ago on my blog by a viewer on a post i did about the "War on the Poor"...It's why i left Toronto and went to B.C. to meet him in person. His case of fighting for the rights of ALL Canadians, and indeed ALL the free peoples of the world, has been reduced by media to almost zero coverage and skirting around the REAL issues and crimes being committed
against ALL Canadians...not just the Natives, poor and homeless...by corrupt politicians,police and courts.....please understand, when the  rights of even one of us are violated, they violate us all. When they poison the waters of one people, they poison us all.

Please remember, my experiences don't come from reading a book or watching the news or making a movie, but from living on the streets, by choice, for years.  From MANY witnessed interactions of how police deal with the rich guy driving his luxury sedan, (as calling it a "car" would be an insult) the wrong way down a one way street...by letting him go so they can race across that same street and ticket a homeless kid, sitting under a tree playing his guitar....cause that's against the law and a prime example of aggressive panhandling and endangering people. 

The REAL motto is; "To SERVE ourselves, And PROTECT the rich."

Or who can forget when the cops came into a homeless shelter just after i showed up at a press circus and bus tour of homeless shelters designed to show MP's care, but was refused when i offered my sandels so they can walk to the shelters like the poor do, and just before i was supposed to meet and speak with some politicians on behalf of a local poverty group...or how, after failing in killing me, or having me committed, kidnapped me and held me prisoner until my passport expired keeping me a prisoner of the country...and despite filling out the paperwork and filing charges against them, has still never been investigated, nor have any charges been laid, to either original offending parties, nor to the supsequent parties now guilty of "Conspiarcy after the Fact". (we keep trying to forget about it ancient, but you keep bringing it up from time to time)...though on a sidenote i'd like to point out that  i did still meet with city officials, despite having a warrent out for my arrest, for breaching bail conditions by not signing in on time...didn't want to miss my meeting, afterall, they are so hard to get in the first place for people like us.

Again, please understand, this is not about me ranting on a soapbox about how unfair it is to be a homeless person...boo hoo hoo....woe is me. This is not about me, wrapped in tinfoil, spouting government conspiracy theories and seeing shadowmen following me everywhere....Oooo, they are out to get me. 
This is about the FACTS, that are being ignored, misrepresented and
distorted...i think "SPIN" is the socially accepted word for lying when politicians, police and media do it.

The FACTS, that poor people were evicted from low income housing for renovations to accommodate rich tourists when the Olympics came to Vancouver, or how the deathrate of the homeless almost tripled...but hey, we got GOLD in Hockey, so who cares about that now, why pay attention to those coincidences...???

I mean, even when the poor people DID find an advocate and legal team to take their case of Human Rights Violations before the Supreme Court of Canada, our highest place of TRUE Justice, they were first DENIED JUSTICE when they were allowed to be DELAYED 2 yrs by the city and police, who didn't think the case should even be allowed to be heard...then again for another 2 yrs by the Province of B.C. who really asked the courts; "pretty please" to reconsider even hearing this case stating as their reason;(Paraphrased) "It must not be allowed to be heard, since it must not be allowed to be victorious and so would be a waste of the courts time."...but your NEWS told you that the coaching staff for the men's Olympic Hockey team has finally been decided on and will be annouced shortly.
 
Let's NOT think about what it REALLY means; when after spending 4 yrs  trying to have your case even heard by the greatest JUSTICE in the lands...while the death rate triples and witnessess to police and city corruption are eliminated, the Supreme Court Judge then says, after hearing all the evidence on both sides, they need an additional 8 months of people dying in the streets to decide whether or not it should be illegal and considered a human rights violation to prevent people from sleeping?

As a matter of FACT, even when Canadians did finally win the right to sleep, the city of Victoria already had lots of time to rewrite it's formerly Human Right offending laws
into more legal friendly and acceptable wording to continue to deny those rights, and still provide themselves access to legal kidnappings and murders. So most people are unaware, by design, of how much of the population and economy are carried on the backs of what are called; "the working poor". People who have part/full time employment, but not a place to live...they sleep in their cars, or under a bridge or in a homeless shelter, or a friend's couch, or their parents basement..etc,etc. Then we can ignore how cities never have any money to build affordable housing for all those working people, but can afford bigger prisons, more lawyers, judges and cops to enforce laws against being homeless.

We can also pretend not to notice that by putting homeless people in jail you can control the statistics put forth that make it seem like the unemplyment rate is dropping and the economy is on the rise...because those formerly unemployed and employed homeless people are now statistically called prisoners and creating a need for bigger jails because of overcrowding, creating jobs for more cops, lawyers and judges...driving up their economy and further lowering the unemployment rate. Throw in a fake war or two to really boost the arms economy, decrease more of the formerly unemployed and suck away the last remaining rights people spent decades and world wars  fighting for....Aaaaaah....now we finally have a perfect world, with justice and liberty for all who can afford it...definetely the path we need to continue following.

People will share cats falling off tables videos on facebook, or tweet about what some moviestar was wearing or did at last night's big party and these things will go viral around the world in minutes, but take issues like poverty and homelessness and start making honest and VERY REAL links to corruption in governement and police and the causes of the REAL, DEADLY ISSUES humanity faces and people become afraid and try to distance themselves from you by saying things like; "I don't believe that is really happening.", or "Cops wouldn't do that", or "There's nothing we can do about it."...and i could agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.

Please share and do something about really ending SLAVERY and this War on the Poor...see how fast those REAL, DEADLY ISSUES disappear when we start being a part of the solution and stop being a part of the problem. What would happen if all these groups for Women's Rights,  Veterens Rights, Minority Rights, Gay Rights, Children`s rights, Rights for the Elderly, etc, etc. all suddenly realized....wait a minute...there are poor and homeless people who are women, veterens, minorities, gay, children, elderly, etc, etc, etc and maybe we should all be working together instead of seperately.

"Empathy is the primary sense needed in the search for TRUTH and UNDERSTANDING...It would be senseless to search without it."

(please forgive my babble above...the letter is below)

Hello. My name is David Arthur Johnston. I've a case that needs to be forwarded to the SCC. The 'right to sleep during the day' was denied in the Appeals Court of BC because of lack of evidence of its need (being that it is now recognized that we've the right to sleep at night). I don't use money and its a miracle that I made it to the Appeals Court in the first place.

I am currently exorcising my last resort by fasting and ignoring sentence conditions. So far, I've been meditating constantly under the sequoia tree at Centennial Square in Victoria and the police pick me up and take me to Wilkenson (VIRCC) on Fridays. Not giving me any extra charges while I've ignored the 'reporting to probation immediately', 'being at Centennial Square, and voluntarily reporting to Wilky on Fridays for my 'intermittent' sentence (I had told the judge the sentence wasn't reasonable).

the 'adams' ruling (recognizing the 'right to erect temporary

abodes')- http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/Jdb-txt/SC/08/13/2008BCSC1363.htm

its appeal by the city (resulting in the Appeals court adding the words 'at night' to the disposition)-

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/CA/09/05/2009BCCA0563.htm

My Factum/Argument Challenging The Daytime Tent Prohibition-

http://www.angelfire.com/apes/hatrackman/myfactum.htm


The City's Factum/Argument Defending The Daytime Tent Prohibition-

http://www.angelfire.com/apes/hatrackman/cityfactum.htm


Anyhoo, I'll cut and paste the update I made today-

St. Ann's update- Monday, January 21st, 2013: oh the games we play
Where to begin?...
On Friday the 18th around 6ishPM police van pulls up in front of the tree. about 4 or 5 cops. 'arrest' me and take me out to Wilkinson for my intermittent 'jail-on-weekends' sentence. No extra charge for ignoring my 'conditional obligations' of 'reporting immediately to probation' after sentencing on Tuesday, not being at Centennial Square, and turning myself in at wilky.

Got out this morning (Monday) and am smoking and having coffee while my laundry gets done. Then I'll secure another blanket or two (cops stole my sleeping bags) and head back to the tree to continue fasting and meditating until my next arrest, which could be bet on to be by this coming Friday, at least.

The fast is now at 19 or 20 days minus 2 or 3 to compensate for the 'unofficialness' of the time before sentencing (the allowance of sugar and milk in my coffee), the half-way through 'cheat' and the pre-sentence fast-breaking. The official fast beginning at 9:30 AM on Tuesday the 15th. Enjoying an old guys body, moving slow as I have to. I continue to be unusually high in the spirit.

Patience be with us... A mindful Constitutional lawyer/law firm volunteering to forward my case to the SCC would save me for a while.

Patience be with us.
David Arthur Johnston
Victoria, BC, Canada

Hatrackman@Gmail.com

The 'Right to Sleep' Data Hub (or The Process of How It Is That It Is Legal to Have a Tent, at Night, in a Park in the City of Victoria, BC, Canada)
- http://goo.gl/maps/5P9ZU

PS: cops didn't steal my sleeping bags. presumption on my part. sorry.

Murdering a Holy Man

(Click on piture to see where I first learned of David in the comments under the post)

The following is a letter from a friend that provides an update on the fight for human rights in a country that pretends and brags about being a leader in that category. The TRUTH shows quite the opposite, and while the mainstream media is quick to jump on the Pro-Olympics bandwagon serving up more and more propaganda, they tend to slant and downplay the life and death effects that come with them.
I would like to remind the reader at this point of a quote; "As you do to the least of my people, so you do to me."

The LETTER:
So this guy has been sentenced to 45 days, starting on Nov 25th, because he set up a tent under the Sequoia beside Victoria City Hall. The City and their legal machine really doesn't want him to set up a tent or to sleep outside at all. I think that's why they keep locking him up. So far he has been in jail for nearly 150 days over nearly ten years, all without food. There were a lot of other instances and confinements too, which the man has documented in his Journal of the Occupation of St Ann's Accademy, available online, that include police officers driving him to the city limits on several occasions and using severe emotional abuse on him, as well as an interesting account of how the Provincial Capital Commission hired a contingent of security guards expressly for the purpose of making this man's life miserable.

So, people ask, why is he homeless? Former Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe was fond of referring to the man, David Johnston, as not really homeless and a professional activist. Crown counsel has repeatedly questioned his mental health, as well as his mother's mental health when she came forward to say she supports her son's efforts. Media has been viscious to the man, saying that he was trained as a baker, a point many people think means he has no excuse not to be working. But really, all of this is so far from reality it's like the establishment is delusional.

David is homeless because he will not use money. He won't touch it. In the rare occasions over the last few years that he did come into posession of money, he destroyed it. He eats mostly what he can find in the garbage, and at soup kitchens. This is why David is homeless. People tell him he is not a member of the homeless they are trying to help: the ones that want to get a place and get some money so maybe they won't be that poor. David's response to this is to deny choice all together. His core philosophy rests on extreme determinism and on the concept of patience being a virtue, and he has slowly fought against his perceived injustices for many years.

At one point, before his efforts led to the successful Supreme Court ruling that found Canada's constitution protects the homeless' rights to shelter themselves, David was sentenced to seven months. He served 35 days of his sentence before community pressure forced his release. I quit my job and concentrated on this for 35 days. I met people who despised David and hoped he would die in prison. And I met a lot of other people that shared moments with David they remembered fondly. The man has reached a lot of people. He serves as a sort of shaman or holy man, and he also serves as a kind of counsellor. I remember speaking to everyone I could find on the subject, and so many of them knew him. I'm not from Victoria and I don't know many people at all there, or I didn't back then. A good example of what I mean is what a busker told me. He had been really sad, once, finding himself on the streets, and David approached him and offered him some sausage he'd found in the garbage. This is the kind of work David does.

The man is not perfect. I will let Bill Cleverly or Troy DeSouza or some other David hater dwell on David's shortcomings. Even if David was a thousand times more flawed, it still wouldn't warrant the tremendous disrespect and abuse he's endured.

David is my friend, and I'd hate to lose him. I have had the pleasure of being arrested with him several times, and yet I have never had to break the law once! People can't seem to understand that. Victoria arrested us for laws that didn't exist, and they arrested us without evidence. David and I were the last two standing at the Camp Cambell protest. There have been hundreds of people arrested in this movement David champions; I have been arrested with several dozens of people over the years, and, like I said, I don't even live in Victoria.

I'd hate to lose David, but maybe it would be better if he died. Maybe it would be better if everyone with integrity would just die. I like to think I have some integrity, but I don't think I could let myself waste away like David does. It's not good for him. To do a 45 day fast you at least have to have clean water, and I've seen the water they have at Wilkinson Road Penitentiary. If he dies, I think they will have to kill me next. But I am not like David. I don't prioritize patience, I embrace disruption. If David dies I will campaign in every Victoria election, and I will disrupt every all-candidates forum and destroy all the signs and I will destroy property and cost small fortunes. In the end they will have to kill me too, I guess. Eventually, they will have killed us all, and then they can be happy in their Vibrant Victoria Lie of a town. Then they can pretend they really want to help the people that slave for them and nobody will disagree. For now, I am alive, and so is David, and there are others too, so maybe, with a little patience, something really cool will happen. It wouldn't be the first time.

One last point, the longer you allow this to happen to others, the greater the chance you create of it happening to you.

We WON...Or Did We

Even though the supreme court ruled that no sleeping/camping bylaws were a human rights violation, the city of Victoria, BC has continued to violate the courts decision and remain diligent in their pursuit to attack those in society that are the most vulnerable and least able to protect themselves. Using tactics, that if imposed on any other group or nation would be considered an Act of War, with violations of the Geneva Convention, not to mention the Magna Charta.

Decision Pending

Blessings:

You may have to wait awhile. Though they ended the hearings a full day early, the only decision the judge was able to make, was that she was going to take up to 8 months for her to reach a decision as to whether or not it should be against the law to sleep.

Charter Challenge Begins

Remembering the Headlines

Back when the story was breaking, the media saught to downplay and criminalize the poor instead of reporting the TRUTH about the constant victimization by police and city officials. The TOP STORY, as it reads here, is about how 4 Canadians died "Fighting for Freedom" in another country, while right below it we can see how citizens of THEIR OWN country are being murdered and violated by corrupt policy and snobbery that is so well blended into today's culture, even when placed on the front page it goes undetected for what it is.

Instead of charges being brought against these same city officials and police for their savage "Crimes against Humanity", the poor and homeless are instead being FORCED to DEFEND their "Right To Sleep". Not only does this go unnoticed by the rest of the citizens of this country and the world, the Higher levels of government that have noticed have not saught JUSTICE for the people involved, have instead saught to prevent their case from even being heard. Upon failing that, have still successfully delayed the proceedings for a number of years, greatly reducing the number of witnessness against them. Considering their is a documented body count of at LEAST 2 people a week, that adds up to quite a few since the tent city began in Oct. 2005.

You do the math !!!

I became an enemy of this country, it's leaders and FAKE support systems when that country and those leaders, by their actions and inactions, became an enemy of GOD & LAW. Your silence to this only strengthens the abusers...the line has already been drawn in the sand by them...look closely as to which side of it you are standing on, by whom you are supporting. Don't sit by or stand for this...there is still time to STAND AGAINST IT, but even that is running out.

This evening's dinner at "OUR PLACE" consited of a cold hamburger patty and an ice-cream scoop of cold rice. It's a good thing they got all that EXTRA money for a NEW building with a NEW, BIGGER kitchen and TWO cooks for nutritious, onsite meals.

(maybe now we can afford to conduct a study on how to turn on one of those new ovens, or maybe they just thought it was too hot outside to have cooked hamburgers, but I shouldn't complain because at least they were thawed out and I wouldn't want to appear UNGRATEFUL.)

On the NEWS front:

If you put "Charter Challenge" in the search engine over at A-Channel, it returns "0 Results"...Hmmm, how interesting considering it represents such a monumental step forward for human rights issues, for ALL Canadians and indeed, ALL visitors from EVERY other country of the world.

CHEK NEWS doesn't have an internal search engine that I could easily find, nor do they have any coverage on the Charter Challenge...Hmmm.

CBC's search results for Charter Challenge yields a number of results, none of which have to do with a person's RIGHT TO SLEEP...Hmmm.

The same thing can be said about CTV's search results concerning the CURRENT CHARTER CHALLENGE...Similar "Hmmm" as before.

2007 Victoria Reviewed

Submitted by richard on Sat, 2008-01-05.

Another year has passed and the situations facing homeless people on the streets of Victoria remain horrific.
109 people died while living homeless on the streets of Victoria in 2007, this statistic is based on the number of funeral services held at ‘Our Place’ which is the primary drop-in center in downtown Victoria. On average, 2 homeless people died every week in Victoria in 2007, up slightly from 106 deaths in 2006.

In February 2007 the ‘Homeless Needs Survey’ counted 1242 people as homeless or unstably housed and at risk of becoming homeless. In December the ‘Mayor’s Task Force on Breaking the Cycle of Mental Illness, Addiction and Homelessness’ announced that 1550 people were considered to be homeless on the streets of Victoria. These two research projects cost taxpayers approximately $500,000 and used up thousands of volunteer hours. The conclusions are documented in two massive documents that simply state that homeless people need homes. They call for action but to date none has been forthcoming from any level of government.

In October the Victoria Steering Committee on Homelessness launched a website to help inform the public about ways to help the homeless through action: www.ourwayhome.ca
In October the Vancouver Island Health Authority attempted to close Laurel House, a drop in center for people living with mental illness, but faced fierce opposition from members, a house occupation, and outrage from the general public. Closure was suspended for six months. Many of these people are on the brink of street life. VIHA cut down 30 endangered Arbutus trees in order to prevent homeless people sleeping under them, and were fined by the City of Victoria for destroying the endangered trees. The Needle Exchange, run with funding from VIHA, was evicted from its downtown location.

The City of Victoria and the Attorney General of British Columbia have worked hard throughout the year to keep a constitutional issue from being heard by a BC Supreme Court Judge. The question is whether the public has the right to sleep outside on publicly owned land when there is no other place to sleep due to a lack of affordable housing or emergency shelter. The point being that jailing people for sleeping when there is no other place to sleep is against the human rights and freedoms as defined by the Canadian Constitution. The City of Victoria has not responded to a Judge who wants a firm definition of the word 'abode' in the context of its use in a city bylaw which prohibits sleeping outdoors, or for that matter sitting, standing, lying, and squatting on public space.

The mayor has ordered police to post signs stating “No Loitering, Camping, Soliciting, or Trespassing” at stores all over the downtown core. Legally, these signs take the onus off the property owner or store manager to formerly launch a complaint and allow police to act on their own to remove people from private property. Using the ‘chattel’ bylaw Mayor Allan Lowe and the Council of Victoria have mandated that the City Police force take backpacks away from street people. Any belongs that are set down on sidewalks or streets are confiscated and a fine must be paid to reclaim the item. Hundreds of homeless people have had backpacks, blankets, foam, tarps, and other items taken away.
In April, with a great deal of media spin, Premier Gordon Campbell announced that the province of BC spent $80 million towards low income housing, protecting 996 affordable housing units by buying 15 buildings in Vancouver, Victoria and Burnaby. However, these units were all occupies and no new housing was made available for homeless people. $250 million has been set aside to building affordable housing but no housing construction has begun and the money has not seen the light of day.

In May Premier Gordon Campbell increased his own salary by 54% with an increase of $89,000 on top of what he already makes. All MLA’s increase their wage by %29 although the minority NDP, unable to stop the bill from passing, donated their wage increase to charity.
Victoria’s apartment vacancy rate is 0.5%, one of the lowest in Canada. The minimum rent for a bachelor suite is $500 per month, if you can find it and more likely around $650. 2 bedroom apartments are a minimum of $1000. Welfare in British Columbia is one of the lowest in the country at $235 for support of a single person with $375 maximum for shelter. The highest rate of income assistance is for a 2 parent family with children at $401.06 support and a maximum rent of $820.

British Columbia has the highest poverty rate in Canada.