Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 13, 2005, Winnipeg, Manitoba Wednesday april 13, 2005 reporter Jen Skerritt 697-7102 b6 Neighbours Winnipeg also in neighbourhood coverage this week out there with Jen Skerritt on Friday volunteers with Erin Madden on saturday downtown thirty years ago Chris Vogel says he and his partner Richard North were fighting for equal rights. Vogel and North entered a marriage not recognized by the Law in the unitarian Church in 1974 ? years before the debate Over Gay marriages had erupted. Vogel says it want until the Equality clause in the charter of rights and free Doms was enacted in 1985 that significant court cases followed to Advance the Gay rights movement. The Constitution is a permanent insurance that Equality will not be Tram pled on and that Equality will prevail he says. April 17 is Law Day across Canada and the twentieth anniversary of Section 15, or the Equality provision of the charter of rights and freedoms. Veronica Jack son president of the Manitoba bar association says copies of the charter will be available at the Law courts building along with an open House where the pub Lic can tour the court House watch elementary and High school mock trials see a special sitting of citizenship court and become More comfortable with the jus Tice system. Its a wonderful Opportunity to Cele brate the Justice system she says. Our Constitution is held up As a Model Constitution around the the charter of rights and freedoms was introduced in the Constitution act in 1982 by then prime minister Pierre Trudeau. The sections outline the fundamental freedoms and Legal rights of every citizen in Canada but it want until 1985 that Equality rights were introduced. Section 15 ensured that minority rights were protected by Law and that no one could be discriminated against on the basis of things like race religion sex sexual orientation or age. Local Gay activist Brad Tyler West says the civil rights for Gays and lesbians would to be where it is today if it had to been for the Equality clause. Tyler West cites the United states As an example of a country where Gays Are still openly discriminated against and says in some states Gays can be fired simply for their sexual orientation. How Ever he says the charter protects Gay and lesbian canadians from this infringement on their rights and it is a Model for the rest of the world to follow. It could cause you to lose your Mort Gage lose your Home your family your occupation he says. No one would Ever get away with that in while Vogel says the court system helped the Gay rights movement he says it want until the last 10 years or so that there began to be positive court Deci Sions that ruled in their favour. Accord ing to Vogel court decisions reflected the shift in Public opinion As More Gays came out to their friends and families. That a the form of real Gay libera Tion he says. What the charter has done is persuade governments to move More Vogel and North took their Case for spousal benefits to the Manitoba court of Appeal in 1997 where it was ruled that denial of spousal benefits under an employee benefits plan was discriminatory based on the couples sexual Orien tation. Vogel says it was a decision that provided them the same benefits As heterosexuals and says it has been his biggest personal Victory to Date in his quest for Equality. While he admits that there Are still some Loose ends to tie up for transgendered individuals he says that the anniversary of the charter is definitely something Worth celebrating. Heck we re about the last to Benefit from it but its been Central to the movement he says. Law Day open House at the Law courts building runs from 12 . To 3 30 . On april 17. Dreams coming alive cafe and theatre part of project to bring Community together Corners Ellice ave. And Sherbrook St. Corners is a weekly feature that looks at the people life and history at neighbourhood intersections across the City. If you have an interesting Story about a Corner in your neighbourhood Contact Jen Skerritt at 697-7102, or email @freepress.mb.ca. North end by Jen Skerritt a after spending More than 30 years living in the West end Brian Rusk says he a tired of hearing about All the bad news in his end of town. As he sips his Coffee in the Pris Tine new cafe on the Corner of Ellice Avenue and Sherbrook Street Rusk describes the Community As a mini United he says the West end is a mixture of diverse people and that there Are a lot of Posi Tive things happening in the Community aside from the stabbings and drug trafficking. Its not going to change snap overnight or in a few weeks he says. Its going to take time to get the Neighbour Hood Back to the Way it Rusk lives on Sherbrook Only a few Steps away from the Ellice cafe and the atre ? a new Community project aimed at revitalizing the area and bringing the neighbourhood together. Since the cafe opened at the beginning of february Rev. Harry Lehotsky a minister with the new life ministries and the driving Force behind the project says its acted like a microcosm of the Community ? bringing in a mixture of Ages classes and Back grounds. Lehotsky explains that the cafe is Only a part of the bigger picture of giving the West end Community something to be proud of. Aside from the Low prices of the everyday fare Lehotsky says the idea is to provide a warm and Safe atmosphere that is accessible to everyone in the area. Instead of having a Rooming House next door to the cafe Lehotsky and his Crew Are in the final stages of renovating it into a fully functional rental space for Emer gency transitional and Long term housing for area residents. He says the idea is to renew the Community without kicking out the poor and says when a mixture of people live together they can learn to understand one another and integrate themselves in the Neighbour Hood. You can to even Tell who san sex con who san sex addict and who a a student going to school he says. You Don to have to Gentr Ify the neighbourhood to renew when the four suites Are available for rent on May 1, Lehotsky says tenants will be Able to buy food at the cafe at a super Low rate and says it can be a self esteem Booster to eat in a Nice place that does to look like a soup Kitchen. And the renovations Don to Stop there. According to Lehotsky the cafe will be connected to a separate theatre that is expected to show its first film in two weeks. With 230 seats in a venue that was originally constructed in 1912 to show silent films Lehotsky says the theatre will bring affordable live concerts movies improve troupes and drama to the area. In conjunction with the West end cultural Centre that sits directly across the Street from the cafe Lehotsky says his vision involves the Community becoming even More of an artistic Hub for locals and peo ple across the City. I want our neighbourhood to be proud of what we be got he says. I want other people to come to the neighbourhood and not see the for local resident Doug Linklater that a already happening. Linklater lives a Block away from the Corner cafe and says its a positive addition to the Community. He says the cafe proves that change in the area is possible and says he plans on spending More time mixing with other locals at the Corner Stop and attending the atre events. I a glad he a opening it he says. I like Lehotsky says the ministry is a non prof it organization and that the Community project will be completely self sufficient. He says the three part project will provide employment and hopefully bring More peo ple to the West end. While he admits that the drug problem in the area has grown More intense in recent years he says building a healthy neighbourhood starts by offering More diverse businesses. He Points to an enlarged Black and White photo above the counter that features an old Man sitting by a slum Shack Reading the Home Section of his newspaper. Lehotsky says the portrait of the Man has become a Symbol of what the mostly Low income neighbourhood is trying to accomplish ? improving their lives. For most of the people in our Neighbour Hood this is us he says. He a a amerasian experience focus of film movies premiere will be this month at the Art gallery Grade 12 St. Johns High school Stu Dent Dora Liu knows a thing or two about Subtle racism. She recalls being subjected to the asian stereotypes at her old school where people assumed she was super smart and into fashion. Liu says it often shocked people when she did to get the highest Mark on an assignment or test. Of you made a mistake she says Fel Low students would say to her. Yeah i a not Liu is also one of about 50 students involved in making a film about the discrimination amerasian received in the 1980s. As the third and final follow up to two previous films North end trilogy Sto Ries from St. Johns High will premiere at the Winnipeg Art gallery on thursday april 28 at 7 . The two previous films made by St. Johns students focused on the jewish North end in the 1940s, and the political their nationality while exploring the idea changes in Canada during the 1970s. Of not fitting in As an amerasian from teacher Jim Rosche says the film was Vietnam. Rosche says that amerasian an Opportunity for asian students like individuals with a White Parent and Liu to perform without having to change asian Parent first came to the United states in the late 1980s before moving to Canada. He says the film explores amerasian adjusting to life and society and students had the Opportunity to look at their per Sonal relationships outside the school and in the Community. Fellow teacher John Silver says three groups of Grade 11 and Grade 12 Stu dents began working on the film in Early september. He says most of the students involved in the film admit to having experienced racism of one form or another in their lives like amerasian both in and outside of school hallways. Now in her first and last year at St. Johns High school Liu says feels she a treated As an equal to everyone else. Teachers at St. Johns estimate that 70 per cent of the schools 1,000 students Are of asian descent and even Liu admits it was a different experience see ing so Many asian kids when she first came to the school. Like her fellow students Liu agrees most students know one another and that no one feels a huge pressure to fit in. You re just treated the same she says. Tickets for the film Are $3, and Are available at the door or by calling 589? ;