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Poverty is a problem that cannot be solved by uninspiring and mentally rigid bureaucrats. Excuses like abstract formulas, pie charts and statistics are used to how dependence on government handouts is growing by "leap and bounds". Then those who work in ivory towers cut clients off welfare to either hitch-hike to another province or sleep on the streets or in shelters. As social assistance reforms are happening country wide, a key of resolving the cycle poverty is to have smaller agencies stop in and intervene in a personal way to give clients a hand up in life and build up self respect. James Redfield in one of his Celestine books said; "Government programs will never work as anything other than a safety net."

As much as agencies can help, people caught in the cycle of poverty need to take personal responsibility to find ways of doing things. Part of it is creating a higher vision on what the individual can do to help themselves.

Poverty is a situation fueled by fear, limited job skills and failure to take advantage of opportunities that come ones way. A solution is how to work with those stuck in self defeating patterns. Then those living in poverty can find ways of pursuing life's lessons and apply to their own situation to get out of the poverty rut.

Us humans can share mind and develop higher awareness of our situation. Instead of a slow circular motion down the drain, how about breaking free to find one's own journey into the future

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Despite the rhetoric I hear, I've noticed that the politically correct from both the extreme left and the far right are often quite similar. Both sides seem to want to impose their sense of morality on the rest of us, delete what offends them and make us live in a sanitized environment of their own making. Is it correct to think that either side is out to eliminate any challenge to their vision of what ought or should be? How would they react to a reality that is contrary to their vision?

Other examples that the politically correct have gotten their fingers into is reading material and language usage. Much of the politically correct material is bland, inoffensive and not realistic in portraying real life. Being a history buff, I have to wonder how much history has been revised over the years by the politically correct in an attempt to "purify" everything. In other words, how much are we being "dumbed" down?

A reason I'm leery of the politically correct is that along with removing anything that could be termed offensive, they take away material that has the capacity to inspire or intrigue people.

How much will the thought or language police influence us to stop using what they term objectionable words or having undesirable thoughts? I guess they reckon they know what is good for us and want to save us from ourselves.

But it is time for us to take back our thinking abilities. No longer should we be willing to settle to be told what to think but learn the art of learning how to think.

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Scott Calling Last doesn't exactly punch a clock for his work with the CUPS outreach program as there are no after hours for his compassion for Calgary's homeless.

He found a man in a wheelchair ready to commit suicide by rolling into traffic near Olympic Plaza during a cold snap in February. Instinctively, Calling Last grabbed the man before he could go through with it and took him to the CUPS Community Centre in downtown Calgary.

While driving the outreach van through the inner city looking for homeless people out in the cold afternoon, Calling Last used his cell phone to try to find an agency to take the man in and cope with his depression.

"He was trying to commit suicide so he was obviously a high risk case," said Calling Last. "You can't just turn him loose. Plus he had been drinking."

While most homeless people have sought shelter the week the bitter cold hit Calgary, some have chosen to stay outside. With temperatures that dipped to -35 with the wind chill, Calling Last did not want to leave anyone outside.

Calling Last is part of the nine member outreach team at CUPS that operates a van from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day but Sunday.

He and co-worker Adam Major-Hodges went out Friday for a routine tour of the city, driving down seldom used alleyways, climbing into hidden stairwells, crawling under bridges and walking the paths where few others would go, looking for those who don't want to be found.

They offered blankets, gloves, tugues, hot coffee and food and for those who wanted it, a ride to someplace warm.

"We make sure no one is freezing out there," says Major Hodges.

One of the regulars on their route is a cheery old man from Newfoundland who calls himself "Newfy". He has staked out a piece of the "Gauntlet", an alleyway between 10th and 11th Avenues from 10th Street S.W., all the way to Olympic Way in Victoria Park.

Newfy had set himself up behind a parking lot at the west end of the Gauntlet. He can't remember the last time he spent a night indoors.

"I prefer to be outdoors," Newfy says through a toothless grin.

Newfy receives clothing and help from passersby.

"I'm lucky, I've got lots," says Newfy. "Some people have got nothing."

CUPS workers have handed out 150 pair of gloves since Monday. They've been working 13 hour shifts every day and did so until the mercury climbed above the -20 mark.

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Restaurants, cafes and coffee spots are gathering places for people to congregate and speak of common things or world events. Others sit in blissful solitude lost in thought or read the days paper or even think of what to write in articles.

In Calgary places abound that offer low cost of free meals. But we'll keep the list short and tell of the better ones.

The Express Cafe in downtown Calgary is one of the few establishments that somehow got around the cities tough anti-smoking by-laws. So when one enters they see the perpetual blue haze in the air. If any do-gooders from Big Nanny want to do studies on the effects of second hand smoke, this is the place to do it. The Express Cafe has more characters per capita in it outside of a New York Rangers or Yankees game. We could say dregs come here but that wouldn't be true. People that eat here are of the working poor who don't have a lot of money to spend. Meals are inexpensive and one gets a lot of food for their money. But after some of the meals, it may be wise to not check your cholesterol levels for several weeks afterwards. Graffiti is a great indicator of a persons philosophy on life. In the Express washroom, someone wrote above the urinal "Use at own risk". In the stall, one wrote "This is teepee for taking teepee, not wigwam for beating tom-tom."

Other places in Calgary are St. Mary's whose full course meals put others to shame and anyone can eat as much they can. The only thing the Booth Centre and the Centre of Good Hope have in common is that they are run by the Salvation Army. Meals at the Booth Centre is enough to keep a bird from starving and that's about it. Center of Good Hope has better food but it can be bland at times. Even the soup line at the Centre of Good Hope is a meal in itself.

Kamloops has several feeds that are respectable. The odd hot dog night and free sandwich handouts compliments what the men's hostel, New Life Mission and Nazene Church have to offer in regular meals.

One soup kitchen in Saskatoon has such spicy soup it feels like my mouth could catch on fire if a lit match shows up close enough. One guy claimed to get ulcers from all the spices. Friendship Inn has a good breakfast with lots of fibre to it. Lunch is usually just soup and sandwich. Most of the time it's good and thick but at times it's little more than broth with no essential food ingredients in it.

Bon appetite.

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The Good, The Worse and the Bizarre
Ron Murdock

Back in the Summer 2003 edition of Streetviews Canada, I wrote an article on hotels I experienced across Western Canada. Since then I've had the chance to get involved with a few more in Alberta and British Columbia. So here goes with our second tour of the inside scoop of the insides of a few others. As Sheryl Crow once sang; "Relax, enjoy the show."

The Windsor Hotel in Dawson Creek, B.C. was a favourite of mine to stay. Even though I only stayed here a couple of months, I was treated as one of the family by the staff. An advantage I never underestimate in having a private washroom. Some activities, like showering, I like to do without someone riding my ass to hurry up. Others, I've known, have said good things about the Windsor.

The Cranbrook Hotel, in its namesake town in south east British Columbia, is a real piece of work. The owners didn't give a rats ass about the upstairs rooms as the tavern made the big bucks. When I paid for the first months rent I had troubles finding the room as the number on the door had fallen off. A number of Lysol drinkers lived here but at least they kept their activities behind closed doors. Monthlies had their own washroom. But the owners were cheap with the heat. There was a week stretch where Cranbrook got down to 25 below. The room wasn't much warmer. The final straw was when I got home one day and found the cleaning lady had left my door propped wide open. Nothing of mine was taken but I complained and very quickly found another place to live.

For 3 three weeks I was living in Kamloops, B.C. For 6 hours I looked for a place to live and settled on the Rafter G Hotel. It was mentioned in the B.C. Accommodation Guide but they really should drop this hotel from their listings. The Rafter G isn't deserving of being mentioned in a tourism book. Okay, rooms are equipped with fridges and stoves, which saves the cost of eating in cafes and every room had its own washroom and shower. But this is where the resemblance to the real world ends. Three of the four floors were quiet. The third floor was apparently where the apes were put, making a case for existence of The Missing Link. The only thing needed on the third floor was a daily banana run and some tires or vines hanging from the ceiling. One night I filled in for 3 hours between midnight and 3 a.m. What I saw proved my point that there is an incredible difference between day people and night persons, the difference is like day and night is the intended pun. Three prostitutes hung outside the front door, two of which lived in the Rafter G. The third one did but was evicted when she spend her damage deposit on drugs. She did try to bring a client in but didn't get past the security door. So when the regular desk clerk and I did a security check on the abandoned house next door, we found the happy couple engaged in sexual activity. Our entrance cooled their passion. A few minutes later, the guy came back and said he was missing his money We went back to the room but no money was to be found. So our friend had been rolled by a "sex trader worker". Not the first time this has happened and it won't be the last. At 3:30 I went upstairs and just wondered on how much I wanted to be involved with this kind of circus.

On my way to Calgary I put in a couple of days in at the Shuswap Lake Inn at Sorrento, just east of Kamloops. For atmosphere it's at the end of the scale from the Rafter G. For the price I paid, I did expect value for my money. I was not disappointed. What I got was a cabin with all the amenities. The lakeshore was just a short walk away. An outdoor chapel was there, a place where I enjoyed meditating in solitude. I can see myself spending the rest of my life in a setting like this.

The St. Louis in Calgary should never be mentioned in any tourism book except as a place to stay out off. After being on the road all day and checking out 5 other places, I settled on the St. Louis, I was just too tired to carry on any longer and it was getting near sundown. This was the first hotel I've been IDed before getting a room. The hallways were so narrow in places I just about had to turn sideways to walk down it. The rooms were small and dark. I reckoned getting athletes foot from the shared washroom or shower stall, it would have been the least of possible health hazards I could have gotten. When I walked into the daylight in the morning, it was a shock as the inside of the St. Louis didn't let much sunlight in. The morning I checked out, I went up to get my gear. The desk clerk asked me "Just where do you think you're going?" I practically had to shove the room key into his face before he let me through the security door. This was after he saw me several times coming and going out of the lobby. Then I had a bit of time getting my $5 key deposit back but I did finesse the desk clerk in getting back. And to think Ralph Klein, premier of Alberta, used to drink here when he was a TV reporter and later mayor of Calgary.

The King Edward in Calgary was slated for demolition so an underpass could be built under the CP rail yards. The original owner bought the hotel back from the city after leasing it to them for $10 a year and is now looking to make the King Edward into low cost housing. For two months I lived in the King Edward. For $325 per month I got a cockroach infested room the only life form I kill willingly. A shared toilet room had such great graffiti such as "Lift the seat you f--king pigs and f--king flush! And don't piss on the floor you dirty f--king pigs." Not exactly uplifting material to read especially first thing in the morning. The tub room and shower stall were out of order and had been for years. One of the tenants told me they were that way since he had been living there and that was 5 or 6 years. So all the residents had to go next door to the Salvation Army's Center of Good Hope to use the public showers. Really convenient in sub zero weather.

The National Hotel in Hanna, Alberta is a marked improvement over what Calgary had to offer. What rooms are available are clean, warm and a good deal at $25 a night. It was a pleasant experience to climb out of bed and take 5 steps to the shower as opposed to dressing up like the Michelin Man to got next door for one.

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Will the Real Calgary Please Stand Up?
Ron Murdock

Calgary, Alberta has been called several things over the years. Cow Town, Land of Milk and Honey, Crack City, Land of Prosperity are just a few of the monikers describing the city.

Are things as good in Calgary as some would have you believe? If one is working in the oil patches or construction sites, the answer is yes. Work in other fields is much the same as the rest of Canada, not much is to be had. With the Alberta minimum wage set at $5.90 per hour, it just isn't enough to cover the cost of rent in Calgary. Plus the vacancy rate is low.

Anything decent to rent in Calgary starts at $750 per month. Quite often it's in the $1000 to $1250 range and up. To buy a house is out of the question for most working people. The waiting list for low cost housing is about as long as an aisle at a supermarket. The number of families becoming homeless in Calgary has increased threefold in the last few years. Sleeping in shelters is bad enough for single people but it is no place for children. Though better than a sidewalk or back alley, a shelter drains a person of spirit or hope if used on a long term basis. And who wants to raise their family in a shelter atmosphere for long periods of time?

I was paying $70 per week for a private room at the Booth Centre for the first four months I was in Calgary. One thing I noticed was all the windows were welded shut throughout the building. Air was recycled, I still wonder what the effects of recycled air is on the human body. The room I was in was going to be reclassified from single occupancy to double occupancy. Which meant two guys occupying the same room would be paying $275 each or in other terms the Salvation Army would receive $550 per month for double occupancy rooms. I decided against sharing my room with another guy as I value my goods and don't want them sprouting legs and walking to the nearest pawn shop.

When it came time to find other accommodations, I had to find the cheapest rent, not the best place to live, as my funds were limited. I looked at several basement rooms. Most had no more than just a bed. No fridge or nary a hot plate. The windows had bars across them. These were going for $365 a month. These rooms saw just a few minutes of sun every day.

Calgary's street life is something to behold. While selling Calgary Street Talk, I shared a corner with a hot dog vendor. Over a 5 month period we saw and experienced enough to earn a degree in psychology. Several fights, street preachers, conspiracy theorists, a few would graphically tell us what they thought of us and what we were doing and a drug bust where 2 teens tried to sell crack to 4 undercover Calgary police officers.

Calgary is a city of contrasts and covers such a large sprawling area. Either people are very wealthy or dirt poor, the middle class has been effectively eliminated. Calgary promises to be a mecca of sorts, so thousands have come from all across Canada seeking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Calgary has become a place littered with broken dreams. It was to shake ones head to see how many high expectations come crashing down.

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A recent survey shows that the number of homeless people in Calgary is growing.

Officials working with the city's homeless say they aren't surprised by the with the increase.

They say the situation won't change until the underlying causes of homelessness are addressed.

The survey showed 14,181 people stayed in Calgary shelters in 2002. That's up 29 per cent.

A variety of factors are being blamed for the increase, including minimum wage jobs, mental illness and addictions.

The problem is primarily with men -- in 2002, 90 per cent of users were men.

The homeless survey was done by representatives from all four Calgary homeless service organizations

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With negotiations between owners and players still up in the air, it may take some imagination on where hockey will be after this season. The question to ask is where and how far the pendulum will swing this time around. Some of us older folk remember back in the sixties how team owners, particularly the Wirtz and Norris families, ruled the NHL with an iron fist. For a player to speak his mind or stand for himself meant being buried in the minors or be traded to a lower echelon team. Now with the advent of free agency and similar perks, the players can fill any amount on the dotted line, while saying show me the money. But with Kariya and Selanne signing for less money in their move to Colorado, I wonder if hockey salaries will be coming down.

A few years ago, team owners of NHL teams in Canada approached the federal government looking for cash handouts. My first thought was that the owners couldn't be serious but knowing how the feds in Ottawa consistently use twisted logic on how they approach matters, I thought they would give the owners what they wanted. I was surprised that sanity prevailed when the owners were turned down. An example was Rod Bryden, owner of the Ottawa Senators. The main gist of his tale was give me more money when I ask for it or I'll move my team somewhere else. It made Bryden sound like a Quebec separatist.

As members of the private sector, hockey teams are subject to the laws of private enterprise. Needed cash can be raised from parking, TV/radio contracts, concession stands, souvenirs and icing a competitive team. Tax money can then go to more essential matters. With millionaire players and billionaire owners, I can't see why Joe Six Pack or Jane Taxpayer were asked to foot any bills or provide cash handouts to a bunch of big shot owners, with egos to match, who went brain dead and quit running their teams as a business.

I have no sympathy for owners as no one forced them to pay out the salaries they pay. I can't blame the players for signing the contracts as it puts them on Easy Street financially speaking. But in the long run, small market teams face losing their teams as already witnessed in Winnipeg and Quebec City. Ticket prices are increasing at the same rate as the national debt. One needs to float a loan from one of the higher paid players just to pay for the tickets. Plus I have to question the NHL expanding into hockey "hot beds" such as Nashville, Miami and Tampa Bay.

It's been said that hockey is the national sport and is important to Canada. After taking a look at the big picture, I would beg to differ. I regard agriculture, mining, logging, fishing and other resources as more important. How can team owners justify, with a straight face, their demands for tax cuts to the working poor who are trying to feed and house a family on a yearly income of $40,000 or less. I doubt if the working poor would show much sympathy.

When and if the day comes that no one is on a hospital waiting list for surgery, or transferred to an out of province hospital, get a MRI scan within days not months, when the homeless aren't thought of as just another street fixture and legitimate needs are looked after first, then pro hockey teams can be bailed out. But until then the owners can wait as we need to set some priorities straight.

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City police are warning homeless people setting up temporary living spaces in Calgary, to find a new place to call home.

Next week, they will be targeting people setting up campsites in parks and along river banks.

Police say as the weather improves, more homeless people are choosing to live outside rather than going to a local shelter.

They say some of the campsites have been booby-trapped to keep people away. Officers are also worried about campfires getting out of control.

This year, the HAWCS helicopter will be used to pinpoint campfires from the air and the police will use their new river boat to spot activity from the water.

The sweep takes place May 26 and 27.

Police will start at 8 a.m. on each day and smaller patrols will take place throughout the summer months.

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