#belle park

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

[The origin of the Belle Park totem pole in Kingston, Ontario, at least in part. Queen Elizabeth was visiting for the Kingston tercentenary, and this totem pole was one of a number made at that time by Indigenous inmates at Collin's Bay Penitentiary and Joyceville Institution, two medium security federal prisons in Kingston. 

Who the carvers were, the inception of the project, whose idea was it, how it fits into the broader activities of the Native Brotherhood at Joyceville, all of that is still a little hazy to me - but the hard work of local researchers has resulted in a stupendous resource available here online: https://belleparkproject.com/the-place/totem-pole. It answers a lot of my questions and features the words of many of the carvers - a useful corrective to the Whig's slant here.

The Advance - the inmate newspaper at Joyceville - has a notice in June indicating OECA Channel 19 interviewed the totem pole carvers on May 18, for broadcast July 1 & 2 in Toronto. The Advance praises the tercentenary project as a "significant symbol of the role Native People have played in the evolvement of the Canadian people." Haven't read earlier issues yet to get a better feel. 

In terms of outside newspaper coverage, there is this dramatic image from April 17 crediting MP Flora MacDonald for getting the wood shipping from BC. Which is all about how great the local Conservative MP is, not the carvers.

In terms of the broader context, Seth Adema's article “Native Brotherhoods and Decolonization in Ontario's Federal Prisons' is pretty crucial, and available for free online if you search. The totem pole is still on the Belle Park golf course, which has become during the pandemic a tent encampment for Kingston’s growing unhoused population. The city keeps trying to evict them all - presumably to re-open the golf course - while local solidarity activists try and stop it.  Belle Island, where the park is partly located, is a site with great significance to the local First Nations, but was of course a garbage dump at one point because this is Canada...]

/// Captions for top images: "Chips are flying," Kingston Whig-Standard. June 8, 1973. Page 4. ---- Indian inmates at Joyceville Institution are busy these days in an effort to finish a giant totem pole before the Queen's visit on June 27. When finished, the carved pole will be given to the city and placed at the new municipal golf course where the Queen and Prince Philip will be staying in their private railway car. 

(Photo by William O'Neill)

"To overlook the municipal golf course," Kingston Whig-Standard. June 8, 1973. Page 4. ---- When completed and presented to Kingston, the totem pole on the left will be set up by the parks and recreation department on the spot marked with an X in the above picture. The Chalet willhouse the dressing rooms and office building for the city's new municipal golf course, built over at former dump site.

(Photo by Bill Baird)

Captions for middle image: "Putting some art into it," Kingston Whig-Standard. April 17, 1973. Page 1. === Turning a four-ton 40-foot log into a work of art in a monumental task. However working on the adage that a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step Flora MacDonald MP for Kingston and the Islands helps Indian inmates at Joyceville Institution with their first cut. The Indians as a Tercentenary project have agreed to carve a totem pole for Kingston. The giant log was shipped by CNR to the institution from British Columbia free of charge, through the efforts of Miss MacDonald and CNR president MacMillan.

[xuseokgyu]

"If you want to put a GPS, put it on a suitcase, not on a carnival" - MATZ 2023/24 Sasaeng (사생팬) is the Korean term for an obsessive or stalker fan.These types of fans go to extreme lengths and do not respect the private lives of K-Pop idols.

[playerkingsley]

are you worth saving?

[c-kiddo]

cad and belle are just wee besties to me . and have lots of sensory pressure hugs. (from npc requests but i wanted to draw them together anyway so bonus cad)

[godsfavoritelitlesilly]

Friendship bracelets for all <3

[stankyles]

I’m sick of looking at this

[illusivesoulgaming]

Some Cold War memes

[kthmlk]

thoughts thoughts thoughts

[diientedegato]

CW sketches 1/2

[oddthesungod]

modern!AU of my favorite campaign 3 lads <33 they're deciding where they're gonna have lunch 💖

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

The City of Kingston has reached a new low by deliberately misinterpreting Justice Carter’s Decision regarding evicting the encampment. Contrary to what Bryan Paterson believes (or at least states publicly), the ruling didn’t give the city a green light to evict during the day time.

Speaking of lights, perhaps the most absurd part of the deliberately misinterpreted strategy for evicting during the daytime is that the City of Kingston plans to install a traffic light to inform encampment residents regarding when they can be in the park.

So what did Justice Carter’s decision say? It’s worth reading all of it. We should add that some of it did disappoint us - for instance - why didn’t Justice Carter simply ask the City of Kingston and the Kingston Community Legal Clinic to provide data regarding day time options? Everyone knows there are fewer options for places to go during the day than there are at night. But because there wasn’t specific evidence that spoke to daytime options, he didn’t rule on that piece.

It is not in the spirit of the Judge's decision to enforce an order. If the city wants to "enforce" they should go back to court and prove the bylaw is constitutional. It isn't. We all know there are not 480+ spaces in daytime services for people who are unhoused to be at. But even if there were, the city isn’t respecting people's dignity if they expect people to put up their shelter every night and tear it down during the day. This is not how to treat fellow human beings who struggle so much to survive.

The lack of dignity and respect in this approach is clearly explained in the Federal Housing Advocate’s review of homeless encampments. While this report is extensive, some of the key recommendations for municipalities are to:

● End the practice of forced evictions of encampments on public lands

● Implement measures to protect and support people living in encampments:

Respect people’s right to refuse services.

Eliminate any policies or practices that restrict access to encampment sites during daylight hours or require daytime tear down of tents and removal of personal effects.

Ensure protection from the poison drug supply through access to harm reduction services and regulated safe supply for encampment residents who are at risk of overdose because of reliance on an unregulated supply.

The availability of services to people experiencing homelessness should not be a justification for an eviction. [pages 29-30]

On Safety The Fire Department has been in the news for responding to fires, and issuing “threat to life” notices, which has resulted in the removal of fire hazards from tents and structures, and in some cases, has led to the destruction of people’s homes because of their being built with wood. Is this an unbiased exercise in safety, like the City and Fire department claims? Would people who own homes as property be subjected to the same intensity of fire safety enforcement as the unhoused are? Does it make sense to reduce the threat to life by preventing fires, if it increases the threat to life from the cold?

Likewise, if preventing fires is so important, why is the city forcing people to pack up their tents each day starting April 2 and will be replacing the sturdy, waterproof, and fire treated military tents, with more flammable and less water resistant pop up tents? Those tents are likely going to be much more flammable than the military tents. So is this about safety? Or is this about making the encampment so difficult to live in so that people “choose” to leave?

On political will City Councillors and staff like to continually remind us that the provincial and federal governments aren’t doing their part. We know that is true and it's also no longer an acceptable excuse. If the city spent $60 million of Kingston tax dollars on the third crossing, is willing to spend $25 million to enclose a pool and $9 million for a park and walkway for tourists in downtown Kingston, and give away $11 million in land for a conference centre, we clearly have money and resources.

What the city lacks is the political integrity to say - we are going to use all capital tax money to build non profit housing, to purchase lower income buildings to keep homes affordable so that every Kingstonian has a home that is affordable to them and that is linked to supports to meet their needs. If municipal administrators and politicians had this kind of vision and ethics, that would be something most Kingstonians could get behind.

Our hearts are heavy for those negatively impacted by the sometimes real and sometimes perceived lack of safety around the ICH. We have compassion for neighbours who have been impacted in different ways. And we also appreciate the neighbours who despite their struggles, have and continue to support encampment residents in the ways they are able to. We are not going to criminalize and punish our way out of the drug poisoning, mental health, and homelessness crises.

If we’re tired of seeing needles in parks, let’s safely dispose of them in a hazard bin and advocate for harm reduction housing so that people who use drugs have a home. Maybe people will do fewer drugs in parks if they have a home and privacy.

If we are tired of petty theft in the neighbourhood, let’s advocate for safer supply programs so that people who use drugs don’t have to steal to be able to consume the substances that keep them feeling well. Substance use disorder is a medical condition not a choice.

The solutions exist. We just need councilors to have courage, and we also need everyone across all class backgrounds to realize that housing everyone is possible. We are far away from it but we can get there. Stop listening to those who want to lead us in the direction of assuming the worst of people who are poor and use drugs. Everyone deserves love and dignity.

No evictions in Belle Park until people can be provided with somewhere else to be housed that respects people’s dignity and autonomy.

Harm reduction housing now: develop and fund supportive housing for people who use substances. This has been effective in places like Finland (the only country where homelessness is decreasing), but also in Toronto and Vancouver.

Another, and better world is possible.

from Mutual Aid Katarokwi-Kingston, March 20, 2024.

[darlingor]

I don’t care what anyone says, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has unmatched aura. The setting, the time period, the characters, the music, the story. It’s just an absolutely delightful game to play.

[rolling-veins]

[transmascsimonriley]

black ops cold war doodles (+ one makarov at the end) because i got this game for christmas and i love these guys

[b1mbocat]

bell-mère 💞 | c0mm for @gendervapor14 🙏🫶

[sailing-ever-west]

felt like this song fit Nami