Qivaros New law to “hide” the homeless Timing suspicious for new legislation By Trevor Dore ew proposed legislation that would give the B.C. government the power to force the homeless into shelters is the first of its kind in Canada. During “extreme” weather, when temperatures plunge or rainfall gets heavy, the law would allow police to force the homeless into shelters. There has been a lot of skepticism about the implications of the new law as well as its seemingly convenient correlation with the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic games. Some believe the law, which is supposed to help protect the homeless against themselves, will do more harm then good. Many homeless purposely avoid shelters because they don’t allow dogs and shopping carts or because they are overcrowded and can be unsafe. Some may seek shelter in alternative, potentially dangerous areas, in order to avoid being placed in a shelter. The police would be able to “use force” against those who refuse shelter, placing them in jail cells until the “extreme” weather warning has been dropped. “The law does not take into consideration the lack of space in shelters. We’ve got about 1,300 spaces and at least 1,600 homeless people on the streets,” says David Eby, the president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. “This bill would have police arrest citizens who are not guilty of any crime, and detain them without any charge, simply because they are homeless.” The B.C. Civil Liberties Association plans to review the legislation to see if the law violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A charter challenge however, would take at least one year, meaning the law would still be in place for the 2010 Olympics. Government officials claim the law is being proposed because of a homeless woman who burned to death while trying to keep her makeshift shelter warm last winter. Canada’s poorest postal code, Vancouver’s Downtown East Side, has seen similar cases throughout the past. Two years ago, a man froze to death after refusing to go to a shelter. This raises the question of timing. How come this law was not proposed sooner? With only five months until the 2010 Olympics, it seems like a perfect time to pass a bill to clean up this downtown “eyesore” and preserve Vancouver’s “image.” I understand that homelessness is a very complex issue and realize that there are many efforts to solve the problem. However, the implications and timing of this law make it appear to be an effort to hide the homeless rather then help the homeless. Vancouver is a beautiful city that like any other city has problems. Segregating the homeless however, will not solve anything, for it is exposure to others that offsets fear and allows us to recognize our commonalities and accept our differences as individuals of a community. A new reason to stay on everyone’s good side By Chloé Bach, Acting Opinions Editor mindless web-surfing I came across a little advertisement box asking me “Do you know an STD carrier?” Admittedly, I was intrigued and clicked to follow the link. My curious nature could have led me directly to porn site (worse things have happened), it could have been spyware or a virus but I continued anyways and found myself looking at something that I could barely believe existed and legally at that. www:stdcarriers.com is a website, no— more of an encyclopaedia of people who are allegedly living with different varieties of sexually transmitted diseases. You can search for almost any major nation, every state and all of our fine provinces for a list of people just waiting to share their “love.” So if I have a date with Joe Blow on Saturday evening and am planning to throw caution to the wind by defying the three date rule I can do a simple search to find out what sort of unexpected treats I might be in for. You might be thinking, “Hey, that’s not such a bad idea!” and on some levels I just might agree with you. However, this website does not seem to be reputable in any way, shape or form. It is obviously despicable and awful if someone knows that they are carrying any sort of STD and still lacks the responsibility to, a) treat it, or b) be truthful about an incurable disease (which is why we don’t forget our “party hats!”). In fact, it is illegal and punishable not to disclose being an HIV or AIDS carrier. However, this website has absolutely no requirements about who posts what about anyone. That is to say that, if you piss me off I just might take it upon myself to go “report” that you have herpes and lead an incredibly promiscuous lifestyle. There E the midst of some of my most recent would be absolutely nothing from stopping me from posting pure fiction on stdcarriers. com. There is even a list of celebrities with STDs. Ladies, avoid the hot mess that is “The Hoff;” and gentlemen, I hate to break this to you, Liza Minelli is a no-go, as per stdcarries.com. All jokes aside, this website has the potential to be incredibly detrimental to a person’s life. They say in their mission statement that they “aim to prevent the spread of disease by optimizing the flow of information.” However, they run the risk of perpetuating false information, with the capacity to destroy a person’s personal and professional life. If you look through different listings you will find anything from individuals who actually have been charged with not disclosing HIV infections to the scorned housewife who found her husband in bed with a hot young college student who the wife claims “has to have an STD because she is obviously such a slut.” And it is exactly these types of accusations that make this website unacceptable. We all know cheating is shitty, but it happens, and no young woman deserves to have her name dragged through the mud because someone is having marital issues. This website is absolutely unacceptable and really quite terrifying. Perhaps if the list was compiled by medical practitioners and had some sort of requirements for receiving any sort of information it actually could help people. But as it stands this website is nothing short of slanderous, tragic and an absolute invasion of privacy. I am shocked and saddened that any individuals have chosen to profit from exploiting something this incredibly personal, something that has to be beyond humiliating to any individual on this website whether it is true or not. Shame on you, stdcarriers.com!