News

editor.otherpress@ gmail.com

 

 

“Mugs and Jugs’ Closes its Doors
Permanently

By Liam Britten

| hadits ups and downs over the years,
but after over 30 years of operations, the
Mugs and Jugs strip club, along with
Chicago’s nightclub and the College
Place Hotel, have been closed for good.

The building, was _ bought
last week by BC Housing to provide
shelter for the homeless as well as
provide outreach and support services.
The province paid $4.9 million for the
building, which will be operated by
Lookout, a society operating several
other homeless outreach projects around
New Westminster.

“We're really pleased with
the choice of Lookout,” John Stark,
senior social planner of the City of
New Westminster told The Other Press.
““We’ve never had any major complaints
about Lookout’s operations.”

The building will have an
occupancy of 55 clients; 40 will be long-
term beds, and 15 will be “emergency”
beds. The new shelter will also provide
such services as job counselling and
drug and alcohol counselling. John Stark
refers to this as “supportive housing.”

“It takes more than 30 days

in a shelter to turn your life
around,” Stark says. “That’s why
it’s important that we have these
services in the city.”

The acquisition of College
Place is part of the city’s efforts
to triple the number of homeless
shelter beds. The College Place
acquisition will also help offset the
loss of the Garfield Hotel’s beds
when the hotel is demolished in the
coming months.

The manner in which this
site was acquired was a bit unusual;
normally a request for proposals
would be made by the government
before purchasing real estate like
the Hotel. However, the provincial
government decided to forgo the
process in this case.

“I really can’t comment
on that matter,’ Stark said. “That
was BC Housing’s decision. BC
Housing is the sole funder, and it’s
important to keep this building in the
public sphere. This way we can keep
the beds, and no residents have to be
displaced.”

While many are more than

happy to see the new life that the College
Place is taking on, some are sad to see
the stripclub go, like dancer “Ryann
Rain” (her stage name).

“With Mugs and Jugs closing,
we’re near the end of no-contact options

 

for women making a living in the
sex industry,” Rain told The Burnaby
NewsLeader. “For women that have to
support a family, it means much tougher
decisions for them.”

 

Singh yet to be dep

By Garth McLennan

 

er Singh is still in Canada,

despite a deportation order and a number

of attempts by the government to kick
him out.

Singh, 48, who was paralyzed

three years ago by an aneurysm, came

4

to Canada illegally in 2003 using a fake
passport and was formally told last year
to leave the country and return to his
native India. He has exhausted all of his
appeal routes and has taken sanctuary
in Guru Nanak Gurdwara, a local Sikh
temple.

Canadian immigration officials attempted
to deport Singh a few months back. After
his initial deportation order, Singh took
sanctuary in the Abbotsford temple, but
was apprehended when he later left to
visit a hospital. He was put on a plane

orted...still

to take him back to India, but over 1,000
people blocked his deportation.

On January 9, immigration
regulators again attempted to arrest
Singh. They arrived at the temple where
he was hiding at approximately 4:30 AM,
but were met by about 400 of Singh’s
supporters who refused to allow the
officials to enter. Temple leaders barred
the doors of the place of worship.

Singh has claimed that he has
been falsely accused of racism in India
and that he will be in mortal danger if he
is forced to return.

Immigration has said that they
will continue with Singh’s deportation,
despite the fact that such agencies have
never before been willing to enter a place
of worship and break the principle of
sanctuary. Though the principle remains
somewhat legally dubious, the idea of
religious sanctuary remains a gesture
of powerful symbolic significance. In
the past 10 years, over 200 people have
claimed sanctuary in places of worship
to avoid arrest. Singh’s lawyer has said
that he is trying to gain Singh the right
to remain in Canada permanently on
humanitarian grounds.