4 October 20, 2010 + Over the Edge China Angry with Nobel Prize Chinese rebel Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize HANNA PETERSEN NEWS EDITOR The latest Nobel Peace Prize winner is a jailed Chinese dissident by the name of Liu Xiaobo. Liu is a former literature professor who spent the past 20 years advocating for political reform in China. He is currently serving an 11 year sentence for “inciting subversion of the state,” based on writings and a pro-democracy manifesto he was involved with. The manifesto entitled “Charter 08”, as it was written in 2008, advocates for an end to single-party rule and was signed by thousands of people via the internet. It was also modelled after Czechoslovakia’s Charter 77 and advocates for equality of minority groups. The Chinese government is enraged at the Nobel committee, based in Norway, for awarding the prize to Liu. The government considers the decision to honour Liu “blasphemy” and an “insult to the Chinese people”. In China news of the big win has been blocked out by Chinese state owned media and government censors have prevented reports from appearing on the internet as well. China has called for Norway to protest the award, however, a Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesperson _ stressed that the Nobel Prize is independent of the Norwegian Government. Liu’s wife didn’t expect her husband to win but she now hopes that the win will make the authorities release him sooner. Last year’s winner, Barak Obama, called for China to quickly release Liu while also noting the countries strides in economic reform. Liu’s win is serving to put international attention and pressure on the Chinese government, as many world leaders are now calling for Liu’s release. At the Alberta Centre for Advanced Microstytems and Nano __ Technology Products, Stephen Harper said, “I would hope the fact that he’s now a Nobel Peace Prize winner would cause our friends in the Chinese government to look seriously at the issue of his release from prison.” While the Chinese government is upset with Liu’s win, many people around the world are celebrating it, as well as the accompanied recognition for the Chinese dissident movement. Chai Ling, a student leader in the 1989 protest in Tiananmen Square called the win a “joy for China altogether.” Friend of Liu Xiaobo Dr. Jean-Philippe | Béja has said that Liu, while a dissident, “has always acknowledged the progress in China” and has, “always gone on opposing violence.” Another Chinese dissident, Sheng Xue, commented that Liu Xiaobo’s win “can be shared by everyone working for human rights in China.” Liu Xiaobo is now the third person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize while imprisoned by his own country. The first was Carl Von Ossietzky, a radical German pacifist jailed for speaking out against the Nazi regime. The second was Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese opposition leader who was under house arrest while awarded the Nobel prize in 1991. Aung currently remains detained in Myanmar. The Nobel Peace Prize carries a cash component equaling $1.5 million dollars. With Liu behind bars and his wife under house arrest, however, it is doubtful that he will be able to receive his money or his prize. ONLINE SOURCE Liu Xiaobo is prctured above. Xiaobo is currently in the custody of Chinese authorities. B.C. Youth Still Most Impoverished in the Nation Homeless Action Week gives province pause for thought DANIELLE POPE CUP WESTERN BUREAU CHIEF VICTORIA (CUP) — Most students have to battle tight schedules with low funds and little time, add being homeless to the equation, and energy spent on education begins to lose its reality. With Homeless Action Week happening throughout B.C. from Oct. 10-16, many are asking why the province doesn’t take a stronger stance on impoverished youth. In 2007, Census Canada reported that B.C. is the only province with steadily increasing child and youth poverty rates, while all other provinces have seen rates decline since 2000. The further west, the worse it gets: Victoria has one of the highest poverty rates in the province at 24.5 per cent, while Victoria’s youth poverty rate is the highest in all of Canada at 44.8 per cent. Now, three years later, experts are saying the numbers are likely worse, though a recent study has yet to be completed. Seth Klein, the B.C. director for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, believes that solutions for aiding homelessness have been clear from the get-go — it’s just a matter of the 7 province taking charge. 7) ce “There’s no great mystery to it; welfare — rates need to be higher, especially for youth in deep poverty,” said Klein. “One of the most challenging demographics to deal with is the 18- to 25-year-old populace because they fall between the lines of children and adults. But we're still seeing those people in the labour force and we're still waiting for B.C. to increase the minimum wage and consider the adoption of the living wage.” cost of living. CCPA called for a poverty reduction plan for all of B.C. back in 2008. So far, they are still waiting for the province to catch up. Klein says that, while economics make up part of the equation, social infrastructure plays a huge role in curbing, or causing, the root problems. ‘Tami Mclean and her son Daven have been affected by BC’s low minimum wage and high “We all know that access to education or apprenticeship training is key, and yet welfare, for example, doesn’t apply for people who are in school,” said Klein. “So, you're forced to take out huge loans and that’s a real deterrent to someone who isn’t in a secure financial place.” Lae Sa. That story is a reality for some youth residents. Adam Di Carlo, 24, took two years of university law in Ontario but couldn’t support himself and ventured to B.C. in search of work. He has been homeless in Victoria since he arrived in January. “{’ve] couch surfed, stayed with friends, spent months in tents [and shelters], spent nights just wandering around and | just can’t do it anymore ... [my] stuff keeps getting stolen and it’s hard to know where to go.” Di Carlo applied for social assistance on multiple occasions, but continues to be rejected on the basis that he’s “too qualified” and capable of finding work. He did find a job ata Tim Hortons in Langford, hours north of Victoria, but couldn’t afford the bus out and back every day, and was eventually fired. “Even if the only problem you had to worry about was low income — forget drugs, mental illnesses, pets, children or anything else — it would still be enough to get you stuck on an extremely long low-income housing waitlist in this province,” said Klein. “And without kids, you can’t get help with rental assistance. So what are you supposed to do?” As bad as it is picturing the balance between school and homelessness, adding children to the mix changes the equation all together again. Tami McLean, 23, is a mother of two: One four-year-old daughter and a two-month- old son. McLean had to wait for five years to be accepted into a low-income house in Victoria. Her rent is $478, a month, which is not bad, she says, until you consider the government offers her less than $700 per month to live. While she’s taken courses, right now McLean says school isn’t an option. “How are you supposed to pay rent and afford diapers and formula, and everything else with that kind of money?” she said, adding that there’s never room for extras. DANIELLE POPE “| would never want to sell my ass, but it’s a thought that comes to mind if | had to, to feed my kids.” Klein says that while a lot of the change has to come in a top-down governmental approach, all Canadians do play a part in seeing what initiatives get through. Part of the trick is making an emphasis around priorities. “Everyone has a role,” said Klein, noting that voting often is one of the most powerful tools citizens have. “What we want to see is a formulation of policies that don’t cross purposes. We need a secretariat at the national level standing up for what people need and want. We have to have a government willing to prioritize us.”