Carnegie Board Member Resigns Over Barring of Homeless Man

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Bill Simpson, Carnegie Centre Board Member

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Sophie Friegang resigned last evening from the Carnegie Center Board
of Directors over the barring of homeless man, Bill Simpson.

Simpson
was barred from Carnegie in June, shortly after he was elected to the
Board. He has not been allowed into the building to attend Board
meetings. The reason given for the barring in a City of Vancouver
letter delivered to Simpson was that his website “features links” to
the Downtown Eastside Enquirer blog. The blog has published criticisms
of Carnegie staff [CUPE members] and Director Ethel Whitty.

Friegang had asked the Board in July to hold
a review of the barring of Bill Simpson. The majority of the Board
voted against a review. Carnegie President Margaret Prevost took the
position at the time that the barring was “a City decision” and
therefore not a Board matter. But the prevalent conversation amongst
the membership of Carnegie is that the Board was complicit in the
barring. Indeed, Vice President Gena Thompson stated in a NowPublic
comment that she had been involved in the decision to bar Simpson.

Friegang
stated at the July Carnegie meeting that she believed a “serious
mistake” had been made in the barring of Simpson. She said she had
“poured over” the blog and found nothing that would warrant barring
Simpson. "I believe in human rights,” she told the Board.

At a
July Community Relations meeting, Friegang asked Whitty if it bothered her that a man may have been wrongfully
barred. Whitty did not respond.

Friegang did not attend last
evening's meeting. Another Board member, Peter Fairchild, read her letter aloud.

Friegang's resignation
comes the day after another Board member, Rachel Davis, distributed a
letter accusing Carnegie of a double standard in the barring of
Simpson. Davis' letter will be covered in a separate post on the Downtown Eastside Enquirer.

The barring of a homeless man has become an embarrassment to Carnegie.  It is likely to haunt the left-wing Carnegie Community Center Association now that they have arranged for their representative, Jean Swanson, to speak to a United Nations representative about homelessness. The representative has scheduled a visit to Vancouver to determine whether Canada is meeting its international obligations in regard to homelessness.