New York’s Darkness to Vancouver’s Cold Indifference

From New York’s Darkness to Vancouver’s Cold Indifference – Are We Really So Far Apart?

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

There was a time — not too long ago — when New York City was the international symbol of urban darkness. Crime was rampant, violence was a daily norm, and people stopped caring. They walked by as others were mugged, attacked, or worse. The infamous 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens became a chilling story told around the world — a young woman was stabbed to death outside her apartment while dozens of witnesses reportedly watched or heard and did nothing. Later reports suggested the story was exaggerated, but the truth didn’t matter as much as the impact: we were shocked by the apathy.

Times Square in the 1970s and ’80s was filled with porn theaters, drug dealers, and prostitution. The Bronx was literally on fire as landlords abandoned buildings, and crime was so common that no one flinched at screams in the night.

It’s easy to shake our heads and say, “Wow, how awful that must’ve been.”

But… we’re here now. In Vancouver. In Surrey. In 2025.

And I have to ask:
Have we really changed? Or have we simply arrived at the same place?

I’ve seen people — real, living humans — lying on sidewalks. Not just asleep. Not just high. Some I am certain were dying… and everyone walked by. No one checked. No one called 911. People just stepped around them or over them, eyes on their phones, rushing to whatever mattered more in that moment.

I’ve watched the life fade from faces, and still no one flinched. I’ve stood stunned while others looked away. And I ask myself and ask you reading this:

What if it was YOU lying on the ground?
From a heart attack.
A stroke.
A brain aneurysm.
Collapsing from heatstroke on a scorching sidewalk in July.

Wouldn’t you want someone to care?

What we’re experiencing now in Vancouver and Surrey is not just a housing crisis or a healthcare crisis. It’s a human crisis. One of connection, of compassion, of consciousness. And while we point fingers at corrupt systems and broken governments — rightly so — we also need to point inward.

Because what makes a city truly dark isn’t just crime or poverty.
It’s when people stop giving a damn about each other.

We’re there now. We’ve arrived. And we should be screaming that from every corner.

But maybe, just maybe, by speaking out, sharing what we see, refusing to look away — we can begin to pull ourselves back from that edge.

So I ask again, with love and urgency:
What kind of world do you want to wake up in tomorrow?

Because we're building it today, with every choice we make to care… or not.

💔😢

– Tina Winterlik / Zipolita

A Line Drawn in the Earth: Haida Gwaii and the Stand for Justice

A Line Drawn in the Earth: Haida Gwaii and the Stand for Justice

“There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Something profound is happening in Haida Gwaii.

After the deliberate and violent killing of a Haida community member, Luke, something shifted—not just in the village, but in the hearts of people up and down the coast. A man has been charged with murder, but the community isn’t waiting for the courts to decide what justice means.

This isn’t about drugs. It isn’t about gossip or rumors. It’s about one of their own being murdered, and others allegedly condoning it. That is what broke the bond. That is why, as I write this, families are being exiled from the land—run out, their homes being torn down. It's not something done lightly. It’s done out of heartbreak, fury, and a refusal to let silence be mistaken for acceptance.

In The Shipping News, there's a haunting scene where a house is dragged across the frozen sea—banished. That image came back to me watching this story unfold, but this isn’t fiction. This is real. This is a community rising up with ancient clarity, saying: “No more.” No more to violence. No more to complicity. No more to broken trust.

From Haida Gwaii to the Downtown Eastside, the nations are watching, drumming, and guarding their lands and their people. There are blockades—not of rage, but of protection. They are defending the sacred, defending each other.

We don’t know where those exiled have gone. There are whispers—maybe Vancouver, maybe hidden—but the truth is, what matters most is where the spirit of this story travels.

Let it not be forgotten. Let it not be twisted.

This is not vengeance. It is sovereignty.
This is not chaos. It is clarity.
This is not hate. It is love in its fiercest form.

Justice for Luke.
Justice for all those lost to silence.
Let the world not look away.

Resources & Links:

• Justice for Luke Facebook Page
• Haida Nation official site
• Understanding Indigenous Sovereignty – Native Land Digital

Reflection Question for Readers:

When communities are failed by colonial justice systems, what does real accountability look like—and are we willing to listen when it doesn't fit our expectations?

The Elevator Stopped Again

 The Elevator Stopped Again

Something strange has been happening. Yesterday, the elevator stopped on the fifth floor—no one had pressed the button. A couple was with me, heading to the fourteenth floor, and the man looked uneasy. He stepped out and took the stairs instead. I just stood there, feeling something shift in the air. “Oh, who just got on? Hello…” I said, half-joking, half-curious.

This morning, it happened again. This time, on the fourth floor. The doors opened, but no one was there. The elevator just sat still until I pushed “Open” and used my fob again to restart it.

And then, just like that, a memory I hadn’t thought of in years rushed back—the police, the sirens, the news.

I have been in this building many times over the past twenty years. But today, for some reason—on the day of the Women’s Memorial March—I remembered Nicole.

Nicole Parisien was a young mother, just like I was at the time. Our children were the same age. She was kind, hardworking, and trying to build a better future. But in 2007, Gordon Campbell’s government had made survival nearly impossible for single mothers. Rent was high, daycare was expensive, and social assistance had been slashed. Women were being pushed into impossible choices.

Nicole was trying to make ends meet when she crossed paths with a man who had been on a three-day binge. He took her life in an act of senseless violence. Her body was found outside this very building. A neighbor saw. The police came. But it was too late.

It was heartbreaking then, and it’s heartbreaking now. But what’s worse is that people forget.

The policies that pushed Nicole into that desperate situation weren’t accidents. They were choices—government decisions that prioritized budget cuts over human lives. And those choices had consequences. Nicole should still be here.

So when the elevator stopped again today for no reason, when the memories hit me so vividly, I had to wonder:

Was it just coincidence? Or was Nicole reminding me—and all of us—not to forget?

Please Support- Who is She?

Oh God, this video just gives me goosebumps and makes me cry....because we know it's played out in reality over a 1000+ times!!! Please Watch, Please Act!! Do Something!

Tired of waiting for Stephen Harper to call an inquiry the First Nations People of this land have taken it upon themselves to move forward and do it themselves. What a shameful government to allow this to happen and turned a blind eye when given every opportunity to take action to stop it.


From the website http://www.whoisshe.ca/
Every Indigenous woman and girl should feel safe every time of every day in every place in Canada. Our families can’t wait for Ottawa to stop Indigenous women and girls from disappearing. We are planning our own process to bring safety to our peoples.

http://www.whoisshe.ca/

Mrs. Universe - Ashley Callingbull at the Chiefs of Ontario launch of #WhoIsShe #MMIW campaign

Residential Schools- Cultural Genocide and Assimilation

Here is the acknowledgement about the horrible evil things that happened in the Residential schools in Canada.  Makes me sick, sad and angry. How could people treat them like that? How could they treat children like that? It's so hard to believe that is why people denied it but now it's out and people must acknowledge this disgusting dark truth about Canada.

Sadly many people still deny this sad history. I pray there will be healing but it will take many many generations and we will have to all work together. It can happen, if we all work together for the environment and for the greater good of all people but Mother Earth comes first and that's in the soul of every indigenous soul.

If we can all love each other and treat each other with love and respect and educate each other, have deep empathy for each other. Hopefully the healing can start and continue but I haven't seen much healing...not on the DTES or on the Highway of Tears... it's not like this isn't all related and many other sad, dreadful events that I won't mention at the moment. 

It's going to take a lot of love, education, healing and time.


Think on this please
From Facebook - Meanwhile in Canada
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Meanwhile-in-Canada/251089648271407

"Imagine being taken from your parents at five years old and being beaten for speaking the only language you know. Imagine being subjected to terrible abuse and made to feel ashamed because your culture was different. Imagine being a parent and being threatened with jail if you didn't hand over your children to the system. Imagine being cut off from your children for ten years. What would that do to your heart and soul? How would that affect your family?"



CBC
 http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/truth-and-reconciliation-commission-by-the-numbers-1.3096185

"As Canadians, we need to come together in the spirit of human understanding and friendship and work side by side to heal the suffering caused and to create opportunities for real hope and a fair, equal chance at a healthy, prosperous future that respects cultural differences.

Let us all collectively commit to genuine change in our relations with the first peoples of this country. If we do this with the spirit of justice, respectful dialogue and a commitment to meaningful action then reconciliation and healing is absolutely possible."

Canadian Indian residential school system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_system


Read the 94 recommendations here
http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf

Legacy of residential schools hits Twitter with #MyReconciliationIncludes

http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/legacy-of-residential-schools-hits-twitter-with-myreconciliationincludes-1.3097504 

Here's two videos that may be of  help.