| It’s one of Calgary’s oldest institutions, located just a few blocks west of the Stampede Grounds. However, Cash Corner – Centre Street and 12 Ave. S.W. – is not a place for amusement. It’s a site where men stand on the street and wait for work. And now it’s being threatened.
Believed to have been operating since the ’30s (at a number of different locations in the downtown area), Cash Corner is this city’s most enduring source of temporary labour. Over the last two years, Cash Corner has increasingly become a cause for concern with rumblings from nearby businesses that the men should move on to make way for building development scheduled in the vicinity.
Tom, a regular at Cash Corner says he and most of the men who gather here looking for a day’s work have heard the rumours about plans to move the site or even abolish it altogether. "This corner is just about dead," he says. "Society doesn’t want us here."
The dilemma is that Cash Corner isn’t an organized entity. Rather, it’s a spontaneous, daily happening that meets the participants’ immediate need for cash. It also serves Calgary’s business community with a convenient labour pool of dozens of men who show up here willing to hop into a van or truck with the promise of work at $12 to $15 per hour – no questions asked.
"It’s free enterprise," says Jeff Caldwell, scoffing at the idea of getting rid of Cash Corner. Arriving in Calgary from Ontario more than four years ago (after his job of 16 years at a tin can factory ended), Caldwell says most of the people at Cash Corner do not cause problems. They simply want to work. "I don’t have a criminal record," he says, "and I do have a record of community involvement."
Soon another member of this band of independent workers moves closer, eager to share his thoughts about the future of Cash Corner. "Someone from a paper came down here and wrote about how we loiter," says Tom. "And then they put up this fence. Well guess what? We helped put up the fence."
The tall chain link fence that borders the sidewalk at Cash Corner has become a symbol to the men that a massive change is about to occur. Three projects are set to get underway here. The land at the northeast corner of the intersection, where a former Co-op store once stood is the future site of a high-rise condominium project with more than 1,500 units. On the southwest side, a three-storey office building is being planned. As well, at the southeast corner, another commercial building is under consideration.
"They should designate an area for us, and it should be well-known," says Mike Turner, a concrete former from Toronto who offers up his own solution to the thorny issue of Cash Corner being located where it’s no longer welcome. It’s a proposal that’s been pondered by City Hall for more than two years, ever since the Victoria Crossing BRZ (Business Revitalization Zone) commissioned a report recommending that Cash Corner be re-located to the Calgary neighbourhood of Manchester. A plan that since being revealed has also met with much resistance, including from Alderman Joe Ceci who represents Ward Nine where Manchester is located.
Madeline King, the alderman whose Ward Nine territory includes Cash Corner, says there has been a split on city council and within the administration about whether the City of Calgary should even get involved in a cash-based economy. "I think Cash Corner should either be better supported or extinguished," says King. "I’ve had anxieties about supporting a cash economy. You might be helping more addictive behaviour and less financial management." She adds, "I favour supporting Cash Corner with toilets and a shelter to shield people from the weather," however, the issue of exactly where Cash Corner will be located, if it’s forced to move from its present location, remains an open question, according to King. "It would be better in a spot where cars could pull off," she says. "An auto-based site or industrial area close to public transportation."
While the City of Calgary continues to study the issue, the debate about Cash Corner rages on with no solution in sight. Meanwhile the men who rely on it for their livelihoods show up on the street with the metal fence hoping to secure work for another day. Men such as Ford, a Newfoundlander who says Cash Corner provides the money he requires to support his wife and daughter.
"This is my job," says Ford, pointing at the street where approximately 30 men are standing. "This is my shop here." Although he says he knows many of the neighbours of Cash Corner are not happy about its continuing presence, he remains hopeful that his "shop" will continue to survive. "Find a good spot for us in the area," he says. "We want to be known. To show our abilities and make some money." Looking up as the sun cracks through the grey cloud cover he adds, "I love it here. There is so much here. It’s a beautiful city."
A report about Cash Corner from the Community and Protective Services Committee (a sub-committee of City Council) is scheduled to be released on Feb. 7. Various parties were consulted in developing the report including the United Way. According to Chris MacFarlane, director of policy and research at United Way, recommendations in the report to City Council will include finding a new location for Cash Corner that is complete with a weather shelter and toilets. "The primary reason people are out at Cash Corner is to augment their incomes," she says. "Who can argue with that?" |
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