Quote of the week:

"Absenteeism linked to Star Wars on Thursday and Friday will cost American businesses up to $627-million in lost productivity." - Chicago consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, as quoted in Tuesday's Journal de Montréal

Of mines and massacres

When Canadian mining giant INCO began digging for metals, nearby residents started asking questions. Soon, 60 of them found some metal of their own - in the form of lethal bullets fired by a military regime.

Too few people know the tragic tale, perhaps because it took place far away, in Panzós, Guatemala on May 29, 1978.

"The Quebec population isn't really aware of what happened there," says Alissa Lauriault, education agent for the Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala.

Although 27 years have passed, she says the sinister reality of Canadian mining companies uprooting peasants and poisoning environments is ongoing. Lauriault's group aims to raise awareness of the lesser-known tales of corporate Canada's sometimes dark role in the region through an art exhibit by Marlon García Arriaga, which runs until May 29, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Space 306 of the Belgo building (372 Ste-Catherine W.), with a special conference on the issue Thursday, May 26, at 7 p.m.

"We want to raise awareness, get people talking about what's happening down there," says Lauriault. » Kristian Gravenor

Rooting for solidarity

Music, poetry and politics are on the menu at this weekend's Roots, Culture & Resistance event, not to mention vegan Caribbean snacks.

Inspired by a recent talk by former Black Panther Ashanti Alston, who'll return to Montreal for this event, organizer Kaie Kellough of the HOWL! Arts Collective hopes to encourage unity and communication between Montreal's black communities.

"[Alston] said that when he was involved in political organizing with the Panthers back in the day, they would often incorporate music, rhythms and poetry, which played an important role in keeping people's morale up when times were tough," says Kellough.

Other speakers include Montreal's Magali X, who will discuss the current situation in Haiti and our government's role therein, and David Austin, representing the local Caribbean community. There will also be readings by Kellough and other poets, along with the Kalmunity Word Sound System, and performances by members of the Kalmunity Vibe Collective, among others. The bilingual event takes place at Main Hall (5390 St-Laurent) on Sunday, May 22 at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $10. » Lorraine Carpenter

Don't fence me in

Depending on which side of the fence you're on, the wall on Acadie separating the affluent Town of Mount Royal from threadbare Park Extension is either an outrageous monument to class repression, or a safety device to save children.

Park Extension councillor Mary Deros feels that the wall, which turns 45 this summer, should be taken down. "We recommend it be removed as a symbolic gesture to demonstrate that there are no physical barriers between neighbourhoods," says Deros. She figures the bushes that already flourish alongside the fence do the job. "They discourage people from crossing at any given place."

However, TMR borough Mayor Suzanne Caron says folks on her side are hounding her to reinforce it, to prevent kids from chasing errant, bouncing and renegade balls onto the busy street. "At the borough council meeting last month, a resident complained about safety issues because we removed the gates on the fence in 2001." Caron plans to quell the unsteady hearts of those fearing ball-based mishaps by adding "a zig-zag barrier" near the exit. » Kristian Gravenor

Corporate war crimes

Montreal's SNC-Lavalin Group is facing mounting pressure from activists, who accuse the corporate behemoth of abetting war crimes and imperialism in places like Iraq and Haiti.

This Saturday, May 21, local activists led by Block the Empire will demonstrate to call attention to SNC-Lavalin's making of ammunition for the U.S. military at two of its local plants, ammunition critics say is being used in Iraq.

"We've chosen to focus on the manufacture of bullets," says Block the Empire member Mike DesRoches, "but our opposition to SNC-Lavalin's actions go much further."

SNC-Lavalin is also accused of being involved in projects that harm indigenous peoples and the environment in places like Mozambique, Namibia and Guyana, as well as here at home in Cree, Mohawk and Innu lands.

Demonstrators will gather at 7:30 p.m. at the stairs of Place des Arts (corner Ste-Catherine and Jeanne-Mance), before marching to SNC-Lavalin's Montreal headquarters on René-Lévesque. For more info, contact bloquezlempiremontreal@resist.ca. » Christopher Hazou

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

13 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
May 21–May 28, 1992

On the cover: A faceless cop brandishing a nightstick. Following the Rodney King riots in L.A., the Mirror devotes seven pages to institutional human rights abuse in Canada. In an article about relations between blacks and cops in Little Burgundy, Nantha Kumar reports that "a youth stopped for jaywalking was taken for a ride in a patrol car and was told he looked like Rodney King."

• Richard Bird heralds local rock band Thunder Rider's new image. As for their old look: "It had to be a huge, elaborate joke, right? I mean, no one wears those Roman-style chest plates anymore."

• Ahead of its fifth edition, Montreal's struggling Chinese Film Festival is said to be one of many such events around the world to lose the support of the Chinese government following its crackdown on the democracy movement. Programmer Michael Gilson says, "The official reason is twofold. They were displeased with certain films in last year's selection [and]... they didn't like what one of the guest speakers had to say."

Angel >> Green buildings The Stratus Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, is the first building to be certified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Canada, a sustainable building program implemented by the Canada Green Building Council. LEED Canada ranks and certifies environmentally sensitive building projects, which can cut energy costs, increase productivity and lower vacancy rates while being kind to the environment. Green roofs, solar panels, in-floor venting, chilled concrete floors and the funnelling of rainwater to toilets are some of the potential features for green buildings. Nearly 150 projects have been registered with LEED Canada so far.
Insect >> Oil dumping Over 300,000 sea birds die annually due to oil dumping in Canada's coastal waters. Bill C-15, said to be this Parliamentary session's most substantial environmental legislation, proposes to beef up enforcement provisions and increase penalties for polluting shipping companies, bringing Canada up to U.S. standards. However, just as a previous version of the bill was quashed by last year's election, C-15 may die with the government this week. Urged by four major environmental advocacy groups, Liberals attempted to fast-track the bill through the Senate ahead of today's confidence vote. At presstime, the fate of Bill C-15 was unknown.