Quote of the week:

"We still have 121 fires, so there's a lot of work to be done there." - Gérard Lacasse, spokesman for Quebec's forest fire protection agency. This has been one of Quebec's worst summers for forest fires.

Cyclops eyes hookers

Ontario Street is the latest Montreal artery to get a makeover. Long one of downtown's seedier strips, Ontario was the traditional stomping grounds for homeless kids and hookers, and as such, made local merchants and politicians uncomfortable. Last Thursday, the Ville-Marie borough announced a beautification project that involves distributing free flowers and flower pots to street-front commerces, some installed by youth from the Bon Dieu dans la rue and Spectre de rue, two street kid assistance organizations.

But the borough statement also mentioned that neighbourhood groups, residents and elected officials are troubled by the continuing presence of drug-addicted street prostitutes, and call for more police and the continuation of Operation Cyclops, a controversial anti-hooker and john public denunciation program.

"Generally I think this initiative is positive," says Valérie Boucher, who works for sex worker lobby group Stella. "But there is nothing positive about Operation Cyclops." She points out that many street hookers aren't addicts, live in the area and that their working conditions, thanks to Operation Cyclops, have become more dangerous. » Patrick Lejtenyi

Car ban blocked

François Purcell, the Vision Montreal councillor for Rosemont-Petite-Patrie, sounds bitter over the phone. Last Friday, just hours before a pilot project that would close off parts of the Jean Talon Market to cars was scheduled to begin, the Corporations de gestion des marchés publics de Montréal (CGMPM), the corporation managing city markets, got a court-issued injunction to block it. Purcell, who was closely involved in the project, says he was "shocked" to hear it.

"For our partners, if you'll allow me to use that expression, to do this is very surprising," he says. "[CGMPM director Stéphane] Ricci took part in the hearings. For him to do this [so suddenly] is just incredible."

The project would have blocked weekend traffic from two small streets north and south of the market until Labour Day. Management says closing the streets would affect customer turnout and make life hard for bulk buyers.

Purcell says he'd hoped that, based on the data from the pilot project, they could convert the two streets into permanent pedestrian malls by next year. "We're going to consult with our lawyers," he says. » Patrick Lejtenyi

Pot makes you laugh

Potheads can be a giggly bunch, but when a comedian specializing in pot humour hits town, there could be some laugh-out-loud moments on the way - especially if he's raising money for a good cause. Howard Dover, an L.A.-based comic, and others will be performing at next Saturday's Medical Marijuana Extravaganza as part of the Just For Laughs festival, with part of the proceeds going to the Montreal Compassion Club, which provides marijuana for people with a doctor's prescription. Pot, according to the Compassion Club's Marc-Boris St-Maurice, can provide a lot of material.

"Marijuana prohibition makes the government look funny," St-Maurice says when asked what's so funny about marijuana, medical or otherwise. "And funny things can happen with the police, I suppose, especially when they have to release you because you have a medical exemption."

The show takes place at Le Swimming, (3643 St-Laurent) on Saturday, July 23, 9 p.m. $12. Tix are available at the door, online at www.admissions.com or at the Montreal Seed Bank (72 Rachel E.). If bought at the Seed Bank, $4 of each ticket will go to the Club. » Patrick Lejtenyi

Air Canada rat alert

After searching Trudeau airport for eight days, a Montreal couple were almost ready to give up the hunt for their elderly pet rat Mousie, two-and-a-half. Then they learned that Mousie had been found freely roaming around Toronto's Pearson airport, where their flight had stopped for 45 minutes. Airport workers captured it using humane traps after, says Mousie's owner Martin Lamontagne, indelicate baggage carriers busted a new cage.

"It's a miracle," says Lamontagne, who was returning to Montreal after living in Vancouver. Lamontagne also blames an Air Canada policy that restricts passengers to carrying small dogs, cats and rabbits in cabin while other pets travel in storage. "They tell us that a rat can get out and bite wires," says Lamontagne.

Air Canada media rep Isabelle Arthur says that there's no "immediate plans to change our policy. For every one that wants pets with them, there's many more that take exception to having pets in the cabins. People even complain about perfume on board, so we have to have policies that respond to a broad customer base." » Kristian Gravenor

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

14 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
July 25–Aug. 8, 1991

On the cover: Best of Montreal '91, in a "Special 2-Week Issue." Me, Mom & Morgentaler get the nod for Best Montreal Singer or Group, Best Local Album (Clown Heaven and Hell) and Best Local Show. Best Pick Up Line: "Screw me if I'm wrong, but aren't you Elvis?" Best Graffiti: "Glove-Moi." Top Tube Face: "Yvon Huneault (defected to the office of federal environment minister Jean Charest)." Worst Club Fad: Lambada.

• The Mirror describes the Public Safety Commission, the civilian overseers of the Montreal police force, as "toothless." "Basically, our role is limited to being the watchdog of the budget," says commission member Irving Adessky.

• Edward Cook is suing the Montreal police for $40,000 after an officer allegedly hit him in the testicles repeatedly following the July 1990 raid on the predominantly gay Sex Garage warehouse party.

• "God, I'd never live in Toronto," says Bobby Baker, guitarist for Kingston's Tragically Hip. "If you live in the Garden of Eden, why would you move to Babylon?" he jokes.

Angel >> Child porn bill critic Senator Serge Joyal The Liberal senator from Quebec is one of the few politicians to criticize the new child pornography bill currently making its way through the government machine. Joyal sits on a Senate committee that's studying Bill C-2, which would expand the definition of child pornography and squeeze the "artistic merit" defence. The bill would also require artists creating controversial works to prove their work is "legitimate" in order not to fall foul of the law. Joyal has been a rare critic of this latest attempt to impose more limits on freedom of expression.
Insect >> Politicized law enforcement The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently learned that the FBI has amassed an awful lot of information on them and other civil rights and anti-war groups. In a Justice Department filing this month in Washington, it was revealed that the FBI gathered at least 3,500 pages of internal documents on the outspokenly anti-war and anti-Bush ACLU and Greenpeace. The ACLU contends it is an attempt to stifle opposition to the current administration and the Iraq war, and suggests a pattern of repeated political surveillance against dissenters. In other news, the U.S. Congress is currently debating how best to renew and perhaps expand the Patriot Act, which gave sweeping new powers to law enforcement after 9/11.