Quote of the week:

"Atrocities happen in our world every day. Films like Karla can look at why and how it happens." - World Film Festival director Serge Losique, on the controversial Karla Homolka biopic, to be premiered at the festival.

Tax hikes and tenants

News that the city may be hiking property taxes on undivided properties - duplexes and triplexes - is guaranteed to anger low-income housing advocates across the city. Montreal's valuation department currently taxes undivided property less than condominiums, known as divided properties, which has been one brake on conversions. But if landlords lose that advantage, tenants' rights groups fear that tenants will be either stuck with the tax bill or see their building go condo.

"It's a very technical issue, but basically, tax increases are split evenly between a building's units," says Karina Montambeault, with Projet d'Organisation Populaire d'Information et de Regroupement (POPIR), a southwest Montreal low-income tenants' group. "In bigger buildings, tax increases are divided between many tenants, but just imagine the impact of a big tax increase on tenants in a duplex or triplex."

With the dog days of summer setting in, Montambeault says there are not any plans to seriously counter the city's as-yet-undecided move. But, as part of housing umbrella group FRAPRU, she says, "We will evaluate this in detail and if necessary apply political pressure." » Patrick Lejtenyi

Help for the shy

Victims of social anxiety suffer from an inability to open up. The Université de Montréal's social anxiety clinic has similar problems.

Dr. Ariel Stravynski's clinic for the extremely shy has been slated to reopen on various dates since the spring, but they now promise to be reopening in August. The typical social anxiety sufferer "hesitates in attending all kinds of social gatherings for fear that their discomfort would be seen by others - for example, shaking while holding a glass, or being incoherent," says Stravynski. "It's a major handicap for them."

The first step is to admit the affliction. "We make people admit that they have social anxiety without seeking to explain, justify or arouse sympathy," he says. "We teach them that if somebody tells you you're blushing, you say, ‘Yes, that's true.' They're quite surprised at how many respond with concern and sympathy."

Stravynski's gang has transformed many wallflowers into extroverts. "We're happy that we remove the handicap because it's like they're walking around with a chain around their leg," he says.

To reach the soon-to-reopen clinic, leave a message at 251-4015 ext. 2347. » Kristian Gravenor

Queer cuttings

Project 10, a local non-profit group servicing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth between ages 15 and 24, will be joining the Divers/Cité community shindig on Saturday to raise some dough for their annual summer camp retreat. The bonus for the shaggy, the unfashionable or the overheated: they're cutting, trimming and styling hair to do it.

The Queer Coupe event, which will take place in Place Émile-Gamelin (Berri Square) on Saturday, July 30, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., has recruited stylists from Coupe Bizarre, Tonic and others for the day. Also offered will be face-painting and chair massages.

"Just look for the big sign that says ‘Queer Coupe' and a pair of giant, glitter-filled scissors," says Project 10's Sarah Blumel.

She also credits Divers/Cité organizers for letting them use their space, "and they haven't asked for a cut [of the money raised], which is really great considering they've had funding problems."

Blumel says Project 10 hopes to raise at least "a few thousand dollars." Haircuts are $20, massages $5 to $10, and they ask for donations for face painting. » Patrick Lejtenyi

Amnesty rhythms

Social and environmental justice are causes close to the heart of Kristin Kopra, one half of the new local non-profit group Rhythmic Earth Stewards, and so is music. Therefore, combining the two is a good way to officially kick off their organization's fundraising career.

On September 17, they'll be hosting the local launch party for Amnesty International's Voices Rising CD, a compilation by artists under age 30. This will be their first ever event, so they're looking for help.

"This is going to be a Canada-wide CD launch, and we're handling the Montreal one," says Kopra. "So it gives us the chance to get our feet wet with some of the organizational aspects."

They already have two bands playing the show, but are looking for "three or four others," she says. "We'd also like volunteers to help out with taking donations and manning the information booths."

Rhythmic Earth Stewards plan to concentrate mostly on helping fight industrial pollution, so anyone interested in helping out or with an ecological axe to grind can contact them at rhythmicearthstewards@yahoo.ca. » Patrick Lejtenyi

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

16 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
July 14–August 3, 1989

On the cover: Ottawa-born Spy magazine editor E. Graydon Carter, in town for a Just for Laughs lecture on satire, explains the thinking behind his celebrity muckraking publication to Brendan Weston. "Spy's definition of satire is journalism which is wry and funny. We're not objective, we're subjective.... Sound journalistically, and funny."

• Ecology groups have matured, but now face problems like corporate endorsements and management. "You have all the inconveniences of a regular job, but none of the advantages," says one ex-Greenpeace canvasser.

• Queens-based Hasidic rap 'n' rock band Black Shabbos come to Just for Laughs for the BeatleZania! show. "The basic premise of the event is to show how the Beatles ripped everybody [including us] off," says bassist Shlomo E. "Our ‘Schul on the Hill' became their ‘Fool on the Hill,' and ‘Come to Grandma' became ‘Come Together.'"

• Playing at Just for Laughs' Best of the B's film fest: Glen or Glenda; Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers; Plan 9 From Outer Space; The Thrill Killers; and Head, starring the Monkees.

Angel >> Brazil The South American giant's battle to halt the spread of AIDS is considered one of the more successful on the planet, thanks to its practical, pragmatic approach. By distributing condoms and needles to addicts and prostitutes, it has managed to keep the number of HIV/AIDS sufferers steady, at around 600,000, out of a population of 180 million. But the U.S. government is insisting that Brazil give up its entirely sane approach for one preaching abstinence, fidelity and limited condom use, and officially condemn prostitution, or forego $40-million in U.S. assistance. The head of Brazil's AIDS program says abandoning their policies would create a "slaughter," and that he would "not allow theological belief or dogma to interfere" with successful science-based prevention.
Insect >> E-frisking In a bid to combat software piracy, Microsoft will, as of this week, require that everyone coming to its Web site for free downloads and upgrades submit their computers to a thorough going-over to check for pirated software. If found, the site will prevent any upgrade. Microsoft estimates some 100 million PCs have some sort of pirated software, costing them billions annually. But privacy advocates worry that the amount of information Bill Gates's behemoth will gather with each scan is unnecessary, particularly as it monitors the flow of data between the operating system and hardware such as printers or scanners. It's also unclear how long Microsoft will hold on to the data it collects.