Quote of the week:

“You see, they blame us even though it’s a real zoo here.” —Carlos Rodriguez, a former official at Louis-Joseph-Papineau school in St-Michel, where teachers refused to work on Monday out of fear of student violence and gang members, in Tuesday’s La Presse.

FTAA gets carnies

Masked activists armed with musical instruments will take over downtown Montreal streets Nov. 4 to denounce the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Just as the Summit of the Americas rolls into Argentina this week, the so-called street carnival and critical mass will reappropriate public space, says Denis, a member of Non à la ZLÉA collective, who requested anonymity as the to-do is technically illegal.

“These streets are for people who go to work or for the circulation of merchandise,” he says. “We wanted to do something creative and artistic as a means of resistance [to capitalism].”

The street carnival will be fashioned, with support from local artists, after carnivals in Latin America. Denis says they want to use art as a tool of dissent to stray from typical anti-capitalist protests and use theatre, music and performance art to add colour to the demonstration. A two-wheeled contingency will open the street carnival with a critical mass, launching activists on bikes into downtown Montreal rush hour traffic.

Anti-FTAA carnies will hit Dorchester Square (Peel metro) on Friday, Nov. 4 at 4 p.m. —Tracey Lindeman

Intersex info

Next Tuesday, Nov. 8, is the International Intersex Day of Solidarity, so hug your favourite hermaphrodite and learn a little. Joëlle-Circé Laramée, the Canadian spokesperson for Organisation Intersex International, a global advocacy group for the intersexed, says there are too many misconceptions surrounding what it means to be intersexed and Western society’s way of dealing with it—meaning addressing it primarily as a medical issue—is off base.

“Being intersexed is not life-threatening or unhealthy,” she says. “But intersexed people are not given a voice, so we want to give them a forum to express themselves.” For example, Laramée says she would like to see options of choosing male, female or other on legal documents.

Laramée acknowledges that there is a lot of confusion surrounding the definition of being born intersexed. According to her, it runs the gamut from being born with one gender’s features but with the other gender’s chromosomes to being born with atypical genitals. In all, she says, there are more than 75 different kinds of intersex conditions that have been identified.

For more info, see www.intersexualite.org. —Patrick Lejtenyi

Cop cars revamp

Montreal cops are known for burning rubber in vroom-alicious, souped-up Crown Victorias and Impalas, but these days, even they claim to aim for environmentalism. The force recently pulled the plug on the notion of buying any more of the SUVs that they had been purchasing.

“They’re hogs,” says Jean-Louis Longpré, a 30-year police vet who runs the police fleet. “They consume too much gas. We want to help save the planet.”

Alas, cops don’t love the planet enough to totally embrace enviro-friendly electric vehicles. “So far we haven’t found one powerful enough,” says Longpré. “Hybrids are temping. We have one and next year we’ll get up to four others.”

As well as becoming more green, MUCPD cars will also be getting more sneaky. As of January 1, 65 cars will be tasked with giving out tickets for driving offences. Many of them will be low-profile, meaning sirens will be stealthily concealed in windows rather than on the roof. The cars will also be equipped with automatic machines that will print tickets more easily and quickly. —Kristian Gravenor

Eventide eyed

Beside the Parmalat factory on St-Jacques in NDG is an abandoned building with a large, overgrown terrain in the back. The property, known as the Eventide site, is Parmalat-owned but coveted by Montreal Urban Community Sustainment (MUCS), a McGill-based sustainable development organization that wants the site to create a co-operative complex containing affordable housing, businesses and a community centre.

The project’s cost is estimated at $18-million, but the group is confident it can raise the money with federal support.

If MUCS doesn’t obtain Eventide from Parmalat, it will continue looking for suitable spots in NDG.

“It’s a long-term project we’re working on,” says MUCS founder Spencer Mann. “We’re not going to start digging the foundations tomorrow.”

On Nov. 5, MUCS is throwing a charrette—a kind of brainstorming bonanza—for the project’s stakeholders, from engineering firms to possible future residents. Those interested in participating should contact MUCS at 398-1829, or visit www.mucs.ca. —Marc Apollonio

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

17 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Nov. 4–Nov. 17, 1988

On the cover: Saskatoon’s Wayne Hronek, a.k.a. Cirque du Soleil clown Benny Le Grand, who explains his act to Walter Krajewski. “I have to run counterpoint to all the magic of the show. My anarchy to their poetry. I’m no stereotype of a cutsie clown.”

• David Smith, who was arrested for not paying $12,529 in parking tickets on Sept. 30, writes a letter from debtor’s prison. After being picked up by police, according to Smith, “The real kicker came once I arrived at this ancient, gothic incarceration centre on the north end of the island of Montreal [Bordeaux] and was told that I was to be imprisoned for—get this—844 days!! No hearing, no lawyer, just wham bam slam the door, see you in 2 1/2 years.”

• “Lead ‘throat’ Nivek Ogre paces/prances around the stage covered in fake blood singing (it’s more like a heavily processed choking sound with discernable words) to skulls while a variety of horrific theatrical experiences befall him,” writes David Oancia of a typical Skinny Puppy show.

Angel >> Allan Cutler With the release of the first Gomery report on Tuesday, Nov. 1 came the vindication of the milquetoastish mid-level bureaucrat who was the first to sound alarm bells nine years ago. Allan Cutler, a procurer in the federal Public Works department, first reported feeling squeamish about signing off on suspicious advertising contracts in 1996. A day after complaining to a union official about feeling compromised, he was brought before Chuck Guité, the bureaucrat who ran the program, and was told his services were no longer needed. Cutler was eventually reassigned, but complained that his reputation was seriously tainted. On Tuesday he said he felt validated.
Insect >> Baseless CSIS promises For years, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has been assuaging worried federal bureaucrats that heavens, no, they wouldn’t dream of using information from foreign agencies that may have been procured under torture. Problem is, according to the Security Intelligence Review Committee, an independent CSIS watchdog established by Parliament, under its intelligence-sharing agreements with hundreds of foreign agencies, CSIS has no way of knowing whether the information they used was obtained through torture or whether information they supply will lead to it. It’s thought that Maher Arar and three other Muslim Canadians were tortured in Syria based on information supplied by CSIS.