Quote of the week:

“With all the problems they’ve had, I thought the Liberal party needed a little visibility.” — “Joe Blow,” an anonymous Canadian cybersquatter who created www.blocquebecois.com, which directs visitors to the federal Liberal party’s site.

Biometric ethics

Say you’re merrily cruising up Ste-Catherine and decide to stop at one of the department stores along the strip. You walk in and a salesperson steps up, acknowledges you by name and somehow seems to know all the recent purchases you’ve made, offering, perhaps, to sell you some lube to complement that copy of Teen People you just bought in the metro.

Sound creepy? Vaguely Orwellian? Well, it is, and it’s the sort of situation you might soon find yourself in as the technology of biometrics continues to win support among the powers-that-be in business and government. Biometrics, simply put, is a surveillance technology which allows a camera to scan an individual’s face and provide a positive identification of them from there.

“The privacy and ethical issues raised by the increasing implementation of biometrics are enormous,” says Pierre-Louis Fortin-Legris, communications director for la Ligue des droits et libertés, a Quebec-based civil liberties group. To raise awareness of these issues, the organization will be holding an information session this Tuesday, May 16, at Café Rico (969 Rachel E., 7 p.m.). —Chris Barry

Dine with a refugee

When Canadian authorities decided early this year to deport Abdelkader Belaouni, the Algerian refugee fled to the sanctuary of St. Gabriel’s Church in Pointe St-Charles in the hope of avoiding return to his native country, where he says he would be in danger.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada rejected Belaouni’s application partly because he was unemployed when his case was reviewed, causing some surprise among people who appreciated it was no cakewalk for a blind refugee to find steady employment in Quebec. But supporters of Belaouni have “high expectations” that a new application for residency on compassionate grounds may be accepted, says Bronwen Agnew, a member of a group fighting to keep Belaouni in Canada.

Montrealers will have a chance to meet the spirited refugee on Saturday, May 13, when St. Gabriel’s will open its doors for a supper with Belaouni. On hand will be the church’s pastor, Father Jim MacDonald, who asks that Belaouni be treated compassionately. “We’re trying to muster community support,” says Agnew.

Dinner at 5 p.m., 2157 Centre, Charlevoix metro. See www.soutienpourkader.net for more info. —Samer Elatrash

Sugarcane servitude

Members of Montreal’s Haitian community are throwing a benefit dinner to improve the lives of the estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Haitian families who live and toil in the Dominican Republic.

For Haitians fleeing poverty and civil unrest at home, the destination is a harsh alternative, with most of the exiles finding work on sugarcane plantations. Figures provided by the Montreal-based Haitian-rights group show the average annual income on one plantation was $152 (CDN) per person.

“Even Haitian children who are born there are not given Dominican citizenship, yet according to the law, every child born in the Republic should be a Dominican,” says Didier K. Muamba, the group’s project manager.

There have been some slight improvements over the years: the Comité was instrumental in creating unions for the Haitian sugarcane workers in 1990.

To help the group, as well as enjoying an evening of film, guest speakers and Creole cuisine, head to the benefit dinner, on Friday, May 12, 1601 de Lorimier (7 p.m., $20). For information, call 523-2434. —Marc Apollonio

Cancer roots

Every week, breast cancer kills more than 100 Canadians, while hundreds more discover they have the disease.

“Everybody knows somebody affected by cancer,” says Erica Ruth Kelly, a Montreal folk singer. Kelly, whose father survived cancer, is organizing a series of concerts this month to fundraise for Breast Cancer Action Montreal. The “Anti-Oxidant Series” will also highlight links between pollution and breast cancer.

“There are certain companies that donate money to breast cancer prevention, but they make products that contribute to breast cancer,” says Kelly.

Breast Action Montreal is one of several cancer prevention groups that refuses funds from pharmaceutical companies and other industries whose products may contain carcinogens.

The first concert, featuring Kelly and other artists, will take place at Zeke’s Gallery (3955 St-Laurent, 7:30 p.m., $5–$10.) on Monday, May 15. CDs of Fighting the Good Fight, a compilation of music donated by Montreal musicians for the campaign, will be on sale for $5. For more info see www.purevolume.com/ericaruthkelly. —Samer Elatrash

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

11 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
May 11–May 17, 1995

On the cover: Kronos Quartet, whose David Harrington reveals his first musical experience. “My family used to watch the Lawrence Welk Show every Saturday night. There was a violinist on there, and it was hearing that guy play a solo every week that got me interested in the violin.”

• The biggest polluter in the country is, coincidentally, called Kronos Canada Inc., in Varennes. Residents seem resigned to the titanium dioxide manufacturer’s presence. “I tend to believe that when people have to choose between the environment and work, they’ll take the money,” says one.

• After severe cutbacks to staff and programs, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’s $3-million show Moving Beauty, feauturing 49 rare cars, comes at “what may be the worst possible moment,” writes Henry Lehmann.

• “Beantown is a mean town,” Josh Bezonsky writes in a Cheers-reference-laden column about a trip to Boston. “The biggest cheers my friend Ryan and I received were from a couple of chowderheads who yelled ‘fucking faggots’ at us.’”

Angel >> La Presse’s Pour un Montréal qui marche! campaign On Monday, May 8, La Presse threw down the gauntlet in a wide-reaching challenge to make Montreal the most pedestrian and public-transportation-friendly city in North America. Among some suggestions were closing Ste-Catherine to traffic, extending bike paths by 800 kilometres and creating bus-only lanes on major arteries and bridges. The goal, says the campaign’s strategic committee, is making Montrealers less willing to use single-occupant cars to get around town and to give public space back to pedestrians. The paper is also inviting suggestions from the public. E-mail them to forum@lapresse.ca.
Insect >> The St-Michel Wal-Mart The old Francon Quarry, west of Pie-IX and north of Jarry, is one massive piece of real estate, and Wal-Mart is looking to dump its latest mega-store right in it. Problem is, residents of St-Michel, one of the most densely-populated areas on the island, are worried about what its arrival may wreak, especially on local businesses. They say that the revitalization of Jarry’s commercial strip would suffer, and think that the space—some four million square feet—can be used for a better purpose than yet another massive box store. The city is expected to agree in principle to the sale to a Toronto developer next month.