Quote of the week:

“After what I’ve been through, I’m never getting in a plane again.” —Ten-year-old Sammy Berenholc, a passenger on the Cessna that landed on Parc Avenue Sunday afternoon, in Monday’s Gazette. Sunday’s was his first trip in an airplane. Another Cessna crashed on a street in St-Hubert on Tuesday

Cats, others at risk

News that a possible cat killer may be roaming the streets of Montreal is almost guaranteed to put pet owners on edge, and they won’t be resting any easier with Bill S-213, the federal Conservatives’ animal cruelty bill.

Animal rights groups, in particular the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, are more than unhappy with the new bill, particularly because S-213 doesn’t address brutal or vicious killing of animals. They’re also dismayed that the words “willful neglect” are included in the bill, which they say is almost impossible to prove in court. The federal Liberal animal cruelty bill, C-50, didn’t have these loopholes, they say.

But C-50, approved four times by the House, always died in the Senate, says Andrew Plumbly of local animal rights’ group Global Action Network. As for S-213, he says, it’s “much weaker. It’s less of a bill, much less complex, nowhere near as good.”

Meanwhile, Montreal’s SPCA is warning about the potential cat killer, who approaches pet stores and organizations offering to adopt cats. He is described as white, tall, muscular, in his early to mid-20s and named Scott. —Patrick Lejtenyi

Water works

The Festival Écolo de Montréal kicks off again this Friday afternoon at Laurier Park, this time looking at the issue of water. Organizer Daniel Bouchard says that while much has been made of the improved water quality around the island, a lot more work needs to be done.

“A city report said that 50 per cent of the water around the island of Montreal isn’t safe for swimming,” he says (he’s avoiding the swimming pool issue for now). He blames at least part of that on the city being so built up that waste water doesn’t always flow into the sewer system and winds up going directly into the St. Lawrence. He also has issues with Montreal’s water treatment plants, which he and a group of festival-goers can see first-hand when they visit one on Friday afternoon.

In the meantime, there will be music, movies and family-friendly activities in the park running from 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, as well as a discussion on water privatization.

For more information, visit www. festivalecolo.com. —Patrick Lejtenyi

Beauty’s ugly side

Parabens, phthalates, benzyl violet: ever heard of any of these things?

Probably not, but these are just a few of the toxic chemicals commonly found in cosmetics, and which have been linked to breast cancer and hormone disruption. “We demand that manufacturers stop using chemicals that damage the environment and make us sick”, says Jane Shulman, special projects coordinator for Breast Cancer Action Montreal. “We understand very well that it’s consumers who’ll ultimately effect change and the time to do it is now.”

Working towards this end, as part of BCAM’s fifth annual Prevention Is the Cure March this Saturday, Sept. 16, at 2 p.m., the public is being encouraged to bring their chemical-ridden personal care products to the march’s departure site at Place Norman Bethune (corner Guy and de Maisonneuve) and ceremonially throw them into BCAM’s Toxic Dump.

“We want people to bring their shampoo, nail polish, mascara, toothpaste, hairspray—anything you put on your body, basically—and throw it all on in there,” says Shulman. “It’s all about stopping breast cancer before it starts.” See www.bcam.qc.ca for more info. —Chris Barry

Farha walks again

The 14th annual Walk of Life, a seven-kilometre trek through downtown to raise funds for AIDS prevention and treatment, will take place on Sunday, Sept. 17. The event, which is organized by the Farha Foundation and attracts more than 50 organizations, raises funds for groups in Quebec that provide care for AIDS victims and AIDS prevention services.

“The disease is still around and the numbers are rising, and not only in what’s considered high risk groups,” says FARHA Foundation spokesman Louis-Michel Taillefer. “There’s been an increase among youth aged between 15 and 25.”

One of the organizations that will be marching in the event is community group Head and Hands, which has been holding sex education workshops for students after provincial reforms cut back compulsory sex ed in high schools. The group hopes the march will raise $20,000 to help fund its workshops, says organizer Leah Dolgoy.

People will gather at 9 a.m. at Place du Canada, corner of Peel and René-Lévesque. If you can’t attend the march but would like to donate, direct browsers to www.farha.qc.ca/en/html/faitesundon.html. —Samer Elatrash

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

10 YEARS AGO
Sept. 12–18, 1996

On the cover: Heritage activist Dinu Bumbaru, outside the Rialto, as the Mirror offers a guide to old endangered Montreal buildings. Among them: the York Theatre, the Rialto, the Montreal Hunt Club, Jean-Talon Station and Silo No. 5.

• Patrons at Bifteck got involved in a confrontation with police after the cops arrested Marco Pompeo and allegedly punched him in the head and kicked him in the testicles. Witnesses (including Mirror editor-at-large Alastair Sutherland) say over 20 police cars were involved, and that police were unnecessarily aggressive.

• “We try to be sex-positive in an apocalyptic, moralistic time,” says Jon Ginoli, guitarist for queer punk group Pansy Division. “All our lives—especially in America—we’ve been told that gay people will go to hell, that we’ll never be happy. We show that’s not true.”

• There are fewer parties at the 1996 Toronto International Film Festival, “and what parties there are have been scaled back,” writes Matthew Hays. He did note that the booze supply hadn’t been affected.

Angel >> More buses Bus drivers were handing out pamphlets to passengers earlier this week urging them to complain to the proper authorities about extended waiting times. The problem, the drivers’ union says, is the lack of buses. An extra 100 to 120 a day are needed on Montreal’s streets to keep up with demand. Because of the shortfall, 100,000 people a day are kept waiting for a bus, and when one does show up, it’s often packed. There’s no doubt that more buses are needed, especially outside peak hours: busy routes like the 24 and 55 only have buses coming once every 20 minutes after 7 p.m.
Insect >> The Pope Ontario bishops visiting the Vatican last Friday got an earful from crusty old Benedict XVI. Canada, the pontiff told them, was simply rotten with tolerance, and, in the name of “ephemeral social trends and the spurious demands of opinion polls,” we lost our God-fearing ways by letting homosexuals marry and women keep control of their bodies. Earlier in the year, the Pope told bishops from the Maritimes that Canada was suffering from an excess of secularism, citing our plummeting birth rate as proof. The current pope’s always been old-school, but his crotchety “In my day”-style sermonizing is further proof he’s out of touch with reality.