GREEN DAYS ARE HERE: An estimated 10,000 Montrealers took to the streets on Sunday, April 22, for an Earth Day march to support the Kyoto Accord. The federal Conservative government has been decidedly tepid on the Accord, saying Canada would have to spend itself into a recession in order to meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements. Photo by Rachel Granofsky

Quote of the week

“However bendy the contortionists, however bouncy the acrobats, they always appear too buffed, coiffed and airbrushed to seem real. On top of that, the accompanying muzak is always so dire.” –The Guardian’s art blogger Judith Mackrell, on the Cirque du Soleil

Darfur day take three

It took four years and 400,000 dead before the United Nations pressured Sudan into accepting a deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, where government-backed militias wage an ethnic cleansing campaign against the region’s Fur people. The ever-fickle Sudanese government says it will accept a force of 3,000 UN troops—well short of the 20,000 troops recommended by the UN—that would reinforce a contingent of African Union soldiers already in Darfur, but the force won’t be deployed for some months.

“People on the ground say the situation is getting worse and the refugee camps are full. Refugees are being turned away,” say Tara Tavender, the executive director of Save Darfur Canada, a national coalition of Darfur advocacy groups. Tavender says the UN has been unable to exert enough pressure on Sudan to end the ethnic cleansing, and the Sudanese government has a record of backing down from agreements with the UN.

On April 29, Save Darfur Canada will hold rallies across Canada to mark the third annual Global Day for Darfur. In Montreal, a concert and a rally will be held in Berri Square (corner Ste-Catherine and Berri), from 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

“Canada has to take a leadership role on the issue,” say Tavender. “They should send more humanitarian aid and diplomatic aid.”

by Samer Elatrash

Douglas movie nights

Once again this year, every Wednesday throughout the month of May, the Douglas Hospital will be presenting their Mental Health Movie Nights. This year’s series, Frames of Mind, will provide cinemagoers intimate perspectives on living with such mental illnesses as schizophrenia, eating disorders, depression and Alzheimer’s. And it’s the best deal in town: admission is free and on hand for every screening will be Douglas mental health experts to answer questions on the particular mental illness highlighted in that evening’s film.

“People are really interested in mental illness,” says Douglas spokesperson Catherine Dion. “The public really likes this type of evening, where nobody is being judged, and where people can not only learn from both the films and our experts, but share their own experiences as well. One of our major objectives is to de-stigmatize mental illness, and the Frames of Mind movie series provides a perfect opportunity to discuss these issues in a comfortable environment.”

Said environment is located at the Douglas Hall (6875 LaSalle) in Verdun with the series’ first screening, Out of the Shadow, focusing on schizophrenia, going down at 7 p.m. next Wednesday, May 2.

For more information, go to www.douglas.qc.ca.

by Chris Barry

Social forum ici

Montreal has got to be the most socially conscious place in the universe. It seems as if every week there’s another demonstration being organized to protest some specific social evil. Many of us would like to join the party and voice our concerns, but there are just too many issues, and if our time is limited we must decide, for example, if animal rights are more important than eliminating homelessness. Thankfully we have the first ever Forum social Québécois (FSQ), a four-day mega-forum devoted to social activism across a broad spectrum of issues from social housing to the environment.

On Thursday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m., the FSQ is hosting a night of fun at la Tulipe (4350 Papineau), $12 in advance, $15 at the door, presenting the music of DJs Kobal, Naej, Naes and live performances by Kalmunity, les Zapartistes and Paul Cargnello and more. Ticket sales will support FSQ 2007, from August 23–26 featuring conferences, socially conscious music, film screenings and poetry readings.

“It’s about educating people and giving them an opportunity to become active,” says FSQ spokesperson Raphaël Canet. “Hopefully, this will become a yearly event.”

For more information: www.forumsocialquebec.org.

by Steve Zylbergold

This mag can threaten

Artistic expression can be an important reference point in understanding the social trends and political developments of the day. With that in mind, a group of independent artists and activists are launching Art Threat magazine, an innovative publication to spread the word and work of some of the city’s political artists.

Art Threat is the newest project from the ever-evolving überculture collective, which hopes to highlight political artists and their work through a regular magazine format and online publication that “supports the creation of critical culture and strives to inspire people to action,” says project editor Rob Maguire.

On Sunday, April 29, überculture will launch Art Threat’s online front while celebrating their fourth anniversary at the Divan Orange (4234 St-Laurent), 8:30 p.m. with live performances from Norman Nawrocki and Iraqi-born MC the Narcycist.

“This magazine aims to project artists who engage with the important political issues of our time,” says Maguire. “Art Threat fills an important publishing niche, as there is no major magazine publication that deals explicitly with socially engaged artists while exploring the growing discussion on the major impacts the arts have on the modern political landscape.”

by Stefan Christoff

Rear-view mirror

15 years ago - apr. 30–may 7, 1992

On the cover: Canadian filmmaker Bruce McDonald, whose Highway 61 is about to open. The story involves a barber who drives a woman and her dead brother, whom she’s stuffed with drugs, from Thunder Bay to New Orleans. After making two road movies—including 1989’s Roadkill, set in northern Ontario—he says, “I’ve done a north movie, a south movie, now I’ve got east and west to do. Maybe I’ll set my next one on the 401.”

• A photo shows the title page of the viciously anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion plastered on a phone booth near Bleury and President Kennedy. “Coincidentally,” reads the caption, “these fliers seem to be following the postering route used to announce a lecture by Gerry Gable, editor of Searchlight, a British anti-fascist magazine.”

• Despite Soundgarden’s explosive sound, soft-spoken bassist Ben Shepherd is “inaudible during most of [a] phone interview.”

• The Mirror travel supplement contains articles on murder in San Francisco, an introduction to Kuala Lumpur and the youth scene in the former East Berlin.

Angel >> David Halberstam With the mainstream press as emasculated as it is today, it’s worth remembering the late U.S. journalist David Halberstam, who died in a car crash on Monday, age 73. One of the first journalists to cover the Vietnam War for the New York Times, he was also one of the first to report that all was not well. His reporting highlighted South Vietnamese corruption and helplessness in the face of the Viet Cong, earning him scorn from President John F. Kennedy and a Pulitzer Prize in 1964. His 1972 book The Best and the Brightest documented the war’s origins and the dangers of following the advice of ideological whiz kids with “brilliant policies that defied common sense”—a book that, with some tweaking, could certainly be worth updating.

Insect >> Phantom bosses Just who was in charge of overseeing the de la Concorde overpass in Laval? The 35-year-old structure’s spectacular collapse on September 30, which killed five people, is the subject of an inquiry headed by former Quebec Premier Pierre-Marc Johnson, but testimony this week from two engineers who designed and built it led to even more mysteries. The witnesses said they couldn’t remember who was responsible for the building’s construction, or had never met him. But the testimonies lead to at least three possible explanations: either it’s a case of witness preparation that would make Alberto Gonzalez proud, of serious CYA (Cover Your Ass)-itis, or just another example of Quebec’s long and undistinguished history of roadwork management.