VIVE LE FLEUR DE WEED! The Beaupré family enjoy prime seats on Sunday as the St-Jean parade passes in front of their home on Sherbrooke E. Eight people were arrested at Sunday’s party at Parc Maisonneuve, six for public drunkenness. The weekend festivities were declared a success by organizers, who nevertheless demanded more government money for next year’s celebrations. PHOTO BY RACHEL GRANOFSKY

Quote of the week

“Our water is second to none. We’re very lucky here in Toronto.” — Patrick Newland, director of Toronto’s water treatment and supply, who’s thrilled that TO’s tap water has no taste, as was determined at a test sponsored by the American Water Works Association’s annual conference

Rail war

For most Canadians, July 1 is a day for barbecues, beer and fireworks. Many of Canada’s aboriginal peoples, however, aren’t in such a celebratory mood. This Sunday, July 1, a coalition of local activists take aim at Canadian National Railway, whom they accuse of occupying native land and persecuting native protesters.

The protesters are demanding that CN drop a lawsuit filed against Mohawks in Tyendinaga, Ontario, who blocked the Montreal-Toronto railway for a day in April. As part of that action, CN is trying to get a court order banning any future blockades of the rails (a blockade will be erected on the Montreal-Toronto line and the 401 on Friday, June 29, say protesters in eastern Ontario). They will also denounce CN president and CEO E. Hunter Harrison’s alleged ties to the “Security and Prosperity Partnership” between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, which they say is an extension of NAFTA and harmful to aboriginals.

“It’s essentially NAFTA on crack, with a dose of homeland security paranoia added in,” says No One is Illegal member and co-organizer Jaggi Singh.

Picketers are asked to gather at Montreal’s Central Station (895 de la Gauchetière W., metro Bonaventure) at 1 p.m., under the large departures/arrivals sign in the main lobby. For info, call (514) 848-7583.

by Christopher Hazou

Aboriginal action

Just in case you didn’t know, and you probably didn’t, this Friday, June 29 marks A National Day of Action. Organizers are calling it “an opportunity for First Nations and Canadians to stand together in a spirit of unity to support a better life for all First Nations peoples.”

Here in Montreal, the occasion is being marked by a noon march originating at the corner of Parc and Sherbrooke that will work its way up to Mount Royal Park, where a series of speakers will, according to march spokesperson Irkar Beljaars, “be talking about the different causes of aboriginal poverty, our suicide rates, the loss of our culture and the state of our health.

“It will be a sombre affair, yes,” says Beljaars, “but we want all Canadians to understand that this is a situation the government has constantly ignored. We demand some justice, we want better equality. We chose not to do a blockade because we don’t want to annoy anybody, but we do want people to recognize how serious these problems are and that we need to deal with them. We need to deal with them now!”

For more information, contact Irkar1@gmail.com.

by Chris Barry

Housing crunched

It’s probably best to stay off the roads on Sunday, July 1. Unofficially Quebec’s moving day, thousands of households will be changing their addresses and blocking all avenues of transportation. But at least 58 households in Montreal won’t, says François Saillant, spokesperson for community housing organization FRAPRU. Based on the number of calls logged at the city’s emergency hotline, there continues to be a lack of affordable and available housing in the city, and indeed the province, where an additional 77 households may very well wind up on the streets.

“These are households in serious difficulty,” says Saillant. “They have to receive aid, and the provincial government hasn’t announced anything.” He calls recent budgetary pledges to social housing “absolutely deplorable.”

And while he does note that the number of people left homeless on July 1 has dropped dramatically over the past few years, he says there are still far too many people who are living in homes that are unsanitary, temporary lodgings.

Saillant says FRAPRU isn’t planning any mass demonstrations for this weekend, but there will be events in the fall and in the spring to coincide with Quebec’s 400th anniversary.

Tenants can call the city’s emergency line at (514) 868-4002.

by Patrick Lejtenyi

Social forum needs art

Any experienced social activist will tell you that if you truly want to bring your message to the masses and get them to rally for a specific cause, the most effective method of stimulating collective social consciousness is to provide good entertainment with your manifesto. It’s no secret that a greater number of people will listen to Bono preach about social injustice than some boring political scientist. Likewise, artists and entertainers can attract newer, larger audiences by aligning themselves with specific causes, and also take pride in the knowledge that their artistic voice is a vehicle for social change.

If you’re a Montreal performing artist with a social conscience in search of a bigger, like-minded audience, you’re in luck. The first-ever Forum Social Québécois (FSQ)—four days of social activism, conferences and cultural events, which takes place from August 23–26 at various locations around UQÀM and Berri Square—is searching for artists of all kinds to participate.

“We are putting artists in a position where they must think about the role of the artist in society,” says FSQ spokesperson Raphaël Canet. “Important links are being built between activists, artists and the general public.”

For more information: www.forumsocialquebec.org.

by Steve Zylbergold

Rear-view mirror

16 years ago - June 27–July 4, 1991

On the cover: Ex-Police guitarist Andy Summers, playing at the Jazz Fest. “Jazz is where I started,” he says. “I’ve always been, in quotes, a serious musician.”

• With a quarter of the city’s population either unemployed or on welfare, poverty-fighting measures are becoming overwhelmed. “[Homeless shelter] Dernier Recours was originally meant as a referral shelter,” says city executive council member John Gardiner. “It has turned into a flophouse.”

• The Rocketeer is described as “a cheap version of Dick Tracy without the flamboyance and colour.”

• Despite good critical reviews, the Asexuals’ third album, Dish, is leaving some old fans cold. “It confused them, and it’s not a good idea to confuse your audience,” says singer-guitarist Sean Friesen. “But we had to go forward. We’re in our mid-20s and we’re not going to play hardcore for the next 10 years.”

• Letter-writer Ross MacIver takes issue with a recent Mirror story about women’s health care. “The number of unsubstantiated comments in this shoddy piece of ‘journalism’ invites derision rather than honest dialogue.”

Angel >> SaveNetRadio Coalition Chances are, if you tuned in to your favourite Internet radio station on Tuesday, you heard a whole lot of nothing. That’s because hundreds of stations have decided to participate in a “day of silence” to protest new U.S. legislation that would enormously increase royalty fees for songs broadcast. Worse, the increase would be retroactive to January 1, 2006, which would effectively and immediately put thousands of small broadcasters out of business. But far from rewarding artists or listeners, the measure is another gambit by a flailing music industry desperate to maintain some control long lost to advances in technology. The legislation is set to pass July 15.

Insect >>Visual pollution According to Le Devoir, the downtown Ville-Marie borough is contemplating changing the city charter to allow the erection of a large electronic billboard at Ste-Catherine and McGill College. If successfully passed at the municipal and provincial levels, Montrealers could have neon lights burning holes in their eyes next year. The billboard would generate an estimated $200,000 a year for the borough, but critics say the plan is both irritating, as it contributes to more visual pollution, and potentially dangerous, as drivers may be distracted by it. The company behind the billboard is real estate developer Busac, which is also involved with UQÀM’s Îlot Voyageur boondoggle.