PRIDE ON A ROLL: Lola Banana, an entertainer who apparently is also sensitive to the heat, makes her way down René-Lévesque E. last Sunday afternoon as part of the Célébrations LGBTA parade. The daytime parade, the first since 2004, attracted an estimated 50,000 spectators. Not bad, considering this was organized without Divers/Cité, which announced in May it would no longer be involved with the parade. PHOTO BY RACHEL GRANOFSKY

Quote of the week

"It provides further evidence of how polarizing his legacy continues to be among Canadians.” —The Beaver publisher Deborah Morrison, on Pierre Trudeau, who topped her magazine’s online readers’ poll of the 10 Worst Canadians. Five of the 10 are Quebecers: the other four are Henry Morgentaler, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien and Céline Dion.

The anti-D/C

Sometimes, being queer in the city is not all about cruising, docking and spending. That’s according to organizers of Pervers/Cité, a radical collective that stands in contrast to the perceived over-commercialization of Divers/Cité. Pervers/Cité organizers are asking attendees to remember the political roots of Pride celebrations, and some of them have been cooking up infiltrations, interventions, parties and even a rousing game of Capture the Fag (meeting tonight, Aug. 2, corner of Mozart & Marconi at 7:30 p.m., rules to be explained on-site).

A couple of queer collectives made a call-out at this year’s Anarchist Bookfair for a radical, and collaborative, shakedown of Divers/Cité’s apolitical focus.

P/C has a busy week. Aside from infiltrating the parade last Sunday, a party organized by the Asspirates collective is slated for tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 3, at Zoobizarre (6388 St-Hubert). Sunday, Aug. 5, is SexQrtionApédale—a guided bicycle tour that P/C organizer Elisabeth Dion says will consist of a queer history lesson outside the Village, also pointing out “a bunch of sex spots in the city.”

There are a few workshops to check out and one serious intervention/workshop/performance about the AIDS crisis as well. See http://perverscite.blogspot.com for info.

by Lina Harper

Radicals need instruction

Calling all activists and otherwise righteous folk, QPIRG-McGill’s Radical Frosh needs a few hours of your precious time this fall, educating freshman on the ways of community activism.

Radical Frosh is an annual two-day program that will run on Sept. 1 and 2 this year, serving as a creative, politically progressive orientation to McGill and Montreal in general for approximately 200 new students. Through tours, workshops, concerts, panels, film screenings and workshops, community-minded freshman are introduced to social and political issues, movements and organizations in Montreal and at McGill.

“We need instructors who are capable of taking their subjects down to a level new students can understand, and aren’t going to try and make people feel dumb,” says coordinator Kiran Sunar. “We want to cover a wide array of subjects with this year’s Radical Frosh, but the most important thing is that the workshops have a local, ‘What I can do?’ aspect to them, giving students a way of moving beyond simple analysis and into action mode. We’re looking for people who have genuine solutions on what one individual can do to effect change.”

If you think you meet the requirements, e-mail Sunar at radfrosh@riseup.net.

by Chris Barry

Organic country life

There’s a different way of doing things in southern Europe, one that is both unfamiliar and tantalizingly celebrated by the dour inhabitants of the north. Time moves more slowly, and the good things in life—eating, drinking, conversing and sleeping—are given their proper attention. It’s something Benoît Girouard, the president of Quebec’s Union Biologique Paysanne, noticed and appreciated on a recent trip, and decided he wanted to try out here.

The fourth edition of the Fête Bio Paysanne, an outdoor, family-friendly celebration of the good life featuring all-organic food, beer and wine, unfolds at the Cirque du Soleil’s TOHU complex (2345 Jarry E.) next weekend, from Friday, Aug. 10 through to Sunday, Aug. 12. Girouard says it’s not only an opportunity for Montrealers to sample organic food from around the province, it’s also a great opportunity to buy it at bargain prices.

“Since you’re dealing directly with the agricultural producers, you’re cutting out the middle-man,” he says. But, he says, don’t expect pushy peasants aggressively hawking their wares. “There’s nothing there that will be based on pressure to buy.”

Along with fresh, non-genetically modified or pesticide-drenched food will be kids’ activities, circus performances, music and, for the weary, hammocks. For more info, see fetebiopaysanne.ca.

by Patrick Lejtenyi

Wash pets,
save lives

According to the Montreal SPCA, thanks to its foster program, now in its fourth consecutive year, fewer dogs and cats are being euthanized. The foster program, however, needs funds, to which end the SPCA will hold its annual dog-wash fundraiser on Sunday, Aug. 5, at the Mondou pet store location next to Henri-Bourassa metro (10315 Lajeunesse), from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Before that, we had to euthanize animals not ready for adoption, usually animals with medical problems,” says SPCA events coordinator Kira Schabram.

The SPCA covers the food and veterinary bills of the fostered critters, usually animals too young or sick for adoption, until they are ready for a new home. The summer months bring in more animals than the rest of the year, many of them pregnant cats and kittens, which the SPCA accommodates in a rented trailer in the parking lot.

Aside from information on its foster program, the SPCA will have dog groomers on hand at the fundraiser to wash and trim the pets, and is offering to install microchips in pets at almost half the price of standard veterinary rates. Call (514) 735-2711 or e-mail marieclaudemedia@videotron.ca for more information.

by Samer Elatrash

Rear-view mirror

14 years ago - aug. 5–12, 1993

On the cover: Voivod. Drummer Michel Langevin reveals that he looked to old sci-fi culture from the ’50s and ’60s to inspire their new album, The Outer Limits. “What we wanted to reach was the old feeling of strangeness, of seeing a flying saucer landing in your backyard, you know?”

• The caption below the page 7 photo of the first-ever Divers/Cité parade states that it was “an upbeat and noisy affair.” An estimated 5,000 attended.

• Al South interviews 39 Steps/Pillbox frontman (and future Mirror writer) Chris Barry about his upcoming projects, including the release of the Steps’s new CD, Neon Bible, and Pillbox opening for the Ramones in Montreal. The album had previously been packaged as a cassette with a “bizarre” black and white drawing on the cover. “At least the CD cover is in colour,” says Barry. “At least my name is spelled right.” (On the cassette, he’s “Cris Barry.”)

• Toronto “cultural crusader” Reg Hartt brings his Sex and Violence Cartoon Festival to Montreal.

Angel >> Green driving The Quebec government is considering a financial aid program to help commercial vehicle companies—including taxis, private, public and school buses and car-shares like Communauto—convert to hybrid. The five-year, $25-million plan would involve subsidies covering half the total cost of the vehicle and would start as early as this fall. With taxis in New York mandated to go all hybrid within five years, now is a good time to start catching up (of Montreal’s estimated 4,500 taxis, less than a half-dozen are hybrids). And it’s probably a good thing the province, rather than the feds, is handling this. Consumers and car dealers are complaining that there is still no application process to file for Ottawa’s promised rebates on fuel-efficient cars, introduced more than four months ago.

Insect >> Dirty pig farming The blue-green algae problem in the Eastern Townships’ lakes is getting worse every year, thanks to an ever-increasing amount of phosphates in the area’s watershed. Greenpeace is blaming Quebec’s exemption of pig farmers from any environmental legislation for worsening the crisis (the exemption expires in 2010), saying pig manure contains high levels of phosphates, which are also found in detergents and fertilizers. By turning a blind eye to the problem, the province is not only exacerbating the problem, but sending a smelly message to ecologically responsible farmers and citizens.