YOUNG “BUSINESSMEN” MARCH FOR ALL THINGS RIGHT WING: Last Friday, a group of suspiciously shaggy and long-haired “businessmen” marched through downtown Montreal chanting pro-privatization, pro-Mario-Dumont and pro-tuition-fee-hike slogans, and slamming the province’s universities as bastions of left-leaning, parasitic fools. That the marchers looked suspiciously like mischievous UQÀM students, who’ve been leading the recent protests against tuition hikes, may have been a coincidence. PHOTO BY RACHEL GRANOFSKY

Quote of the week

“His provocative attitude, his sniggering and his insults show that he’s deliberately malicious and clearly enjoys it.” —Justice Nicole Morneau, on Concordia killer Valery Fabrikant and why she’s tossing the case out of court, on Monday.

Reasonable protests

After traipsing about Quebec, and hearing enough xenophobic drivel to keep many Quebecers duly titillated, the Bouchard-Taylor commission on reasonable accommodation ran into its first protests this week courtesy of No One Is Illegal, a Montreal immigrant rights group that is calling fora boycott of the hearings.

“The very premise of the commission is racist,” says Mandeep Dhillon, a member of No One Is Illegal. In past hearings, the commission heard often strange testimonies from participants who mused that kosher foods artificially inflated food prices and that hijab-clad teachers exposed Catholic kids to the teachings of Mohammed.

“The premise of the hearings is that you need to prove that you actually belong in Quebec,” says Dhillon. “It’s understandable that some people felt compelled to do that, but we’ve heard a lot of frustration [from immigrants and minorities] who attended the hearings.

“The commission will reach predetermined conclusions,” she says, adding that after its forum in Côte-des-Neiges last week, the commission’s account of the hearing ignored the testimonies by a number of immigrants about the problems they faced.

Protesters will picket at 6 p.m. tonight, Thursday, Nov. 29, outside the hearings at the Palais des Congrès, corner of Viger and Bleury. A similar demo was held on Tuesday.

by Samer Elatrash

Grub grab

Charitably minded kleptomaniacs prick up your ears, the Comité des sans-emploi is going on a Commando Bouffe, or “food grab” this Tuesday, Dec. 4, to draw attention to the plight of low-income Quebecers.

About 15 would-be Robin Hoods will be “re-appropriating” food from a yet-to-be named location, and they’re asking the public to come out in support as they risk arrest. Whatever booty they get will be given to hungry Montrealers.

“There are almost 1,000 groups in Quebec who are distributing food to the needy, and we’re in a big economic boom,” says Comité spokesperson François Giguère. “We’ve developed a really big class of working poor, people who are working 35–45 hours a week and are still going to food banks.”

Ten years ago this week, during the first Commando Bouffe, more than 100 people were arrested following an attempt to liberate the Queen Elizabeth Hotel’s buffet.

“Montreal police are arrest-happy,” says Giguère. “We know that things can happen, but it won’t deter us.”

The culinary commandos will gather at 1710 Beaudry (metro Beaudry), at 11:30 a.m. For info, call (514) 306-7094 or e-mail cse.mtl.centre@gmail.com.

by Christopher Hazou

Sustainable citizenry

Have you ever thought that regardless of your complete lack of training in the field of urban planning, if the powers-that-be simply turned to you for ideas about efficient resource and waste management, we would have a much smoother-running and more environmentally friendly city?

If so, then good news. The Montreal Urban Ecology Centre (MUEC) is launching the Milton-Parc Sustainability Plan, a plan that takes into account the opinions and ideas of all community members.

The plan is the outgrowth of an extensive research study focused upon energy and water conservation, waste management and improved city transport, as well as the suggestions of ordinary citizens based upon the study’s findings. Some of its key elements are the empowerment of people through provision of workshops and information sessions and incorporating their feedback regarding these issues into future plans.

“Work at the neighbourhood level is fundamental to urban planning,” explains MUEC coordinator Luc Rabouin. “Now we’re implementing helpful changes, like creating community compost bins and giving priority to pedestrians and cyclists on certain streets during specific times of the day.”

For more info on the plan, see www.ecologieurbaine.net.

by Steve Zylbergold

Green Christmas

With the Christmas holiday shopping season shifting into high gear, environmentally conscious consumers might well be finding themselves in a bit of a conundrum. Sure, that $60 karaoke unit might be just the thing lil’ Billy has been dreaming about all year long, but in six months time, when he’s discarded it, how many years will said piece of crap sit in a landfill before finally turning to dust?

On Sunday, Dec. 2, at 5244 St-Urbain, shoppers will have the opportunity to buy planet-friendly gifts at Eco-Bazar, a new local non-profit organization staffed entirely by volunteers. For one day only, organizations like Coop la Maison Verte, Eco-Handbags and le Memento will be gathering in one location to offer their best in socially responsible gifts to the socially responsible among us.

Explains Eco-Bazar founder Elinor Bazar, “The conscious consumer usually has to make a concerted effort to buy green, but here they’ll automatically know whatever they purchase is contributing to a more locally based, socially conscious and environmentally friendly economy.”

For more info, go to eco-bazar.com.

by Chris Barry

Rear-view mirror

10 YEARS AGO - NOV. 27–DEC. 4, 1997

On the cover: The Mirror’s music guide, represented by a model looking at CDs. Among the critics’ “Top 5ive releases” are Aphex Twin’s Richard D. James, Bran Van 3000’s Glee, Tipsy’s Trip Tease: The Seductive Sounds of…, Space Needle’s The Moray Eels Eat the Space Needle and Mos Def’s “Universal Magnetic” 12”.
• In the News section, music editor Mireille Silcott remembers Michael Hutchence, the recently deceased INXS singer, in “The Last Montreal Interview,” conducted the previous May. “This new album [Elegantly Wasted]… sounds like me now, a father, soon to be married, enjoying life, not looking behind, but looking ahead. Always ahead,” he said.
• Alien: Resurrection director Jean-Pierre Jeunet discusses working in another language. “I learned to say, ‘Fuck off, you’re fired,’ in English pretty quickly.”
• “Boys are gross and they make your bed smell like the little room off your elementary school gymnasium where they store equipment,” writes sex columnist Sasha. “God I love them.”
• A letter writer compares the term “Newfie” to “nigger,” “polack” and “paki.”

Angel >> Senator Colin Kenny Normally, senators in this country don’t do much. But this week, Senator Colin Kenny said something eminently reasonable: cops should not be given Tasers until they’ve been trained how to use them properly. With Tasers racking up a considerable body count of late, the Senator said the weapon should only be used “when someone is threatened or someone is in danger”—not, say, when a person who only speaks Polish is kept inside an airport baggage claim area for 10 hours and is understandably enraged. While the Canadian Border Services Agency will review its policy for international arrival following Robert Dziekanski’s death in Vancouver last month, it’s clear that Tasers aren’t safe, and must be used with more restraint.

Insect >> The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights As regular as clockwork, religious zealots are calling for a boycott against a work they haven’t seen and don’t understand. The culprit this time is the film adaptation of Philip Pullman’s novel The Golden Compass, which arrives in Montreal next week. Broadly anti-religious, the film has reportedly been watered down from its more strident source material, but that hasn’t stopped the Catholic League from calling for a general boycott and accusing Pullman of pursuing an “atheist agenda.” And it seems the lemmings are answering the call: already, a Catholic school board west of Toronto has pulled the book, and an archdiocese in Philadelphia has called on parents not to bring their kids to see the movie. Pullman succinctly called the League and its president, Bill Donohoe, “nitwits.”