Quote of the week

“In my view, that is the sort of irrevocable step towards a two-tier health care system.” — U of T law professor Colleen Flood, on the Castonguay report on Quebec’s health care system, which recommended a greater role for the private sector

Resignation at RVCQ

The Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois is supposed to be a good time for the local film industry to turn the focus onto homegrown talent, but Malcolm Guy is brewing up controversy instead. The Montreal documentary filmmaker and long time immigrant rights activist tendered his resignation from the festival’s jury for the 2008 Prize of the Alex and Ruth Dworkin Foundation for the Promotion of Tolerance through Cinema last week because, he wrote in an open letter, the $5,000 prize money comes from the Canadian Jewish Congress, an organization he considers distinctly intolerant.

“I consider [the CJC] to be a vehicle for the Israeli propaganda machine and fundamentally intolerant of dissent and difference, particularly when it comes to Israeli government policies,” the letter reads. He also balked at the idea of handing out a prize in the Dworkins’ name, because of their support for a re-forestation scheme in Israel that he charges resulted in the expulsion of Palestinians from their land.

In response, a representative from the Dworkin Foundation sent the festival a letter denying Guy’s charges, calling them “gratuitous, without justification or foundation.” They also say their contributions to the JNF built a retirement home far from any Palestinian lands. A festival rep says they will look into the matter after the festival concludes this weekend.

School revolt

Trouble may be coming to Montreal schools, but it won’t be the kids raising the ruckus. Tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 22, a group of parents will be launching their Declaration for Equality in Education’s Journey, a “concrete action for social justice and education at school.” It’s a call to arms for parents who feel they’ve been left out of the day-to-day running of their children’s schools.

The group isn’t trying to ban the teaching of evolution or put more emphasis on sports or even change the lunch menu. They are hoping for a closer, more active dialogue between the three big Montreal school boards and parents—something they feel has been lacking for some time.

“We aren’t part of the decision-making process,” says Nadine Mondestin, mother of two (and one on the way). “This is about democracy in the public education system.”

The Declaration was drafted by about 30 parents, and Mondestin say they have the support of about 300 others. It includes a set of recommendations to make the schools—and the school boards—more parent-friendly, such as setting up a parents’ room.

The declaration will be launched on Friday, Feb. 22 at 3535 Parc. For more info see www.parentsaction.ca.

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Black youth speak up

McGill’s Black Students’ Network looks to empower young Montrealers of colour with the Raising Voices Youth Conference at the Shatner Ballroom (3480 McTavish, 3rd floor), this Friday, Feb. 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Aimed at youth aged 18-25, workshops will focus on four main themes: financial “literacy,” overcoming obstacles to employment, artistic expression and questions about identity and what it means to be black in Canada.

“I’m hoping this will bring [black youth] together so they can network and learn what others are doing,” says Latoya Morgan, the BSN’s political coordinator and a masters student in applied cognitive science. “We’re going to be the ones to run the community later, so we need to build those connections now.”

Panelists include Brian Smith, project coordinator of Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi Côte-des-Neiges, Rosemary Segee of the Little Burgundy Employment Centre, Francine Hillary, host of CKUT’s Soul Perspectives, as well as artists Manchile, and Kalmunity Vibe Collective trumpeter Jason “Blackbird” Selman.

The event is presented in association with Carrefour Jeunesse, ACSioN Network, the Jamaican Canadian Women’s League of Montreal, and Youth In Motion. For info 514-398-3001 (x09974) or e-mail bsnmcgill@hotmail.com. Free.

by CHRISTOPHER HAZOU

A van of all seasons

Craig Ross, coordinator of the Inter-Tribal Youth Centre of Montreal, says that transportation for street youth is among the necessities his organization isn’t funded to provide. So, on Thursday, Feb. 28, the Centre is holding a benefit to raise money for a van.

Located on the bottom floor of the Native Friendship Centre of Montreal at the corner of St-Laurent and Ontario, the Youth Centre is primarily mandated as an aboriginal cultural organization. It’s a safe space for street and at-risk youth, says Ross, offering “couches and computers” and “arts and crafts activities and movie nights.”

But more than a hangout spot, the kids Ross sees need assistance accessing welfare and finding jobs and housing. They’re largely confined to the area surrounding the Centre, hindering their searches for the latter two. Last summer, the Centre refurbished bicycles to make them more mobile, but it needs a van for year-round outings and accompaniments.

“We’re trying to make everything more accessible by having transportation that’s always available for the work we do,” says Ross.

The benefit happens Feb. 28 at Vinyl Lounge (2109 Bleury, 9 p.m.) and features DJs Mossman, Sarcastic and Miss B, and members of the Kalmunity Vibe Collective. Minimum donation is $5.

by LUCAS WEISENTHAL

Rear-view mirror

16 YEARS AGO - FEB 20-27, 1992

On the cover: Lily Tomlin, appearing in the film version of her one-woman show, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. Asked if she had trouble pulling off a dozen characters in one piece, she says, “No, I’m not schizoid, if that’s what you’re asking. Nor did I flip out.”
•A photo shows 200 MUC cops taking to the street to protest police chief Alain St. Germain’s admission that the force made a serious mistake in Marcellus François’s shooting death. They accused St. Germain, according to the caption, of “stabbing them in the back,” and demand his resignation.
•Despite being around 40-ish, The Cramps’ Lux Interior says, “I think we’re more sexual people than a lot of teenagers today… I think it’s a sick idea that when people reach middle age they’re not sexual anymore.”
•La Sarrasine, Paul Tana’s period drama about tensions between French and Italian Montrealers, “is not about justice and injustice, it’s about immigration,” he says.
•The Cinéma de Paris holds a nine-hour Godfather marathon.

Angel >> Fixing Montreal’s water supply It’s going to be an ugly job, but someone’s got to do it (and pay for it). The City announced this week that it’ll be setting aside a total of $220-million this year to repair its aging water infrastructure, including 40 kilometres worth of old pipes and renovating its water filtration plants. That’s almost double what it spent last year, but with Montreal still losing an estimated 40 per cent of its fresh water due to leaky pipes, it’s one of those annoying but low-profile measures that need to be taken.

Insect >> Stalled abuse investigations For more than a year, the Canadian Forces have been investigating allegations of abuse of Afghan detainees, not at the hands of Afghan jailers, but Canadian soldiers. A criminal probe was opened into the alleged abuse of three captured Afghans, but a number of problems, including the assassination of an Afghan hired to track down the detainees and the mysterious disappearance of the detainees’ military medical records from the spring of 2006, when the abuses were alleged to have taken place, have run the investigation aground. Critics are saying the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service isn’t even bothering trying to investigate the cases anymore, and that CF brass is deliberately delaying any further proceedings.