Quote of the week

“This survey tells us that [there are] many varied interests on the part of Canadian employees.” —Christianne Paris, vice-president of recruitment and learning for RBC, on a poll that found that 34 per cent of Canadians would want to be a government bureaucrat, and 27 per cent would want to be a rock star.

No rest for Charkaoui

Now that the feds have, as expected, passed their new security certificate law, supporters of Adil Charkaoui are gearing up for another round of challenging the controversial measure.

Charkaoui was detained in 2003 without charge as a suspected terrorist and released in 2005 under strict conditions. Last February, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the detention unconstitutional but gave the government of Canada one year to revamp the law. The Harper Conservatives did, barely, rushing through a new law with speed just in time to beat the deadline last Friday, and ordered new certificates issued against Charkaoui and four other Muslim men. Mary Foster, one of Charkaoui’s supporters, says it represents a “continuation” of the case against the 34-year-old Moroccan-born French teacher, and says Charkaoui may boycott the entire proceedings. Charkaoui will announce his intentions at a press conference today, Thursday, Feb. 28, after a meeting at a federal court earlier this week.

His supporters, says Foster, will continue their work. “We are going to go into the streets,” she says. “People are angrier than I’ve ever seen them, not just with politicians, but with the mainstream media for not taking any kind of critical approach.”

Afghanistan and us

While the federal Liberals and Conservatives attempt to negotiate an extension of an unpopular combat mission in southern Afghanistan, Canadian actions in that torn and troubled land come under scrutiny this Tuesday, March 4, as former solicitor-general Warren Allmand chairs a public forum, “Canada’s Role in Afghanistan,” featuring speakers Peggy Mason, former disarmament ambassador to the United Nations, and Steven Staples of the Rideau Institute on International Affairs.

Also on hand to debate the effectiveness of current policy and potential alternatives will be La Presse journalist Jooneed Khan and le Collectif Échec à la guerre’s Raymond Legault.

“The discussion [of Afghanistan] seems to be concentrated only in the media,” says Harrison Stein, spokesperson for the Montreal Citizen Forum, one of several organizing groups. “The purpose of the forum is to raise this important issue in the anglophone community. So it’s an opportunity to take it off the pages of the newspapers and put it into a public venue where people can learn the facts.”

The talk takes place at the St. James United Church (parking lot entrance, 1440 St-Alexandre, metro Place-des-Arts) at 7 p.m. Entrance by voluntary donation. For more info, call (514) 844-4076.

by CHRIS HAZOU

Women talk, walk

Look out racist, warmongering misogynists, International Women’s Day is headed this way once again. In anticipation of the big day, the March 8th Committee of Women of Diverse Origins is holding a conference this Saturday, March 1, at the Université de Montréal (3200 Jean-Brillant, 2nd floor) from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“This year in particular, it’s quite important and symbolic given that last year [the march] was completely destroyed by police brutality,” says the Committee’s Farha Najah, alluding to a violent incident that occurred when police tried to arrest one of the demonstrators.

“Women Take Back Democratic Space!” will include performances by “feminist progressive” music group Dissidanse, spoken word artist Aliyah, and Washington D.C.-based singer Sumaiya Ali. Also on tap, presentations by Danka Brewer of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, Delia DeVeyra of PINAY-Montreal, and Connie Bragas-Regalado of Migrante International. Suggested donation is $5.

The following Saturday, March 8, the annual IWD march itself kicks off at noon from the corner of Queen Mary and Decelles (metro Côte-des-Neiges). For info on the conference, call (514) 342-2111. For info on the march, call (514) 398-3323 or e-mail comite8mars@gmail.com.

by CHRIS HAZOU

Racism rocked

If you’re someone who loves music but generally finds yourself feeling just a little less enthused about racism and ignorance, then you might want to take note of the Love Music Hate Racism extravaganza going down at le Petit Campus tonight, Feb. 28.

Marking the first time the U.K.-based organization flies its anti-racist banners outside of jolly ol’ England, local artists Backporch College, Revised Edition, Crystal Moustache and Your Favourite Enemies, along with DJ Mofomatronix, will be on hand to get your feets a-movin’ and a-shakin’ till the wee hours of morning. According to event co-organizer Ashley Kandestin, “Racism isn’t only restricted to the U.K., you know, it’s universal, and it divides cultures. Montreal is a very multicultural city and the whole point of this show is to get people together in a positive way through music.”

When not organizing concerts, Kandestin is a CEGEP student at Dawson College. She readily acknowledges that a simple music festival at Café Campus isn’t likely to radically change the attitudes of hardcore boneheads who ascribe to absurd racist doctrines, but “at least it’s a step in the right direction.”

Tickets are $10.

by CHRIS BARRY

Rear-view mirror

17 YEARS AGO - FEB. 23–MAR. 7, 1991

On the cover: British director Stephen Frears, for The Grifters, his first American-made film. “Jim Thompson wrote the book in 1963 about the ’50s, yet actually the ethos of it is the Depression,” he says. “But I didn’t want to make a period film because I’m not really interested in cars.”
•Women’s groups are applauding the city’s move to restrict erotic outdoor signs. “There is a strong link between pornography and violence against women and children, and commercial signs play a part in desensitizing people to the question of violence,” says Diana Yaros of the Mouvement contre le viol et l’inceste.
•Blue Rodeo arrive at the Spectrum, straight from the Oscars. Nominated for “I’m Checking Out,” from Postcards Form the Edge, Greg Keelor says, “As a musician you never think about being in a movie…. You never think, ‘Oh God I hope Marlon Brando phones me up and wants me in his next movie.’”
•Just before the Doors movie opens, the page three photo is of Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris. .

Angel >> Oscar Peterson metroWho should St-Henri honour, a born-and-bred jazz great or an anti-Semitic proto-fascist priest? According to law student (and the Mirror’s Networthy columnist) Michael Citrome, it’s obvious. Citrome recently set up a Facebook group urging the city to rename Lionel-Groulx metro station after Peterson and so far has 170 or so members, and is inviting others to join. Groulx was a well-known philosopher and nationalist who also happened to espouse a ban on non-Catholic immigration and eugenics, and openly admired European dictators like Salazar and Mussolini. Calling Groulx, “a negative, divisive figure and not someone whose legacy we should be celebrating,” Citrome says he doesn’t care that the Montreal transit authority has a moratorium on name changes.

Insect >> Harper and science The respected British journal Nature hammered the Harper government in an editorial this week, saying the Conservatives have gone out of their way to prove their “manifest disregard for science.” Not only have the feds turned their backs on hot topics like climate change and the Kyoto Protocol, they’ve also shuffled the independent science adviser’s post out of the Prime Minister’s Office and to Industry Canada, armed only with a “vague” mandate and “abysmal” budget, notes the editorial. The journal notes that Canadian scientists are among the world’s finest, but their working environment has worsened significantly since the Conservatives were elected in 2006.