Quote of the week

“We will be there, Mr. Charest, and we will win”—Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois, on the prospect of a Dec. 8 provincial election. The PQ adopted yet another sovereignty plan at a two-day summit on the weekend.

Mohawks vs. railways

Tyendinaga is Mohawk territory about halfway to Toronto down the 401. Activists there have been engaged in a struggle for basic necessities for the last few years: clean drinking water, funding for traditional education and settling of land disputes. What they didn’t need was the $10-million lawsuit dropped on them by CN Rail last May.

The lawsuit is being levelled against three Mohawk protesters who blockaded train tracks running through Tyendinaga territory twice in the last two years. The first was a solidarity protest in April 2006, when the Ontario Provincial Police attacked Six Nations, the second was part of the June 2007 First Nations’ Day of Action.

Appalled by CN’s heavy-handed tactics, a group of Montrealers is organizing a solidarity demonstration at the company’s national headquarters (935 de la Gauchetière W.) this Friday, Oct. 31 at noon.

“It’s clear that CN’s goal is to send a message to the people of Tyendinaga to never do this again,” says Aaron Lakoff of the Tyendinaga Support Committee Montreal.

CN and its subsidiaries are named in 25 outstanding land claims with First Nations in this country.

E-mail indigenoussolidaritymontreal@gmail.com for more information.

Human rights at 60

Next month marks 60 years since the signature of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that aimed to guarantee minimum human rights standards for every citizen on the planet. Today, those rights are far from a given for many, and with the looming economic meltdown, seemingly endless wars and the current food crisis, things are looking less than hopeful for the world’s poor.

Over the next month, the Ligue des droits et libertés is holding a series of panels that aim to encourage wider reflection on the state of human rights today. “We wanted to use the event to put the question of economic, social and civil rights back on the agenda: we heard almost nothing about this during the election,” says the Ligue’s Nicole Jetté.

This Tuesday Nov. 5, Olivier de Schutter, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, will be speaking at UQÀM on the global food crisis.

“De Schutter sees the food crisis as a violation of people’s economic rights and he thinks that governments that neglect their citizens’ economic rights should be brought to justice, just as those who commit torture or police violence are,” says Jetté.

Details at liguedesdroits.ca.

by Matt Jones

Feel-good fashion

For all those freaking out because you just didn’t know what you were going to do to celebrate the momentous occasion that is World Vegan Day, also known as November 1, you can relax now. The Concordia Animal Rights Association (CARA) will be hosting the 2008 Montreal World Vegan Day Fashion Show at Cabaret Just for Laughs (2101 St-Laurent) that evening and it promises to be quite the wingding.

In addition to the sweet sounds of the Hot Streak, the latest cruelty-free fashions from American Apparel, Matt & Nat, former Blink 182 singer Tom DeLong’s company MacBeth Footwear and Healing Heart Designs, attendees can look forward to dining on some of the finest vegan grub the city has to offer, courtesy of ChuChai.

“Our objective,” says spokesperson Lucas Solowey, “is to showcase the hottest cruelty-free fashions while raising money to combat the puppy mill issue in Quebec. We need stronger law enforcement and stiffer penalties for the people running these things. Equally important, people need to understand that every time they buy a pet from a pet store, they’re encouraging these industries. We urge people to adopt from shelters and have their animals spayed or neutered.”

Tickets are $25, doors open at 7 p.m.

by Chris Barry

Beyond riots

Montreal North will be put under yet another microscope this Thursday, Oct. 30, as UQÀM hosts a round-table with local organizations and the academic community.

The talk won’t be focused on gun violence or racial tensions though, but instead will serve as a gentle reminder of the other stakes in Montreal North. Catherine Trudelle, UQÀM’s research chair on socio-territorial conflicts and local governance, says last August’s shooting death of 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva, and the ensuing racial tension between citizens and police officers, have somewhat overshadowed other important urban matters in Montreal North.

“In the media, Montreal North is sometimes painted as being rife with racial tension, but there are other issues, like social, economic and housing problems,” she says.

The discussion brings together community workers from Montreal North organizations like the parent and children organization Entre-Parents, Parole d’excluEs, a group dedicated to erasing political and economic exclusion, as well as several urban geography academics.

“This will not be like the Bouchard-Taylor commission,” Trudelle says. “Montreal North is often presented as being like the Bronx but there are lots of positive things to bring out.”

The round-table, “Une crise annoncée,” convenes at 7 p.m. at UQÀM’s Salle Alfred-Laliberté (405 Ste-Catherine E.). Go to www.geo.uqam.ca for more info.

by Lina Harper

Rear-view mirror

14 YEARS AGO - NOV. 3–10, 1994

On the cover: Montreal Mayor Jean Doré, as the Mirror asks, “Who’s running this city?” The mayoralty’s powers are severely limited, say experts, and so the office can’t do as much as it would like. “The province can do anything it likes,” says Concordia urban studies prof John Udy. “That sounds draconian but by law it can.”
• Stevie Cameron, author of On the Take: Crime, Corruption and Greed in the Mulroney Years, says she ran everything by her lawyer before the book was published. “You fight it out with him to see what he’ll let you keep,” she says.
• In a review of Nirvana’s Unplugged in New York, Chris Yurkiw says the crowd’s response to Nevermind hits makes “all the more poignant the last, obscure folk gem [“Where Did You Sleep Last Night”], a chilling version of a piece by Leadbelly, another tragic hero.”
• Meeting the press for Bullets Over Broadway, Woody Allen says he copes with his scandal-plagued life because he is “very good at compartmentalizing.”

Angel >> The best dope from the best dealers After a litigious attempt to defend their corner, the Canadian Justice Department lost a federal court appeal against a ruling that allowed non-government marijuana producers to supply herb for medical purposes. Government lawyers argued that producers supplying more than a single sick person each would lead to suppliers being impossible to track and the whole industry falling outside regulatory radar. “Bullshit,” called the courts. The lawyer standing up for medical marijuana users called the ruling a “victory for sick people,” and hopes it will lead to Health Canada taking steps to better accommodate those in need.

Insect >>Ugly logos Upon first glance at Montreal’s new “M” logo, one immediately wonders if it’s an homage to the anti-psychotic meds the Montreal Metropolitan Community are in dire need of to have accepted paying close to a half-a-million of our increasingly worthless dollars for this piece of crap. Montreal is style, edge, glamour and culture, and all of that is absent from the sad offering that’ll be used in branding us. Swell work from PR firm National Public Relations, whose own uninspired Web site should have been warning enough to the MMC. If art like this is subjective, then so is the necessity of paying our municipal taxes.