Quote of the week

“In some respects, there is less intrusion here of the irritations of daily life than on the outside.” —Conrad Black, on life in prison, in an e-mail interview published in Saturday’s National Post

Toons for peace

To celebrate 10 years of fighting prejudice and raising awareness through art, the annual Action Week Against Racism (AWAR—March 12–22) is bringing Cartooning For Peace (CFP), the internationally renowned political animation exhibition, to Outremont’s Centre Communautaire Intergénérationnel (999 McEachran) for its first Canadian appearance.

CFP, an initiative spearheaded by Le Monde cartoonist Plantu and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a vehicle for fighting intolerance, presents socially conscious cartoons. The Montreal exhibit will feature almost 50 cartoons by artists from around the world, including Michel Kichka (Israel), Plantu (France) and Khalil Abu Arafeh (Palestine). Animation enthusiasts will have a chance to meet with Plantu and Kichka at the CCI on Saturday, March 14 from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. and attend a cartooning workshop held by the two artists the same day at 4 p.m. at UQÀM’s Coeur des Sciences community centre (175 President Kennedy).

“Some of the cartoons are tough and hard-hitting, but nothing is insulting or mean-spirited,” says AWAR co-founder Maurice Chalom.

CCI exhibit hours are Monday, Tuesday and Friday 8 a.m.–6 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday 8 a.m.–8 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m. All free.

by Steve Zylbergold

Women and the NWO

With the world in financial disarray and economic woes wreaking havoc with people’s lives, a diverse crowd will take to the streets on March 8 to mark International Women’s Day.

Organized by “coordination and action committee” Women of Diverse Origins, the annual March 8 demonstration is calling for nothing less than a “New World Order,” according to their Web site.

“We feel that we’re at a point where all kinds of systems and institutions are falling apart, and therefore we need a change to the entire system,” says Dolores Chew, a founding member of the South Asian Women’s Community Centre and partner in the March 8 demonstration.

“There are still so many hurdles that are there simply because we are women, and sometimes the word ‘feminism’ is seen as an archaic term, but it’s still very relevant,” she continues.

The child-friendly demonstration takes place on Sunday, March 8, at Cabot Square, corner of Atwater and Ste-Catherine. Men and other community organizations are encouraged to join, and demonstrators are invited to wear masks in opposition to Montreal’s proposed ban on face coverings at all future demonstrations.

For more info, visit comite8mars.blogspot.com.

by Matthew Brett

Artists get legal

In light of the fact that so many creative types seemingly haven’t got clue number one on how to manage their careers/business affairs, a group of Montreal students, volunteers, lawyers and academics have recently decided to band together to offer free and/or inexpensive legal services to Montreal’s artistic community.

If all goes according to plan, the Clinique Juridique des artistes de Montréal (CJAM) will be a place where artists can get information about their legal rights along with advice on how to make a living through their creativity. All the group needs now, according to CJAM community relations coordinator Keith Serry, “are people with professional backgrounds who would like to participate.

“And not just lawyers”, says Serry, “you could be an accountant, a painter, a dancer, a choreographer or a musician. So as long as you feel you might rationally be able to give back to the artistic community, we’re looking forward to meeting you and having you help us make this contribution to our local artists.”

The CJAM board will be holding their first general volunteers’ meeting on Sunday, March 8, at 12:30 p.m. at 10 des Pins W., #412. For more info, call (514) 867-8337 or contact Serry via cjamontreal@gmail.com.

by Chris Barry

SLAPP down

Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold’s crusade against small local publisher Écosociété hit a bump in the road last year when the Quebec government looked as if it was going to pass Bill 99, a law against abusive lawsuits aimed at shutting down criticism. The corporation hit the big-mouthed, small-budgeted publishing house with a $6-billion lawsuit for defamation after it released Noir Canada, a book that alleges Barrick’s participation in numerous atrocities in the pursuit of profit in Africa. Unfortunately for Écosociété, the anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) bill died on the floor when the December 8 election was called, and the government seems in no rush to bring it back.

“Before the last election, we met with [Minister of Justice] Jacques Dupuis. He seemed very favourable to the law, even accepting some amendments we proposed,” says Élodie Comtois from Écosociété. But ever since the job was taken over by NDG MNA Kathleen Weil, the issue seems to have dropped off the table.

Écosociété and supporters are holding an anti-SLAPP demo on Thursday March 5, at 11 a.m. at the Montreal Courthouse (1 Notre-Dame E.). See slapp.ecosociete.org for details.

by Matt Jones

Rear-view mirror

17 YEARS AGO - MARCH 5–12, 1992

On the cover: Barbie, who, for International Women’s Week, is wished “Happy Birthday… NOT!” The Mirror’s Karen Herland invites three different women to discuss “how we defined ourselves against the roles out there,” 33 years after the doll was introduced. The women are textile designer Paige Newton, dance instructor Dayle King and stripper Carolyn Zimmerman.
•Writer/director Nora Ephron discusses This Is My Life, a semi-autobiographical tale about a single mother of two who finally hits it big time in the stand-up comic biz. “I don’t ever use writing as therapy,” she says. “My psychoanalysis took care of that.”
•Reviewing the Cramps’ Feb. 27 show at the Spectrum, Jenny Ross writes, “Like sex, always pretty much the same, but nothing can compare to first love. [Lux Interior is] a sinuous brat in skin-tight red latex and red-heeled pumps. But they can’t out-Cramp themselves, or are we Cramped out?”
• Upcoming shows at Foufounes: Desmond Dekker (“First North American tour ever!”), B.A.R.F., Banlieue Rouge, Lush, L7

Angel >> Stem cell breakthroughs Despite the contempt in which the Harper government seems to hold pure research science, there is some exciting work still being done in Canada. Led by Andras Nagy of Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital in partnership with the University of Edinburgh, a team of researchers were able to find a way of converting skin cells into stem cells without the use of a virus, a huge breakthrough in the fight against conditions and diseases that would otherwise be debilitating or fatal. This was accomplished against the backdrop of a Canadian government that is only, according to Tuesday’s Globe and Mail, interested in funding projects applicable to the automotive, manufacturing, forestry and fishing industries.

Insect >> Don Cherry He doesn’t like us liberal media types, and generally, we don’t like him. That’s nothing new. But his tirade last Saturday about Alex Ovechkin’s antics not only further cemented his irrelevance, but perhaps exposed something uglier. Criticizing the Russian superstar’s post-goal theatrics by saying, “Hey, look at this soccer player,” Cherry then played a montage of equally theatrical soccer players running around, dropping to their knees, removing their shirts and generally being very, very happy. Most of the soccer players, however, were black—a tone not often seen in the NHL. Given the preponderance of histrionic white soccer players out there, what was the point in showing almost exclusively black ones? The racism card has certainly been hurled at Cherry before, but by drawing so obvious a contrast, the Teflon may start to come off.