Quote of the week

“Montreal needs everyone wishing for major change, and it’s possible. Yes, we can!” —Vision Montreal chief Louise Harel, installed as head of the opposition party on Monday, trying her best to appeal to English-speaking voters wary of her past position as PQ municipal affairs minister.

No to canal condos

Local groups Centre Social Auto-geré (CSA), Action-Gardien and a group advocating the protection of access to the Lachine Canal will attempt to have their say at the Southwest borough council meeting next Tuesday, July 7, and to grill borough officials on accepting a proposal to build a condo by the Lachine Canal in Pointe St-Charles.

During the previous council meeting last month, officials had some doors locked and bags were checked before allowing entry—probably, says CSA member Ivan D. Grand’Maison (an alias adopted to avoid arrest), because CSA members and local citizens tried to take over the building in question, an abandoned candle factory, in late May.

The proposed development would see a two-tower, six-storey condo with commercial space on the first floor built at 2985 St-Patrick. The condos would also restrict access to the canal, says Grand’Maison.

But Grand’Maison adds that the presence of concerned citizens’ groups at the meeting will help ensure due process. “It works. The fact that you’re putting pressure on elected officials… makes it so that people can’t come back and say, ‘No one was opposed to the development.’”

Meeting is July 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Southwest borough office at 815 Bel-Air.

LINA HARPER

More to Carifête

As it has for the past 34 summers, once again this year the swinging-est bash in the city, aka the Carifête parade, will be making its way up René-Lévesque on Saturday, July 4, beginning at 11 a.m. from the corner of Guy and heading east until hitting Sanguinet.

“We’d really like to thank the community in general for their kind support over these past 35 years,” says Montreal Carnival Development Foundation president Henry Antoine, “so this year, we’re looking forward to one of the best parades we’ve ever seen.”

Antoine says that the Carifête organization has recently expanded its mandate and will soon be offering things like Carifête costume-making courses. “We’re also looking to explore avenues where we can assist in helping out the needy, giving out bursaries and scholarships to people. That’s the level we need to get to now, we’ve got to do more than just the Carifête parade, which is why we changed our name to the Montreal Carnival Development Foundation this year. Ultimately, we’d like to take it to a point where the young people can take over from us.”

If you’re a “young person” and think this sounds like something that just might fry your burger, call (514) 369-0025 or go to carifetemontreal.com for more info.

CHRIS BARRY

Greening your move

If you’re one of the thousands of Montrealers who have been taking part in the annual July 1 migration ritual, the city and Éco-quartier are encouraging you to keep the environment in mind while making your move. In addition to offering practical tips on those old standbys, “re-use, reduce and recycle,” their Green Moving Day campaign aims to get people to dispose of household hazardous waste materials like paint, solvents and pesticides in a responsible manner by dropping them off at their local Éco-centre or Éco-quartier.

“A lot of people have the best of intentions,” says Nikki Schiebel, coordinator of Éco-quartier NDG. “They plan on taking everything down to the nearest Éco-centre, but [in the end] they end up leaving it behind for someone else to deal with.”

Batteries, cell phones and ink cartridges can be dropped off at your local Éco-quartier. Paint, solvents, varnish, pesticides and other non-recyclable items like neon lights, televisions and broken dishes can be dropped off at your local Éco-centre. You can find the nearest Éco-quartier or Éco-centre by going to the city’s Web site at ville.montreal.qc.ca.

They can also direct you to organizations in search of used clothing, books, toys and small appliances. For more info, visit preventionndg.org.

CHRISTOPHER HAZOU

Sound off
on bikes

Biking in Montreal is great. Biking in Montreal sucks. The bike paths are terrific. The bike paths are death traps. The Bixi rocks. The Bixi blows.

Everyone on two wheels has an opinion about the state of Montreal’s biking infrastructure, and Jacob Larsen wants to hear them all. As a Masters’ student at McGill’s School of Urban Planning, Larsen is leading a study into the state of bicycling in a city that was designed for cars. He is inviting anyone with something to say to pipe up on his online survey (tram.mcgill.ca/cycling.html) so he and his team can study the data and get an idea of biking Montrealers’ likes, dislikes and concerns.

One of the things Larsen will look into is users’ opinions on bike paths. “There are a lot of different types,” he says. “We want to determine what routes are most commonly used, where the demand is most concentrated, what are the preferred types—are they painted lines, concrete medians, posts?”

According to the city’s latest transportation plan, Montreal is going to double the road space dedicated to bike paths. But no matter what it does, it’s likely at least some people will be angry with the result. Looking at preliminary data, Larsen says, “Opinion is certainly divided.”

PATRICK LEJTENYI

Rear-view mirror

14 YEARS AGO - JULY 6–13, 1995

On the cover: Papa Wemba, Zaire’s rumba king, appearing at Nuits d’Afrique. Although he is looking for international success, he still sings in his native Lingala because “it’s the language I’m most at ease in. I might sing the odd line in English as a nod to the international market, but I don’t speak it.”
• A 25-year-old Mario Dumont opposes raising the minimum wage by $2.50 an hour. “Just talking about my riding, I could not imagine how many small businesses you’d kill with a minimum wage like that,” he says.
•CDs reviewed: Neil Young and Pearl Jam’s Mirror Ball is Disc of the Week (9/10); Foo Fighters’ Foo Fighters (6/10); the B.U.M.S.’s Lyfe ’N’ Tyme (7/10)
•Lesbian romance Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love “plods along at a deadening pace, prompting my dyke friend to lean in to me at about half-time and ask: ‘When do we see some pussy?’” reads Matthew Hays’s review.
•Black Sabbath and Motörhead are playing Metropolis July 19, $21.50.

Angel >>The Global Digital Elevation Map Unveiled this week is every cartographer geek’s wet dream, courtesy of those eggheads at NASA and the Japanese trade ministry, of all places. The map, made up of 1.3 million images, covers 99 per cent of the Earth’s surface, including previously unmappable steep terrain and some deserts, and is free to download. The project’s scientists say the new map will help researchers better understand and collect data from Earth monitoring missions, such as gauging changes in glaciers. They also say that, while resolution is clear down to 50 feet, it is sharp enough to detect houses but not people or what they are doing, which may assuage Google Earth-haters.

Insect >>The high cost of moving With Montreal’s annual moving day behind us, it’s a safe bet a lot of people are still scrambling to find last-minute digs or are too poor to change addresses. According to the Institut de recherche et d’informations socio-économiques (IRIS), rent has been rising higher than inflation. With inflation at 0.4 per cent, says IRIS, the Régie de logement suggests an annual increase between 0.6 and 0.8 per cent. But the price of rent has on average been raised by 3.4 per cent. That probably has something to do with low vacancy rates province-wide, which remain below the three per cent sustainability threshold.