Quote of the week

“The yellow one I will wear when I am a little grumpy, and the red one I will wear when I am happy and joyful.” —Guy Laliberté, on the clown noses he’ll be bringing into outer space with him. The billionaire Cirque du Soleil founder blasted off on Wednesday.

Habitat without homes

If you’ve been wracking your brain lately trying to figure out just what you’re going to do this World Habitat Day, aka Monday, Oct. 5, social housing lobby group FRAPRU has a few suggestions for you, not the least being to join them in a march to mark the occasion.

“There will be many gatherings across Quebec to mark World Habitat Day,” says FRAPRU spokesperson François Saillant. “In Montreal, there’ll be a demonstration starting at 11 a.m. at Square St-Louis with activities, speeches from community organizers across Quebec, and then we’ll be marching to the Mont-Royal metro station where there’ll be more speakers and activities.”

And in case you’re wondering what all those speakers will be speaking about, it’s a pretty safe bet they’ll be commenting on the lack of affordable housing in Quebec, and Montreal in particular.

“As the cost of housing rises while wages plummet, we’re seeing a record number of Quebecers being evicted from their homes for non-payment of rent,” says Saillant. “In 2008–’09, that number reached a record high of almost 50,000 evictions. The UN has been highly critical of Canada and Quebec with respect to homelessness, recently referring to the situation as a national emergency.”

For more info, go to frapru.qc.ca

CHRIS BARRY

Hunger, poverty,
climate, oh my

Experts from around the world descend on Montreal next week for the second annual McGill Conference on Global Food Security, taking place from Oct. 5–7 at McGill’s New Residence Hall (3625 Parc). The effects of the economic crisis, global climate change and international trade regulations are among the topics that will be addressed.

“Estimates from the World Bank are that about 125 million more people went into poverty, hunger and malnutrition last year as a result of the financial crisis,” says professor Chandra Madramootoo, dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and one of the conference organizers.

Things kick off Monday with a public lecture and panel discussion at the Centre Mont-Royal (2200 Mansfield) at 5 p.m. Speakers include former French agriculture minister Michel Barnier, the assistant director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, Hafez Ghanem, and the Nigerian High Commissioner to Canada, professor Iyorwuese Hagher.

While the public lecture is free, admission to the conference itself will set you back $225, $50 for students. Registration is required for both.

For more info or to register, visit mcgill.ca/globalfoodsecurity/program.

CHRISTOPHER HAZOU

Remembering the missing

Depending on how you read the statistics, between 500 and 3,000 Native women have gone missing in Canada since 1980. Of the 520 cases acknowledged by the federal government, 300 remain unsolved. Despite pressure from the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Amnesty International and the United Nations, the federal government has so far reacted to this with bureaucratic indifference.

“First they have to admit there’s a problem,” says an irate Maya Rolbin-Ghanie of Missing Justice, a Montreal-based organization working on the national campaign to draw attention to the situation. “But they also need to conduct a public investigation into the 300 unsolved cases. There’s a serious issue of police neglect here.”

Missing Justice is stepping up their campaign by adding a march for justice to their annual vigil in remembrance of the missing women, which takes place Sunday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. at Cabot Square (Atwater & Ste-Catherine).

That will be preceded by a panel discussion on Friday, Oct. 2 at 4 p.m. at Concordia’s DeSève Cinema (1400 de Maisonneuve W., LB-125) that will explore the political stakes involved.

“The level of violence against indigenous women is higher than any other segment of society,” says Rolbin-Ghanie.

Details at missingjustice.ca.

MATT JONES

A real rainbow party

The fifth annual Affirm-Action takes flight this weekend, organized by LGBTQ event organizers Ethnoculture. From Friday Oct. 2 to Sunday Oct 4, the event hopes to bring together gays of all stripes—queers of colour, Two-Spirited People, friends, families—and straights too.

The point is to raise awareness about the experience of LGBTQ people from ethno-cultural communities, and to allow for networking and community building. In a city as diverse as Montreal, the festival is still relevant because of reported instances of race- and sexual orientation-based oppression, say the organizers.

“As much as there are much safer spaces here in Montreal, there’s still a lot of marginalization, racism and homophobia—and it still impacts the lives of people in a very profound way,” says Ed Lee, member of Affirm-Action’s organizing committee.

This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Louis-Georges Tin, who launched the very first International Day Against Homophobia back in 2005. There will also be a community fair, workshops, photo exhibits and the requisite dance parties. Things get started with the dance party at Club Tools (1592 Ste-Catherine E.) on Friday at 10 p.m.

The full schedule is available online at ethnoculture.org.

LINA HARPER

Rear-view mirror

12 YEARS AGO - OCT. 2–9, 1997

On the cover: Atom Egoyan, for The Sweet Hereafter. Actor Bruce Greenwood, who appears in the film and in Egoyan’s previous movie Exotica, notes that, “For this film, we didn’t get to hang out at strip clubs in Toronto with Atom all night. I tried to work it into my contract, but…”
•A new law changes the way complaints against police are handled. By emphasizing mediator-imposed “conciliation” rather than “investigation,” says city councillor and critic Marvin Rotrand, “The police dropped all pretence of civilian control and democratic policing and basically conducted a putsch.”
•CDs reviewed: Stereolab’s Dots and Loops (9/10, Disc of the Week), Portishead’s self-titled (8.5), the Rolling Stones’ Bridges to Babylon (6), Björk’’s Homogenic (8), the Verve’s Urban Hymns (9), Boyz II Men’s Evolution (7).
•“I’ve liked Steve Martin ever since he was wearing an arrow through his head,” writes Amy Barratt, but, “Centaur wouldn’t be doing Picasso at the Lapin Agile had it been written by Joe Schmoe. It’s just not that good a play.”

Angel >> Apologizing to Charkaoui Now a free man, Adil Charkaoui is demanding an apology from the Canadian government for making his life hell for years. He’s certainly owed one. Barring a federal appeal to a ruling last week that lifted security certificate constraints against him, Charkaoui can now live like a human being again, without an electronic monitor on his leg, constant surveillance, travel constraints or a cloud of suspicion hanging over him. Charkaoui’s ordeal was a long and strange one, and highlighted government paranoia since 9/11—but now that it looks to be over, as it does by press time on Tuesday, perhaps it’s not too late to start making amends.

Insect >> Michael Ignatieff The Liberal leader’s lame posturing this week couldn’t come at a worse time. With its Quebec wing in disarray, and more ugly infighting spilling out in public, the only one benefitting from this sideshow is Stephen Harper. Challenging him to an election, as Iggy did this week, looks now not only poorly timed but also quixotic. The Bloc and NDP have signalled that they won’t bring down the government, leaving the Grits to flail away on their own. At any rate, crippled as they are, they pose no serious challenge to the Conservatives. Ignatieff’s dramatics are just another distraction for a party that is still in recovery.