Line to Lasalle now!

[Re: “Line to Lachine now!” Letters, Sept. 24] Scott Faulconbridge’s self-described unhinged rant regarding the government’s omission of the West Island of Montreal in its plans to extend the metro is quite reflective of others’ gripes about the same issue, however unhelpful and alienated its tone may seem.

Its poor tenor notwithstanding, the point is well taken: easier access from the West Island/Southwest to downtown Montreal is necessary. Instead of demanding a metro to the heart of the West Island—please note that St-Laurent is, in fact, located in the area—perhaps its advocates should urge the powers that be to extend the Green line from Angrignon station to the Lasalle train station, at least. This would give even commuters from the South Shore municipalities of St-Catherine, St-Constant, Delson and Candiac quicker access to places of work in Lasalle and the Southwest of Montreal. If not in Lachine, at least the metro would be located much closer there too; it is a start.

Paranoid nationalists have long accused various levels of government in Quebec of pandering to the English-speaking minority due to its historical wealth and power. Why should we resort to such bizarre rhetoric? We can achieve more. Let us rise to the occasion and above the cacophony of nonsensical sounds.

>>Deepak Awasti

Dershowitz and Voltaire

[Re: “Dershowitz No Hero,” Letters, Sept. 24] Ms. Magliola’s comparison of Alan Dershowitz with “an ambitious Gestapo medic in a Polish prison camp…” could have been an example (only much better expressed, but let’s not nitpick) of George Orwell’s newspeak “night is day and day is night” in his prophetical book 1984.

Equally misleading and ignorant is her understanding of what a defence attorney is. A defence attorney, as clearly as the term states, is only the defender of anyone accused of an offence. He is neither the judge nor the jury and has no legal right to decide the innocence or guilt of his client. If the defendant claims that he is innocent, the defence attorney must defend him until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

A defence attorney together with a fair and impartial jury are the only hope a defendant has for vindication while facing the entire might and resources of the state: prosecutors, various law enforcement agencies, an insatiable, sensation-seeking media and often a poorly informed public opinion, which are set to condemn him. To such a man standing alone, a dedicated defence attorney is indeed a hero.

To Ms. Magliola and others in her category, I can only paraphrase Voltaire’s letter to a certain 18th century abbée who did not much appreciate Voltaire’s passion for free thinking: I detest your inaccurate and inflammatory writing but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write. (Just kidding.)

>>Ed Binder

Jaggi Singh for mayor!

[Re: “Growing local,” News, Sept. 24] The anarchist Jaggi Singh deserves to be mayor of Montreal.

Montreal is a multicultural city: infinitely multilingual, multicultural and open to new ideas. It is the latter-day Amsterdam of North America.

All Harel would do is quash this in a dirigiste fantasy of a supposed better past. The other candidates similarly do not look to the future of Montreal, where we can lead North America and the rest of the world in many ways—including Green thinking, as we are already the capital of bikes; of cultural confusion, and through that tolerance—witness our looting-free disaster the ice storm as compared to New Orleans; and our irrepressible joie de vivre and creativity—witness Cirque du Soleil and the Jazz Fest.

Bono famously said the world needs more Canada. I think the world needs more Montreal, and not the dirigiste Montreal of Harel, or the tired vision of Tremblay or the other candidate—what’s his name? The anarchism of Jaggi Singh is a true representative of the joyous anarchism that is Montreal.

Okay, so I don’t in fact subscribe to Jaggi Singh’s politics. We live in a complicated world and we need some structure, but at least Singh represents the Montreal I know and love—a kind of controlled multilingual multicultural smorgasbord where we all manage to get along, have a good time and raise our families in whatever language.

>>Jonathan Wexler

Boris for city council!

Boris St. Maurice may have smoked a lot of weed in his time but what he says in his platform makes sense to me. Especially the idea of public urinals. How many times have you seen drunks peeing in alleys or up against the side of walls or sometimes right in the street? Late at night in the summer the Plateau alleys reek of urine, it’s not a good thing.

It would also give the drunks, male and female, somewhere to vomit, as opposed to the side of the curb. If dogs have to pick up their own poo then humans should be responsible for where they put their pee. This is an idea whose time has come and the politicians should be there to implement it.

>>Jack Whittaker

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