Quote of the week

“We find it troubling that people have the impression that we [and Culture 420] are connected.” —Marc-Boris St-Maurice, of the Montreal Compassion Centre, blaming Lachine’s medical marijuana dispensary for the arrests of 35 people this month. St-Maurice was in court on Wednesday to face drug possession and trafficking charges.

Gatecrashing
the G20

If you’ve been itching to uproot some trees to hurl at a security fence in Toronto, you may yet get your chance as Montreal will be exporting hundreds of its finest shit-disturbers to the G20 protests this weekend.

“People are angry because they’re seeing a significant loss in working conditions, women’s rights and migrant rights,” says Robyn Maynard of the Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes (CLAC), one of the Montreal groups organizing transport to T.O. “If people don’t think they’re being represented by the G20, they should go and tear down the security fence in Toronto.”

Together with the Regroupement anti-G20 étudiant (RAGE), CLAC is organizing a bus that will head down on June 25, 26 and 27. A seat costs a minimum of $20 return but donations of $40 are encouraged. E-mail transportg20@gmail.com to book a place.

For the more athletic protester, the Bike Squad is planning to join up with Toronto’s Critical Mass group for a weekend of Bike Block cycling protest. E-mail bikeblock2010@gmail.com to participate.

A full program of activities is planned throughout the weekend, from impromptu appearances by the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army to Saturday’s Get Off the Fence demo, which threatens to pull down the security perimeter. For the full schedule, see g20.torontomobilize.org.

MATT JONES

Car Wars

The Plateau borough, run by the sternly anti-automobile Projet Montréal, is stepping up their offensive against the car with renewed zeal, announcing three measures designed to make streets safer, they say. Motorists, however, may be in for some serious seething.

On Monday, the Plateau’s borough mayor Luc Ferrandez, alongside Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay, said the new measures are designed to reduce collisions between cars and cyclists and pedestrians, which the former usually wins. According to Ferrandez, the Plateau has the highest rate of pedestrian or cyclist accidents per square kilometer in the city, averaging 30.4 injuries a year. It’s the second highest in terms of accidents per 100,000 inhabitants, at 232.

The measures, to take effect in the fall: Laurier between St-Laurent and Mentana will be eastbound only, and several one-way sidestreets will be redirected to reduce traffic. The Rachel bike path between St-Urbain and Brébeuf will get a makeover.

The strange northwest corner of Parc Lafontaine, where Rachel meets Christophe-Colomb and de la Roche, will also be redone, with the park’s bike lanes moved to the street, further crowding the street. And several sidestreets off Roy between St-Denis and St-Hubert will also be changing directions in order to direct traffic towards St-Denis.

Happy driving!

PATRICK LEJTENYI

Laissez faire
housing

Not surprisingly, a Montreal social housing advocacy organization has come out swinging in response to a study published last week by right wing economists Claude Montmarquette and Mathieu Laberge. Writing for the think tank CIRANO, the authors claim all is fine and dandy so far as social housing in Quebec is concerned.

“It’s just one more attack by the right on social programs,” states François Saillant of FRAPRU. “These are the same guys who attacked the health system, championed raising tuition fees for post-secondary education, recommended Hydro-Québec raise electricity rates, and now they’re attacking social housing. And it’s worrying because they have the attentive ear of Jean Charest.”

Saillant takes particular issue with the study’s assertion that there’s no need to support social housing because the programs currently in place are more than enough. “Yet the average amount paid out by the housing allowance program is $56 a month. This report is an insult to the people receiving it, people who are paying 50 to 60 per cent of their incomes just for housing. And with respect to the study’s claim that the rent control system here is perfectly adequate, Montreal rents have gone up 31 per cent since 2001. Obviously rent control just isn’t that good in Quebec.”

CHRIS BARRY

Wiki world

If you’re looking for an opportunity to talk about all things wiki—the practice of anyone editing and adding to existing categorical entries at websites similar to Wikipedia—then take note that Recent Changes Camp 2010 will be taking place this weekend. “RCC is a chance for everyone in the wiki community to meet and have a fun, productive conversation about our passion for wikis of all stripes,” says spokesperson Anne Goldenberg. “Except it’s no longer just for wiki people, but for anyone interested in collaboration or self-organization techniques. You don’t have to be an expert or a geek to participate.”

The symposium, which gets underway Friday, June 25 at 1710 Beaudry at 10 a.m. and winds down Sunday at 4 p.m., prides itself on having no fixed agenda, offering each participant the opportunity to propose session ideas at the outset and to follow whichever sessions they so choose.

“We decide for ourselves what we’re going to get out of it by offering sessions each morning on whatever subject we want,” says Goldenberg. “There’s no agenda until we make one up, and of course ad hoc sessions can form at any time. Every session is equally valid.”

For more information and/or to register for the conference, go to rococo2010.org.

CHRIS BARRY

Rear-view mirror

10 YEARS AGO - JUNE 22–29, 2000

On the cover: An illustration by Heavyweight, for their Jazz Fest art installations. “Music sort of dictates the tempo, whether we’re going to go crazy and paint on the canvas or take our time, think about the colours and strokes and stuff,” says Dan Buller.

• A woman’s decision to treat her breast cancer tumour with only holistic medicine nearly proves fatal. “I never doubted for a moment that it would work,” she says. A naturopath says, “If you believe that shark cartilage will help you then you will buy our product.” An oncologist calls holistic medicine peddlers “criminals.”

• Johnson Cummins’ review of Nasum’s Human 2.0, in its entirety: “Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! Kiiiiilllll! 9”

• Sasha on reasons why some women dislike giving blowjobs: “Some boys ask for them by treating your head like a basketball; Each man has a different set of instructions; She just doesn’t like it. Every culture has different sexual standards, mores and traditions, but as far as I can tell, badgering and pouting is considered universally pathetic.”

Angel >>Kevin Costner and his Amazing Oil Spinning Machine With the White House, the Coast Guard and the slugs at BP all incapable of stemming the filth spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, up steps the star of Waterworld and Swing Vote to separate the gunk from the water. His V20 machine, developed by his company Ocean Therapy Solutions after the actor invested $20-million of his own money and long held up by bureaucratic red tape and likely no small amount of ridicule, sold 32 centrifuges to BP with the hopes that they can individually separate up to 210,000 gallons of oil-stained water a day. Who knows, it just might work! Spin, baby, spin!

Insect >>Monopoly: Canada Edition Released to much fanfare in this country at least, the latest incarnation of the Hasbro classic goes hoser, to much controversy. First off, Montreal is relegated to the middling orange section, up there with such internationally desirable locations as Kawartha Lakes (where?) and Chilliwack (what?!). The Boardwalk and Park Place properties are now Chatham-Kent, in deepest southwestern Ontario, and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu—a nice enough town sure, but the ritziest in the country? Come on. Plus, there were zero Maritime or Saskatchewan properties on the board. Holy Wayne Gretzky! This is what you get when you combine a goofy marketing scheme with input from small-town Canada: a classic game gone screwy.