Quote of the week

“They took his things and said, ‘Welcome to Toronto.’” —Société St-Jean Baptiste president Mario Beaulieu, describing what a Montreal protestor told him happened after his arrest at the G20 protests. The nameless protester also said he’d been intimidated, insulted and spat on. A coalition of sovereigntist groups is adding their voice to the growing chorus demanding an inquiry.

Welcome
mat where?

Rotten tomatoes will be on hand this Saturday in Athena Park to throw at the likeness of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

Solidarity Across Borders and No One is Illegal Montreal will host a picnic from 3–7 p.m. in the immigrant-rich Park Extension as a platform for people to speak out about their experiences and dissatisfaction with immigration policies.

With masses of people fleeing economic and environmental disasters around the world, says organizer Sarita Ahooja, “Canada is amongst the countries closing down their doors.”

Increased deportations, including into dangerous situations, are amongst the federal actions being condemned. Ahooja cited the 2009 case of a Mexican woman refused asylum in Canada and murdered shortly after her deportation.

Reduced family reunification sponsorships and refugee acceptances, increased reliance on temporary foreign workers, U.S.-style factory raids to arrest non-status people and a new policy designating certain countries “safe” (and thus unlikely sources of legitimate refugees) are also being called out.

The picnic coincides with events in other Canadian cities for a national day of action against Kenney, initially proposed by No One Is Illegal Vancouver. It will include free food, kids’ activities, music and a Jason Kenney piñata. Athena Park is on Jean-Talon Street at de l’Épée.

JOANNE PENHALE

Cashstrapped
strategy

Advocates for the homeless in Montreal are calling on the federal government to come clean with their intentions concerning the future of the Homeless Partnering Strategy, a 10-year-old program which is the meat and potatoes for a network of community groups in Montreal such as Herstreet, l‘Itinéraire and CACTUS.

Federal Human Resources Minister Diane Finley has stated that the program will be renewed for another three years—with restructuring—but she has not indicated what changes will be made. Pierre Gaudreau, coordinator of RAPSIM, which represents the network of groups, fears they might reinstate housing projects while scrapping support programs.

“There are a variety of ways to help homeless people,” he says. “People on the street are criminalized and we need to work to defend their rights.”

He adds that the government needs to make the call now, so that groups can begin the lengthy process involved in obtaining the funds, in order to continue their work after the current budget ends next March 31.

The Montreal groups are also asking for an increase in the annual budget, from $7.8-million (which has not changed since the program’s inception) to $21-million to meet the increase in the number of homeless, as well as the cost of housing.

HEATHER ROBB

Deals on
wheels

Have you ever bought an awesome pair of shoes off the Internet, only to discover they caused excruciating toe cramps? Now strap wheels on them and multiply the pain by 10—that’s why Alyssa Kwasny opened up Neon Skates, Montreal’s first roller skate shop, this past weekend.

Kwasny, the 25-year-old founder of the Montreal Roller Derby League, combined her quarter-century crisis and her buyer’s remorse and opened up her tiny boutique in the back room of vintage shop Local 23 (23 Bernard W.). “It was really annoying. We always had to order stuff from the States or elsewhere in Canada, so we never got to try anything on before we bought it,” she says of her experience in the Montreal derby league. “So many people end up with skates that don’t fit. Sizing is really important.”

Given the scarcity of roller skate shops, Kwasny expects to be supplying gear to a number of eastern leagues, and an online shop is in the works. The boutique doesn’t solely supply the derby crowd, though—Kwasny takes care to cater to recreational roller skaters who only want a sweet pair of leopard print high-top skates. “I just want to get people roller skating,” she says.

Neon Skates is open Tuesday–Saturday, noon–6 p.m.

TRACEY LINDEMAN

Party in
the East

In the effort to stimulate some good old community spirit in the East End, local boosters will be sponsoring a mega-wing ding called Hochelaga en fête this Saturday, July 24, from noon until 11 p.m., at Dézéry Park (corner Dézéry and Ste-Catherine E.).

“We’re looking to improve the quality of life in this neighborhood,” says Heloïse Moysan, spokesperson for le Comité de base pour l’action et l’information sur le logement social d’Hochelaga-Maisonneuve (Comité BAILS HM), “and the best place to start is by first mobilizing the community, getting people out of their houses and meeting their neighbours. So we’ve created this really positive, festive occasion for the residents of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, something we don’t often see here.”

Moysan says her organization has observed that the poorest sections of her district are also the ones with the fewest social services, “things like community centres, so we’re especially trying to stimulate initiatives in these areas,” hence their choice of Dézéry Park for Hochelaga en fête.

“This festival is a start, at least, something a little different than the repression so many of our residents deal with every day,” she adds.

Among those performing Saturday will be la Descente du coude, Monk E and African percussionist Namori Cissé. For details, go to logement-hochelaga-maisonneuve.org/hochelaga-en-fete.

CHRIS BARRY

Rear-view mirror

12 YEARS AGO - JULY 23–30, 1998

On the cover: Rancid, for the Warped Tour. Singer/guitarist Lars Frederiksen says the band chose to remain with Epitaph despite being offered gobs of money by the majors. “The weirdest it ever got was when Madonna showed up backstage at one of our shows, wanting to sign us. She bummed a smoke off me and I was just in total shock.”

• Photo of the Week is backstage with Playboy hopeful Michelle Leblanc as the magazine continues its search for Playmate of the Millennium. “Pleased with the first round of photographs, Leblanc consented to having her picture taken topless—at which point Mirror photographer Normand Blouin was asked to leave,” reads the caption.

• Is the mission in Saving Private Ryan worth it? “Well yes, when Private Ryan turns out to be Matt Damon.”

• Networthy’s Emru Townsend plugs two Web TV sites, with caveats: “W Vision requires three plug-ins: RealPlayer, VDO Live and Shockwave Flash; Wild Feed TV requires QuickTime and it takes a good 15 minutes to download a small clip.”

Angel >>Postering freedom The city’s cultural community has been worrying for years about Montreal’s official intolerance of renegade postering. But thanks to that ubiquitous activist and thorn in the side of authorities everywhere
Jaggi Singh, that may be changing. Singh’s been contesting an illegal postering charge dating back to April 2000 and last wweek, a Quebec Appeals court agreed with him that the bylaw was a violation of his Charter rights. The victory isn’t just his: COLLE, a coalition of small promoters and venues including Pop Montreal and Suoni per il Popolo, are already cheering that the ruling will help convince authorities to lay off fining the perilously funded groups. The city says it is studying the ruling.

Insect >> The return of Conrad Black Canada’s most obnoxious export walked away from his Florida prison this week, thanks to a U.S. Court of Appeal. Having served just over two of his seven-and-a-half-year sentence, Black was granted bail on Monday (his conditions were set on Wednesday, after press time). That means we can expect more of his pompous bombast, his whining about vendettas and miscarriages of justice and endless yakkery, in this country at least, about the fallen media tycoon and his odious wife. The nicest thing about his 2007 conviction on fraud and obstruction of justice charges was the blissful news blackout. Now that’s over. The good news is, he’s unlikely to be moving back to Canada.