Rialto ad scandal!

The Montreal Urban Planning Commission turned into a mock courtroom on Tuesday night as citizens and city councillors alike tried to put Rialto manager George Ioannou on trial.

The Commission was meeting to hear citizen input on Ioannou's request to have the Rialto theatre on Parc re-zoned for use as a disco. But the discussion quickly turned on the trustworthiness of Rialto management, and the hearings degenerated into heated shouting matches between city councillors.

The controversy centred on the fact that Rialto management are already advertising their club, even though they have yet to receive their permit. Local residents believe the ad, which features the stop-work order posted on the Rialto's doors by the city last July, flaunts the Rialto's open disregard for the law.

When Mile-End city councillor Helen Fotopulos also questioned Ioannou's character, she was berated by another city councillor, Collette Paul, for turning the hearings into a character assassination. "We are here to judge the merits of the promoter's proposal, not the promoter himself," said Paul. "This is unacceptable."

The Rialto circus will reconvene at city hall on November 17 at 7 p.m.

-- Philip Preville

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