Saints and sinners

>> >> Prostitutes' rights groups criticize opponent André Gagnon

by JOHN EDMONDS

But another demo an hour earlier on the same streets, organized by the Association contre la criminalization de la pauvreté (ACCP), made it clear that they felt that ARP president André Gagnon was definitely not "in their number."

Gagnon is the publisher of two local magazines--Les Faubourgs and Quartier Latin--and is the main spokesperson for ARP's crusade against the pilot project, which aimed at loosening up the legal consequences of prostitution in the Faubourgs and Centre-Sud districts, while relying more on social-worker solutions to residents' complaints. Gagnon is widely quoted in the local press, where he is cast as the man who wants to clean up the streets of the quartier.

But those who supported the pilot project--cancelled in March due to fierce resistance by ARP--condemn him as a manipulator and hypocrite.

"He's a fascist and a liar! He says that he represents the residents, but he just represents the property owners and businesspeople," said one young man. The man was part of a group of about 30 leftovers from the ACCP demo who confronted Gagnon's group outside l'Église de Sacré Coeur on Ontario when they stopped for a break.

A strong police presence kept the two factions from tangling. But some of the youth followed the march once police numbers dwindled, heckling Gagnon specifically.

Anti-Gagnon spirit was also evident at the official ACCP event: organizer René Charest began his pre-march pep talk with a call to deal with the "André Gagnon syndrome," and one of the signs held by a demonstrator read "2,001 reasons to kick André Gagnon's ass."

"I have known Gagnon for a long time. And I am not surprised that he took the role that he did at the public consultations for the pilot project," Charest told the Mirror. Charest and Gagnon were both involved in student politics at UQAM in the early '90s, where, according to his critics, Gagnon earned a rep as a troublemaker.

But was it asking for trouble to plan a counter-demo the same day in the same area? Charest says he had no idea that some of the members of his march had gone on to harangue the ARP crowd. "I was at Foufounes at the time, at the party to launch the Parti Populaire des Putes. Our march--which was to show support for the community groups in the area--had already ended," Charest says.

ARP's demo was met with honks of support by many, and Gagnon seems unfazed by critics' attacks on his character. "Now you can see who is being intolerant and spreading hatred," says Gagnon. "Without ARP the neighbourhood risked becoming a dictatorship of the community groups. My motivation is just to make the area a safe place to raise children." :

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