NDG on the
graf counter-attack
Graffiti artists beware: NDG is coming after you and your scribblings. After construction boss Michael Ferrara was left mystified by the vigour and enterprise that led graffiti writers to spray obscenities all over his construction sight at Hingston and de Maisonneuve, he decided radical action was needed. “They used to climb up to my 25-foot roof just to write on it,” he says.
As well as surrounding his property with $10,000 worth of barriers, he also launched a petition, and quickly attracted 1,000 John Hancocks. The initiative apparently impressed city brass, who are in the process of handing over $100,000 for an anti-graffiti pilot project in NDG. Wall washers, digital cameras and pamphlets are in the mix. Ambulatory field workers have obtained pre-permission from private businesses to allow city workers to clean their private walls in the event of graf attacks, with the aim of zapping any paint that goes up within 72 hours. Anti-graffiti troopers are watching out for visible marks, and will send letters to people’s homes offering the city’s services. “The philosophy is that they’re supposed to take it all off, zone by zone,” says local community activist Steve Laudi. “We want to blanket the area, change the people’s values.”
Laudi says the graffiti markings, which include the letters
F-U-C-K carved into a $3,000 residential glass window, are a far cry from
being artistic. “One difference between graffiti and art is permission,”
he says. For more information, call 487-2895. :
-Kristian Gravenor
Stop on red
The curious mini-brouhaha that broke out last week over the possible creation of a red-light district in the heart of downtown was purely a misunderstanding, the city is now saying. On Thursday, the CBC reported that Louise O’Sullivan Boyne, a member of the city’s executive committee and responsible for social and economic development, wanted to establish up to six red light districts, one in the heart of downtown, to be up and running by January.
The next day, Mayor Gérald Tremblay distanced himself
from the idea, saying that red light districts “are not even an
option that we can evaluate.”
So what happened? According to mayoral aide Darren Becker, the whole thing
was overblown from the get-go. “The issue was discussed and put
forward by [sex-workers’ rights group] Stella and some city officials,”
he says. “The city is aware of the problem and maybe we could come
up with a possible solution. [O’Sullivan Boyne] brought the issue
up at a borough meeting… but the city never gave its blessing.”
Becker says the city has no plans to pursue a solution
to the prostitution problem any time soon. He says that because specific
spots were mentioned, it gave people the impression that it would become
a reality. He also notes that while a La Presse poll last year showed
that up to 62 per cent of respondents were amenable to the idea of a red
light district, convincing residents to allow one in their neighbourhood
is far easier said than done. :
-Patrick Lejtenyi
Haitian waves
Turn the radio dial way to the right and, hopefully by early to mid-August, you’ll be able to pick up the sounds of Caribbean, Latin and African music. So hopes Jean Ernest Pierre, a Montreal lawyer and proprietor of the city’s newest radio station, CJWI-AM 1610. Pierre’s station is in its testing phase now, and hopes that all the paperwork and technical glitches will be taken care of within the next few weeks.
Pierre says he thought up the idea of a radio
station serving Quebec’s black francophone community-mostly
Haitian and African-a couple of years ago, because, he says, “The
community needs to express itself. The Haitian community has existed here
for over 50 years, and we want to be able to speak to the children of
the community.” The programming will be entirely in French.
Pierre is building on a widely-held tradition among Third World countries,
where radio is the primary medium for mass communications. A small transistor
radio can inform and entertain an entire village, and it is this feeling
of community-building Pierre hopes to capitalize on. “If you want
to pass on communications to the community,” he says, “the
best way to do it has always been radio.”
Asked about his programming, which will include
mostly music but also some spoken word, Pierre says, “We’ll
be bringing you the sun.” :
-Patrick Lejtenyi
Angel
>> The late Victoria Rink, birthplace of hockey Last week, the
International Ice Hockey Federation announced that Montreal-more specifically,
the Victoria Rink, on the corner of Drummond and Ste-Catherine-was where
our national sport was born. Amid loud protestations to the contrary,
we beat out Kingston and Halifax, with the first recorded game played
on ice with curved sticks, opposing teams and a puck taking place on
March 3, 1875. The IIHF plans to commemorate the site with a bronze
plaque, although some local historians wish to see the rink rebuilt.
The Victoria Rink is now a parking garage. 
Insect
>> Government offensives against native tax-free status Ontario
is considering joining Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia in
challenging a decision made in March by the federal Supreme Court giving
up to 30,000 Cree and Dene people tax exemptions. The natives and their
descendants had been promised tax-free status when they signed Treaty
8 in 1899, which opened up their lands to white
settlement. The Supreme Court’s decision, which will not take
effect for years, is feared by both provincial and federal governments
to wreak tax chaos. The decision was suspended by the federal government
in May, and an appeal is scheduled for November.
