Quote of the week:

"There are people who have AIDS and hide it from their partners. With this book, I'm practicing radical prevention." - HIV+ author Érik Rémès, in town promoting his book Serial fucker: journal d'un barebacker, in Tuesday's Journal de Montréal

Addict centre faces axe

Snowdon residents have been duelling it out by petition concerning Addington House, a drug rehab centre recently transplanted from NDG to a semi-detached duplex at Earnscliffe and Dupuis. The not-in-my-backyard types nabbed 200 signatures, five times the total of those favouring its continued existence, and as a result, all six NDG-Côte-des-Neiges borough councillors have opted to deny the centre the required permits to keep it going.

"Residents complained that people from the drug rehab were creating problems in the nearby park, plus there were other issues about noise and illegal construction - balconies were being extended without permits. So our borough urban planning committee gave the project a negative recommendation," says Snowdon councillor Marvin Rotrand.

The rehab joint's administrators are employing Article 89.4 of the City Charter that exempts not-for-profit institutions from such borough zoning decisions. The final decision on whether the rehab centre can stay now goes to the city executive council to decide. Detractors have accused Addington House of overcrowding its facilities, which has been home to a dozen patients, four over the accepted limit.

"We're doing our darndest to cooperate and not to be a problem to the neighbours," says Gerry Sidel, who founded the facility at 3824 Addington in 1990. A troubled-sounding Sidel refused to provide any further information in a telephone interview, citing "fears of being misrepresented," following an article he describes as "misleading" in another weekly paper, the West End Chronicle. » Kristian Gravenor

Organized anarchy

The annual Montreal Festival of Anarchy is upon us again, and there's a lot to do. While a demo was planned for today, Thursday, May 1, details were not available by press time. However, this Friday, May 2, Martha Ackelsberg, historian and author of Free Women of Spain, is heading up the event with a lecture at UQÀM about the anti-patriarchal struggles within the Spanish anarchist movement. On Saturday there will be a get-together with Ackelsberg at Café Pharmacie Esperanza (corner St-Laurent and St-Viateur) for some coffee talk. The festival runs until May 18, closing with the fourth annual Anarchist Book Fair and a series of workshops.

The festival, having grown over the last few years, is "becoming one of the preeminent anarchist events in North America," second perhaps only to San Francisco's, says Jaggi Singh, one of its organizers. "Montreal's is unique, though, as it's held in both French and English and attracts many people from outside the movement." He feels that it is part of a growing effort, not to convert people but rather to "expose these ideas and make them accessible."

This year's festival will feature speakers and groups from around the globe, including New York visual artist Eric Drooker, members of France's Fédération Anarchiste and former Black Panther member Ashanti Alston, among others. Ackelsberg will be speaking at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 2 at the Hubert-Aquin Pavilion (400 Ste-Catherine E., Rm AM058). For the full schedule of anarchic activities, see www.tao.ca/~lombrenoire/ festival.html. » Alexandra Spunt

Party to protect journos

One might think an organization with as noble a purpose as Reporters Without Borders (RWB) would be celebrated by all sectors of the community, or at least by anyone who recognizes the importance of a free press, but apparently not, according to the organization's communications director Emily Jacquard.

"Last weekend, when I was handing out flyers informing people of our upcoming benefit show at Kola Note, you wouldn't believe how many people just told me, 'Good, I'm happy to see journalists in jail, they have too much power to begin with,'" she says. "But I don't think these people realize that the issue is more than just freedom of the press, we're talking about freedom of speech here."

To this end, and to help celebrate the 13th World Press Freedom Day, this Friday, May 2, Reporters Without Borders will be sponsoring a hootenanny "to remind ourselves that democracy is the loser each time governments stand in the way of the right to inform and be informed," Jacquard says.

In addition to an evening of poetry, speeches and the rockin' sounds of The Chango Family, the Zapartistes and Loco Locass, RWP will be releasing the 2003 Worldwide Freedom of Press Index, reporting the state of press freedom worldwide and denouncing abuses and press freedom violations in 156 countries, including Canada. All monies raised will help Reporters Without Borders continue its work conducting awareness campaigns. The event is Friday, May 2 at Kola Note (5240 Parc). Cost is $10 for students, $15 for non-students. » Chris Barry

Rear view

12 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

On the cover: Disgruntled Joe Jackson discusses why he left A&M for Virgin with his new album, Laughter and Lust. "It got to the point where anything… that wasn't straightforward, mainstream pop rock was perceived as a problem. All the positives I saw in trying to do something different and interesting, they just saw as negatives."

• The Chilean Folklore Ensemble of the Association of the Relatives of Detained and Missing Persons performs in Montreal. "The women who file out on stage will never win an award for the artistry of their singing," writes Walter Krajewski. "But their voices... carry a profound authenticity."

• Filmmaker Velcrow Ripper's I'm Happy, You're Happy, We're All Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy is described as "part acid trip, part nightmare." "It's a simple story about a fool whose innoncence is destroyed," says Ripper.

• The Mirror carries a four-page ad supplement hyping Madonna's Truth or Dare. It promises "Celebrity shmoozing backstage!", "Madonna reveals her true love!" and "Madonna vs. 'Fascist State of Toronto!'"

Angel >> Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal Just days prior to worldwide ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the most famous and dogged Nazi-hunter made his retirement public. At 95, Simon Wiesenthal, a Mauthausen concentration camp survivor, has since 1946 been tracking, documenting and helping to prosecute some of the worst war criminals in history. This despite widespread public criticism and apathy from those who accused him of being a U.S. agent to European politicians who hoped to forget the past. In all, Wiesenthal helped capture over 1,100 war criminals, including Adolf Eichmann, the Holocaust's principal architect.
Insect >> Let's Visit Nunavut The Napanee, Ontario, publishing house S&S Learning Materials probably thought they were helping Grade 2 students across the country learn about Nunavut's Inuit, but this book might not have been the best of educational tools. Depicting Inuit as jobless, reliant on welfare and prone to violence, suicide and substance abuse, the book has been pulled from Nunavut schools amid vocal outrage. A quote: "[The Inuit's] lifestyle that had worked for generations was no longer the right way to live." Also, True or False questions: The Inuit do not have full-time jobs. Answer: True. Many Inuit are well-trained and educated. Answer: False. Alarmingly, the book has been on shelves since 1997.