Quote of the week:

“Those who don’t have any money in our society are also our [fellow citizens], and we must help them.”—Provincial Municipal Affairs Minister Jean-Marc Fournier, confirming that rent control in Montreal will remain intact, from the CBC Online Tuesday.

March of the angry parents

Parents of toddlers and daycare centres across the city are up in arms, thanks to proposed Quebec Liberal budget cuts that have put the $5-a-day daycare system and its further development at risk. Last Sunday’s press conference gave the floor to concerned parents, many of whom work within the administrative council of the Centre à la petite enfance (CPE), and this Saturday they, and many others, will take to the streets in protest.

Reneging on a promise to assure the continuation and development of these establishments, “the government has now announced that it will cut somewhere between $300- to $500-million in spending in the ministry responsible for daycares,” says François Leblanc, president of the administrative council of the CPE Duluth. At present, this means that many expansion projects that were underway, such as the acquisition of new spaces to meet the needs of different communities, have been stopped in their tracks. “It’s most frustrating for the parents who have put in the time and energy, and now see their efforts going to waste,” says Leblanc.

A petition is currently circulating through daycares, having amassed upwards of 50,000 signatures. There is also a petition that can be accessed on the Web at www.petition-garderie.ca.

Saturday’s walk will begin at 1:30 p.m., though folks will be regrouping at Dominion Square around 12:30 p.m. Organizers expect upwards of 10,000 people. Don’t forget to bring the kids. For further details go to www.rcpeim.com. » Alexandra Spunt

Legendary name in dispute

Among the most popular tourist souvenirs one can buy in this town are T-shirts and other memorabilia featuring star bassist and jazz diplomat Charlie Biddle, whose name and likeness have long been featured on the restaurant of the same name. But now that Biddle has passed away, his widow Constance wants his name back from club owner George Durst.

“They’re selling baseball caps, umbrellas, keychains, towels, chairs, there’s a Web site and all sorts of items that use his name and sometimes his face. Durst is even driving around town in a new hummer with the name ‘Biddle’s’ on the side,” says Constance Biddle. She has hired lawyer Eric Goyette and launched three lawsuits against Durst, a self-proclaimed French draft-dodger who came here in the ’50s and launched several successful discothèques. Durst’s rocky yet enduring association with the legendary jazzman began after Expo ’67, when Durst made a handshake agreement with Charlie Biddle to put him on the payroll in exchange for use of his name and likeness. Durst then expanded the rib joint formula for the megasuccessful Cage aux Sports. Constance Biddle is seeking a “symbolic” $75,000 from Durst.

“I think my husband has been abused and very badly handled during all those years. Musicians tell me that when Charlie would come in the back door, Durst would run out the other door,” she says. Durst was reported to be out of the country and unavailable for comment. » Kristian Gravenor

Trash talk at city hall

Ever been struck with a brilliant idea on how Montreal can better coordinate its lacklustre recycling infrastructure, but not known where to turn with your vision? Or simply ignored your master plan because you’re pretty damn sure that the powers-that-be at city hall couldn’t care less about your crackpot ideas anyway?

Well, according to Marvin Rotrand, city councillor for Snowdon, now is the time to let your ideas be heard. In response to new provincial regulations coming into effect January 1, 2008, stating that 60 per cent of all municipal waste from that point on should be diverted from elimination (read landfills), the City of Montreal has organized “a waste management master committee” to study ways of better encouraging Montrealers to recycle. The committee is currently studying a proposal put forth by Rotrand that would see Montreal take the pro-active step of sponsoring a “loyalty program, much like Air Miles.” According to Rotrand, “the more you recycle, the more points you would get. And when you got enough points you could cash them in—but not for a personal reward, but perhaps for a tree that could be planted in your name in an area of town that would be revitalized through the creation a new Forêt de Montréal. And then we could put up a plaque with the names of those people who had helped create it through their recycling efforts.”

Got a better idea? Then send it on in to Rotrand at mrotrand@ville.montreal.qc.ca or to Alan de Sousa, executive committee member in charge of the environment, at adesousa@ville.montreal.qc.ca. » Chris Barry

Rear view

14 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
June 2-June 15, 1989

On the cover: The Phantom of the Opera, as John Kenley and Robert Thomas Noll’s play version opens. “Emotion is the crux of the story, to feel the phantom’s plight. It isn’t just about getting the willies in an abandoned opera house late at night,” says director Barry Garber.

• The Mirror’s AIDS supplement coincides with Montreal’s hosting of the Fifth International Conference on AIDS. The supplement features six articles about AIDS and politics, art, literature and ethics..

• “If I hadda stood on the cover with a peace symbol and a bouquet of flowers, I woulda missed the whole audience that needs it the most,” Ice-T tells the Mirror, referring to his album, Power, on which he is shown holding an Uzi.

• “Shots of Montreal’s skyline from the mountain and scenes above the city lend an ambiance which reinforces the philosophical nature of the film and the contrast between the play’s ideals and the reality down below,” writes Paula Sypnowich of Jésus de Montréal.

Angel >> Challenging Canada’s sex laws An online petition is calling for long-overdue changes to some of the more prurient legislation currently (and futilely) regulating Canadian sex lives. Circulated by the gay Xtra! papers in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa, the petition urges the feds to repeal the anal sex, indecent performance, exhibition and bawdy house laws—laws that the gay community says affect them more than straights and are used to justify police raids on gay clubs, like last month’s Taboo bust. Xtra! calls the laws “discrimination based on orifice,” and urges readers to sign the petition at www.xtra.ca/BawdyWork.
Insect >> The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) The industry organization recently revealed that it added $1-million (U.S.) to the already-wealthy drug lobby in order to target Canadian prescription drug subsidies and especially Internet pharmacies, where Americans can buy online the same medication as in the States but at much lower prices. PhRMA claim that their lobbying campaign will convince Canadians that they would actually benefit from increased drug prices, adding that it will “help patients here realize that they need a different system.” Presumably, that different system would be similar to the American one, where millions of sick and elderly are without insurance and unable to afford the skyrocketing cost of drugs.