Turcot idea all wet

Paint the Turcot Interchange? What a novel idea! ["Colours in the sky," June 5]. Why stop there? We’ll paint the surface of the roads, too! Think of what drivers would see… And airline passengers… Right now the Olympic Stadium looks like a toilet bowl; we could paint it up to look like a fucking piñata. Are you kidding me?!

Our public education systems are constantly scrabbling for money. Libraries and hospitals are seeing their funding slashed. The Old Brewery Mission always needs more beds. There are people living in this fair city whose slum rentals are falling down around their very heads and their landlords couldn’t care less. And on and on it goes. $3.8-million to paint the Turcot Interchange, and who is going to be paying for this, exactly?

In the grand scheme of things, 3.8-million beans doesn’t really add up to more than a small percentage of what is needed just in Montreal alone, but I can still think of any number of better uses for money like that than on such outrageous foolishness. Give it to Pops already, he’ll put money like that to good work - at least it won’t be wasted.

The very idea of it seems to reverberate with some kind of unbelievable echo of misplaced priorities - painted or not, they’re still an eyesore.

» Alan Yates

Raise the drinking age!

As a gambling critic (who has never been accused of hesitating to call a spade a spade), I read your article on underage drinking with great interest, but no great surprise ["Good times go bad," June 12].

For the past several years I have been referring to Quebec as "Tijuana North." A visit to the Montreal Casino on any weekend will give you the opportunity to see young people from places as diverse as Toronto, New York City, Boston, and cities in New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maine and Vermont. Many of these young people are under 21, meaning they can’t gamble or drink in their home state. Many are under 18 and legally are not allowed to gamble here. But the name of the game in Quebec seems to be cultivate players while they are young.

As the older clientele die off, they need to be replaced with new clients. Why should bar operators stop underage gamblers playing VLTs in bars? There is no threat of police interference or risk of loss of licence.

In this province, it is every man for himself: dépanneurs ignore laws intended to prevent the sale of lottery tickets to minors, and bar owners ignore laws in order to make their profits increase.

Casinos (which are owned, operated and regulated by the government and need answer to nobody), continue to turn a blind eye to the youth who think that they’re James Bond and dump the money that should be spent on real entertainment onto the blackjack tables. This money is subsequently funnelled into the coffers of "general revenue" in Quebec City.

The article said that police can do nothing without a complaint. I would encourage parents and teachers to name the bars that let their children play VLTs, and make a formal complaint if the students involved are under the age of 18. Ideally, and out of respect to the great nation that borders us to the south, the drinking and gambling age should be raised to 21 here as well. But don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen. You have a better chance of winning the lottery.

» Sol Boxenbaum, CEO,
Viva Consulting Family Life Inc.

Taboo raid praised

For the first time, I hail the police for finally raiding Taboo ["Is Taboo taboo?" May 22]. I’m gay, and I’ve been appalled in the past by police efforts to rip apart the gay community. I was furious over the raid of Katakombes [part of K.O.X. bar, which was raided in 1994], seeing as there was no one there but consenting adults wanting to have a drink and maybe get a little sex later on. I think their spending so much time looking for drugs at raves and circuit parties is ludicrous when there are more important things going on.

If the police raided a sauna I would be equally angered (despite the fact I think saunas are disgusting and I wish they would be eliminated) as it would infringe on people’s rights to pay to get in a place to have anonymous sex.

But Taboo is very different. Unlike other strip clubs, such as Campus and Stock, the dancers at Taboo are barely legal and the acts that go on there are just disgusting because of the age difference between the dancers and the clientele. Old men taking advantage of young kids who strip because they need the money and replace love with bought affection is just horrible and should be dealt with legally.

I enjoy strip clubs as much as many other guys, but I like to see men strip, not little boys. I hope the cops find a way to shut down that place once and for all and get these kids back at doing something respectable.

» Name withheld by request

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