Quote of the week:

"What happened is not acceptable in a law-abiding state." - François Roux, lawyer for anti-GMO activist José Bové, who was arrested at his home in a pre-dawn raid Sunday morning involving 80 gendarmes, police dogs and a helicopter. He will serve 10 months in prison for destroying genetically modified crops.

City hall to save afterhours?

Opponents of the proposed limitations on afterhours clubs were left reeling last week when fewer than necessary residents signed a registry that would force a referendum on the issue. That means, at first glance, that the borough of Ville-Marie is about to crack down hard on the post-drinking hours nightlife.

But not so fast: earlier last week, Mayor Gérald Tremblay introduced proposed legislation that would re-organize the way downtown is managed and would give city hall more power at the expense of the Ville-Marie borough (the borough is now controlled by councillors from the opposition Vision Montreal party). And while it’s not known what immediate effect this will have on the afterhours legislation, its opponents are watching city politics more closely than ever.

"Above and beyond partisan politics," says Yanic Viau, a member of CORRAV, a group supporting the afterhours, "the message the city is sending out is that downtown can’t be managed like a suburb."

Viau says that while the coalition of groups opposing the afterhours legislation is in a period of "strategic reflection," they will only enter into further dialogue with the city "on certain conditions: first, the borough must have at least some sort of minimal acknowledgement that there is a right to a nightlife, and second, that the afterhours have a right to exist."

And while borough councillor Robert Laramée, who first introduced the legislation, said he was interested in continuing a dialogue with opposition groups, Viau says he and others remain skeptical about Laramée’s true intentions. » Patrick Lejtenyi

Banking on baby food

The NDG food bank is in a state of crisis, as their supply of baby food formula has now run completely dry. The organization, which has been serving the NDG community and surrounding areas for the last 17 years, supplies over 240 households a week.

"We basically deal with issues of food insecurity," says director Michael Kay. "Our biggest thing is definitely the dépannage, giving out groceries."

Kay says that the food bank does its best to deal with long-term concerns as well, offering pertinent advice on matters like housing and welfare. The organization also supplies everything from clothes to bus tickets. "Anything that can encourage employability," he says.

With baby formula at the top of their wish list right now, the food bank is always looking for non-perishable food donations. "I think it’s important to point out, also," says Kay, "because I often have people asking me why we don’t just encourage mothers to breast feed - sometimes it’s just not possible, it’s too late, or sometimes it’s for biological reasons, sometimes it’s cultural.

"You know, when you’re working in frontline emergency service, you are always torn between the immediate crisis at hand and working on longer-term aid," he says.

The NDG food bank is situated at 2121 Oxford. For more information or to donate, call 483-4680. » Alexandra Spunt

Free bikes for the masses

Those too broke to buy a bike are fast running out of excuses not to get a bicycle this summer.

Freewheels, Montreal’s first and only earn-a-bike program, is offering bicycles for free. Almost. Now in its third year, the program trades bikes, parts and bike-related services in exchange for time or bartered goods.

"There’s several of these throughout the continent, mainly in the States," says Richard Dugas, the group’s founder, who runs Freewheels out of a garage behind 6200 de Châteaubriand (metro Beaubien).

"Someone comes along and does a certain number of hours of work on a project that we give them to do. Once they’re done their hours they can choose a bicycle. They fix it and bring it back up to par with our help."

A bike costs four hours, either in-shop or on projects for the organization. Other projects are worked out on a case-by-case basis.

"If someone wants to work on their own bicycle or a part, we’re willing to barter for those things," says Dugas. "We love barter."

Their goal - getting people on bikes - is greatly helped by the staggering surplus of bikes and parts that the city generates.

"The city vomits them. They’re everywhere," says Dugas. "Whatever they’re looking for, we’ll have - probably not in the colour they’re looking for, though."

Freewheels will hold a fundraiser July 19 at MixArt Studio, 2121 Hingston in NDG (metro Vendôme). The cost is $10 at the door, or free with donation of tools. For more information, or to volunteer see www.angelfire.com/trek/freewheels. » Jason Gondziola

Rear view

16 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
June 12-July 2, 1987

On the cover: Latin rock legend Santana, who lets readers know that, "At our show in Montreal, we will play more on the outside than usual. At jazz festivals, people’s minds are more elastic, so you can stretch out a little bit more than sticking to something that works."

• Albert Nerenberg reveals his terror in the face of The Blob, aka baby boomer ex-hippies turned power execs, specifically in the media: "Apparently they did great things a while ago and it seems they’ll never let you forget it."

• Peter Sandmark gives the rundown on new underground cinema screenings. Title include Jesus, der Film, Wrecked on Cannibal Island and Mutable Fire. Also included are films by NYC’s John Gurrin and locals Lysanne Thibodeau and, in what he admits is "blatant self-promotion, Peter Sandmark.

• Photographer Arnold Newman tells budding shutterbugs they should "start with the past and immerse themselves in it… A real genius with no knowledge of visual history or art and photography gas to start with the cave painters and go from there."

Angel >> Rethinking the new St-Laurent Pharmaprix When the new drugstore unveiled its garish façade on the Main, locals who dreaded the creeping Taschereau-ization of Montreal’s most historic boulevard were proved correct. Now it would seem that the city made a mistake in allowing the design to go through, and the chain will have to submit new plans to an urban planning committee. Apparently, the mix-up was caused by a bureaucrat’s rubber-stamp approval of the original design, bypassing the required system that tries to maintain the neighbourhood’s historic flavour. At least there’s a chance that the new outlet’s overpowering presence will be diminished somewhat.
Insect >> Public transit woes It’s been a bad few months for the city’s public transit system. A second fare rate increase this year, beginning next Tuesday, is only going to make up a fraction of its $20-million deficit. Last week, the city said it would consider cancelling weekend metro service as a last-ditch, money-saving resort. And this week, Le Devoir reported that the city is blocking the construction of a commuter train station in Montreal North. The station has been in the works since November 2001, but so far remains in the studying stage. Strange goings-on, considering that public transit was supposed to be a priority for this administration.