Quote of the week:

"It's not balanced - the quantities of fruit, vegetables, proteins, carbohydrates... it's all wrong." - Montreal Heart Institute's Dr. Martin Juneau, criticizing a bogus weight-loss Web site that recommends a diet - claiming to be approved by his hospital - of hot dogs and ice cream, from CBC Online, Monday.

Where have all
the techies gone?

Time was, not so long ago, that one of the few industries pasty-faced kids from North America and Europe could conquer was that of information technology. Not so anymore. The industry, from high-end software engineering to low-end purchasing order processing, is spreading itself worldwide, with India at the forefront of emerging economies with significant technology sectors.

That is thanks in large part to North American corporations outsourcing big chunks of their work to countries where the labour matches international standards, but is done a lot cheaper. And the growing tendency to outsource, as will be discussed at a conference on Thursday, Jan 22, is a question that we as a society are going to have to look at closely in the coming years.

"Outsourcing is being closely scrutinized right now, especially in the United States, where the Bush administration is fairly protectionist," says conference organizer Sylvie Gagnon, executive director of TechnoCompetences, a local non-profit organization funded by Emploi-Québec that focusses on education and IT. "So it's a phenomenon that we have to keep our eyes on. Do we want to be protectionist or remain innovative? And if we want to remain innovative, how do we go about it? How do we send the right signals to the education centres?"

One of the big challenges, she believes, is making sure that university graduates have both valuable job skills but also the ability to adapt from job to job. "The question is," she says, "how do we achieve that balance?"

» Patrick Lejtenyi

Library missing lit

Quebec's Bibliothèque Nationale has a copy of every magazine, newspaper and book published here except, of course, for the ones they don't have. Since 1968, the law orders Quebec publishers to provide the library with a copy of everything that comes off their presses, which, in turn, makes it available to the public.

But gaping holes remain in the collection, such as Montreal's trailblazing Midnight tabloid during its peak years from 1954 to '68, of which, sadly, only two known copies exist. Other hunted books include Al Palmer's Montreal Confidential and something called The Aggressive Female by David Benton. The library begs owners of needed titles to consider donating them to the public.

"Last year two women brought us the entire series of the Quebec Gazette/La Gazette de Québec from May 1766 to December 1767. It was the first newspaper ever published in Quebec. We had some copies but these women provided all 85 copies in mint condition, carefully wrapped in cardboard," says Daniel Chouinard, director of acquisitions, who sounds equally thrilled about recently scoring Football Fanfare magazines from 1951. Donors usually settle for a donation receipt for tax write-offs but can sometimes wrangle cash from the library.

Those interested in consulting Quebec's past literary gems will get extra time to do so. In about 14 months, the entire lot gets shipped to a new downtown library at Berri, which will be open seven days a week, with some sections open until midnight. Check out www.bnquebec.ca for a list of reading material the library is on the lookout for.

» Kristian Gravenor

Waiting on
mountain's status

Although Mount Royal still isn't an official, in-the-books, carved-in-stone heritage site yet, it's beginning to be treated as one. Ever since the Landry government announced that the mountain would receive protected status - meaning that all future construction projects must be approved by the provincial Ministry of Culture - developers have been stymied from erecting giant buildings that would mar the delicate ecology or change the skyline. One such project was the initial plan to expand the gymnasium belonging to l'Académie Michel Provost, a private French school built on the mountainside. It was discarded because the gym would have been too prominent.

The revamped project, discussed at a Ville-Marie borough meeting this week (although deadline considerations prevent the outcome from being reported here), is more eco-friendly, says Sylvie Guilbault, executive director of Les Amis de la montagne, a conservation group.

"The new project is well below the limits set out by the ministry," she says. "We've seen a lot of that since the mountain was given its protected status. The status provides an additional guarantee. It makes a real difference."

The delay between the announcement last February and its official enactment has caused some confusion, she admits. "It makes life difficult for developers and for residents," she says. "The government's criteria for new buildings have to be precise, and right now we're in a bit of a grey zone."

The Ministry of Culture should have the mountain's status official by June 2004.

» Patrick Lejtenyi

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

13 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Jan. 24-31, 1991

On the cover: Various foodstuffs in a cash register, as the Mirror looks at alternative economics, especially barter. One University of Ottawa expert estimates the non-criminal "informal economy" as being worth $100-billion, or 20 per cent of Canada's GDP.

• "You don't need drums to excite a crowd," says Bobby Watson, alto sax for New York's 29th Street Saxophone Quartet. With no rhythm section, the quartet manage to create a "harmolodic hoedown" with elements of bop, gospel, honky tonk, R&B and classical.

• Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson, is hailed as being "much more accessible than Kenneth Branagh's Henry V" and should "appeal to a younger audience unacquainted with the play."

• A letter from 16 signatories criticizes the Mirror's back-page ads. Charging that the ads objectify women, the letter reminds the Mirror of the "direct link between the rise of pornography and the rise of violence against women... We want apologies."

• Slum Dog and a flea-bitten human catch and eat an alley cat.

Angel >> Disabled rights and medical marijuana activist Claude Messier One of the first Canadians awarded the right to smoke marijuana to relieve pain died last week at St-Charles-Borromée Hospital, age 37. Messier, who had been living with muscular dystrophy for years, was never given much of a chance to live, but nevertheless fought for his right to medical marijuana access, which he was awarded in October 1999. The following year, he ran as a Marijuana Party candidate in the federal elections in Rosemont - Petite-Patrie, where he garnered 1,470 votes. He was the author of three books, and two years ago took up skydiving.
Insect >> The Toronto PD An RCMP investigation into widespread corruption in the Toronto police has revealed some very nasty goings-on. Witnesses giving testimony incriminating suspect drug squad officers of criminal activity have reportedly been threatened, as have fellow officers. In some cases, the witnesses recanted their testimony, resulting in charges being dismissed. Tales of police drug dealing, gun running, perjury and the like are also surfacing, following a two-year access battle by The Globe and Mail and the CBC. The new allegations also accuse the force of deliberately blocking RCMP investigators in their inquiries. Toronto police chief Julian Fantino denied those charges last Tuesday, but, given the force's reputation these days, that doesn't mean much.