Quote of the week:

"I'll go to confession tomorrow." - Toronto news anchor Gord Martineau, after belittling homosexuals and child cancer victims, in an outtake video circulating in cyberspace. Martineau's bosses at Citytv have apologized, but will not take any disciplinary action.

Big Brother Anne

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Public Security and Emergency Preparedness Anne McLellan has a lot on her plate these days. It's a job to be taken seriously, and as shown in a little-heralded Order in Council passed Dec. 12 - the day she took the post in a Paul Martin Cabinet shuffle - she is getting more power to fight evil-doers than ever before.

The order eases the issuing of security certificates, a contentious measure that allows authorities to detain suspected national security threats indefinitely while withholding access to the evidence against them. Before Dec. 12, a security certificate needed two signatures to be issued, that of the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and that of the Solicitor General. Now, the only signature needed is that of the Solicitor General - McLellan. The Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), an umbrella group of 175 member-organizations, opposes the measure, saying that it was passed undemocratically and unfairly targets new arrivals.

"The change was made within the context of a shift of responsibilities in the government, and it mirrors very closely moves made in the U.S. with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security," says Janet Dench, the CCR's executive director. "The Canadian immigration system has been attacked, mostly by ill-informed Americans, as being too lax. Martin is now sending a message that security issues have a higher priority."

Dench says the CCR will be meeting with the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration soon, and member organizations will be "drawing their concerns to the attention of the government." » Patrick Lejtenyi

La Ronde axes fun

Music promoter Raymond Junior Courtemanche was all set to go ahead with his big Love 6 electronic music festival on Feb. 14. His company, Les Productions Ray Junior, had a spot booked at La Ronde, a contract signed and all the permits ready to go when, late last week, he received a letter in the mail saying that the gig was off and he was given a full refund. He has since found an alternate location, but another promoter, Les Productions NOTA MinDTraB, whose Wings of Ambriel II event was to take place at La Ronde on Jan. 31, hadn't found one by presstime.

Courtemanche was annoyed at the process, especially considering the 30-plus letters of reference he had presented from "cities, mayors, fire departments" and others to La Ronde officials. "I visited the rooms, I explained my needs, I checked out the emergency exits, the parking and everything was okay," he says. "I signed the contract in December, but then, last week, some other person [than whom he dealt with] called, asked me some questions and said they don't accept paying events at La Ronde."

Courtemanche says he was disinclined to sue for breach of contract after, he says, "they told me they had five full-time lawyers on staff, and that it'd cost me a lot of money." A representative from La Ronde says the park only hosts private functions, and not public events.

Courtemanche, however, believes that Six Flags, La Ronde's U.S.-based parent company, is worried about its family-oriented public image. Nevertheless, Love 6 will be held Feb. 14 at the Collège de Maisonneuve (2700 Bourbonnière). » Patrick Lejtenyi

Black Theatre's posh fundraiser

What do you call a university prof who has written plays translated into Italian, has bagged a Governor General's award for poetry, scored an honorary doctorate and has been an insider at the highest levels of Canadian politics?

The word you'd be looking for is "fantastic," according to the folks at our Black Theatre Workshop, who are honouring the Halifax-born George Elliot Clarke in an upcoming annual fundraiser that should help propel the BTW through another season.

"Clarke is a great contributor and educator, he really gets down into the community," says BTW marketing rep Dejha Carrington. The 33-year-old Montreal institution has been holding its fundraising dinner since 1985 and has used the proceeds to bankroll such excellent dramas as Wade in the Water and A Common Man's Guide to Loving Women.

The dinner event at the Omni Hotel on Jan. 31 sees 200-250 arts lovers put up $125 (of which $80 is a tax deductible donation) to partake in the event that many consider the unofficial kickstart to Black History Month. The black-tie event also includes a silent art auction and two awards presented to young Canadian talent. For those without the financial wherewithal to attend, Clarke will also do a free reading at 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, at Paragraphe Bookstore (2220 McGill-

College). For gala tix call 932-1104, ext. 223. » Kristian Gravenor

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

14 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Feb. 1-8, 1990

On the cover: Harry Belafonte, who has, following a trip to South Africa, been bitten by the township jive bug. "There's a tradition in music coming out of Third World countries. Most new songs are very influenced by the tastes of the young and how aggressive they are about what they want the world to be," he says.

• The city's services, especially those offering treatment and recovery, can't keep up with the growing number of drug addicts. "If you're strung out and can't get into detox, there's no way you'll be able to stand the intense emotional and often physical suffering that comes with withdrawal on your own," says "Alan," a former junkie.

• The annual Rendez-vous du cinéma takes stock of a banner year for Quebec filmmaking, although language issues - specifically, English-language films made in Quebec but shown without French subtitles - cause some grumbling.

• Avant-garde artist Istvan Kantor/Monty Cantsin brings his STOCK: The Best Shit of My Worst Years to town. It involves selling vials of his own blood.

Angel >> Canada's national science adviser The scientific community was welcomed into the Canadian political fold with the recent creation of this post by Paul Martin. Arthur Carty, a University of Ottawa chemist and head of the National Research Council, is the country's first-ever science adviser - which points out that Canada is lagging behind other developed countries in its commitment to hard science, despite a recent boost in federal funding. Past prime ministers have had secretaries of state for science but those positions wielded little actual influence, and their reports and suggestion were often ignored. Canada has a lot of catching up to do with other scientific heavyweights: in 2000, we ranked 15th in countries whose percentage of GDP was devoted to research and development.
Insect >> Driving lessons Something's amiss in the state of driver's ed, as a PhD candidate and driving school proprietor pointed out in the academic publication The Journal of Safety Research. Despite emphasizing caution and showing gruesome car-accident videos during driving lessons, the numbers of collisions hasn't decreased in the past 20 years, and 16- to 24-year-olds are still those smashing up the most cars and dying in them: 179 in this province in 2002 alone. Driving lessons aren't mandatory in Quebec, but Pierro Hirsch, the report's author, says incentives like shorter waiting times for road tests if lessons are taken aren't helping to reduce the number of traffic accidents.