Quote of the week:

"Gang de crosseurs!" - read on the lips of Hells Angel Richard Mayrand after he was found guilty in the first Biker mega-trial, in Tuesday's Journal. Literally translated as "bunch of wankers," the term is considered more pejorative in French.

Charity eats getting boot

A benevolent West End organization that has allowed the no-money set to chow down on the cheap for seven years is seeking new digs after a new landlord has given them until April 14 to leave. Tracy Dorion's Chez mes amis has been favoured by a clientele ranging from bohemians to mental clinic outpatients who have enjoyed full meals - soup, salad, main plate, dessert and drink - for $2.50. Their digs on Sherbrooke W. have welcomed around 120 a day, five days a week until 7:30 p.m., and the group also delivers an additional 45 meals a day to shut-ins, all without government core or operational funding.

"We've been running around but I had no idea that it'd be that difficult to find another location," says Dorion, who seeks a spot with 4,000 square feet with wheelchair access for somewhere around the $1,800 a month they have been paying. "We're not fussy about location - if it's off the beaten track, that's okay. I've entertained the idea of trying to start again in an unused high school cafeteria. I think we're going to have to be creative to find a place that's big enough for our people as well as having a large enough kitchen."

Dorion would prefer the new enterprise be somewhere in the West End "because that's where it's established that there's a need," but would consider other suggestions. Dorion welcomes anybody with a tip on a space to rent to call her at 482-2210. » Kristian Gravenor

March on marriage law

For a lot of university students, marriage is a weird, distant concept, not entirely to be trusted and certainly not something to think too hard on for the near future. But for Queer McGill, a campus support service for the LGBT student community, the right to walk down the aisle has taken on a new significance, and they plan on letting Parliament know all about it. On Saturday, March 6, Queer McGill and their supporters will be boarding a bus and heading to Ottawa to demonstrate their support for gay marriage in what's to be called the March of Hearts. For organizer Paul Hesse, the march is about two things: human rights and love.

"The Martin government has asked the Supreme Court some extra questions [on the definition of marriage]," Hesse says, "such as, is the current definition legal? Do civil unions satisfy the requirement for equality? The outcome is very important to us, because one, civil unions don't have a national effect and two, the government would have to create a separate, distinct law for civil unions - separate but equal, which to us is unacceptable. The institution of marriage has to evolve, as it has throughout history, and civil marriages should include the right for same sex couples to marry. Why? Because love is equal."

The bus leaves the Shatner building (3480 McTavish) Saturday morning. Hesse urges supporters to show up around 8:30 a.m. All, straight and gay, are welcome. » Patrick Lejtenyi

Women without borders

Feminism is for everybody. So says Sadeqa Siddiqui, coordinator of the South Asian Women's Community Centre, one of six women's organizations hosting a day-long forum on women, migration and borders, on Saturday, March 6.

As part of a string of events celebrating International Women's Day (March 8), the forum will feature workshops and discussions on the trafficking of women, refugees, preventing deportation and sweatshops, both here and abroad. Free to the public and open to all, the day will also include music, a multi-ethnic potluck lunch and a slide show of photos taken by the late Montreal-based Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi, to whom the event is dedicated.

The coalition was formed three years ago by women of diverse cultural backgrounds to address issues absent from the larger women's movement. "We want to get the chance to bring out all those issues we are dealing with on our own," says Siddiqui. "We want everybody to see that these problems are not just ours, they are yours also."

The coalition will also join a demonstration organized by the Fédération des femmes du Québec on Sunday, March 7, meeting at Dominion Square at 12:30 p.m. and marching on to the office of Premier Jean Charest with their list of demands: equal salaries, workers' rights and an end to female poverty.

Women, Migration and Borders takes place from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at UQÀM-Hubert Aquin Pavillion (400 Ste-Catherine E.), room AM050. Voluntary contributions are welcome. » Shannon Devine

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

13 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Mar. 7-14, 1991

On the cover: Sting, who reflects on mortality and spirituality in his third solo album, The Soul Cages. "The whole album is about the ghosts of the past. Unless you give them air, they'll always haunt you. I can't write moon and June if something traumatic is going on in the other side of my head."

• Prostitutes are being unjustly blamed for spreading AIDS, although studies found no evidence to support the charges. "The real tragedy of AIDS is not the physical aspect of death," says a transsexual sex worker, "but that it allows right-wing people to say, 'You die by your sins,' while pointing the finger at homosexuals, prostitutes and transsexuals."

• Notes from Underground advises girls to "stick your heads in the oven: the lovely Chris and fellow 39 Steps moved to NYC."

• "People are intrigued by twins in power - it's a rare occurrence," says The Krays star (and Spandau Ballet guitarist/songwriter) Gary Kemp. He stars alongside his brother/bandmate Martin, who play the titular characters in the British gangster biopic.

Angel >> CECI Le Centre canadien d'étude et de cooperation internationale, a non-profit development and anti-poverty organization, is trying to raise $500,000 for food and medical treatment in Haiti, especially for kids, women and the ill. The 45-year-old Montreal-based organization has been working with 20 food centres and 10 medical treatment facilities in the violence-racked country, all of which were temporarily closed this week due to the current upheaval. Access to medical care, food and clean water are patchy in the best of times, which don't seem to be on the horizon. To donate, call 875-9911 or visit www.ceci.ca.
Insect >> Prostitution laws The Pivot Legal Society, a Vancouver organization that offers legal help to the city's junkies and prostitutes, issued a report this week blaming the country's current prohibitions against the sex trade for needlessly putting women at risk. After interviewing 91 prostitutes over five months, the report concludes that legal limits on their trade force prostitutes to work in isolated places and negotiate too quickly with potential clients. A lawyer for the society says the laws are in fact unconstitutional, as they restrict a sex worker's rights to freedom of expression, life, liberty and security and equality. The arrests of Robert Pickton and Don Bakker in connection to crimes against sex workers - ranging from murder to torture - are glaring examples of the problem these laws create.