Quote of the week:

"The world is starting to realize that the hunt is back." - International Fund for Animal Welfare spokeswoman Rebecca Aldworth, on Canada's decision to allow the killing of up to a million seal pups over three years, in Tuesday's Globe.

Deportation difficulties

If deporting would-be refugees was easy, Rabie Masri, the coordinator for the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees, would have more time on his hands. The upcoming deportations of two Palestinians, he says, demonstrate the complexity and vagaries of the entire refugee process.

The cases of the two men - one from Jenin, another from Nablus - are unusual because they are both from West Bank towns under Israeli occupation, as opposed to most of the other claimants who are from Lebanese refugee camps. Due to a combination of the end destination, paperwork, third-country transit and visa questions, Masri says, the confusion arising out of the situation shows that "Canada doesn't really know how to do deportations."

The process has long been criticized by refugee advocates as arbitrary and overly reliant on political patronage appointees who lack understanding of the situations they are sending claimants back to face. Furthermore, Masri says, the appeal process refugees endure after being rejected gives them a false sense of hope that there is a chance that the decision will be reversed, which it rarely is.

"Sometimes the lawyers don't properly explain what's happening, sometimes there's a language barrier," says Masri. "People tend to downplay the possibility of being refused and only to realize that it's not a joke, and that Canada is willing to deport them to Gaza or the West Bank or a 55-year-old refugee camp."

The Coalition will hold an anti-deportation rally this Thursday, April 8, from 4 to 6 p.m. at 1010 St-Antoine W. » Patrick Lejtenyi

Biking for charity unwelcome

The rivalry between the organizers of the annual Tour de l'Île and those who want it to include a charity element has been clicked into in high gear with news that the Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation plans to encourage riders to raise charity money in the ride. The news doesn't thrill Tour organizers.

"They didn't call us before to tell us so it reveals an aggressive attitude towards the tour and that's not a good way to make a partnership between our organizations," says Tour flack Patrick Howe.

Efforts to include a charity element in the event - in which 30,000 cyclists pay up to $23 to ride through the closed-off streets of the city - have long been turned down flat by the Tour, which strictly wants to promote cycling. The campaign to get fundraising rolling has been led by local gadfly Murray Levine, who believes it could raise up to $7-million in charity.

"By all means they should invite people to take part and raise money for charity, that would be a step in the right direction," says Levine, who notes that Côte-St-Luc, DDO and Laval have banned the tour, and NDG is reconsidering its participation in the June 6 event. Howe, however, says Levine's prime goal is to "bash the tour."

"He doesn't ask other festivals to raise money for charity. You have 1.8-million visitors at the Jazz Festival but he doesn't ask their organizer to put a little metal box for charity at the entrance of their site." » Kristian Gravenor

McGill Music eyes
Cinema V

McGill's music department has made many excellent decisions over the years. Some - like the neither-confirmed-nor-denied story that they expelled student Burt Bacharach for playing classical music in bossa nova time - seem dodgier. But according to the Empress Cultural Centre, the group trying to revive the venerable, old sphinx-encrusted Cinema V, the McGill Conservatory of Music is about to make an excellent call by finally taking charge in the effort to rehabilitate the one-time strip club and repertory theatre opposite NDG Park.

"Right now we're in the middle of a feasibility study with fundraising experts and the people from the McGill Conservatory of Music," says Jodi Michaels, rep of the Empress Cultural Centre. "It's extremely positive." She refuses, however, to offer numerical odds on it happening, instead saying that "it's right up there in the cup-is-more-full-than-empty territory."

According to Steve Laudi, a local resident involved in the cinema's rebirth, the negotiations have been percolating for two years and the current plan is for McGill to take over as anchor tenant of the building by putting in a 200-seat concert hall on the lower level with practice rooms flanking it. The venue would be a beacon to musicians and music fans from the area, which currently has few if any live music venues.

"The conservatory is looking for a concert space, " McGill spokesperson Jennifer Robinson confirms, but says that the discussions with the Empress/Cinema V are still at the "exploratory" stage. » Kristian Gravenor

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

15 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
April 7-April 20, 1989

On the cover: Christopher Lambert, promoting his new film To Kill a Priest, a true story about an anti-communist priest in early-'80s Poland. Lambert doesn't believe in mimicking real-life characters he plays. "I didn't want to go [to Poland to research the role], because I didn't want people trying to explain who the real [character] was."

• "Hydro is doing the same thing as they did before by going ahead with the works without anyone's authorization," says George Wapachi, head of the Quebec Cree, referring to the proposed development of its James Bay project.

• "It's a Rick Trembles cartoon come to life!" writes Jenny Ross of a typical Gwar show, as they feature "decapitations, D&D, Vikings amok" and more.

• Cyberpunk founder William Gibson discusses his craft in the Pop Fiction Supplement. "When I wrote Neuromancer I was desperately afraid of losing the readers' attention. I used to say it was a cross between Blade Runner and the Road Runner"

Angel >> Solidarity in the face of hate crimes The attack on a Jewish school in Ville St-Laurent last Monday - the morning before Passover - was widely condemned across the country, and rightly so. Among the loudest critics, however, were groups that traditionally oppose Israel's policies regarding Palestinians, like the Muslim Council of Montreal, Palestinian and Jewish Unity, the Canadian Muslim Forum, the Canadian Islamic Congress and the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations. Shortly after the attack they released statements denouncing it and all other forms of anti-Semitism. A note left at the scene of the attack linked the firebombing to Israel's killing of Hamas founder Sheikh Yassin, but it is encouraging to know that few are buying into that strain of hatred.
Insect >> Wal-Martville, USA The good citizens of Inglewood, California - a predominantly black and Latino suburb of Los Angeles - are voting this week on a Wal-Mart-sponsored ballot that, if passed, would turn over 60 acres of land to America's favourite chain store. The chain's plan is to build a gargantuan shopping complex that would be exempt from the town's environmental, zoning and planning regulations, and they're spending a million smackers in PR to sell the idea to locals. This after the town's government blocked the idea, and church groups, unions and community organizations denounced it. Critics charge that if passed, it would effectively give Wal-Mart precedent-setting sovereign status across the country and the world.