NDG’s Halal Al-Ubaidi honoured for her community work

Presented with the YMCA Peace Award

by Elisabeth Faure
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Article online since November 23rd 2009, 12:23
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Halal Al-Ubaidi as she accepts the YMCA Peace Award for her community involvement.

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Halah Al-Ubaidi’s passion for her work is obvious from the moment you enter the NDG Community Center. The community organizer’s workspace is overflowing with pamphlets from virtually every non-profit organization in NDG, and a cork board above her desk is covered with notices for upcoming events and well-wishes from local politicians.

Throughout the interview, a young boy darted in and out of the room, as Al-Ubaidi offered him balloons to play with, and wiped apple crumbs from his cheek. He was the son of a recent Canadian immigrant who was in the next office, fixing a broken computer. When the man’s wife came to the NDG Community Council and mentioned her husband was looking for work, Al-Ubaidi learned he had computer experience and offered him a job. This is just one of the ways in which Al-Ubaidi constantly tries to help local residents.

“This is a great community,” she said. I mean, it’s one of the most active communities.”

At the annual YMCA Peace Awards on November 13th, Al-Ubaidi was honoured for her community work. “It’s a very happy occasion. Maybe that’s why I’m happy all the time the past few days!” she laughed. The award now hangs above the community notices on her wall.

“When I came here,” recalled Al-Ubaidi of her move to Montreal twelve years ago, “downtown, activism was so-so. Then, I came to NDG - and everyone’s an activist! My God! They are boiling with action - you cannot control these people!” she joked.

Born in Iraq, Al-Ubaidi moved to Jordan in 1991, after the Gulf War. There, she worked as an environmental expert for seven years before moving to Montreal.

It was in Jordan that Al-Ubaidi first became involved in community activism, a trend that continued when she moved to Canada. “I started as a community organizer with 2020,” said Al-Ubaidi. The NDG 2020 Public Assembly is a group that conducts round table talks between NDG residents and community groups to discuss local issues.

“2020 was a great opportunity for me,” said Al-Ubaidi. “It’s a public assembly, so it’s a chance to meet people. It’s also an excellent opportunity to meet community workers.”

Al-Ubaidi eventually moved to NDG Community Council, and has been there for the past four years. “We want people to live in harmony, and we want them to have a good quality of life,” said Al-Ubaidi of the organization’s mission. “We work to provide them with information, to give them services, and to help them find their place in the neighborhood.”

The Community Council works with many other local groups to tackle issues like unemployment, housing, and poverty. “I still see people going to the Food Depot,” said Al-Ubaidi, in reference to the NDG food bank. “I don’t want to see that, and I don’t know how to stop it for good, but it’s a wish of mine.”

She urged NDG residents to support the Depot’s annual Christmas food drive. The Depot provides a paper bag to every household, which residents can fill with non-perishable food. The bags are picked up by volunteers and go to help families in need.

On Christmas Day, the Council will also be helping NDG residents to celebrate by holding their annual Christmas dinner.

“We invite all the immigrant families who are new here and don’t have anyone to celebrate with,” said Al-Ubaidi. “We serve everyone turkey from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. - it’s a big event.”

Last year, meals were served to over 650 people, and Al-Ubaidi promises attendees can expect music and other live entertainment.

Al-Ubaidi’s message as the holiday season approaches is to get more involved with the NDG Community Council and with all the other grassroots organizations in NDG. “Volunteer, support, give - whatever you do, it’s good for your community,” she said, as the young boy’s mother arrived to pick up her husband and son.

For more information about the NDG Community Council, visit www.ndg.ca

Tenant’s rights and crosswalks priority concerns at NDG council meeting

by Liz Faure
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Article online since November 17th 2009, 11:32
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What the new borough council looks like now (Photo credit:Martin C. Barry)

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Following one of the rockiest municipal elections campaigns in Montreal history, it was back to business as usual for Côte des Neiges - NDG city councillors on Monday evening, Nov. 16th. The meeting began at 7 p.m. and took place at the Cummings Building on Côte-St-Catherine St.

The first post-election borough council meeting featured many new faces. With the exception of borough mayor Michael Applebaum and longtime Snowdon councillor Marvin Rotrand, the council was made up of newcomers.

Despite the scandals that plagued Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay’s Union Montreal party, NDG. voters elected many Union representatives. The sole non-Union councillor elected was Notre-Dâme-de-Grace councillor Peter McQueen. The local activist was elected under Richard Bergeron’s Projet Montreal banner, defeating Union candidate Marie-Josée Mastromonaco by10 percentage points.

Other new councillors included Darlington’s Lionel Perez, Loyola’s Susan Clarke, and Côte-des-Neiges councillor Helen Fotopoulos, former borough mayor of the Plateau.

After introductions from the mayor and councillors, residents had the opportunity to voice their concerns. Tenant’s rights and crosswalks were priority concerns.

“Buildings are so ill-maintained that TV cameras show up to film them,” said NDG Community Council’s Leslie Bagg. She was referencing the apartment building at 2290 Girouard St., which recently made headlines when mayor Applebaum was forced to intervene on behalf of tenants whose heat had been cut off.

Bagg was followed by Phillipe Bergeron-Burns, a former resident of 2290 Girouard. He accused the landlord of conspiring to drive longtime tenants with low rent from the building so as to charge higher rent to new renters. He told the audience how the landlord had taken him behind the building to show where the heater had been ripped out from the wall. “I got freaked out and decided to move to another apartment,” said Bergeron-Burns.

The mayor acknowledged that the building in question had been on the borough’s radar for some time, but said that the city services department needs to make sure that they have solid proof against a landlord before they can take legal action.

A proposed crosswalk outside Royal Vale Academy was another hot topic, with several residents asking the council to take action. “I am requesting...a crosswalk to be placed on the corner of Somerled and Royal,” said Kirsten Voss, a mother of two whose children attend Royal Vale.

Voss submitted a petition with roughly 150 signatures to mayor Applebaum and McQueen, and asked how long it would be before the borough made a decision on the matter. The mayor said that the local circulation department needed to study the matter and see if it is feasible. He was unable to give a firm deadline regarding the decision, and urged patience.

That wasn’t good enough for Aliya Ahmad, another parent who spoke about the issue. “Please do not wait,” she asked the council, urging them to act “before something bad happens.” Ahmad said that the current situation outside the school is chaotic, with both parents and children crossing in the middle of the street. “It’s like a jungle, every morning and every afternoon,” she said.

Overall, the mood of the council was one of collegiality, with Union members vowing to work with McQueen to help NDG residents. “The thing with municipal politics is that we have four-year mandates, so there’s not too much partisanship - the voters appreciate it,” said Fotopoulos. That sentiment was echoed by McQueen. “I don’t have personal problems with people for no reason,” he said. “I am concerned with the end facts, and look forward to working together to bring progress to NDG.”

Art for Amnesty

NEW DIRECTION: Roadsworth’s “Lonesome Vista”

Montreal street artist Roadsworth will unveil his first canvas pieces tonight, Thursday, Nov. 19 at 6.p.m. at the Eastern Bloc (7240 Clark, 2nd floor), in the name of human rights.

Roadsworth, whose urban graffiti is already familiar to city-dwellers, is one of many local artists including Guillaume Simoneau, Julie Ouellet, Jason Botkin, Mike Patten and Valérie PIcard participating in the multimedia exhibition and silent auction Contemporary Art for Amnesty International, which will raise funds for the human rights organization.

Known for his cartoon-style drawings on city asphalt, Roadsworth is excited to work in a new medium. “You can expect to see more of it from me,” he says.

The night also features music and videos from VJs Mâ and Chocobeets. “Overall, the evening gives a broad overview of a dynamic art scene in Montreal,” says Choco-Beets. “In these times of paranoia and grumpiness, wouldn’t it just feel good to support a cause by going to an art show?”

Tickets cost $40 (75 per cent tax deductible), $25 for students.

by ELISABETH FAURE

Montreal Municipal Election

Endorsing Project Montreal.

Pagan party

If you’re feeling witchy this Halloween weekend, check out the Montreal Witches Masquerade Ball, happening Friday in NDG’s Rosedale-Queen Mary United Church (6870 Terrebonne). The ball is organized by the Montreal Pagan Resource Centre, which connects members of Montreal’s pagan community.

The event kicks off at 6 p.m. with a Samhain (pronounced “saw-wan”) ritual that will honour loved ones who have passed away in the last year. The ritual is free and for adults only. The ball starts at 8 p.m., featuring a DJ and an outdoor Celtic labyrinth and is open to all.

Hobbes, the president of the Pagan Resource Centre who only goes by one name, promises plenty of “rug-cutting and shin-digging,” and says organizers anticipate a heavy turnout from local pagans and the general public.

“A lot of peoples put on costumes, but fail to realize they are in a costume year-round, and Halloween is when they actually take their costume off and get to be themselves,” says Kevin-John Chaplin, a volunteer at the centre.

Profits will go to the Centre, a volunteer-based drop-in located inside Mélange Magique, a pagan bookstore.

The ball is alcohol-free and open to all ages. Tickets are $12 at the door. For more info visit paganuniverse.com/mprc/.

ELISABETH FAURE

Sexy schoolteacher seduces scribes

Hour Vixen Laura Roberts serves up erotic fiction lessons

by ELISABETH FAURE

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GRAPHIC STEPHANIE VRIEND

A new workshop promises to help would-be writers improve their erotic writing skills.
In her upcoming intro workshop to erotic writing, Hour’s “V for Vixen” columnist Laura Roberts will share her saucy talents in sexy smut-writing.

“I think people frequently leave out sex scenes more because they’re scared of doing them wrong than because they don’t think they should include them,” said Roberts, who is also founder and publisher of Black Heart Magazine, an online source for smut.

“And there are tons of ways to screw up sex scenes, so it’s intimidating.”

The workshop, titled “Saucy Smut: An Introduction to Erotic Writing,” offers ways to avoid the pitfalls of bad eroticism.

“Most people come at them from either a kind of Harlequin romance or a porn video angle,” explained Roberts. “They don’t think there are many options. There are actually lots and that’s what I plan to teach.”

“Saucy Smut” benefits not only the serious writer of erotica, but any fiction writer who is trying to write a sexy scene into their novel.

A bad sex scene can ruin an otherwise perfectly good book and no author is immune. A list of famed authors who have been pilloried for horrible sex scenes includes Canada’s own Michael Ignatieff (in Asya) and Tom Wolfe (in I Am Charlotte Simmons).

Wolfe won The Literary Review’s Bad Sex award in 2004 for his efforts and did not accept the honour graciously, which touched off a minor scandal in the literary world. Roberts not only wishes to help writers avoid a similar fate, but said she thinks the genre of erotic writing can be raised to a new level of quality.

“I think [the Bad Sex awards] are interesting and sort of funny, but I also wish there were an accompanying ‘Good Sex award,’” said Roberts. “That, to me, is more of a challenge than writing bad sex scenes.”

In her opinion, Montreal needs to be doing more to encourage erotic writing.

“I find it kind of disappointing that in a city like Montreal, which comes off as so sexually liberated, there’s no sex writing community,” she said. Roberts pointed to writers such as Susie Bright, Violet Blue and Audacia Ray as authors who have raised the profile of erotica and wants to see Montrealers get the same exposure.

“It would be awesome to read a Canadian anthology of sex writing, the way Cleis Press publishes yearly anthologies of Best Sex Writing,” said Roberts. Cleis is a queer publishing house and their Best Sex Writing issue includes such categories as Best Gay Sex, Best Lesbian Romance and Best Women’s Erotica.

Roberts wants to teach workshop participants that good sex writing extends beyond dirty language, emphasizing that character and plot development are the key to writing any good story.

“It’s like being seduced by a new lover every time you read a good story,” said Roberts. “Even if you know the endpoint is going to be sex, it’s exciting to get there in a different way.”

“Saucy Smut: An Introduction to Erotic Writing” will be taught at Joy Toyz (4200 St-Laurent Blvd.) on Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m. Price is $35, $30 for students.

Lucky number Seven

Famed landscape painter’s origins traced back to Concordia campus

by ELIZABETH FAURE

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Concordia journalism professor Wayne Larsen did exhaustive research on the most famed of Canada’s Group of Seven landscape painters PHOTO ALAN MACQUARRIE

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One of Concordia’s own faculty is climbing the bestseller list with a new biography about the life of A.Y. Jackson, a member of Canada’s famed 19th-century Group of Seven landscape painters.

A.Y Jackson: The Life of a Landscape Painter offers readers a vibrant portrait of one of Canada’s most famous artists.

“Jackson was always the most interesting member of the Group,” said Wayne Larsen, a journalism professor and editor of The Westmount Examiner, who is himself a landscape artist. “He never owned a car, never married and lived a frugal lifestyle that was designed to serve one purpose: his painting.”

At the Oct. 8 book launch, held at Nicholas Hoare bookstore on Greene Avenue, the Concordia community rubbed elbows with Westmount’s finest—both the outgoing and incoming mayor were in attendance—to celebrate Larsen’s latest book.

“I could never understand why there was never a full biography of Jackson, but now I know,” said Larsen. “It was a huge undertaking and no one else ever wanted to tackle it.”

To write the complete story of Jackson’s life, Larsen went over a large amount of previously unpublished material with the help of his wife, art historian Darlene Cousins. They pored through many of Jackson’s personal letters and family photos, along with interviews with people who were close to him and colour photography of his art from private collections.

The resulting book is a feast for the eyes and an intimate look at Jackson’s life, detailing how the maverick outdoorsman rose from an impoverished childhood to become the de facto leader of the Group of Seven. The art contained in the book is a portrait of Canada, from rural Quebec communities to Newfoundland, British Columbia and the Arctic.

In the course of his research, Larsen tracked down Jackson’s birthplace on Mackay Street, a stone’s throw from Concordia’s Sir George Williams campus. Larsen said that most of Jackson’s early life had never been documented prior to his book.

One of the best parts about writing the book was doing hands-on research, said Larsen, which resulted in humorous findings.

“I remember laughing out loud when I saw [Jackson’s] old army enlistment papers from World War One,” said Larsen. “Most kids lied to make themselves older in order to enlist, he lied to make himself younger.”

Jackson’s forceful personality informs each of the canvases reproduced in the book, giving them new meaning.

As of Oct. 10, the book was already at number two on The Globe and Mail’s bestseller list in the art section, second only to Kat Von D’s High Voltage Tattoo.

A.Y. Jackson: The Life of a Landscape Painter
Wayne Larsen
Dundurn Press
280 pp
$60.00

Word to the Wise

by ELISABETH FAURE

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Armenian scientist George Ter-stepanian predicted such things as avian flu and super hurricanes back in 1982. GRAPHIC VIVIEN LEUNG

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Wiser Than Humans George Ter-Stepanian Éditions Antaeus 324 pp $24.99

Wiser Than Humans, the work of the late author and scientist George Ter-Stepanian, was a book truly ahead of its time. Written in the early 1980s and available now for the first time in English, the fictional work foretells many of the environmental crises currently affecting humanity.

Available in time for CON*CEPT, Montreal’s annual science fiction convention, the book is set in the year 2015 and opens at a global environmental summit. The world is on the brink of destruction because of the troubled state of the environment. Ter-Stepanian accurately predicted many events that have already come to pass such as avian flu and disastrous changes in the world’s climate.

A group of scientists leave the conference and fly home over the Bermuda triangle where they are promptly kidnapped by a UFO. What happens next involves an interspecies effort to save the planet.

The life of the book’s author, who passed away in 2006, was no less interesting than those of his fictional creations. Born at the beginning of the 20th century in Armenia, Ter-Stepanian lived to be 99 years old and witnessed world-changing events.

“He lived through two world wars, two revolutions, Lenin/Stalin and the KGB terror regime, famine, and the ‘dark’ years in Armenia,” recalled his daughter, Karina Ter-Stepanian, who co-published the book with her sister, Anahit—both of whom now reside in Montreal.

Ter-Stepanian was an internationally recognized scientist, specializing in soil mechanics and engineering geology and publishing over 300 scientific papers in journals around the globe. He was also passionate about art and literature and spoke seven languages fluently. The book was originally written in Russian and then translated into English by Christine Mitchell.

Armenia’s troubled national history is another recurring theme in Wiser Than Humans.
Several of the leading characters make reference to the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Turks, an event which remains unacknowledged by Turkey to this day.

“My father was an eight-year-old boy in 1915 when he first became aware of our [national] tragedy,” said Karina Ter-Stepanian. “He believed the recognition of the Armenian Genocide was important not only for Armenians but for humanity, to ensure that the same crime will not happen elsewhere again.

“The book was inspired by his strong belief that the general public needs to be aware of our devastating ecological conditions. That is why he decided to write a science fiction novel, [which he thought] would serve as a powerful and metaphorical vehicle through which to share his concerns and make a plea to his fellow citizens to take decisive and necessary measures,” she continued.

But has the late Ter-Stepanian’s dire forecast for humanity’s fate come too late to the ears of the western world? So long as science fiction writers continue to make bold new predictions about the direction we as a species are heading, it’ll never be too late.

Wiser Than Humans can be purchased online at editionsantaeus.com.
Montreal’s science fiction and fantasy convention, CON*CEPT, runs from Oct. 2 to 4 at the Days Hotel (1005 Guy St.). For more info about CON*CEPT, visit conceptsff.ca.

October 6, 2009 NEWS Lonely Liberals wipe the slate clean

Buses needed to fill Quebec convention with delegates

by ELISABETH FAURE

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Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff with a bundle of the thunder-sticks that urged him on. GRAPHIC VIVIEN LEUNG AND GINGER COONS

“You are the grassroots, but I am the leader.” —Michael Ignatieff, federal Liberal leader

On Oct. 4, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff shook hands with delegates and attempted to repair the damage caused by the resignation of his Quebec lieutenant, Denis Coderre, on Sept. 28.

A week before the Quebec City convention, Coderre resigned after Ignatieff gave long-time rival Martin Cauchon the contested nomination for the riding of Outremont.

During his very public resignation, Coderre took a swipe at Ignatieff saying that decisions for Quebec were being made by a circle of advisors in Toronto.

Coderre’s resignation created a ripple effect that extended to the convention. Several senior members of the party’s Quebec executive resigned in solidarity. Hundreds of attendees also dropped out, leaving the party scrambling to rescue the convention and put up a united front for the media.

Closer scrutiny in the packed convention hall showed that appearances were deceptive; a majority of those on the floor sported yellow IDs, not white ones, meaning they were invited guests and not actual voting delegates.

The Liberal Party had feverishly offered free passes, meals and bus transportation to hundreds of people in the final days before the convention.

This complicated matters when delegates were asked to vote on policy matters and constitutional amendments. Many people without voting rights were allowed to speak at the microphone and, although officials claimed that quorum was achieved, the number of voting delegates in the room might have dropped off throughout the day.

In an effort to mitigate the effect of Coderre’s accusation that Ignatieff’s Liberals are Toronto-centric, party officials banned Ontario MPs from attending the event, forcing several high-profile guests to cancel at the last minute.

The audience members had a lukewarm response when Ignatieff delivered his speech, although supporters banged their thunder-sticks aggressively to give the impression of thunderous applause.

Ignatieff used his speech to try to save face from the Coderre fallout and expressed his love for Quebec and its people.

“You are the grassroots,” Ignatieff told the crowd in his French-only address, “but I am the leader.”

The Liberal leader hugged and praised his predecessor, Stéphane Dion, in a moment that received a standing ovation.

There were no hard feelings on Dion’s part as he urged party unity behind Ignatieff to which the crowd responded with applause.

Another newsmaker at the convention was speculation about whether or not Ignatieff will replace Coderre—a hot topic The Canadian Press has been following closely. According to the news service, Ignatieff will confirm this in a matter of days.

During a time when Liberals have vowed to oppose the government at every turn—which could possibly triggering an election at any time—and have faced bad publicity for the Coderre fallout, the party is turning to recreating their image.

In a sign of party renewal, delegates voted in an almost entirely new executive headed by incoming President Marc Lavigne. In his acceptance speech, Lavigne vowed to better organize the party in every region of Quebec and to make use of modern fundraising techniques to fill the party’s bare coffers.

Elisabeth Faure attended the convention as a delegate.

L'Itineraire Celebrates

“This weekend has been a record-breaker!” beams Bill Ecomomou, as he sells copies of L’Itinéraire to shoppers in Atwater market over Labour Day weekend.

Ecomomou is a familiar face to market patrons. For the past three years, rain or shine, he’s here most days of the week, selling copies of L’Itinéraire, for which he is also a writer. Passersby often stop to say hi, and most know him by name. Like over 400 other vendors throughout the city, Ecomomou supports himself by selling the monthly newspaper, which features writing by the homeless and disadvantaged. This year, the newspaper celebrates its 15th anniversary.

“The group L’Itinéraire started in 1989 with the mission of integrating homeless people with a structure, and improving their self-esteem,” says L’Itinéraire publisher Serge LeReault. “We heard about the street paper movement, which started in New York in 1989, with a newspaper named Street News.”

The paper was a hit, and a movement began. “Street News became an inspiration for many, many organizations around the world,” says LeReault. Between 1989 and 1994 hundreds of street papers started everywhere on the planet. So, in 1993, our group started the paper.” With the help of a grant from the city of Montreal, L’Itinéraire was born.

The purpose of the paper is twofold. “It helps people to make money,” says LeReault. “They were beggars, panhandling on the street, but with the paper they can make money, so they don’t have to beg.”

But L’Itinéraire also serves a more important purpose. “Our first aim is having people writing for the paper,” says LeReault. “It’s a form of therapy - they improve their self-esteem.”

Ecomomou has experienced this firsthand. “You never know what you'll be doing in the future, but this was a stepping stone, and a chance for me to work with the public,” he says. Ecomomou himself was never homeless, but was unemployed when he began selling L’Itinéraire.

“The first day was discouraging,” Ecomomou says. “It took me time to figure out the best times to be here.” But over time, he has built up a large following as one of the only English writers for the mostly-French publication. “Some people are my fans - I didn’t even realize at first.” he says.

The benefits Ecomomou has experienced from selling L’Itinéraire have been observed by others at the market. “When he started here, he was very introverted, and he held his head down, not wanting to bother people,” says Erica Dancose, who works at Les Douceurs du Marché, the store outside which Ecomomou began selling L’Itinéraire. She and he became friends when she would offer him hot tea on cold days. Eventually, he began asking her advice about his articles.

“He realizes now that it’s not about bothering people, he is there with a product,” Dancose explains. “Every worker in the world should be proud of what they do. I saw a really huge improvement in his behavior over the years. He became excited that he was writing in it, and excited to tell his customers about his articles.”

Ecomomou is just one of hundreds whose lives have been transformed by L’Itinéraire. “Some of our vendors went on to become journalists at the CBC,” says LeReault. “Four other guys made a movie, called “Quiconque meurt, meurt à douleur.” The movie went on to win a prize at the 1999 Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois festival.

The paper’s value to the homeless and disadvantaged is tremendous, says LeReault. “Every day, people tell me they would be dead without L’Itinéraire,” he says. “They say, ‘I had nothing, but just selling the paper provides me with the possibility of speaking with others and feeling better.”

The paper is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a special 148-page September issue, and a benefit will be held on September 30th at the Gésu Centre on Bleury Street. Tickets are $125, and organizers are hoping to raise $45 thousand (last year’s benefit raised $30 thousand). Information can be found on the group’s website at www.itineraire.ca.

But if $125 is a bit steep for your student budget, it’s possible to support the newspaper in a meaningful way by buying a copy from a street vendor - it’s priced at only $2.

"I've stayed longer here than I ever have at any other job," says Ecomomou as he sells the last of his copies (he sold over 300 during the weekend). "I wouldn't still be doing this if I wasn't happy."

Farmer’s market transforms downtown square

Cheap food and education bring a community together

by ELISABETH FAURE

Normally covered in litter and frequented by the homeless, Cabot Square—just steps away from Atwater Metro—was transformed into a lively and colourful centre of activity for a farmer’s market and festival on Sept. 12.

Hosted by the Eco-quartier Peter-McGill, responsible for the west side of the Ville-Marie borough, the Public Market Harvest Festival offered patrons the chance to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at bargain prices while learning about proper nutrition and sustainability.

“We wanted to attack the issue of food access,” said organizer Marco Carpinteyro, who is also a coordinator on the Peter-McGill community council.

“It’s such a diverse district,” he continued. “There are many new immigrants who settle here and many, many students.” The district includes Dawson College, Concordia’s Sir George Williams Campus, McGill University and LaSalle College.

Giving residents easy and affordable access to fresh and nutritious food was an important goal of the market; baskets of carrots, beets and green peppers were on sale for as little as one dollar.

Jean-Yves Bourdages, a member of the Shaughnessey Village Association—responsible for the area between Guy Street and Atwater Avenue—also thinks that a farmer’s market can be beneficial to the homeless population that lives in the square.

“This allows patrons to see the homeless, to interact with them, and realize that they’re not dangerous,” Bourdages said, pointing out that a large number of the homeless people in Cabot Square are Native women with few resources in Montreal.

“There is a women’s centre in the area, but it’s only a day centre. In the evening, they have nowhere to go,” Bourdages explained. “A farmer’s market may allow them to participate more in the life of the city.”

“People are interested in lowering the prices of their grocery bills,” said Jenna Smith, who ran a booth at the market for Innovation Youth, an after-school centre for kids 12 years of age and older. “The prices are fantastic, particularly if you’re living on a student budget.”

One of the initiatives Smith was promoting was the Good Food Box, a program that provides boxes of fresh vegetables and fruit twice a month for a ballpark price of $7.

Food education was also a goal of the market. “There are so many young people and young families in this area,” said Carpinteyro. “Children and young adults need to be offered good food options. We want them to be aware that it’s much better to eat a fresh fruit than a chocolate bar.”

Organizers are hoping the market will become a staple of the neighbourhood for weekenders. “There’s been a lot of positive response,” said Carpinteyro. “It’s bringing so much animation to the square.”

Tremblay's New Play a Dud

“What do you say when there are no words?” repeatedly asks seemingly every character in Michel Tremblay’s new play, Fragments de mensonges inutiles. Unfortunately for playgoers, words seem to be about all the play has to offer.

The play begins with a premise that requires heavy suspension of disbelief on the audience’s part: that a gay teenage boy named Jean-Marc (Olivier Morin) living in the 1960s in embroiled in a tortured romance with another teen boy, Manu (Gabriel Lessard), living in 2009. The play never addresses how this is possible, preferring to merely use the contrived situation as a mechanism to explore the different attitudes of family and society towards homosexuality in these different eras.

The set is simple: a checkered floor, and a stage divided in two: one the left-hand side (1960s), a white wall with a black cross hanging on it, on the right (2009), an unadorned black wall. Chairs provide the only props.

The play opens with both teens making love, fully nude. Making the scene problematic was a seeming discomfort on the part of the actors . For an explicit scene like this to work, the actors must feel absolutely comfortable with each other, and with the material. Although it might have been a case of opening-night nerves, this ease was not present on Wednesday night at the Theatre Jean Duceppe.

The next scene involves a breakup between the two boys, although the breakup seems to be more of an excuse to move the plot’s action along than anything that truly stems from the teen’s relationship issues.

The two boys, heartbroken, fall into depression, prompting the adults in their lives to launch an investigation into the source of the children’s misery. For the 1960 side, this involves a distant father (Normand d’Amour), a priest (Roger LaRue), and a fiercely loving mother (Maude Guérin).

On the 2009 side, we have a psychiatrist (Gabriel Sabourin), a somewhat self-absorbed mother (Linda Sorgini), and a very well-meaning and open-minded father (Antoine Durand). What follows is two-odd hours of melodramatic dialogue, often consisting of the characters repeating the same lines, over and over. And over.

The play’s difficulty lies not only in the repetitive text, but in the over-the-top performances given by the entire cast. There is not a line that isn’t shouted, wailed or wept, rendering much of the text less powerful.

Of the material that does work, all the best goes to the 1960s side of the play, unsurprising for Tremblay. Olivier Morin and Maude Guérin are the cast standouts as Jean-Marc and Nana (cyphers of Tremblay and his mother, a recurring theme in his work). Both have powerful scenes in standing up the the nosy priest out to expose Jean-Marc’s sexuality.

But these scenes come early in the play, and after that the action goes downhill. The 2009 scenes are so banal as to be ridiculous, with much of the melodrama totally contrived. None of the characters seems to care much about anything, so their dramatic moments fall flat.

Manu gets mad at his too-cool dad for not being strict enough, and calls him a “pink man”. This simple accusation suddenly plunges his father, previously easily the play’s most well-adjusted character, into an apparent existential crisis. This seems designed only to give Durand’s character a Big Scene, where he can repeatedly shout, “A pink man? A PINK MAN!” at the top of his lungs.

The yesterday/today juxtaposition remains a distraction throughout the play. A scene where the fathers are talking with their sons simultaneously while one teen reads his Bible and the other Blackberries is ridiculous, and when the well-meaning 2009 father gently asks why his son doesn’t contact Jean-Marc, I had to suppress the urge to stand up from my seat and yell, “Because he doesn’t have a fucking time machine!”

The play is directed by Serge Denoncourt, returned to Montreal after setting the Vegas strip on fire like a pile of flaming manure with “Chriss Angel: Believe” an ill-fated co-production between Angel and Cirque du Soleil. Horrible reviews and poor attendance forced the Cirque to do the unprecedented and slash its ticket prices. In a recent interview with the Gazette’s Pat Donnelly, Denancourt admitted, “Las Vegas is not the place for me.”

In the same interview, Tremblay said that he held back the play for one year until Deancourt could return to direct it. Given the result, perhaps this wasn’t the best idea.

Tremblay remains a near-canonical figure in the Quebec arts scene, and since I’ve never read a review where a local critic dared to give him more than a gentle slap on the wrist, the show is virtually assured unanimously glowing reviews. The opening-night audience dutifully rose to their feet for a standing O. While the cast may have deserved an A for effort, an O is in doubt.

The other PQ

Poetry Quebec a “virtual salon” for Anglo poets

by ELISABETH FAURE

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I remember that / born under the lily [the symbol of France] / I grew under the rose [the symbol of England]. GRAPHIC JESSICA VRIEND

A new online magazine is aiming to shake up the Anglo poetry scene chez nous.
The magazine, Poetry Quebec, caters to English readers with a mix of poetry, essays and articles.

“I like the idea of the electronic salon, of the virtual salon,” said magazine co-founder Endre Farkas, a poet and retired John Abbott College professor, over coffee at a Monkland Street café.

“We want to have a conversation with people about poetry, about English language poetry here in Quebec,” continued Farkas.

The idea for the magazine came from Elias Letelier, a Chilean poet who was exiled under the Pinochet government and immigrated to Montreal in the early 1980s.

“He educated me about the importance of political literary magazines and literature because he came from a country where you could get tortured and killed for putting poems out,” said Farkas. “He had a much different perspective on what [poetry] is, that it’s a responsibility and a political act.”

Although Farkas, a self-described Luddite, was somewhat reluctant to start a website, Letelier wouldn’t let go of the idea.

“He kept coming over [to my home] and putting things on my computer, things like Photoshop,” said Farkas.

Letelier finally won him over and upon Farkas’ retirement, the duo began working on the magazine with the editorial help of Carolyn Marie Souaid, poetry editor of Signature Editions.
The inaugural issue focuses on the work of famed Montreal poet Louis Dudek, who passed away in 2001.

“He was an important modernist in Canada, not just as a poet but as a public intellectual,” said Farkas. “He was always engaging people in ideas and debate.”

Farkas laments the current state of Montreal’s poetry community.

“There’s a lively scene in the sense that there are a lot of people writing, but there’s not a lively scene in the sense of poets getting together. It’s sort of a ‘me, myself and I’ attitude, you know? ‘I want to get published. I want to be heard. I want to be read. But what are you going to do for me?’”

Poetry Quebec hopes to help create a sense of community amongst Anglo poets by using the power of the Internet to offer them a more visible platform.

“It might affect the way the writers think of themselves. You’re no longer part of a small ghetto. Now, you’re a part of a global ghetto,” laughed Farkas.

Judging by the magazine’s initial reception—which received 61,000 hits from as far as Europe and Asia—that’s not overstating the case.

“I figured 25 [hits] would really be doing well,” he said.

The magazine also serves up a sly poke in the ribs to certain mythologies surrounding our province’s famous language tensions, aside from sharing the same initials as the Parti Québécois.

Poetry Quebec’s motto, “I remember,” directly translates Quebec’s provincial slogan, “Je me souviens.” As Farkas points out, most Quebecois have no idea that the text of the poem from which the quote derives reads as follows: “I remember that / born under the lily [the symbol of France] / I grew under the rose [the symbol of England].”

The magazine has an open submission policy, but would-be applicants beware: the magazine’s editors say that their response time is similar to Quebec’s infamous language law, Bill 101.

“It may take us 101 days to respond,” joked Farkas.

The second edition of Poetry Quebec is now available online at poetry-quebec.com. Submission guidelines can be found on the website.

Neglected bike path dubbed ‘valley of death

Vision and Project Montreal blame city for negligence

by ELISABETH FAURE

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Clearly, NDG drivers don't know how to drive PHOTO STEFAN GUNTERMANN

According to the Montreal Police, 701 bike accidents occurred on the Island of Montreal last year. Two crashes resulted in fatalities and 34 in serious injuries

A dilapidated bike path in the Cote des Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough is heating up Montreal’s upcoming municipal election as local candidates weigh in on the faulty strip of road work.

Running along de Maisonneuve Boulevard W. from the Vendôme metro to Concordia’s Loyola campus, the bike path is in a sorry state, pockmarked with large potholes and missing many of the poles that separate cyclists from passing cars.

One local candidate has said enough is enough.

“I am the biggest cyclist in this [electoral] race—I took that path already twice today,” said Peter McQueen, Project Montreal’s CDN/NDG candidate.

A local activist in NDG who has run for the federal Green Party twice, McQueen has called for the pot holes to be filled, new poles to be installed and for the so-called “valley of death” intersection where the path crosses Décarie Boulevard to be re-designed.

“We want a flyover [cyclist overpass], absolutely, at the Décarie intersection. [We] want it to go behind Vendôme metro station,” said McQueen. “It’s tight, but there is just enough space.”
Vision Montreal candidate David Hanna, who joins McQueen in his outrage over the bike path, was quoted in The Link two weeks ago for voicing his displeasure at the haphazard route and also advocates for a flyover.

McQueen said Union Montreal borough mayor Michael Applebaum has been negligent in the path’s maintenance, but Applebaum’s office denies responsibility for its state.
Applebaum’s Chief of Staff Hugo Tremblay said, “the borough is not responsible; it’s a city bike path.”

“This summer we patched a lot of potholes and city hall told us that next summer they’re going to re-pave the path and fix the poles,” he continued.
Tremblay pointed out that municipal bike paths on NDG roads like LaCombe Avenue and Isabella Street were well-maintained.

Union Montreal candidate Marie-Josée Mastromonaco, who is running against McQueen, agreed the bike path is good enough as it is.

“We did as much as we could,” said the self-professed non-cyclist, “especially when you take into consideration that it’s not under our jurisdiction.”

Mastromonaco, current commissioner for Montreal’s French-language school board, said little more could be done to revamp the paths. “We can promise you a lot of things,” she said, “but they’ll be empty promises because the pike path doesn’t belong to us.”

Darren Becker, the press attaché for Mayor Gérald Tremblay, acknowledged that fixing the bike path is a pressing concern.

“We don’t take the situation lightly, as it concerns public safety,” said Becker. “But we have over 500 kilometres of bike paths in Montreal, so we need NDG residents to be a bit more patient. It’s definitely going to be attended to and it’s not going to be a matter of fixing it years from now.”

Becker added that 11.5 kilometres of new bike path is being created in NDG on Fielding and Girouard Avenues, which will provide residents with alternatives while the path on de Maisonneuve Boulevard W. is waiting for repairs.

That’s good news for McQueen, who defines NDG as “a neighbourhood that is naturally suited to bikes.” He is firmly in support of new bike paths, predicting that NDG will soon mirror the tip-top conditions of the downtown core.

“The number of cyclists will shoot up,” McQueen said. “If you build the bike path, they will come.”

Concordia hikes international tuition... again

Tuition thaw turning hot as more increases loom for all students

by ELIZABETH FAURE

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GRAPHIC VIVIEN LEUNG

Two years after the Liberal government decided to lift a decade-long tuition freeze in Quebec, Concordia's students took to the streets again on June 18 to protest the latest fee increase at their university.

The megaphones and chants broke the early morning air to defend the most over-taxed group at Concordia: international students. Despite the opposition, the university's Board of Governors decided to increase international tuition fees by 10 per cent for the second time in two years.

“They didn’t really listen to what we had to say,” said Erik Chevrier, a Concordia Graduate Student Association executive who attended the meeting. He was allowed to speak, but was unable to vote. “It seemed that it was rushed through—this is a huge matter and there was no big discussion about it.”

According to a document posted on the CSU website, "A student, from Quebec [...] will have to pay an additional $600 to obtain a bachelors degree. An out-of-province student would have to pay an additional $1,800 and an out-of-country [student] far more.” The document states that under the new guidelines, "Universities can charge international students as much as they want, opening the door for American style tuition."

Chevrier says that a brief PowerPoint presentation by Concordia VP Finance Larry English outlined the financial benefits the university would derive from the tuition increases. Mr. English did not return a call to be interviewed for this article.

“The university is in debt by about $11 million and they want to raise the amount of revenue coming into the university,” said Chevrier, who argued against the tuition increase at the meeting.

Chevrier says that the latest increase places university out of reach for many students, which could cost Concordia more money in the long-term if the tuition increase leads to a drop in student enrolment.

“When the GSA contacted Concordia administration about previous unexpected tuition hikes made in Summer 2009, the administration replied that the increases were based on the provincial government’s decision,” says GSA Arts director Nadia Hausfather, who organized a protest against the increases.

“We could not find any evidence that the summer increase was mandated by the government," added Hausfather. "What we do know is that the Quebec government mandated tuition hikes for international students for the year 2007-2008 while also allowing universities to increase them by an extra 10 per cent if they so desired.

“Then last fall, the government completely removed the ceiling for international students’ tuition in certain undergraduate programs. Basically the government is giving universities the choice to raise these fees, and Concordia decided to raise them.”

On the day of the Board meeting, protesters from the CSU and GSA were joined by representatives from other Montreal universities who opposed the fee increases. They were all denied entrance into the building by campus security.

“Well, we got there and security stopped us from entering the building,” Hausfather said. “We told them that we were Concordia students and were allowed to enter our own university, but they locked us out.” When Hausfather and other students tried to enter the GM building through the EV building, Concordia security told her that her academic integrity was at risk because she was chanting through a megaphone.

The GSA is planning to host regular workshops on the topic of affordable education and tuition increases throughout the Orientation period.

For Hausfather though, the issue extends beyond Concordia. “We were reading about similar increases at McGill,” she says. “It’s an issue that applies to all students in Quebec, especially now that UQAM’s rector revealed the provincial government’s plan to continue increasing all students’ tuition past 2012. All students should be concerned that their universities are making it hard for people who don’t have money to study.”