Unbanning pit buls - Montreal Mirror

Unbanning
pit bulls

The pit bull controversy in NDG is cooling down.

Peter McQueen, city councillor for Côte-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, is re-thinking his call made last week for a ban on pit bulls in his riding following a flurry of complaints from angry residents.

The call followed a July 19 pit bull attack on 24-year-old Amanda Gatti. She was bitten repeatedly by a neighbour’s dog in her apartment on Clifton. The dog in question has since been euthanized.

“I was personally involved,” says the Projet Montréal councillor of his reaction to the attack, which occurred down the street from his home.

But McQueen says reaction to his plan has convinced him that a breed ban is not the way to go. He says he’s been flooded with evidence that such bans are ineffective, and that misbehaviour in aggressive dogs can usually be linked to bad owners. McQueen says his party is now looking at other ways to deal with irresponsible dog owners, including higher licence fees.

That’s good news for the SPCA. Tara Garland, director of the emergency shelter, says, “Our position would be opposed (to a ban). It’s not an effective solution to a larger problem, which is ownership.”

ELISABETH FAURE

Deeg loves Empress - Montreal Mirror

A new grassroots group in NDG is renewing the fight to save the neighbourhood’s Empress Theatre. The group, Renaissance Empress, will hold a public meeting on Monday, Sept. 13 at the KoSA Arts Centre (5325 Crowley) to try to renew dialogue about the theatre’s future.

Once a famed vaudeville house, later home to Cinema V, the building has been largely unused since a 1992 fire. Today, the Empress’ future is uncertain. Of late, speculation has renewed that the city may expropriate the building to build luxury condos. In response, Renaissance Empress has been circulating a petition.

“We want to say this really does matter, and there’s a lot of people in the community that really do care,” says spokesperson Paul Scriver. He estimates that 80 per cent of NDGers want the Empress restored as a community cultural space. The group disagrees with borough Mayor Michael Applebaum’s warning the Empress could become a “white elephant.” So they’ve adopted a mascot, Ellie the Empress Elephant. The papier mâché pachyderm got a rainbow coat of paint from kids at recent local arts fair, and Renaissance Empress says her colourful appearance stands for what the Empress could become.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Ellie will be in attendance.

—ELISABETH FAURE

O What a Knight!

I recently wrote a cover article for the Montreal Mirror - here's the link:

http://www.montrealmirror.com/2010/081910/lifestyle1.html

Enjoy!