Archive for the 'Community issues' Category

Envisioning a better plan for the Lower Main

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Montreal’s Lower Main has been the site of controversy as of late, with powerful business interests squaring off against artists and heritage activists to determine the future of the historic stretch of road that was once the heart of Montreal’s bustling Red Light District. The battle has been characterized by powerful business interests dislocating the area’s […]

A new plan is needed

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Following the release of the newest video designed to help save the lower Main from destruction at the hands of a developer, the developer in question, Angus, has said it needs more time to complete its project.

Destroy the Main in one easy step?

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Following the viral success of Lapdance for Prince Charles, the artists hoping to save Cafe Cleopatre and the lower Main from destruction have released another video, this time in both French and English. Rather than an appeal, it’s a parody

Burlesque dancers ask Prince Charles to Save the Red Light District

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

After having exhausted all other means of stopping the destruction of their performance space in the heart of Montreal’s historic Red Light district, burlesque dance troupe the Dead Dolls have turned to Prince Charles with a simple request: Save the Red Light District and Save the Main

Reclaim the Main challenge

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

What will you do to preserve the Main’s historic status, promote the interests of those who live and work there and protect against corporate intrusions?

Time2Ad’s Matthew Alzubi calls OTL

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Maybe they don’t want any record of what Time2Ad and Matthew Alzubi said to us to exist.

Cafe Cleopatra artists rally against plans to destroy their venue

Monday, June 1st, 2009

Montreal’s “Quartier des Spectacles” project is proceeding at a fast clip. The neighbourhood is currently undergoing major transformations as new parks are laid out, a state-of-the-art concert hall goes up, and select buildings are appropriated and destroyed to make way for “development”. Designed to transform Montreal’s old red light district and environs into a less-seedy […]

MainFest launches summer of corporate spam (and resistance) in historic site

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Today is the beginning of “MainFest”, a 3 day “street fair” on St. Laurent Boulevard, or “The Main” Historic site. The boulevard will be completely closed to traffic and is expected to receive an estimated 300 000 visitors. According to The Société de développement du boulevard Saint-Laurent (SDBSL), organizers of “MainFest” and other “street fairs”: […]

RoyalOr to stake Mount Royal today

Monday, May 11th, 2009

It looks like ripping up the ground to create open pit mines in places like Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala just isn’t enough for some Canadian mining companies: RoyalOr has gone local!  The Johannesburg, South Africa-registered organization has plans to turn Mount Royal into an open-pit mine. “People always talk about buying local food and local […]

Happy May Day!

Friday, May 1st, 2009

Today is May 1st, recognized in many places around the world as International Workers Day.  It traces its roots back to May 1st, 1886, when workers demanding an 8-hour work day walked out en-masse.  The police crackdown at the McCormick Reaper Works in Chicago two days later led to the Haymarket affair in where eight […]