Archive for the 'Community issues' Category

Federal money for the arts to match private money for the arts

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

It took a while, but the federal government finally seems ready to invest a bit of money in the Quebec arts scene.  In fact, the department of Canadian Heritage is giving $4,222,861 to Montreal organizations like the National Theatre School, Les Grands ballets canadiens de Montréal and The Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre.  They are […]

Theatrical workshop for change

Friday, April 24th, 2009

In 1971, Augusto Boal started what he called Newspaper Theatre to theatrically deal with current social issues in Brazil.  The concept soon blossomed into a tree of theatrical techniques including Forum Theatre and Image Theatre called Theatre of the Oppressed.  The concept soon spread to other countries in South America and eventually around the world. […]

The RCMP wants to talk to Kevin Annett

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

The Reverend Kevin Annett knows what it’s like to be under the microscope. He was kicked out of the United Church for speaking out against what happened to native people in Canada’s residential school system. When it became apparent that he wouldn’t be silent and do what he was told, they made things very difficult […]

Movie night on Parliament Hill

Monday, April 20th, 2009

While many films, along with entertainment in general, have been known to desensitize people to violence, the Bloc Quebecois hope to use the medium to sensitize Members of Parliament from all parties to the magnitude of tragedies like the massacre of 14 women by Marc Lepine at Ä–cole Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989. This event, […]

Graffiti memorial to police victims

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Montreal is no stranger to graffiti, in fact some of the most celebrated graffiti artists in recent memory, such as Roadsworth, call or have called Montreal their home and some walls, especially in the Plateau neighborhood, boast some of the nicest underground art around. Sadly, Montreal is also no stranger to police brutality, police repression […]

No place for trees in the Quartier des spectacles

Monday, April 13th, 2009

The latest evictees in Montreal’s new Quartier des Spectacles aren’t sex workers, historic hot dog joints or even the homeless.  The latest residents forcibly removed by the city do have a history in the area, though. Each of them, in fact, has been living there for 45 years and their roots do run deep.  The […]

Open-pit mining comes to Quebéc

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Abitibi-Témiscamingue is no stranger to mines, in fact, there are over 100 of them in this mineral-rich region in northern Quebéc.  Along with forestry and agriculture, mining is one of the most important parts of the region’s economy.  There is, however, one type of mine that has fortunately not found its way to the region […]

Newsflash: Montreal cops now to dress like cops

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

You may have noticed something a bit strange if you happened to pass a police officer yesterday morning.  No red cap, no camouflage pants, just an ordinary Montreal cop uniform. That’s because, in order to speed up contract negotiations, the patriarchal-sounding Montreal Police Brotherhood, the union representing Montreal’s police officers, has agreed to drop its […]

Afraid to sign

Monday, April 6th, 2009

In an about-face of the previous government’s position, Australia decided on Friday to endorse the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous people to their own culture, institutions and spiritual traditions. With Australia joining the 143 countries that came on board when the bill passed in 2007, the list of nations opposed to the declaration […]

Debt and the Global South on stage

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

While debt and money seem to be key talking points in the mainstream media and in general public discourse quite frequently these days, there is a type of debt that has gone largely underreported for decades.  Not only is the debt developing nations owe to the world’s most prosperous countries and global organizations like the […]