RSS
CSU Council officially condemns SPVM at Mcgill on Nov 10, will have SGM on corruption
CSU Council met yesterday with several important topics on the agenda.
Right off the bat they voted in favour of a statement condemning the actions of the police on November 10th at Mcgill. The CSU says riot police acted excessively when kicking students off campus.
Council also voted to have a Special General Meeting next week to discuss allegations of corruption in the CSU. Chair of the Judicial Board Ceejay Desfosses and CSU President Lex Gill are accused in the appeal of being in collusion.
Also at the meeting, Councillor Bruno Joyal suggested translating by-laws into French to incorporate Francophone students. But the motion was rejected with President Gill suggesting that translation would be too costly.
Councillor Anali Lee-Ender proposed changes to the controversial Cultural Nights. She said Resident Assistants were complaining about reckless and drunk students who returned from these CSU events. VP Student Life Laura Glover who is in charge of the event on the CSU's behalf welcomed the criticism and said they are exploring new ways of making the event more safe, but have no plans to cancel them at this time.
Parents say no to Royal Vale change
Parents and students rallied outside of Royal Vale School in Notre-Dame-de-Grace yesterday. They were fighting against the proposed move of the school to another neighbourhood.
The English Montreal School Board is considering moving the school to Cote Saint Luc. NDG parents are saying the move makes no sense.
Many will push commissioners for more information on their proposal by attending an evening school board meeting.
Mother accused of murdering her children
A mother accused of dumping her baby in a dumpster in Calgary last fall is now being charged with the murder of two other of her children.
After a length investigation, the mother was charged with attempted murder last week for dumping her child in a dumpster.
Following the discovery that she had given birth twice before but that both babies died shortly after their birth, she is now facing two counts of second-degree murder. The bodies of both babies have yet to be recovered.
Three Quebec anti-corruption investigators resign
Three high-ranking members of Quebec’s anti-corruption task force have resigned.
The head of the Unité permanente anti-corruption Robert Lafrenière denies there are problems within the unit. He said all three are retiring for personal reasons.
But Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois questioned whether the departures could cut off access to important information. Opposition critics in the National Assembly also suggested on Tuesday that Lafrenière has failed to get results and should be replaced.
Lafrenière admitted things haven’t been perfect, but said investigations are going well. The unit has more than 200 investigators and a budget of over 30 million dollars a year.
Major drug bust in Quebec and New Brunswick
32 people have been arrested in a major drug bust in Quebec and New Brunswick. Federal, provincial and city police officers conducted searches in 25 municipalities. Large quantities of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine pills were seized along with a substantial amount of cash.
Police say the raids are part of an investigation into a drug trafficking ring involving a Montreal chapter of the Hell's Angels.
News: November 23, 2011
Read by: Emily Brass
Stories by: Lindsay Briscoe, Emily Brass and Alexa Fay
Produced by: Michael Lemieux
The Slackers (20th Anniversary) @ Cabaret du Mile End
I must admit, I’ve never attended a concert on a high holiday before. However, how could any music lover turn down seeing The Slackers perform live, even if the show coincided with one of the most festive weekends of the year: Halloween?
The show was set to begin at nine, but the venue (Cabaret Du Mile End) looked near empty at quarter to. It was expected and understandable, seeing that most people probably had Halloween parties the very same night. However, little by little zombies, werewolves, slutty nurses, gypsies and even a rooster trickled in and filled up the place. Turns out, celebrating Halloween with one of the greatest Ska bands is equally, if not more fun then heading to some bobbing apples, haunted house party that ends in sugar and or alcohol poisoning.
The show was intimate, in the greatest sense. Unlike other venues, the stage is close enough to the sitting/dancing area so that concert goers are able to converse with the musicians on stage. The Slackers were celebrating their 20th anniversary, seeing these guys perform you’d never believe that twenty years had passed. They are full of ecstatic energy and look as though they are having a party on stage. They jumped around, joked with each other and screamed incessantly at the audience members to keep dancing.
They played old songs, new songs and took requests! I went with a group of friends and my friend Brant is one the greatest Slacker fans I know. He has been to every single one of the bands performances in Montreal. So you can imagine how surprised and happy he was, when one of the members did a shout out for him onstage, wishing him a Happy Birthday and thanking him for being a fan all these years. And some people say Christmas is the most magical time of year….
The Slackers are a ska band and you can’t help but feel happy when you’re listening to their music, with their old school jazz flair and modern upbeat rhythms, they are a band that speaks to everyone, no matter what age you are. They covered a few well known songs as well and converted them into ska-esque tunes. People were dancing like crazy and going wild each time one of the band members spoke in their oh so ‘charmin’ Brooklyn accents. When the lights went off and the show was at a close, people refused to leave. They stomped on the ground, clapped their hands and shouted for an encore
The Slackers are a band that appreciate their fans and know how to show it. Noticing that the crowd was not going to take no for an answer and seemed to prefer hearing more music then heading out to a Halloween party, they did the right thing. The Slackers members grabbed their instruments, jumped back onstage and played for nearly another hour.
After the show, the costumed audience were panting from dancing and their made up, smiling faces were melting with sweat. I overheard fans exclaiming that the 2oth anniversary show was by far the best they’ve seen. I agree. So it looks like The Slackers set a new record, we can only hope that their 40th anniversary is just as great, if not better!
-Abby Schachter hosts The Reaktor on Fridays from 2-4pm
McGill strike negotiations back on
Negotiations between McGill support staff and the administration are back on. After calling talks off last week, the two groups will meet with a conciliator on Friday.
Members of the McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) have been on strike since September 1.
Recently the chancellors dinner at McGill was postponed. This dinner is an annual event that celebrates major donors for McGill. It was expected to be even larger this year because it is McGill’s 190th year. The event was postponed till sometime in the Spring.
The administration points to events such as the student strike where police came on campus as reasons for the delay. However MUNACA workers see it as a sign their strikes are working. MUNACA President Kevin Whittaker said they consider the delay a victory.
November 22, 2011
Read by: Aisha Samu
Stories by: Katie McGroarty, Aisha Samu, Niki Mohrdar and Jordie Yeager
Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
Montreal teen allowed to return to English school
A Montreal teenager won the right to return to his English high school Monday after months of fighting. Sixteen-year-old Emilio Morales-Espinosa was forced to attend a French school after his father applied for permanent residency.
Quebec language laws allow children of parents who have temporary residency to attend English school. The exception no longer applies once the family applies for permanent residency.The family emigrated from Mexico eleven years ago. The government reversed its decision in this case on humanitarian grounds.
A spokesperson for the English Montreal School Board stated that they’ve lost almost seven thousand students over the last decade.The majority of those lost are due to the language laws and it is crippling the English system.The family’s two younger children have yet to hear if they will be allowed back into English school.
Pages
Staff Login | Advertise | Our Location | RSS | Contact Us
