http://www.themetropolitain.ca/http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1068http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1068The Shafia verdict should have implications far beyond the deserved condemnations of the very concept of "honour" killings. Beyond even the condemnation of the terrible subjugation of women that is at the heart of that retrograde and oxymoronic phrase and the corpus of thought that gave it birth. And  beyond any satisfaction people may have about the verdict. It should lead us straight to the heart of the matter: the absolute rejection of accomodation to any status for any religious law in Canada's legal jurisdictions and the urgent need to reaffirm this nation's dedication to the sovereignty of the individual over any collectiveBeryl WajsmanSun, 05 Feb 2012 12:34:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1067http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1067It has become part of the Canadian lexicon thanks to the furor surrounding the Shafia quadruple murder trial. This concept of an “honour killing” has been widely condemned and strikes most people as shocking and revolting. But the condemnations are in vain and may even be counter-productive. In reality, these types of murders are no more or no less heinous than any other; let us dismantle the Muslim straw man and stop pretending that honour killings really exist.Dan DelmarSun, 05 Feb 2012 12:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1066http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1066Decades ago, Konrad Adenauer spoke of Germany’s postwar place in Europe when he said, “A European Germany, not a German Europe.”  Since Adenauer uttered those words, Germany, together with France have been at the core of all the great initiatives to create greater European integration and cooperation – the formation of the EU, the opening up to former Eastern Bloc nations, and the adoption of the Euro.  Now that the EU is in crisis over debt, deficits and currency devaluation, Germany has chosen to assert greater leadership in its own interests, effectively vetoing repeated calls to have theEuropean Central Bank act as a bank of last resort and buy up Greek, Italian and Spanish debt (as a start).Robert PresserTue, 31 Jan 2012 23:23:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1065http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1065Métropolitain publisher and editor Beryl Wajsman, who is also the founder of The Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal, gave the keynote speech last Thursday to some 1500 participants in McGill's annual Model UN Conference and lost little time sending them a message for a new model for the international system, the bankruptcy of the current one and the moral challenges the future leaders who made up the  the audience had a responsibility not to betray. Attendees at the four-day conference at the Sheraton Centre came from over fifty North American universities. The McGill model UN Conference is held every year, and this year was the biggest such gathering behind only Harvard and Penn State. Harvard and McGill have consistently been the largest over the past decade. A. Hustak & P. SévignyMon, 30 Jan 2012 18:34:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1064http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1064Knut Hammarskjöld was the Swedish diplomat who served in Montreal for 18 years as the second executive director of the International Air Transport Association, which regulates the interests of most of the world’s commercial airlines. Hammarskjöld was the nephew of the United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, who was killed in a mysterious plane crash in Africa in 1961. Knut Hammerskjold, who died at his home in Lidingo on Jan. 3, two weeks shy of his 90th birthday, considered his distinguished uncle as a second father. Alan HustakMon, 30 Jan 2012 18:31:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1063http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1063It is a period that reminds us of those historical encounters between governors and governed, when every act of the authorities exasperates the people and every refusal to act excites their contempt. A period of 12 days that should rend our souls asunder with searing intensity and pierce our hearts with rapier-like violation. A period that begins with a date held sacred to all those of conscience who engage in the struggle for mankind’s transcendent yearning for redemptive change. A period that ends with a date that challenges us to fulfill that struggle as we bear witness to mankind’s debased desertion of any of its noble aspirations.Beryl WajsmanTue, 24 Jan 2012 02:03:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1062http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1062Ça fait trop longtemps que le Parti libéral essaie de définir le libéralisme comme un ensemble de pratiques comptables ou de positionnements politiques centristes. Le libéralisme ne peut pas réussir une fois réduit à une stratégie qui plaît à tout le monde. Le libéralisme n'est pas facile, il est difficile. Il est difficile parce qu'il représente surtout l'idéal dont son nom origine : la liberté. Le libéralisme et les libéraux réussissent quand les gens à trouver le courage de surmonter leurs craintes.Beryl WajsmanTue, 10 Jan 2012 17:54:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1061http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1061I first heard the idea of using a primary type system to choose the next Liberal leader in April, 2011. By then it was pretty clear we were not going to form the next government; indeed it was apparent we were in danger of losing our spot as official Opposition.James MortonSun, 08 Jan 2012 22:17:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1050http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1050We have to give credit where credit is due. When The Suburban’s publisher Michael Sochaczevski and I testified in front of Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre, and her commissioners, hearing testimony on the Payette Report that seeks to institute journalistic accreditation creating two classes of writers, we came with a long list of concerns. Not only those of The Suburban and The Métropolitain but also those of the 31 member Quebec Community Newspaper Association whom we represented.Beryl WajsmanFri, 16 Dec 2011 23:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1049http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1049 During an official government consultation which took place in the Théatre Rouge located in Montreal's Conservatoire D'Art Dramatique, Quebec's Minister of Culture and Communications stated that there would be "no mandatory French language tests," for Quebec's ethnic and Anglophone media. Ministre Christine St-Pierre is presently leading a province-wide consultation which is examining assorted issues related to Quebec's media following the release of what has come to be known as the Payette Report.  P.A. SévignyFri, 16 Dec 2011 22:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1053http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1053Il y a eu un an le 2 octobre qu’un marchand de chaussures de la rue Saint-Denis, Yves Archambault, a reçu une mise en demeure d’un organisme appelé Palestiniens et Juifs Unis (PAJU) lui enjoignant de retirer de ses tablettes les souliers BeautiFeel, fabriqués en Israël. Bien que cette marque ne représente que deux pour cent de son chiffre d’affaire, le propriétaire du Marcheur considéra avec raison qu’il était libre de mener ses affaires à sa guise et refusa d’obtempérer. Le jour même, une douzaine de manifestants  se massèrent devant sa boutique avec pancartes et banderoles et distribuèrent aux passants de tracts qui dénonçaient la prétendue complicité du Marcheur avec le soi-disant apartheid israélien.Pierre K. MaloufFri, 16 Dec 2011 22:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1051http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1051Out of the clear blue sky, the manufactured chasm between the two solitudes reopened this week with a string of Quebec commentators fanning the flames of intolerance by, essentially, conducting a witch-hunt to find the ubiquitous unilingual Anglophone.Dan DelmarFri, 16 Dec 2011 21:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1052http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1052C10, the omnibus crime bill, passed third reading and is now over to the Senate for what is supposed to be sober second thought.  The vote could only have been a depressing anticlimax for the many Canadians who were fighting to stop or amend this legislation.  And the implacable inevitability of its passage must surely lead many to ask, ‘why bother, what’s the point?’Alex HimelfarbFri, 16 Dec 2011 21:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1046http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1046Another nail was hammered into the coffin of Montreal’s bike-sharing service when BIXI president Roger Plamondon quietly resigned; the news released just like any dignified public figure with a clear conscience would have it – on a Friday evening. Dan DelmarFri, 16 Dec 2011 20:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1047http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1047 The U.S. decision to defer decision on the Keystone XL pipeline has tossed an eagle into the dovecot.  A “no brainer” decision regarding the merits of providing secure energy (as well as j-o-b-s) has apparently been adroitly manipulated by the brainless. Consequently, the State Department disclaimer that the delay decision was not “political” is disingenuous at best; it passes neither the sniff nor the giggle test.  After years of review, acres of trees slaughtered in written testimony, and scads of let-it-all-hang-out public hearings, the State Department announced that there were no environmental objections to the pipeline.  Subsequently, President Obama said that he would make the decision—retrospectively a fatal blow to any near term decision.  David T. JonesFri, 16 Dec 2011 20:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1054http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1054Il y a un proverbe/adage anglais qui dit: “What goes around comes around”. Mais lorsqu’il s’agit de mettre en pratique ce dernier dans un pays, tel la Syrie, on est mieux de retourner dans le temps quelques années en arrière pour revoir le passé afin de tenter de prédire l’avenir, car hélas, nul ne connait maintenant la suite de ce que le Proche-Orient va vivre à la suite de la déstabilisation de la presque dernière dictature « républicaine » dans la région.Alain de PerlycroixFri, 16 Dec 2011 19:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1048http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1048The following conversation was overheard at the weekly emergency meeting of the European First Ministers prior to the G20 meeting in Cannes.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were reviewing the final communiqué before meeting the press.  Sarkozy (NS) and Merkel (AM) are grappling with the challenge of coming up with a solution to the Euro debt crisis once and for all, since previous proposals failed to calm international markets...Robert PresserFri, 16 Dec 2011 18:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1055http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1055As the Occupy movement clashes with municipal governments across North America and protests continue against austerity in Europe, governments, the broader public and the media continue to debate as to what these protesters really want.  The Occupiers and European protestors decry the “inequality” and “injustice” of the current western economic model that has bred “excesses” thatfavoured the top one percent of taxpayers.  However, most of the other 99% have not embraced the movement-why not?  Perhaps an investigation of these terms will help us figure out why.Robert PresserFri, 16 Dec 2011 17:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1056http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1056 Prime Minister Harper had the guts to remove Canada from the Kyoto Accord almost the same way we got into it: with an order from his phone in the comfort of his office.Never mind those big rooms down the hall full of elected representatives. Prime Minister Chrétien ratified the Kyoto Protocol at a brief ceremony in his office in 2002. He did not consult scientists, economists or anyone in his Cabinet, nor was David Anderson - Canada’s longest serving Environment Minister - consulted. Only Preston Manning and the Reform Party spoke out and were attacked as stooges for Big Oil.  Mischa PopoffFri, 16 Dec 2011 16:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1057http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1057 One of the enduring elements of Canadian psychic angst is the status of its First Nations.   Over the years, indeed over the decades, an observer can recall the viewing-with-alarm and/or dismay that affect Canadians when one or another instance of ghetto in the woods associated with a First Nation reserve comes to light. David T. JonesFri, 16 Dec 2011 15:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1058http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1058Dans les années 70, à une époque qui n’est pas si lointaine, M. Larose participait à une petite mouvance de « catholique de gauche » comme prêtre rédemptoriste. Il était en effet membre du Réseau des Politisés Chrétiens et responsable d’une minuscule et pompeuse « commission de théologie ». Dans un article hautement significatif qui est une véritable pièce d’anthologie intitulé Des chrétiens ont choisi le marxisme, Larose exprimait des propos lourdement marxisants. Il constatait que beaucoup de chrétiens, dont lui-même, sont attirés par l'analyse marxiste.Pierre BrassardFri, 16 Dec 2011 15:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1059http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1059In the spring of 1842 Charles Dickens took a steamboat from Kingston, Ont. and sailed down the St. Lawrence intoMontreal with his wife, Catherine, and found the town  “full of life and bustle.”  Dickens was 30 and had already written six books, including Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. No other novelist has had such a spectacular success. Two hundred years after he was born in 1812, Dickens remains as immortal as Shakespeare.  It  is probably fair to say more people know of Oliver Twist, the artful dodger, Syndey Carton, Miss Havisham, Micawber, Scrooge and Tiny Tim from the endless  television mini-series, movies and Broadway musicals based on his novels than they do from reading his books.Alan HustakFri, 16 Dec 2011 14:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1060http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1060You may have had organic wine. You may have had biodynamic wine. You may have had wine produced by sustainable agricultural methods. But have you had "pizzo" free wine? “Pizzo” in Italian means protection money paid to you know who. Fed up after assassinations and murders of  members of the judiciary leading investigations into organized crime, a spontaneous movement erupted in 2004 in Palermo bearing the slogan “Addio Pizzo” meaning good-bye to protection money and let’s support those in the economy that are Pizzo free. Their slogan reads, “Un Intero Popolo Che Paga Il Pizzo É Un Popolo Senza Dignità” translated as such, “A Whole People Who Pays the Pizzo is a People Without Dignity”. Robert K. StephenFri, 16 Dec 2011 14:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1045http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1045God of Carnage, at the Centaur until December 4th, (and probably longer)  is a clever and brutally funny farce  that’s the hottest ticket in town.  A perfect ensemble cast  under Roy Surette’s disciplined and brilliant direction  unleashes 90 minutes of domestic mayhem on an unsuspecting audience. The play explores that  razor thin line between civility and savagery, love and hate.  What we have here is reminiscent of Who is Afraid of Virgina Woolf  without  Albee’s bite.Alidor AucoinFri, 16 Dec 2011 13:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1044http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1044The Play’s the Thing  at the Segal Centre until  Nov. 20  is a delightful  revival of  Ferenc  Molnar’s  1920’s period piece,  Play at The Castle,  (Jatek a Kastelyban),   a silly  farce adapted by P.G. Wodehouse  in which sexual hi-jinks  inspire a word play-within- a-play.   Set in a Mediterranean villa, the parlour comedy is based on a real life incident in which the Hungarian playwright arrived in his hotel suite with one of his friends  and overheard his wife in the next room, apparently in the throes of passion,  exclaiming, “I love you, I love you, I shall die of love for you!” Alidor AucoinTue, 08 Nov 2011 13:37:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1034http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1034 Où étiez-vous à 10h38 le 11 septembre 2001? On s’en souvient tous. J’étais dans mon bureau dans l’édifice du Centre du Parlement canadien à Ottawa. Quelques minutes plus tard, la sécurité faisait évacuer le building. On courait sur la rue Wellington, en panique, devant la Tour de la Paix, comme si un avion allait nous tomber aussi sur la tête. Ce n’est pas les deux tours du World Trade Center de New York qu’Al-Qaïda a attaquées ce jour-là, mais plutôt notre démocratie, nos valeurs et notre mode de vie occidental. Cette véritable déclaration de guerre bouleversera chacun de nos parcours. Éric DuhaimeWed, 26 Oct 2011 23:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1035http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1035Ok, everybody gets it. Economic disparity between the wealthy and the workers is expanding at a faster rate than at any time in the post war period. We have seen the destruction of a free and fair market by rapacious corporate chieftains. But why occupy Wall St.? The problems do not lie in Wall St. or Bay St. and certainly not in Pace Victoria.If these protestors really understood the markets, they would know that the stock exchanges are the great equalizers.  No you can't beat the markets. But if you understand them, then a relatively small amount of money, properly invested, can produce a healthy supplementary income. People should pay as much attention to that as they do to sports.Beryl WajsmanWed, 26 Oct 2011 22:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1030http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1030Building one kilometre of road in Quebec costs 37 per cent more than it does in the rest of Canada; in urban areas like Montreal, the gap is wider at 46 per cent, according to statistics from one  particuarly troubling Transport Canada study. The numbers speak for themselves. 0 per cent of Quebecers believe that public money is being spent responsibly on infrastructure 100 per cent of the time. The question is: Where is our money going?Dan DelmarWed, 26 Oct 2011 22:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1029http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1029The Conservative’s omnibus crime bill will result, sadly, in more crime, less justice. There are six principal problems with the legislation.l'Hon. Irwin CotlerWed, 26 Oct 2011 21:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1036http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1036No, this is not another essay about the abomination of the modern theocratic kamikazes of the Middle East and why we must remember 9/11 because of them. Enough has been written about that. Legitimacy or condemnation, applause or denunciation, they seem to all assume a single phenomenon at issue: killing for a cause, strategic murder. However, they sadly miss the point. These are very different activities indeed. A new manifestation of an old evil was loosed upon the world that day 10 years ago.Beryl WajsmanWed, 26 Oct 2011 21:00:00 -0400