http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/topic/4enghttp://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/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/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/1027http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1027I had never imagined a room filled with people who were so different from one another.  There was a woman with a head scarf, a man with a chequered scarf around his neck, a woman with a beautiful sari and others with a variety of western clothing.  One man with a yellow toga and a shaven head was, I surmised, a Buddhist.  They were mingling with one another but they were distant from one another.  I began to speak with a young man who declared immediately, “I am a Sikh,” and the Buddhist I had already recognized declared, “I am a Buddhist.”Father John WalshWed, 26 Oct 2011 15:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1041http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1041Ironically it is in the anti-tax U.S. that a conversation has erupted on taxes. Warren Buffett and a few other billionaires helped open the door, if only a crack, and President Obama has, finally, made taxing the rich a key means of funding his jobs plan. In the context of all that is happening now on Wall Street and beyond, these now seem like small and belated steps. Bigger things are in the air. But the conversation is now engaged and, judging from the reaction — accusations of class warfare, “no tax” pledges — tax is a proxy for these bigger things.Alex HimelfarbWed, 26 Oct 2011 15:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1042http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1042Ce texte vise à décrire de manière critique un courant au sein de l'Église catholique au Québec : les « catholiques de gauche ». Il n'est pas à proprement parler une contribution à la recherche universitaire sur la petite histoire des « catholiques de gauche ». Il tenteplutôt de circonscrire certains épisodes qui paraissent significatifs sur l’un d’entre eux qui nous dirige immanquablement vers une réflexion sur l’antisémitisme, l’antijudaïsme chrétien et l’antisionisme absolu.Pierre BrassardWed, 26 Oct 2011 14:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1006http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1006The Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation  recently held its 12th annual ball at Windsor Station. This one, under the chairmanship of the indefatigable Mirella and Nadia Saputo, raised a record $900,000. Several years ago I had the privilege of co-chairing this important community event. I want to tell you why it’s not just another society ball.Brigitte GarceauFri, 26 Aug 2011 15:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1022http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1022 Today I became part of a jury pool – a group of 200 people who would be whittled down to twelve jurists for a criminal stabbing case; a group that spent the better part of the morning trying to find a loophole that would get them out of jury duty.Here in Quebec when the judicial system wants you to fulfill your civic obligation, it sends a letter informing you of where and when to appear, along with a series of reasons why you may be disqualified. Peter Anthony HolderFri, 26 Aug 2011 15:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1023http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1023We’ve all heard the 20-something lament before. Some of us struggle through university, surviving off vicious amounts of coffee while juggling thesis statements, part-time jobs and whatever we can muster up to deem as a social life. When our degree is complete we’re sent off to conquer the market with our ‘expertise’ and our entry-level fervor. What we’re met with, of course, are tight-knit industries with little to no room for our amateur portfolios to expand from. Degree or no degree, opportunity is scarce, or at least it seems so from this standpoint. Figuring out what you want to spend your entire life doing is not even half the battle.Rima HammoudiFri, 26 Aug 2011 15:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1012http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1012We’ve all heard the 20-something lament before. Some of us struggle through university, surviving off vicious amounts of coffee while juggling thesis statements, part-time jobs and whatever we can muster up to deem as a social life. When our degree is complete we’re sent off to conquer the market with our ‘expertise’ and our entry-level fervor. What we’re met with, of course, are tight-knit industries with little to no room for our amateur portfolios to expand from. Degree or no degree, opportunity is scarce, or at least it seems so from this standpoint. Figuring out what you want to spend your entire life doing is not even half the battle.Rima HammoudiTue, 02 Aug 2011 10:37:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1011http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1011Griffith Brewer was a mainstay of Montreal s English- speaking theatre for almost 80 years. He was an unassuming supporting actor, properties master, director, carpenter and all around handyman who rarely let his ego interfere with his love of the stage.  Even after  he retired and lost his sight and roles for senior actors  became  harder to find  he was content to play a  corpse.Alan HustakTue, 02 Aug 2011 10:33:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1008http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1008Canada’s newest and youngest Roman Catholic bishop-elect, Thomas Dowd, is  a media savy priest who says his appointment as auxiliary bishop of Montreal signals a generational shift in the thinking of the church.Dowd is expected to shoulder some  of the workload now being done by Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte. Among his duties, Dowd will be responsible for the city’s 250,000 English-speaking Catholics who have been without a bishop of their own since  Anthony Mancini left four years ago to become Archbishop of Halifax. Alan HustakMon, 18 Jul 2011 10:21:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/987http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/987Canada’s new Parliament is poised to reshape Canada’s criminal justice system and, in significant ways, Canada itself.   Within 100 sitting days of its resumption Parliament will pass an omnibus “tough on criminals” bill that represents the biggest change to our justice system in recent memory.  But these changes are coming with disturbingly little controversy or opposition.  They are not part of some so-called hidden agenda.  This is what most or at least many Canadians voted for and, among those who did not, few seem much worried.  Political opposition has been muted.  Who wants to be seen as soft on crime, soft on criminals, concerned about inmates?  Alex HimelfarbFri, 10 Jun 2011 15:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/998http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/998In 2007, on behalf of the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), I testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages, in support of the federal government decision to eliminate the Court Challenges Program. The Program provided taxpayer financed assistance for constitutional cases involving language and equality rights. All Canadians, through their tax dollars, paid to advance through the courts the public policy agendas of various special interest groups who received Court Challenges Program funding, whether taxpayers agreed with those agendas or not. This was unfair.Chris SchaferFri, 10 Jun 2011 14:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/999http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/999 The Quebec Human Rights Commission has released a report tackling racial profiling in Quebec, but whether it’ll make a difference depends on the political will to implement the recommendations, says Fo Niemi,executive director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations.The report notes that racial profiling is often viewed as aproblem exclusive to Montreal, and Niemi says that’s because of the city’s racial diversity. Anja KaradeglijaFri, 10 Jun 2011 13:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1000http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1000As Solicitor General in Pierre Trudeau’s government, Jean-Pierre Goyer was the architect of prison reform in Canada. Concerned about both the cost of keeping a prisoner in jail and the rate of recidivism, Goyer promoted  a more humane approach to incarceration. During the 1970’s heintroduced better haircuts and better clothing for inmates, inaugurated new housing arrangements that permitted conjugal visits, and made it easier for prisoners to work and go to school. If society really was to be protected, prison he argued, should offer inmates a “more rehabilitative atmosphere.”Alan HustakFri, 10 Jun 2011 11:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/980http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/980  Maynard Gertler was an innovative farmer, civil libertarian, and  the  headstrong Montreal publisher who was the first to market books by French-Canadian authors in English Canada during the Quiet Revolution so the rest of the country could appreciate what was happening in Quebec in the 60s and 70s.Gertler was the founding editor  of  Harvest House Ltd , once described as “a one man university press,” Harvest House was the first  to translate the works  of Quebec writers such as  Jacques  Ferron, Victor-Levy Beaulieu,  Anne Hébert, Yves Thériault  and the poet  Emile Nelligan.  Alan HustakWed, 27 Apr 2011 10:45:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/975http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/975En octobre de 2007, j'ai écrit dans « Une question de préjudice » au sujet du projet de loi sur l’identité québécoise de Pauline Marois et du PQ que  « Pauline Marois ne semble pas comprendre la fureur provoquée par la proposition du projet de loi sur l’identité québécoise du Parti québécois de limiter l'accès à la citoyenneté, l'ascension à la fonction politique et même le droit de grief devan tl'Assemblée nationale à moins que les nouveaux arrivants au Québec aient une connaissance « adéquate» du français. Essayons d’apporter une clarté à sa compréhension. Mme Marois, la fureur surgit parce que c'est une question de préjudice! C’est outrageux dans une société démocratique. »Beryl WajsmanThu, 21 Apr 2011 17:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/966http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/966Plans to  convert  the church of St.  Raphael  the  Archangel in Outremont into a 12-bed palliative care unit and day centre have  moved into high gear.   The  church on Lajoie Ave.  opposite the Sanctuaire apartment complex,  served an English-speaking congregation for almost eight decades until it  closed in June 2008.    Alan HustakThu, 21 Apr 2011 17:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/976http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/976 While some may think it was nothing more than an evening full of music, a bit of wine and a plate full of spaghetti Bolognese, others would recognize the supper party as the kind of event which pulls a community together.​“Without all of your efforts,” said Michelle Bourget, “…none of this would be possible.”​After spending almost 30 years with friends and colleagues fighting the endemic poverty in Montreal’s Sud-Ouest, Bourget’s efforts are beginning to pay handsome dividends because hundreds of people who used to come to their doorlooking for something to eat are now honorably employed, working professionals or even own their own business.  P.A. SévignyThu, 21 Apr 2011 16:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/964http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/964Montreal Canadiens fans were horrified on March 8 when the seemingly lifeless body of a young star, Max Pacioretty, laid on the Bell Centre ice for minutes before being carried away on a stretcher by paramedics. Pacioretty wasn’t just a victim of an overzealous defenceman looking to intimidate his opponents, but a sport culture that tolerates brutal violence and even promotes it.Dan DelmarThu, 21 Apr 2011 15:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/977http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/977Philippe Panneton, dit Ringuet (nom de sa mère), trifluvien d’origine et ensuite montréalais, écrivain et auteur du roman Trente arpents amène une réflexion sur nos origines.  Tel un monde oublié, le Dr Panneton illustre avec force et justesse, dans le livre Un Monde était leur Empire, notre préhistoire américaine.  Dans les manuels, nous nous intéressons en effet beaucoup plus à l’Europe qu’à l’Amérique. Ce fait s’explique aisément et il n’y rien là de quoi s’élever. Nous sommes bien un peu européens malgré notre transplantation il y a quelques siècles en sol québécois. Louise V. LabrecqueThu, 21 Apr 2011 15:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/960http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/960Not  only was May  Cutler  the  fearless  Quebec  champion of kids lit  who  pioneered the market for quality children’s  books  in Canada through  her  publishing house Tundra Books  she was also the girl from the other side of the tracks, the outsider,  who in 1987  became the  hell-raising  Mayor of Westmount, the first woman  elected to run the tony Montreal suburb.Alan HustakSun, 06 Mar 2011 13:57:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/946http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/946 When I was 10, a rusty mastiff followed me home from the playground. It accepted a dish of liver from my mother, then curled up in front of my bed. Whenever my parents approached, it raised its massive head and growled.I felt flattered. The dog had a collar but no tag. “Can I keep it?” I asked my father.“If that were a real question,” my father replied, “my answer might be yes. But you and I know that what you’re actually asking is: Will you, dear parents, keep a dog for me? Feed it, walk it, groom it, muzzle it? And the answer to that is no.” George JonasWed, 16 Feb 2011 15:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/948http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/948American author Sinclair Lewis, in his chilling 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here, imagines the United States becoming a fascist state. Doremus Jessop, a small town Vermont newspaper editor, tries valiantly to warn his compatriots that what is taking place in Europe in the 1930s could occur on this side of the Atlantic, but is met with disbelief—“It can’t happen here.”Rev. John VaudryWed, 16 Feb 2011 14:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/947http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/947 The newsroom at L’Itineraire, magazine remains one of the most unique in Montreal because it is the only one in the city where you will also find several tables set aside for homeless people to eat. That’s because the publication is published, sold and written by members of Montreal’s homeless population and serves as a vehicle to help restore their pride while articulating their points of view.The magazine is published by a non-profit organization and about 150 people, including myself, sell L’Itineraire in different locations across the island of Montreal. Each vendor is assigned at least one or two locations to sell. A number of us can also be found in métro stations.  Bill EconomouWed, 16 Feb 2011 13:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/949http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/949The Nicholsons greeted me in their salon for the first time back in 1996. I was then a graduate student at HEC Montreal, completing a M.Sc. in International Business. I love debates, sharing ideas, learning about the arts, trade, diplomacy, and politics, among many other subjects.Isabelle Ramsay-BrackstoneWed, 16 Feb 2011 11:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/950http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/950 had the great, good fortune to meet Diana and David long before they started the Wednesday Night Salon.  I already knew they were very special people.  The salon started... I have many fond memories of great sessions and meeting a broad, cross-section of incredible people!Donna LoganWed, 16 Feb 2011 11:00:00 -0500