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 More than five hundred dogs have been seized in what could be the largest animal cruelty case in Quebec’s history.

 The dogs were found in a puppy farm in southwestern Quebec. They had been living in poor conditions with many suffering from skin and respiratory problems. The dogs have been placed in the care of Humane Society International, with several hundred already at a treatment centre.

 A spokesperson for the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture said that the scale of the seizure is without precedent in Quebec. This is just the latest in a string of animal abuse cases, which have given the province a sour reputation.

 An investigation is underway and charges could be laid against the owners of the puppy mill. The fate of the dogs is now in the hands of the courts.

While the question of when and not if Federal Deputy Leader of the NDP Thomas Mulcair will run for party leadership floats around, he took the time to stop by and convince some Concordia students that the NDP is still a contender even after Jack Layton’s gone.

Joel Balsam reports:

When Thomas Mulcair walked into the small conference hall at the Maritime Hotel in downtown Montreal Friday, he took the time to shake the hands of everyone in the room.

He asked them all their names, but really, he wants them to know his.

The Federal deputy leader of the NDP is expected to run for party leadership. But to the dismay of about 40 students in attendance, he didn’t make the announcement. Instead, he took the time to talk politics and make a plea for young people to get involved.

“Find the group in our political structure that most closely resembles your values. I’ll be thrilled if it’s the NDP, but even if its not I’ll have absolutely identical respect for your choice. Choose.”

Mulcair is credited with igniting the flame for the Orange Wave that gave the NDP 57 new seats in Quebec. He was the only one in the province to have a seat before this year’s election.

Many have pointed to the collapse of the Bloc Quebecois as the reason for the rise of the NDP. Mulcair doesn’t buy it.

“Don’t think that the fact that the Bloc was swept out by that broom of change that that means the sentiment that was behind is no longer there. It simply means that the last standing federalist political party is being given one last chance.”

Parliamentary session begins this Monday. Mulcair and the NDP plan to stand up to the Conservative majority who now have the voting power to put forward whatever legislation they want.

As for when Mulcair will join the leadership race, he said it’s a matter of weeks and not days.

Joel Balsam, CJLO News.

Photo by: Sarah Deshaies 

A frosh event created a stir Thursday as students from Université de Montréal were filmed in blackface while dressed in the colours of the Jamaican flag. They chanted about marijuana and Rastafarianism. Playing up well-known stereotypes of the Central-American nation.

The costumes were in honour of the annual athletic week to promote student involvement in sports. But one Mcgill law student was deeply offended. He is considering filing a human rights complaint.

The Universite de Montreal’s sports and leisure committee explained that the first-year students were told to make a costume based on the Olympics. This group chose to depict Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

A Université de Montréal official is looking into how incidents like these can be prevented in the future.

Once in a while, you get the rare opportunity to catch an artist right before they ascend to larger audiences. J. Cole, signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label, is standing at the precipice of that ascension. His album Cole World: The Sideline Story is due out on September 27th and the promotional singles released have already seen healthy chart action on the Billboard 200. The rapper-cum-producer has managed to take a positive stance in recent interviews regarding his situation despite a myriad number of setbacks over the last two years - the most prominent of which has been that his major label debut, Cole World, has been perpetually delayed. Originally meant to come out over a year ago, the project has seen many release dates come and go before the late September date was settled upon.

All of that was merely context, though, for a pleasurable 70 minute set from the 26 year-old, who decided to leave all of those problems backstage and treated the crowd to an energetic and passionate set. Backed by two keyboardists and a DJ, Young Simba took the stage at Club Soda at around 9:30 and began to own it right from the get-go, eschewing the ultra-flashy demeanor of some of his peers in favour of a simple black shirt and pants ensemble. The crowd was primed for the North Carolina native, and there were numerous times in the evening where it was hard to find someone who wasn't singing/rapping along.

Thankfully, Cole kept the in-between song banter/shout outs to a minimum. Sometimes these things can go long and you can spend many minutes listening to someone go on and on before returning to the music, but thankfully Cole recognized this and kept the energy up, displaying his musical virtuosity by taking over one of the keyboard stands and playing a few numbers while also rapping. He also paused a few times during the performance to stare into the crowd and broke out into a broad smile before continuing with the show, seemingly humbled by the reception.

Blazing through tracks from previous mixtapes (the Drake collabo "In The Morning" had the entire crowd throwing their hands up) as well as choice cuts from his forthcoming album (including the Kanye-sampling single "Work Out"), J. Cole stalked the stage, looking genuinely pleased at the rather enthusiastic reaction he was getting from the MTL crowd. Cole's 2010 hit "Who Dat" got one of the stronger reactions of the evening, even as the beat from the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize" was cut into the middle portion of the song for added value.

In the end, J. Cole put on a show that focused itself primarily on the music, and kept the theatrics and posturing to a minimum, thankfully maximizing his on-stage time to push a product that may prove to be the missing piece of the puzzle that'll help J. Cole break into the mainstream.

-Brian H hosts Countdown To Armageddon every Monday from 8-10pm