RSS

The mayor of Montreal has fired the city’s comptroller amid revelations of a spying scheme involving a city council chairman.

City comptroller Pierre Reid led an investigation aimed at Lachine borough mayor Claude Dauphin. The investigation revealed troublesome details of alleged dealings between Dauphin and a Lachine demolition company.

Mayor Gerald Tremblay is calling for the resignation of Dauphin until an investigation of the matter is settled. Dauphin refuses to step down, claiming he’s done nothing wrong. He maintains that he was anonymously alerted about himself and other elected officials being watched. Surveillance of elected officials is against city by-law.

Opposition leaders have been demanding for Reid’s dismissal after it was revealed that he was also investigating an auditor. Reid, although removed of his position, will remain as a city employee.

An enquiry into these accusations is being handled by provincial police.

France’s ban on wearing Islamic face veils in public officially came into effect Monday. This is the first ban of its kind in the world. Those wearing the religious niqab or burka in public will have to pay a fine of 150 euros, which amounts to about 200 Canadian.

Police have said enforcing the ban will be difficult. The French government believes that the law is to protect the fundamental principles of secularism and gender equality. Meanwhile, many are denouncing the law as Islamophobic and racist.

Protests have been taking place all over the country. Those at a protest in Notre Dame Monday said the ban is an affront to their freedom of expression and religion. Islam is France’s second most popular religion with 5 million practicing Muslims. 

To put things into perspective, this was my first time seeing Comeback Kid. Every time they come to town, I'm always kinda interested, but never enough to make seeing them a priority. Finally, everything came together, the stars aligned, and I got my name on the list! On to the show!

I missed openers Counterparts, The Carrier, and the other band whose name I forget (and who weren't listed anywhere) in favour of trying a friend's copy of the new Resident Evil game. Verdict: it's lame. I probably would have been better off catching Counterparts and The Carrier; they both seem like bands that I'd enjoy.

I did, however, get to Foufounes Electriques in time to see the last few songs of Title Fight's set. Verdict: they're lame. Despite the awesomeness of their name, they didn't have any bark or bite. I don't know why they were second-billed; three people were really into 30 seconds of one song – otherwise the crowd was pretty much dead and bored. Only catching the last 3 songs of bad sets is awesome; it's enough to pass judgment but not so much that I have to suffer.

Comeback Kid hit the stage promptly at 9:05pm, delivered a solid, energetic, enthusiastic, no-frills set and were off the stage by 9:55pm. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. The complete lack of bullshit was greatly appreciated. There isn't much to comment on about their set except that they did their job and did it well. It is worth noting how all of the songs from Symptoms + Cures completely smoked all of their older songs (except "Wake The Dead", obviously). In particular, "G.M. Vincent & I" and "Because of All" were two songs that really stood out. They aren't my favourite songs from the album, but they were great live and added a lot to the set. Going back to how this was my first time seeing Comeback Kid: I'm glad it was, since I probably liked this show more than I would have any other show they've done here in the past...

-Johnny Suck hosts Turn Down the Suck on Wednesdays from 9-11pm

In national news, Hockey wins over politics ! The debate on French language was moved up to Wednesday April 13th, instead of Thursday April 14th. The consortium organizing the debate wanted to avoid a conflict with the opening playoff game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins for viewers.

The concerns came from Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe. A formal request asking to move up the debate was filed due to worried politicians who assumed having the classic  Hockey matchup between the two bitter rivals and the debate on the same night would split viewership.

Duceppe mentioned that it was in the interest of democracy to allow the maximum number of people to watch the debate, especially in the middle of election period. The consent of all parties participating in the debate was reached, and all were in favour of allowing the widest audiences possible to view the debate.