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Peru has elected a new president. Olianta Humala defeated Keiko Fujimori in a run-off election Monday.

Humala has been compared with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela for his dedication to defeating poverty and combating inequality. But he says he has no plans to nationalize industries like Chavez did. A move that scared American investors away from the oil rich nation.

There are signs that investors in Peru fear the same fate. The Peruvian stock exchange fell over 10% as soon as the results came in. Humala officially takes over from outgoing president Alan Garcia on July 28th.

Starting Monday, transit goers will no longer have access to Villa Maria metro station. It will be undergoing repairs and  renovations for at least the next three months.

A special shuttle bus will be available to take people to Cote St. Catherine or Snowdon metro stations. During peak hours the shuttle will leave every two to three hours.

The repairs are expected cost $1.9 million.

Photo by Nika Vee.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will table Canada’s budget to the House of Commons Monday afternoon. It will be an almost identical budget to the one tabled on March 22. The Conservatives hold a majority of the seats in Parliament and the budget is likely to pass without any trouble.

Flaherty said a few tweaks have been made to March’s budget. Political parties’ direct public subsidies will be phased out over a three-year period. Parties in the past would get two dollars annually for every vote they received in the previous general election. This cost the federal treasury $27 million every year.

Quebec might also be looking at a payday if an agreement can be reached with the federal government by Sept. 15. Flaherty has set aside $2.2 billion for Quebec for harmonizing its provincial and federal sales taxes.

In March, Flaherty called the budget a “low tax plan for jobs and growth”. The Conservatives have promised to eliminate Canada’s deficit by 2015-2016. They even said they would be able to do it by 2014-2015 during the last election campaign.

Brett Dennen took the stage in front of a packed house at the gorgeous and historic National Theatre. While I disapprove of his music generally, the songsmith has an undeniable charisma, and set against the smoky, softly lit backdrop of the National’s stage his 6’5” frame is impossible to ignore. His entrance was marked by screams from the crowd, many of whom had obviously come just to hear him play.

On the back end of their North American tour, Dennen and his band were in top form. The hour-long set was well rehearsed and crisply executed, and the crowd responded, singing and clapping along the whole time, but lighting up especially for the early single "Ain’t No Reason" (2006) and his most recent hit "Sydney (I’ll Come Runnin)" (2011).

Dennen himself sounded great; his voice ranged from a raspy moan to a soulful, lucid falsetto. For me, Dennen’s flexibility of vocal expression is the thread that both connects and gives life to his music. It is everything that his songwriting is generally not: textured, expressive, and meaningful.

Some people filtered out before Milow (Jonathan Vandenbroeck) and his band set up their instruments, but a decent crowd remained to hear them out. Vandenbroeck introduced himself, and spoke throughout his set in halting, garbled French. Combined with the beaming grin permanently affixed to his face and his boyish movements on stage, this gave his performance a naïveté that almost excused his moronic lyricism, and simplistic musical choices.

Milow saved his adult contemporary version of Timberlake/land’s "Ayo Technology" for last. The crowd responded powerfully, and Vanderbroeck milked it, instigating claps and sing-alongs, jumping up and down, and eventually descending into the crowd to chant the chorus to "99 Problems."

Milow’s encore began unplugged, with just him and his guitarist, Tom Vanstiphout, playing and singing into one microphone stand. The noise of the crowd moving and chatting at first drowned out the much quieter sound from the stage. The shushing that ensued drained all the energy out of the building, making the first song uncomfortable for everyone, especially Milow.

I should warn readers that neither Dennen nor Milow belong in the category of music that I usually listen to. Nevertheless, the show was a good time. Dennen’s set in particular surprised me, and I’m sure that if I liked Milow’s music I would have had nothing to complain about. The National Theatre itself deserves attention for its incredible sound and ambiance. If someone you listen to is playing there, go see them, full stop.

-Thomas McManus