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City to announce new animal control policy

Amid the recent animal abuse controversy, the city of Montreal will soon announce a new policy targeted towards pet owners. The integrated animal control policy will focus on informing people about their responsibilities as pet owners. 

The RPAQ, a group that includes the Humane Society and the SPCA, are seeking changes to existing animal control policies. This comes after hidden cameras revealed animals being inhumanely euthanized at the for profit pound, Berger Blanc. Berger Blanc provides services for ten of the nineteen boroughs. The individual boroughs are responsible for animal control in a city where about fifty thousand animals are abandoned each year.

Since the controversy, two boroughs have decided to not renew their contracts with Berger Blanc. The RPAQ are calling for the city to end its use of privatized pounds and create a city-wide policy.

Action back in

Almost a month after the disqualification of both slates in the Concordia Student Union elections, both teams have had their disqualifications reversed, and will have their elections expenses reimbursed. In a Special Council Meeting Wednesday night, council voted to recognize the victorious candidates of the Action slate. They ultimately decided that not all candidates are guilty by association, as many of the violations were committed by only a few members of the slate.

CSU President Heather Lucas pointed out that if the decision to uphold the disqualification of Action was kept, there would be no JMSB representatives on standing committees, which are formed in the summer. A bi-election for the empty seats could not take place until classes are in session again in the fall.

Only one member of the Judicial Board was present, Tuan Dinh. He argued that even individually, Action's offences deserved disqualification. These included campaigning during the polling period by wearing blue shirts, writing “Lights, camera, _____” on white boards as well as postering on glass surfaces. He called these offences a “blatant disregard:” for the rules in place.

Both motions were initially rejected. It was only after each was reconsidered that council changed its mind. The difference came when council decided to change the wording of the original motion to remove calling the Judicial Board's decision “manifestly unreasonable” and making it clear that they considered it “reasonable and respected”. After further discussion, council also passed a motion agreeing to reimburse the slates for their expenses. Although Dinh accused council of trying to “bypass the bylaws”, council decided to use funds originally earmarked for the election to adequately pay back the slates, provided they have proper receipts.

During the regularly scheduled council meeting that followed, Dinh used his Judicial Board presentation to question the board's own decision. He called the decision “poorly reviewed” and attempted to provide further evidence condemning Your Concordia. However, after much discussion that seemed to simply echo what was said during the Judicial Board hearing, the issue was put to rest and the meeting moved on.

There is hope for the election process: lawyer Patrice Blais presented council with the initial steps towards electoral reform later in the council meeting. Working with the advice of President-elect Lex Gill, current President Heather Lucas and former President Amine Dabchy, Blais introduced reform ideas which included having two categories of CSU members: active (can vote) and inactive (can't vote), removing senate/faculty associations, and hiring an unaffiliated lawyer to oversee the CSU and the Judicial Board. Most ideas were welcomed by councillors, but many voiced disapproval of removing associations. Blais also proposed changes to the electoral process. He is looking at three different options for how candidates can run: as a slate, individually or as a slate but be elected individually. A finalized proposal of changes will presented at a Special Council Meeting soon.

Deftones @ Metropolis

The American ‘metal’ band Deftones reigned over a full house on May 4th. Metropolis was at full capacity; people could barely walk to the bar without bumping into someone. Personally, I had never seen the venue so crowded. Fans flocked from all over the country just to see these guys perform live. “I bought my ticket off some dude from Vermont,” exclaimed one fan that had searched craigslist for a ticket after he found out that the show was already sold out.

Even though the Deftones were popular back in the nineties, they are anything but outdated now; they are one of those bands that gain new fans with every album. The set list consisted mainly of songs from their latest album Diamond Eyes; however, this power band still played some of their older stuff, one being the very popular "Knife Party."

“I felt that the show started slow but then each song got better and more exciting,” said one of many concert goers who were a bit apprehensive when the Deftones first took the stage, and with good reason. The Deftones came onstage uncharacteristically. They were quiet and subdued; it took them a couple of minutes for the crowd - myself included - to realize that they had already begun to perform. However, after the third song, people were dancing, cheering and singing along.

Chino Moreno, the Deftones' hyper-lively front man, is the definition of a human energy drink. His boundless vigor was endless; from start to finish, he bounded wildly around the stage. Moreno screamed, cooed and sang melodically while simultaneously head thrashing. His voice is amazing, and it sounds better live than on album; he has been blessed with magic vocal chords. The band was flawless, and they all seemed to really be enjoying themselves onstage. One of the things that impressed me most about the Deftones was their stage presence and ability to get the crowd going wild. Moreno took barely a minute to pause. He was constantly running around stage. I was exhausted for him. At the very end of the show, during the last encore song, he stood up on the drum set and danced as though he had been hit with an extra hit of caffeine…complete madness. The good kind of course.

These guys are not youngins anymore, and yet they play like it is their first and last show; they are one hundred percent a band to catch live! If Moreno doesn’t inspire you to move…well, then I don’t know what will.

-Abby Schachter hosts The Reaktor on Fridays from 2-4pm

May 11th 2011

News read and produced by Erica Fisher

Stories written by AJ Cordeiro, Dominique Daoust, Alina Gotcherian and Corentine Rivoire.

Viewing of photos of Bin Laden allowed

In international news, the US government has allowed the viewing of Osama bin Laden’s photographs after he was killed. Only members of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as those in the equivalent House committees will be allowed to see the photos. The photos will be shown at CIA headquarters in northern Virginia. Time has not been decided yet, according to officials.

President Barack Obama has remained reluctant to showing the photos of the body to the public. He claims it would be against the national security interest, as these images could become icons to rally opinion against the US.

Liberal leadership race could be delayed

It might still be another two years before the Liberal party elects a new leader. After an unprecedented fall to third party status and the withdrawal of party leader Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal’s national board suggested they have bigger priorities.

In a statement sent to the party’s caucus, the board cited challenges and responsibilities that the federal Liberals now face. Under recommendations released by the board Tuesday, the next liberal leadership race could be delayed to 2013.

In the meantime, the elected and defeated candidates in caucus will meet Wednesday to discuss the recommendations. Among the recommendations is a proposal that the interim leader should not be allowed to run in the next leadership race. 

The board also recommended that the interim leader should not explore merger options with the New Democrats. It stressed that a temporary leader not be allowed to fundamentally change the nature or structure of the party without the approval of all delegates.

Foals @ Le National

Last Sunday, the boys from Oxford, England were in town at Le National. Foals' most recent album, Total Life Forever, left me a little unsure about what to expect from their performance. Why? Well, it's completely different from Antidotes, Foals' first album. It's a more mature and moody album, in my opinion, not what I was expecting as their fellow up effort to the catchy, upbeat, almost hyperactive sound of Antidotes. I didn’t know what to expect from the show, but I had no reason to worry.

The show started in a haze of smoke with the band members settling in to their places. Then the voice of Foals’ front man, Yannis Philippakis, resonated in the speakers. Looking rather scruffy with his thick, day-old beard and curly, messy hair, he started off the show with "Miami" off TLF. You could feel the excitement in the crowd build up as they went back and forth from a new song to a classic one for the first few  songs. All this time, I couldn’t help to noticed that Foals sounded more like their original self then what you hear when listening to TLF. Of course, this is a live show and not a CD. You could see that the guys had good chemistry; they play and goof around with each other and the crowd throughout the show. Yannis seemed at times like an hyperactive kid on stage, jumping, running and throwing drum sticks into the crowd. They were a very entertaining show filled with acrobats provided by Yannis himself; he tried to climb up to the balconies from the stage and almost lost his grip! During the encore, he stage dived, without warning, into the crowd and ran round the floor at Le National -  he passed besides me, too. It was fun to watch indeed, although I wouldn't have wanted to be among the people who cushioned the fall!

They put on a superb show! It was nice to see that the guys put a lot of energy into their performance. They played for almost an hour and a half (encore include). The playlist was filled with new material but they did not neglect the classics that made them populare, like: "Cassius," "Mathletics" and "Olympic Airways." Even songs like "Spanish Sahara," "Miami" and "Blue Blood" from Total Life Forever are bound to be instant classics. We even got the news toward the end of the show that the most wanted man on earth had been slained! Entertained and informed, what more could we have asked for!

-Alex Menjivar hosts The Letter B on Saturdays from Midnight-1am

Another embarrassment for the NDP

Ruth Ellen Brosseau found herself in the spotlight again on Tuesday. It was revealed that the NDP incorrectly claimed in a biography that the controversial MP had a college diploma. The false claim was removed from the party’s website and the officials take full responsibility.

 

They say Brosseau never made the claim to them and had only said she had been a student at the college. A party worker inadvertently changed that by writing in the biography that she had a diploma in Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications from St. Lawrence College in Kingston. After removing the claim, the party also replaced the picture of Brosseau on the website with a more professional one.

 

This development is the latest embarrassment for Brosseau and the NDP. It was previously reported that she took a vacation in Las Vegas during the campaign and never set foot in the Quebec riding she won. She’s been shielded by her party from explaining to Canadians through the national media why she didn’t campaign for the seat she won. She only provided one interview to Le Nouvelliste newspaper last week.

 

She said her French was rusty and she’ll work on improving her language skills and visit the riding in the days ahead.  

 

Oliver Cohen has left the building

In his last duty as Chief Electoral Officer, Oliver Cohen presented a brief but poignant report at the Concordia Student Union's Annual General Meeting Monday. After arriving late, Cohen took to the mic and admitted he wasn't "sure exactly what to say". In less than a minute, he argued that the integrity of the election was not maintained and stood by his decision to disqualify both slates.

Clearly still bothered by the Judicial Board's decision to overturn the disqualification of Your Concordia, he then left his notes on the executive's table and walked away. Only after coaxing from CSU President Heather Lucas did he turn around to answer a few questions. He referred any other questions to his email, but couldn't give a specific amount of time for an answer.

Cohen eventually returned to the mic to give his recommendations for the next year. These include extending the campaign period so students can be better informed about referendum questions, have a fixed quantity of posters per candidate, as well as having campaign materials approved beforehand. He also hopes the school will actively explore an online voting system similar to that of other schools. Cohen's full 90-page report will be available on the CSU website soon.

Reverend Horton Heat @ Le National

Dallas, Texas-based psychobilly trio The Reverend Horton Heat were recently back in Montreal and back in my jukebox! With 9 albums and 25 years of greasy, grimy, guitar lickin', bad-ass upright bass whippin', and dirty drum kickin' music under their belt, The Reverend Horton Heat kept the crowd rockin'.

The Reverend (aka Jim Heath) on guitar and vocals was a tall stack of a man in his fine 1950's vintage suit and shirt and looked straight out of a James Dean movie. Now in his early 50s, The Reverend's voice was still as clean as a whistle. He belted out tunes such as "400 Bucks" and "Nurture My Pig" from my favorite-to-date Sub Pop released 1993 RHH album, The Full-Custom Gospel Sounds of the Reverend Horton Heat, with such precise guitar accompaniment it made me shake.

To The Reverend's left, Jimbo Wallace on upright bass walked the dog on that dog house like no other. Not to mention his straight-driving stage face with one eyebrow raised to the heavens as he hammered licks with cool confidence. Never talking directly into his vintage microphone, Jimbo took control over the stage in other ways.  Right from the beginning, Jimbo was a crowd favorite as he banged that driving bass rhythm with one hand, but even more so when we heard, as an introduction to "Jimbo Song," of his ass-kicking alley fight that sent the Reverend to the hospital during a cocktail party some odd years ago. Jimbo just smiled and nodded.

On the back beat was the new (since 2006) long-haired, baseball cap wearin' band member Paul "Paulie" Simmons who kept that fast paced psychobilly beat going. He did not say a word, nor did he show any signs of stopping. He just kept that shinny silver kit rockin'.


Together this Texan trio performed a tight 1.5 hour set of dirty, beer drinkin', heart breakin', and sweet-sounding love-makin' American sub-culture rockabilly classics. Most astonishing was the brotherly affection and rapport these two front men, and original members The Reverend and Jimbo, had with one another. Jimbo would slowly drop to the ground whilst banging on the bass. The crowd followed his every move. The Reverend then stepped on the bass and continued to play his rock n' roll riffs without a scratch. The crowd was roaring! Another crowd favorite was when Jimbo played with one hand on the bass and another on The Reverends Gibson beauty as The Reverend played with one hand on the bass. This was performed without interruption to the classic track "Yeah, Right" from the 1994 album Liquor in the Front. I tell you, if you had your eyes closed you would have never known - except for the wailing audience screams, of course.

Towards the end of the show, The Reverend Horton Heat had gone through their set list. It was time for requests. The crowd was yelling their favorites from left and right. All you could see were smiles on the band's faces. This Montreal crowd sure knew their stuff. "Baddest of the Bad," "Cruisin' For a Bruisin'," "Wiggle Stick," "Bales of Cocaine," "It's Martini Time," and many more were added to the bill that night. The band ended off the night with their psychobilly cult classic "Psychobilly Freakout," which left the crowd doing a psychobilly shuffle on the dance floor. Needless to say, I left Le National popping my feet. It's been a while since I have heard some good ol' rockabilly boogie and I only hope for more. For now listen to my favorite The Reverend Horton Heat track "Big Little Baby" on YouTube here.

-Sugarface Nene hosts Beat The World on Saturdays from 12-2pm

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