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Ahmad Moujtahed

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LOCAL

Mayor Valerie Plante announced earlier this week that the city of Montreal will launch a public awareness campaign to encourage employers to hire newcomers.

The campaign will ensure the development of an inclusive organizational culture across the city; a step which would lead to inclusive non-discriminatory hiring practices.

The $1.6-million program, funded under an agreement with the provincial immigration department, will bring together business leaders from small, medium and large companies, to implement inclusive hiring strategies in the business community.

The city organized a workshop in the multimedia district west of Old Montreal to discuss the reasons behind the exclusion of immigrants from the job market in Montreal and to come up with suggestions for the awareness campaign.  

NATIONAL

Calgary-based Husky Energy Inc has recently pleaded guilty to permitting the spill of 225,000 litres of diluted heavy oil to the North Saskatchewan River near Maidstone, Saskatchewan in July 2016; a leak which fouled the source of drinking water for thousands of people.

The Crown withdrew other charges against Husky, including not immediately notifying authorities and not taking immediate remedies to prevent or counteract the effects of the spill.

The damaged pipeline was allowed to restart in October 2016 after being repaired and inspected. The company carried out a cleanup which recovered 90 percent of the oil.

However according to a victim impact statement filed recently by three Indigenous communities, the cleanup was inadequate and incomplete. Birds, fish, and wildlife still suffer the effects of oil contamination, and as a result Indigenous communities have lost traditional use of their land.

INTERNATIONAL

Two Canadian women were rescued by Ghanaian Police on June 12 after being abducted from the Royal Golf Club in the city of Kumasi, Ghana early last week.

Ghana’s information ministry says national security operatives completed the rescue mission in the country’s south-central Ashanti region. The ministry also revealed the identities of the suspects. One of the suspects may have been linked to a separate kidnapping case involving multiple Ghanaian girls.

The two women, aged 19 and 20 had been volunteering for the charity Youth Challenge International before they were kidnapped.

Global Affairs Canada says it’s providing assistance to the two women and their families, but did not provide any further details due to privacy concerns.

It has been a long time since I have laughed so hard. 

There are 2 major elements that I really enjoyed about The Peers: their very real depiction of theatrical catastrophe, and their ridiculous take on Shakespeare. The premise of this show is that a theatre company has severely overbooked themselves, and they now have to perform multiple Shakespeare plays in one evening. Against undeniably self-inflicted odds, they accomplish this admirably. 

Overall, this piece was very well thought-out and brilliantly executed. Each character was a caricature of an actor trope – an over-the-top rendition of the kind of lovable yet insufferable people you meet back stage of just about any standard theatre production. You had a toxic ladies man trailing broken hearts and promises, an inexperienced actress brought in by said ladies man and given parts she is unqualified for, a seasoned actor who is doing you a favour by being there, a new kid just doing his best and, of course, that one person trying to turn everything into a musical number. Together they wove together a story of complicated tangling of emotions, which ultimately need to be set aside because the show must go on. 

The most famous works of the Bard were reduced to pop culture references and slapstick comedy. It was obvious that they had a nuanced understanding of each play, because what they performed were 5-10 minute interpretations of the stories essentials, with the flowery language replaced by absurdity. It took what is often considered pretentious and high art and made it accessible to what would have been Shakespeare’s intended audience today. Not only that, but they injected more culturally relevant meaning into their performance, creating commentary on toxic masculinity and the patriarchy while still keeping the atmosphere light and fun. One of my favourite aspects of the show was that each play they performed was less technically complicated and choreographed than the one before. The slow devolution of each play within a play (within a play, in the case of Hamlet) drove home the overall concept of the show, which was the time limit they had and the preexisting tension between each cast member.

Collectively, their chemistry together was palpable and their energy was contagious. Their utter disregard for the fourth wall was hysterical, the execution of which was remarkably relatable. Along with phenomenal continuity, brilliant comedy and wonderfully creative storytelling, this is a show you would regret missing for the rest of your life. You might even say that the stakes have never been higher to see a work of Shakespeare. 

Singer-songwriter David Picco is back with a fifth studio album, Out Of The Past. It features ten new songs that run through a roots rock stream but with a heartland country soul. It follows the course of 2015’s Start Again, though this time he kicks things up a notch by incorporating deeper and more intimate themes, which are bound to instantly grab listeners’ attention as they cruise through this rock and roll journey.    

The album was recorded independently at Lab Of Chaos in Picco’s native St. John’s(NL), his second LP recorded there following a 12-year stint in Toronto. The warmth of being back home is felt throughout the album, as Picco is able to explore with ease different themes through life anecdotes that often deal with dark matter such as loss, tragedy and confusion. In the end, his stories relate to all-too-common life experiences and he manages to accept their fate with humility and sometimes humour. Though it helps that he can rely on a line-up of trusted musicians to complement the lyrics, his modest approach to songwriting is what ultimately gives this album its artistic appeal.

Out Of The Past kicks off with the foot-stomper ‘’Down The Road And Gone’’, a country rock tune reminiscent of a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers hit in which Picco describes the erring life of a touring musician who is constantly on the move—and doesn’t stop at any cost. It’s earnest and straight-forward, and serves as a contrast with the more sensitive content featured on certain other songs.  

Video for down the road and gone

Standout tracks include: ‘’See You Around’’, a country ballad that borrows Mark Knopfler’s sensibility for soft songs. A classic tale of what-we-could’ve-been, Picco tries to make sense of the apparent tension with words such as ‘’ I’d rather run when’s my back’s against the wall’’. It’s the cowardly behaviour we often adopt when we’re too scared to take the plunge, and Picco carves a great piece with this reference. 

‘’Nowhere To Run’’ shows the singer’s more vulnerable side as he pleas for guidance and expresses remorse towards a loved one. The song ends with harmonizing oohs and slide guitars that intertwine throughout the last minute, which further elevates the track to bring out its delicate nature.

Last but not least, the album closes with ‘’ Out Of the Past’’, which was inspired by the recent loss of close friends. At 7 minutes, this farewell piece offers a lot of space to convey emotion and its quest to carry on is felt through an ascending chorus, thus making it an instant favourite.

All things considered, Out Of The Past is a clear manifestation of David Picco’s constant evolution as a singer-songwriter. After 5 albums, he offers us his most personal body of work yet while showcasing some diversity with assertiveness. He may be far away from the bright lights nowadays, but coming home has made Picco take a path of honesty and creative rebirth, and listeners are bound to appreciate that.