Canada’s Laws and Penalties for Sex Crimes Against Kids
On September 15, 2016 Graham James, the former junior hockey coach convicted of sexually assaulting players he coached in the nineties was granted full parole after seven years in prison. His victims included retired NHL stars Theo Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy, whom James repeatedly assaulted by abusing his position as coach. Though James has admitted […]
SPVM Body Camera Pilot Project Enters its Second Phase
Forty police officers will be equipped with body cameras this autumn in the Montreal boroughs of Montréal-Nord, Plateau Mont-Royal and Lachine. This is the second phase of the SPVM’s portable camera pilot project. The first phase saw around 30 SPVM agents wearing body cams in public locations (mostly in the metro) where they frequently intervened […]
The STM’s Fines Aren’t Just Annoying, They’re a Human Rights Violation
For over a decade, the primary focus of the Montreal Transit System (STM)’s security efforts has been to catch and fine fare dodgers. Yesterday, one of their main tactics was ruled to be a human rights violation. You may have seen them. Groups of security guards trying their best to come across as a paramilitary […]
Denis Coderre: Cut the Mic and Turn Up the Volume
Some politicians are fortunate enough, or charismatic enough, to have their own Mic Drop moment. The kind of no-nonsense moment they will be remembered for fondly. Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, on the other hand, just had a Cut the Mic moment, literally. It happened at a Ville Marie Borough Council meeting. Thanks to Gerald Tremblay, […]
Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy: Why Pimp and Promote are Different
Why is Pimp not an appropriate synonym for Promote? The official dictionary definition of the word pimp is: (noun) 1. A man who controls prostitutes and arranges clients for them , taking part of their earnings in return. synonyms procurer, procuress, madam verb informal – make something more showy or impressive, ex Pimp my ride. […]
Montreal Music Shows This Week: SonReal, Honey Beard & La Mécanique, Double Experience and Hip Hop You Don’t Stop
From hip hop to synth pop to nerd rock and back again we’ve got it all in this week’s preview. Well actually we’ve got three things and then it repeats. Apologies, I was going for an exciting first sentence and overshot a little. On a very expected note: keep an eye out next week for our […]
Dawson Shooting: The 10th Anniversary of our Community Tragedy
Today is the ten year anniversary of the Dawson Shooting. This may sound cliche, but I really can’t believe it has been a decade. I remember exactly where I was when I first heard about it. I was in a dep, I won’t say which one to avoid linking them in any way to a […]
Alberta Will Have a $15 Minimum Wage by 2018
Alberta officially started its path to reach a minimum salary of $15 an hour by 2018. The cabinet passed the legislation to launch the phased hike on Tuesday. This surprisingly progressive move will make Alberta the province with the highest minimum wage in the country, and by far. On October 1st, Alberta’s minimum salary will […]
Legal Kung-Fu: Five Legal Grief-Saving Tips
The law is full of technical language that scares many of us out of learning everything about it. However, true to the old adage that knowledge is power, knowing a little about the law can save you a lot of grief. In an attempt to keep your noses out of the heavy books I had […]
Why I’m Sick of Hearing About the Male Birth Control Pill
The male birth control pill. We hear about it all the time, but it never seems any closer to becoming a reality. A recent Google News search cropped up almost a million results. Headlines like A Male Birth Control Option Promises to Be Available Within 5 Years, Male contraceptive pill ‘a step closer’ to hitting market and Birth Control for Men-It’s […]
Canadian Talent Controversy: Canadian Artists vs the CRTC
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has been in the news lately over its announcement to loosen the rules requiring Canadian television productions to have pre-dominantly Canadian talent. Despite the CRTC’s claim that allowing productions to have more foreign artists will open the door to new talent and have more International and Canadian co-productions, […]
Montreal Music Shows This Week: Selah Sue, Slayer & Anthrax, Five Canadian Indie Bands and an EDM Festival on Crescent
Well labour day has come and gone which means the kids are back to school (teehee, sucks to be you kids!) fantasy football is back, the days are getting shorter and sadly the summer music fests are all but over. The shows this week are therefore going to be slowly transitioning into more and more indoor […]