With Montreal student protests reaching their 100th day anniversary, to be commemorated on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 as of 2 p.m. at Place des Festivals by what's expected to be a massive show of hands, there's no doubt citizen revolt over proposed university tuition hikes will go down in history books for many moons to come. After all, it's the longest-running demonstration of its kind in the history of Canada.
Demonstrators, in compliance with the new protest laws set forth by Bill 78, revealed their itinerary, which involves going north to Sherbrooke then walking east until Parc La Fontaine. One student group, CLASSE, claims it will defy the law and not notify authorities of its route, suggesting plans for a separate march from the main demonstration.
Demonstrations broke out back in March -- to be completely accurate, protests began as early as mid-February but March 22, 2012 marked a turning point in the movement as it attracted an unprecedented number of protestors over the course of the day with estimates ranging from tens of thousands to up to 200,000, depending on the cited source -- over the Quebec provincial government's proposed tuition hikes, factored in as a roughly 80% increase (give or take a few percentage points depending on the extent of future inflation) on rates lower than in the United States as well as in the rest of Canada but significantly higher than, say, what's charged in Germany.
Below: infamous debate circa 1970 between then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and CBC reporter Tim Ralfe on the merits and downfalls of limiting civil liberties over security issues, with Ralfe questioning Trudeau on how far he was willing to go to restore order in Quebec as a result of the October Crisis. The War Measures Act was invoked three days later, effectively suspending civil liberties.
Just a quick note that my beloved Montreal Sidewalk Sales 2012 listing is up and running! Count on saving loads of cash over the next several consecutive weekends at the following popular street fairs, better known in these parts as ventes trottoir, foires commerciales or even braderies*. Street food, live entertainment and family activities are part and parcel, generally-speaking.
*Phonetically, ventes trottoir is "vaunt traw-twar," foires commerciales is "fwar caw-mare-siall," and braderies is "braw-dree." Note that these words sound the same whether singular or plural. And try to roll those R's just a little bit.
Now that we got that out of the way, I have another confession to make.
I didn't actually know what rugby was -- football for "real men" was how it was summed up to me in the past, whatever that means -- until last fall, when my cable company showcased a free preview of one of its sports channels for a month. The Rugby World Cup happened to be in full swing.
Why oh why is this sport not broadcast more often in North America?!? Rugby is fast-paced, easy to follow, exciting, brutal yet dandyish and the direction of a game can change on a dime. The last time I got this excited about a match of anything was when I watched the Yankees' Derek Jeter shortstopping like a mitt-toting bunny on speed with the Expos' home runner Vladimir Guerrero at bat in the Big O. In person. I think that was in 2003?*
Right, so some of the 2011 Rugby World Cup games I became enamoured with last fall were played out in Eden Park, the largest stadium in Auckland, New Zealand and not-so-coincidental name of an haute casual line I had the opportunity to acquaint myself with during a recent Canadian launch held in Montreal. Which brings me to my third confession.
In the words of Under the Radar's Danny Payne, Rebecca Munroe's cheeky co-host on CJLO's The Commonwealth Conundrum:
"Tabarnouche, what a show we've got lined up today. As the closing date for POP Montreal submissions is THIS SUNDAY, we thought we'd have a quick chat with Dan Seligman from the festival to give aspiring POP Montrealers last-minute tips on how to get themselves on the lineup. We're also going to be playing an abundance of top notch music from around the Commonwealth, giving away the weekly free download (it's a cracker), and, of course, hearing from Montreal's all-seeing eye Evelyn Reid about what's happening in this fair city in the next 7 days. Tune in to AM1690 or listen live online from 4-6 p.m. (9-11 p.m. UK)."
If you missed my announcement from a couple of weeks back, The Commonwealth Conundrum is a two-hour showcase of the best alternative, punk, post-punk, industrial, indie and "whatever awesome music" is coming out of the Commonwealth nations, hosted by CJAD producer/Les Monstres Terribles and Dead Messenger band manager extraordinaire Rebecca Munroe and Danny Payne, aka the DDP, aka the mastermind behind Montreal's monthly pop-up DJ night Under the Radar, which features the best of new, underground, unsigned or independent UK and Irish music. Most shows will feature your humble guide come 5 p.m., when I join the crew to share a handful of choice things to do in Montreal over the next few days, complete with additional commentary you won't necessarily find in the calendars.
Photo by Flickr user Robin Dumont
Above: a shot taken during the city's biggest sidewalk sale of the season on Ste. Catherine Street. 
Above: Former French union rugby star Franck Mesnel with 
Above: Danny Payne and Rebecca Munroe of The Commonwealth Conundrum. Photo © Evelyn Reid
Above: your humble guide. Photo © Frederika Wellett