rabble.ca - Street Cred

A conversation with the Conversationalist

Adam Bemma — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:28:40 +0000

A conversation with the globe-trotting conversationalist, Daniel Baylis, by the #CityTalk travel enthusiasts on CKUT FM Friday Morning After.

#CityTalk: Downtown Projects

Adam Bemma — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:44:54 +0000

This week's urban affairs report talks downtown social-public housing projects in North America. In Montreal, community groups in Cote-des-Neiges are calling on the city to create 2,500 social housing units in a new development on the Hippodrome (former Blue Bonnets) site in the north-end.

Jane's Walks: Retracing Stop Spadina to the Turcot interchange

Adam Bemma — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:37:59 +0000

This week's urban affairs report looks at the annual Jane's Walks, focusing on community-led tours in Toronto and Montreal. The CKUT Friday Morning After crew, Josh Hind, Rana Alrabi and myself discuss Jane Jacobs' work fighting expressway development and how she was able to organize opposition to Robert Moses' Lower Manhattan expressway and Metro Toronto's Spadina expressway. Also, how Jacobs' memory and spirit lives on in the fight against Quebec's Turcot interchange highway project.

Montreal's mega-projects and mega-mistakes

Adam Bemma — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:02:37 +0000

On this week's urban affairs report, I speak to Montreal urban planner Jason Prince about highway mega-projects and the mega-mistakes made by Quebec's ministry of transportation in the past up until today. We also discuss his upcoming Jane's Walk around the MUHC super-hospital in NDG.

Vanishing Montreal

Adam Bemma — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:00:11 +0000

On this week's Montreal urban affairs update, I attend a citizen consultation in southwest Montreal, where an expressway redesign is causing an expected transportation catastrophe. Southwest community groups and citizens came together to propose an alternative transit strategy.

Also, a Southwest Montreal blogger's website called Vanishing Montreal is documenting a recent string of building demolitions, posting photographs of what he calls "the changing face of St-Henri."

Citizen Lambert goes to city hall

Adam Bemma — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:30:13 +0000

Montreal heritage preservation advocate Phyllis Lambert, founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, takes her fight to city hall to save Griffintown and the Lower Main from demolition.

Lambert, also known as "Joan of architecture" appeared for the first time in many years to plead to Montreal city council and Mayor Gerald Tremblay to save the Griffintown Horse Palace, a 150-year-old horse stable, as well as to preserve the heritage architecture along The Main, St-Laurent Boulevard, and a particular stretch where a proposed 12-story office and retail complex is expected to be built.

Saving Montreal's Main

Adam Bemma — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:35:30 +0000

The second urban issues/affairs update on CKUT 90.3 FM Montreal's Friday Morning After looks at the fight to save The Main, St-Laurent Boulevard. As bulldozers move in to demolish a remaining strip of the city's once notorious red light district, further up Montreal's Main, the Plateau borough council has forced a building to be restored and returned to its former glory.

Montreal's threatened heritage

Adam Bemma — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:25:41 +0000

A weekly urban issue/affairs update for Montreal's CKUT 90.3 FM Friday Morning After. This week, two threatened heritage sites in Montreal, one a group of workers houses made famous by Gabrielle Roy's novel The Tin Flute. The other, a 150-year-old horse stable bought recently by a condo developer.

Mobilizing the Will to Intervene

Adam Bemma — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:51:18 +0000

Dr. Frank Chalk from the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) at Concordia University on Mobilizing the Will to Intervene (W2I) an initiative to inform governments and prevent mass atrocities before they occur.

Chalk also speaks about the Obama administration's plan to form an Atrocities Prevention Board, which will help the U.S. government address genocide and mass atrocities as a national security interest.

The Sergakis Series: Ex-employees speak out!

Adam Bemma — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 23:10:00 +0000

Ex-employees at Montreal's La Station des Sports, a sports bar in downtown Montreal, speak out against the way they were treated by their former boss. According to the two women, they were verbally abused and threatened with physical violence if they didn't do what they were told. This particular sports bar, located in Shaughnessy Village, is in the process of expanding into a 900-seat complex.

The Sergakis Series: Montreal's Westcott Books closes after 18 years

Adam Bemma — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:38:36 +0000

Montreal real estate developer and bar owner Peter Sergakis is forcing local bookshop owner Terry Westcott to close after over 18 years at his downtown location. Westcott Books, located on St. Catherine Street in Montreal's Shaughnessy Village neighbourhood, is shutting down for Sergakis to expand his sports bar on the same block. A feature interview with Terry Westcott about independent bookstores in Montreal and if they can survive.

The Sergakis Series: Montreal developer threatens local business

Adam Bemma — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:11:17 +0000

Montreal real estate developer and bar owner Peter Sergakis is expanding his sports bar in the west end of downtown. La Station des Sports, located on the corner of Du Fort and St. Catherine Streets in Shaughnessy Village, is shutting down other businesses on the block in order to turn the bar into a 900-seat sports complex. Sergakis gave local bookstore owner Terry Westcott very little notice that he must close down after over 18 years at his location. In this report, I speak with Argo Bookstore owner Chris Clarke, a friend of Westcott.

Mobilizing the youth vote in Canada

Adam Bemma — Thu, 05 May 2011 20:16:50 +0000

Canada's May 2, 2011 federal election didn't quite turn out the way everyone expected. The CBC's Rick Mercer called on Canadian youth to get out and vote, while "vote mobs" took place on university campuses across the country, but so far it seems nothing really changed. The overall voter turnout in this election went up slightly. Where was the youth vote? Did 18 to 25 year-olds actually show up in record numbers this time around, as expected?

I speak with Ilona Dougherty, the executive director of Apathy is Boring, a group mobilizing youth all over Canada about the importance of voting.

Meet Jose. He's not a terrorist.

Adam Bemma — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:38:25 +0000

We are Jose is an awareness raising tour being led by Jose Figueroa, an El Savadoran man living in Langley, B.C. with a deportation order against him by the Canadian government. According to Figueroa, the government cannot speak publicly about this order due to the privacy act, but he's traveling the country and talking to Canadians about how this process has been affecting his family.

Guatemala's New Horizon

Adam Bemma — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:29:44 +0000

Guatemala's Nuevo Horizonte is a co-operative community founded in 1998 by former guerrilla fighters, two years after a peace agreement was made with the government, ending over 36 years of civil war.

Home to over 400 people, Nuevo Horizonte has started another revolution, an agricultural one that has redefined the region and brought life back into this poverty-stricken nation.

In this documentary, I speak with 31-year-old law student Selvin Mejia, who organizes Canadian student groups visiting the community. Also included are Nuevo Horizonte residents, 31-year-old tourism program operator Wilson Perez and 23-year-old business student Arnulfo Figueroa.

Illinois abolishes death penalty

Adam Bemma — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:00:00 +0000

At Chicago's Northwestern University, every semester a group of David Protess' undergraduate journalism students investigate wrongful convictions. Formed in 1999 by Protess and students, the Medill Innocence Project has uncovered evidence to free 11 innocent men, five of them on death row in the state of Illinois. Due to their work, a moratorium on capital punishment was put in place, until the governor abolished the death penalty outright on March 9, 2011.

An Afghan woman's story

Adam Bemma — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:05:22 +0000

At Montreal's Afghan Women's Centre, Makai Aref has organized a catering service to empower a group of local Afghan women. As a former girl's school principal in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aref sees women's empowerment and education as the way to create a better society in her war-torn homeland.

Quebec Leaks

Adam Bemma — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:13:00 +0000

Quebec Leaks is Canada's first WikiLeaks-inspired website launched to shake the political structure of the province and country. Spokesperson Luc Lefebvre says the whistleblowing site promises to publish any documents related to corruption and collusion in Quebec, and he promises to work with the media on investigative journalism.

Musicians of the World

Adam Bemma — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:38:32 +0000

Montreal World Symphony Orchestra recently celebrated its fifth anniversary and thirtieth performance at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall. Founder and director Joseph Milo sees this achievement as just the beginning of what they can accomplish. It was his idea to bring together this group of professional musicians from around the world, who've immigrated to Montreal, and couldn't find work doing what they love. The city of Montreal calls it the most successful integration project ever. Featuring Joseph Milo and MWSO Executive Director Lucy Ravinsky.

Quebec's language law Bill 101

Adam Bemma — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:42:36 +0000

Bill 101 (la Loi 101) is a controversial language policy in Quebec, Canada. A recent development in this French language charter has the opposition in the national assembly, Parti Quebecois, proposing to extend it into English language colleges across the province. Montreal anglophone CEGEP, Marianopolis College, is starting it's own exchange program with francophone CEGEP College Jean-de-Brebeuf, offering to immerse students in each other's culture and language for their final semester.

Pakistan court issues arrest warrant for Pervez Musharraf

Adam Bemma — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 01:56:38 +0000

A Pakistan court recently issued an arrest warrant for former President Pervez Musharraf in the case of Benazir Bhutto's assassination. The Pakistan Peoples Party in Canada welcomes this decision and hopes to see action taken against Musharraf for not protecting Bhutto. In this interview, I speak with PPP Canada General Secretary Ibrahim Daniyel via telephone.

Griffintown cultural corridor

Adam Bemma — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:09:19 +0000

Residents of Montreal's Griffintown, an area south of downtown separated from Old Montreal by a towering expressway, hope to turn their historic community into a destination of the arts. On Nuit Blanche, the evening of Feb. 26, Griffintown came alive with an arts showcase known as the cultural corridor. According to Griffintown residents Judith Bauer and Harvey Lev, the purpose of the event was to revive a part of the city threatened by two major redevelopment projects.

Egypt's crackdown on the media

Adam Bemma — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:33:34 +0000

Last week at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, local and international journalists were targeted and attacked. Mohamed Abdel Dayem is the project coordinator of North Africa and the Middle East for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) based in New York City. He explains how Egyptian authorities have obstructed the press from doing their job every step of the way. We spoke via Google Chat.

The case of Mumia Abu Jamal

Adam Bemma — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:35:16 +0000

On Nov.9, a U.S. Appeals Court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania heard arguments into whether death row inmate Mumia Abu Jamal deserves another sentencing hearing. Johanna Fernandez from the Committee to Save Mumia Abu Jamal was at the Nov.9 hearings and she also made a documentary film about the original 1982 case called 'Justice on Trial'. Fernandez spoke with me on the phone from New York City.

The response to Haiti's cholera epidemic

Adam Bemma — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:07:28 +0000

The cholera epidemic spreading in Haiti is causing chaos and making the situation worse in the small island nation. After being devastated by the Jan.12 earthquake and last month's Hurricane Tomas, the cholera outbreak has worsened and is further causing political instability. Canadian Red Cross spokesperson Sophie Chavanel has been in Port-au-Prince since the cholera outbreak started and she speaks about their response to the epidemic.

Aung San Suu Kyi is free!

Adam Bemma — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 05:05:45 +0000

Rights and Democracy President Gerard Latulippe was along the Thai-Burmese border during the Nov. 7, 2010 Burmese general election, the first in 20 years. After returning, Latulippe heard reports that Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma's National League of Democracy would be released from house arrest. On Saturday Nov. 13, the leading voice for democratic reform in Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, was finally allowed to leave the home where she's spent 15 of the last 21 years in confinement.

Haiti update

Adam Bemma — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:58:31 +0000

With the upcoming Haitian presidential election on Nov. 28, 2010, Haitian-Canadians are wondering if a leader will step up and deal with the dire situation faced by Haitians. In Montreal, Quebec, Maison d'Haiti Executive Director Marjorie Villefranche speaks candidly about the latest cholera outbreak in Haiti and the adversity faced by Montreal's Haitian diaspora bringing loved ones to Canada.

Argentina's Mothers of the Disappeared

Adam Bemma — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:40:15 +0000

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, 96-year-old founding member of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Juanita Pargament, lost her son Alberto during the military dictatorship in 1976. Alberto Pargament was a 31-year-old doctor who helped those less fortunate in Argentine society. Because of his social work, Alberto was "disappeared" along with 30,000 other Argentines between the years 1976-1983, a time known as the Dirty War.

A migrant's tale

Adam Bemma — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:53:58 +0000

Tamil-Canadian Ramani Balendra knows first-hand the desperate situation faced by refugees from her native Sri Lanka. Since the arrival of many Tamils by sea to Canada, Balendra sees the federal government taking a harsher stance with migrants fleeing violence and racial discrimination abroad. Her work with the South Asian Women's Community Centre in Montreal and Tamil diaspora in Canada makes her a strong advocate for the release of the MV Sun Sea migrants being held in detention in B.C.

Oka Crisis - 20 years later and the issues still remain

Adam Bemma — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 18:42:07 +0000

The Oka Crisis took place in Kanesatake, a Mohawk settlement near Montreal, Quebec. The 78-day standoff between Mohawks and provincial police, as well as the Canadian military, ended September 26, 1990. Even though the police and military barricades came down 20 years ago, the original land dispute remains and many other issues have arisen.