In search of greener pastures for Canada’s political landscape

Irwin Block

July 2012

Being leader of Canada’s fifth political party is not the easiest way of getting the nation’s attention.

But that has not stopped Green Party chief Elizabeth May from making her presence felt in the hurly burly of Ottawa politics, even if the NDP, Liberals, and Bloc have priority in Question Period and with the media.

In May’s history-making first term as the Green MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands on Canada’s left coast, she’s making an impact with her incisive critique of Harper’s slash-and-burn approach to government.

There was so much “gotcha” stuff with which to potentially fault Harper that as summer neared we contacted her at home to inform and remind readers of the perilous track down which the Conservatives are taking the country.

We spoke to May at home in Sidney, B.C., 26 kilometres north of Victoria, where she is surrounded by the glorious natural heritage she is committed to protecting and preserving. She lives there with her teenage daughter.

She is outraged by what some describe as the most destructive pieces of legislation in Canadian history, innocuously known as Bill C-38.

To the Conservatives, the bill introduced April 26 was known as the “Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act.”

To May and many Canadians, it is a pernicious act that, among other things, makes it easier for tarsands pipelines and continued climate change and adds two years to get Old Age Security eligibility. It introduces, amends or repeals about 70 federal laws, without having allowed time for full debate.

May prides herself on being possibly the first MP to read it all, and becoming a “go-to” contact who spent time with rushed reporters “just to tell them what’s in the bill.”

“I was so shocked,” she recalled on her reaction after reading through it.

As a lawyer, environmental activist and author, May knew what she was talking about. She also knew the Ottawa Hill scene, how Question Period and media scrums work, what makes media headlines and why.

She worked in Ottawa on the creation of environmental law and policies in the 1970s, and in the 1980s with the Mulroney government, and notes that “important initiatives were undertaken and laws passed that Bill C-38 repealed.”

Elizabeth May and Spunky take a break from the hurly-burly of Parliament. Photo: Laura Keil, Rocky Mountain Goat News

“It’s been personally heartbreaking. It was like a drunk with a sledge hammer in terms of the kind of damage that was inflicted, and without that much forethought.”

The reaction crossed party lines, highlighted when four former federal fisheries ministers—two Conservatives and two Liberals—denounced the changes, saying they will irreparably harm fish habitat.

“They are totally watering down and emasculating the Fisheries Act,” said Tom Siddon, fisheries minister from 1985-90, supported by fellow Tory John Fraser, and Liberals Herb Dhaliwal and David Anderson.

Under the new regime, the Fisheries Act will protect only fish that support commercial, recreational or aboriginal fisheries, not the overall habitat including fresh water supplies and forest eco-systems.

The Environmental Protection Act was repealed, and replaced by a new act that May says will dilute environmental protection.

“No one is quite sure how it’s supposed to work, but it is quite clear that it will involve many fewer environmental reviews examining a narrower concept of environmental damage.”

It sounds technical, but here is the threat: Endangered species habitats and navigable waters, formerly protected by Environment Canada, will now come under the National Energy Board, whose priority is energy production and delivery.

“This is turning different laws on their head—devastation of minimal levels of prudent review in advance and of major projects,” May said.

But it doesn’t end there.

Under this legislation, Harper has scrapped the office of the inspector-general of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, ostensibly to save $1 million.

That is the watchdog that since 1984 has been monitoring the activities of Canada’s spy agency and reporting to the minister in charge.

“The chief eyes and ears for the public safety minister to make sure that our domestic spy agency was not going rogue have been deleted,” May said.

That role will now be carried out by the Security Intelligence Review Committee, but critics, such as
University of Toronto intelligence expert Wesley Wark, doubt that it can produce the detailed annual reports the inspector-general had been providing.

These reports have cited CSIS for an increasing number of errors.

“If it makes mistakes, that can potentially impact on the civil liberties of Canadians who may find themselves subject, and perhaps wrongly, to CSIS investigation,” Wark has said.

Although the details are murky, May says it is opposed to a provision that allows American law enforcement agents onto Canadian territory to arrest Canadians under U.S. law.

When it comes to integrity, May notes the as-yet unsolved robo-calls scandal, and the “dozens” of reports she has received of fraudulent calls to registered voters in her riding that the location of polling stations had been changed.

She has speculated that her riding may have served as a “pilot project” in the 2008 election. Midway through the campaign the NDP candidate had dropped out, but too late to pull his name off the ballot.

The evening before the Oct. 14 vote, an automated phone message was received by “thousands of NDP supporters” suggesting they vote for the NDP non-candidate, who ended up with 3,667 votes.

Most of them would normally have gone to the Liberals, May noted, who lost to the Conservatives by 2,625 votes.

“Elections Canada and the RCMP never got to the bottom of this,” she said.

This brewing scandal comes amid concern about changes to many aspects of Canadian life under the cover of a 425-page budget bill– from new rules governing Employment Insurance to how the Food and Drug administration deals with products that have pesticides.

It can only add to growing cynicism about how we are governed, May said. Of 800 amendments proposed, not one was passed.

“This is absolutely an affront to common sense.”

irblock@hotmail.com

No need for men to suffer alone

Irwin Block

July 2012

In 1994, Pointe Claire resident Charles Curtis got the result from what was then a relatively new test for something called the PSA level in the blood.

Prostate specific antigen, PSA, is the substance produced almost exclusively by certain cells within the prostate gland.

When my own reading recently rose to six from four and my prostate gland was found to be slightly enlarged, the urologist suggested a biopsy to remove and examine 10 cells. They were benign. When Curtis, 84, had his first PSA reading, he remembers it exactly as 14.75.

“I was 66. I was fine, no symptoms. I had a biopsy and it was positive. “The options in those days were radiation—the broad type, not the new conformal direct beam—or surgery.”

That class of radiation therapy, which Curtis rejected, directs X-rays not only at the tumour but at nearby healthy tissue. Instead he opted for radical prostectomy—surgical removal of the prostate gland and some of the surrounding tissue.

“It was very successful in my case and I haven’t had any treatment since,” Curtis said.

Doctors are busy professionals, and Curtis remembers having many unanswered questions after his surgery.

The idea of a support group was initiated by his then-urologist, Irwin Kuzmarov, and Curtis be came an active member.

“The idea is to talk with newly diagnosed patients who usually have no information at all. That was our complaint at the time. We went national in ’95 with the Canadian Prostate Cancer network.”

The Montreal West Island group has been going strong since then. It meets once a month and 30 to 40 people attend to listen to guest speakers, ask questions and discuss issues. Some spouses attend.

“Doctors who speak to our group will take the time after their presentation to talk with people individually.”

It’s also a place for patients who have received biopsy results to air their concerns and discuss their options with professionals and other men who have gone through it.

“I have been living with this for 18 years, a prime example of ‘successful’ treatment.

“I answer the support group line every day and I usually have quite a long chat with newly diagnosed people. I have time, I’m retired.”

“Part of the treatment”

Prostate cancer, which may be controlled if detected early, can be as challenging to men as breast cancer is for women.

It raises social and psychological issues that can be overcome through learning about its characteristics and dialogue with professionals, best discussed in a peer group setting.

Irwin Kuzmarov, now director of professional and hospital services at Santa Cabrini and an assistant professor of surgery at McGill University, was instrumental in setting up one of the first support groups in the Montreal region, at the Lakeshore General Hospital.

“Men and their significant others needed to talk about their illness,” he said in a recent email.

Apart from fear about what lay ahead, patients needed “guidance through the maze of treatment options, the changes in their bodies, their feelings of masculinity, sexuality and sense of self-worth.”

Men need help to understand scores in the PSA test, the impact of radical surgery, less invasive laparoscopy or open surgery, Kuzmarov said.

There also are alternative therapies to surgery that can be explained by professionals.

Kuzmarov sees support groups as “part of the treatment.”

“They allowed people to express their triumphs and defeats, highs and lows. People could ask specialists what radiotherapy will do to them. Is urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy normal? What should they do about their impotence? What exactly is hormonotherapy?”

Meetings were launched with other professionals, and Kuzmarov’s wife, Donna, a McGill counselor with expertise in setting up support groups.

• West Island Prostate Cancer Support Group: Meets the fourth Thursday of every month, September to June, at the Sarto Desnoyers, 1335 Lakeshore, Dorval. 514-694-6412.

• Jewish General Hospital: Ten-week courses, on Wednesdays. Isabelle Gregoire, 514-340-7558.

• Montreal Prostate Cancer Support Group: Second Monday of each month at CHUM Campus Notre Dame, Pav Mailloux. Carole Bourgon, 514-890-8000 x 28138.

irblock@hotmail.com

Jewish General satisfaction dips, but so do bedsores

Irwin Block

July 2012

The average satisfaction rate of patients at the Jewish General Hospital has been dropping marginally over the past two years, but it remains above the 80-per-cent level.

The satisfaction level dropped almost three percentage points—to 81.5 per cent in the April 2011 to March 2012 period from an average of 84.5 per cent during the previous 12 months.

The hospital, which says it is aiming at a 95-per-cent satisfaction level, interprets the results from both periods as a positive endorsement of the quality of medical care patients receive.

Quebec last year became the first province to publish a standardized list of medical errors reported by hospitals, community health clinics and nursing homes.

The Jewish General and McGill University Health Centre have gone farther than many other Quebec hospitals in detailing medical errors on their websites, which other hospitals have not yet done.

Scoring above 80 per cent in each six-month period “means that the JGH is doing a good job of meeting patients’ needs and expectations,” it said in a statement.

Patients were effectively saying “improvement is probably needed and should be seriously considered,” the hospital concluded.

The survey is based on answers from 70 randomly selected patients to a 26-part questionnaire filled out as they were discharged.

The hospital prides itself on having been the first in Quebec to make public performance information.

In other data made public in June:

• Reported medication errors averaged 947 during each six-month period from April 2010 to September 2011. Of these, an average of 139 required staff intervention to prevent harm, while an average of 12 resulted in “more severe consequences.”

• Reported patient falls averaged 429 during each six-month period from April 2010 to September 2011. Of these, an average of 157 resulted in “a small cut or bump” and did not prolong hospitalization, while an average of 11 caused “more serious injury.”

• Concerning bedsores, or pressure ulcer prevention, the hospital recorded its best documented result. From 25 per cent having developed this hazardous and irritating condition in March 2010—the Canadian average—the hospital by last month had reduced the prevalence of hospital-acquired bedsores to six per cent.

Steps taken included assessing patients’ skin on admission; developing a care plan for those at risk, including regular skin inspection; customizing patients’ diets to ensure sufficient protein and calories; encouraging mobile patients to get out of bed as often as possible; turning at-risk patients every two hours; and acquisition of specialized mattresses and chairs.

irblock@hotmail.com

McKenty: A man for all seasons

Catherine McKenty

July 2012

As long as he could remember, Neil McKenty was interested in writing. A teacher in grade school gave him a key piece of advice: “Find something to write about.” And he did.

At 9, he won his first oratorical contest, no doubt helped by his mother, Irene, a talented teacher.

His father, Arthur, owned a hardware store in the small town of Hastings, Ontario.

At 15, Neil signed on as a stringer for the Peterborough Examiner whose editor was Robertson Davies. He covered village council meetings, sports events, accidents, runaway horses, lawn bowling and Sunday afternoon teas. He was paid 10 cents a column inch.

Neil McKenty interviews Quebec legend Ginette Reno on CFCF TV’s McKenty Live. Photo courtesy of Catherine McKenty

He and his cousin bought an old Dodge car for $30, patched the leaky gas tank with bubble gum and put a big sign marked PRESS on the windshield. He learned about politics, prices and world affairs while sitting with the farmers on bales of twine around the glowing pot-bellied stove in front of nail kegs in his dad’s hardware store.

While studying with the Jesuits, he got one a master’s degree in history and another in communications from the University of Michigan.

In 1967, his biography of controversial Ontario premier Mitch Hepburn won the centennial prize for best biography.

I met Neil on a Toronto dance floor in 1971. At the time, he was finishing a three-year stint with the Foster Foundation, working with the Kennedys and Brian O’Neill of the National Hockey League to bring the Special Olympics to Canada.

He was looking for a new challenge. He found it.

Two weeks after our honeymoon, we moved lock, stock and barrel to Montreal.

Neil did his first editorial at CJAD hardly knowing where Peel and Ste. Catherine were.

With one part-time paycheque and no car, we explored this fascinating city by bus in all kinds of weather.

One bitter January day, we were waiting on a street corner near the Botanical Garden.

We decided then and there you had to join the Montreal winter or freeze to death, so we bought skis for $49 a pair at Eaton’s and slithered around Angrignon Park.

A member of the Laurentian Lodge Ski Club took pity on us and the result was some memorable friendships, including Jackrabbit Johannsen, and a book, Skiing Legends and the Laurentian Lodge Club, which Neil turned into a best-seller.

Skiing Legends of the Laurentian Lodge Club is available as an ebook through Amazon. All proceeds from Neil’s books go to scholarships for young journalism students. More details, stories, photographs and comments at neilmckenty.com Some CJAD tapes will soon be added.

Raging Grannies, bold and bare, fight fire with tears of laughter

Kristine Berey

July 2012

Contrary to what many believe, it is not having grandchildren the Raging Grannies have in common, since being a grandmother is not a prerequisite for membership.

What they share is an unyielding belief in certain values, the courage to fight for them and a great sense of humour. “The important thing is you care passionately about the issues we protest,” says Joan Hadrill, who has raged with the Montreal “gaggle” of Grannies for 23 years. “You have to care so much you don’t mind looking ridiculous when you’re out singing in the street.”

The Grannies protest against war and the arms race, land mines, pollution, bottled water, climate change, fracking and the exporting of asbestos while promoting human rights and social justice. However, they do not fight fire with fire, but with tears—of laughter. Through street theatre and satirical songs, dressed in flowery shawls and enormous floppy hats of all colours, the grannies have made their voices heard at key events since the first “gaggle” was founded in Victoria, B.C., in 1987.

Photo: Isabella Rosa Arnodei, Ella Photography

When the Montreal chapter recently heard that film-maker Magnus Isacsson needed financial support to complete his feature-length documentary chronicling the Grannies’ history and activities, they rallied and decided to go boldly where few grannies have gone before: They have published a 2013 calendar featuring the Grannies in their birthday suits ou presque, strategically posed behind the props they use when protesting.

The 2003 film Calendar Girls, starring Helen Mirren, was the inspiration, Hadrill said, noting that taking their clothes off was less difficult for the grannies than putting on high heels.

The calendar is a crash course in issues of concern, with each page featuring a humorous photograph with a serious message, and a “quick response” symbol leading the reader to a relevant website.

“Magnus has spent eight years filming the Grannies in Canada and the States, and he has a lot of footage,” Hadrill said. “Apart from the cost of the printer, all the proceeds go to him.”

With recent government cuts in art funding, $45,000 is still needed to complete the project. There are a few more scenes to shoot, including the Grannies’ “UN-convention” to be held in Victoria in August and which will also mark their 25th anniversary.

The calendar is available in N.D.G. at Maison Verte, at 10,000 Villages in Pointe Claire, by calling 514-697-4195, or at grannypowerthefilm.com $20.

The Overcoat retold in Montreal

July 2012

From the first moments in Darrell Wasyk’s The Girl in the White Coat, you feel the bitter taste of poverty.

Based on Nikolai Gogol’s timeless short story The Overcoat, but transposed to modern Montreal, the film chronicles the efforts of Elise, played with angelic innocence by Pascal Montpetit, as she tries to salvage at all costs what is most precious to her—a torn white coat that had been a gift from her beloved father.

“I am a huge fan of old films,” Wasyk said, when asked why he chose Gogol’s story. “I fell in love with the neoclassic genre, a simple story simply told and somewhat fable-like, like Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria or Vittorio de Sica’s The Bicycle Thief.”

While the premise sounds almost too straightforward, it is deceptively potent in its portrayal of human existence—the seemingly unscalable walls of indifference that exist between haves and have-nots, those who speak different languages or come from different cultures. There is also a sense that reflection and spirituality are as important to a human being as a piece of bread, and sometimes more, when there is nothing left. Throughout the film there is a sprinkling of poetic images that could stand alone, like paintings. There is also a scene of unfettered brutality but with a complete absence of gratuitous violence. The viewer is immediately engaged and by the final scene he is left devastated, it is such a jarring emotional journey.

Since making his first film, H, more than 20 years ago, Wasyk says he has wanted to work with Montpetit ag. “I’m always on the lookout for some kind of vehicle for Pascale and me to work again. I started reading Nikolai Gogol’s short stories and came to The Overcoat. I saw the heart of the character as being very similar to Pascale and thought, ‘What if I take a great liberty and change the character from male to female and start from there?’ I deliberately and consciously wrote the screenplay for Pascale.”

As the film evolved, Wasyk says it became more of an inspiration than an adaptation. “In some points I went way off, but there were other parts where I was absolutely adamant that I stick to the original story.”

At the end of the film there is an interplay between Elise and a child that can truly be called beautiful because of its authenticity and spontaneity. “I’ve worked in the past with children in theatre and TV and would love to do more,” Wasyk says.

The film is in English and French with subtitles and stars some of the biggest names in Quebec film: Loise Marleau, Paul Savoie and Monique Mercure, who portrays the heartless landlady with a liberal dash of venom.

Lachine Canal folk fest proves more than just a nostalgia gala

Irwin Block

July 2012

Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, a charter member of the 1960s folk music revival, is alive and well and doing what he has always done—singing about struggles past and campaigning for the underdog today.

For about 200 fans who packed his concert at the Georges Vanier Cultural Centre June 14, it was not only a return to the glory days but also the gala opening of Montreal’s Folk Festival on the Lachine Canal.

The good news is that it was much more than a nostalgia gala. At 74, Yarrow still sings for economic justice and a helping hand for disadvantaged youth in North America. He is fighting the good fight, as he did with the late Mary Travers and Noel Paul Stookey, and he does it with characteristic verve, generosity and good humour.

Rwandan dancers get in the groove during Montreal’s Folk Festival on the Canal Photo: Irwin Block

We heard Puff the Magic Dragon (“No, it’s not about drugs!”), Pete Seeger’s If I Had a Hammer, Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind, and Yarrow’s own The Great Mandela.

We also heard about Yarrow’s involvement in Operation Respect, which seeks to educate “the whole child,” beyond the proverbial three Rs.

He campaigns to build character, social and emotional development in the U.S. and other countries as he seeks to help children born with deformities as a result of Agent Orange defoliation in Vietnam.

Yarrow shared the stage with the talented singer/songwriter Sarah Scouten and her marvelous string band. Pairing this young, energetic, and soulful urban bluegrass group with a seasoned trouper point to the future for the range of music that fits the folk moniker.

When we checked out the scene at the Ilôt Charlevoix—the green space adjoining the bike path and Lachine Canal, near the Charlevoix métro—I was reminded of what a folk festival is all about

Under blue skies and bright sun, families were sprawled on the grass, picnicking, playing with kids and dogs and munching on snacks as they soaked up the sounds.

Festival organizer Matt Large of Hello Darlin’ Productions said 7,500 people gathered on site Saturday and Sunday and 180 camped out.

His conclusion, which bodes well for next year: “We couldn’t be more thrilled!”

Fairs: Where things go bump in the sun

Hayley Juhl

July 2012

When I say I go to the Ormstown Fair for the extreme heat, I mostly mean I’m going to watch cars demolish each other in a dirt arena.

But also, it’s hot. This year’s fair marked the first time I felt justified in wearing my Stampede-approved cowboy hat. The sun was unforgiving, punishing the open fields on which the midway rose.

The view of the demolition derby isn’t as good from the beer tent as from the bleachers, but it’s shaded and there’s a country breeze and Bud Light served by don’t-hurt-the-eyes firemen. 

There were plenty of fires in the pit this year (thanks again, volunteer fire department), but only one injury—in the stands. It was unclear whether he fell off a trailer, walked into a trailer or succumbed to the most amateur of ailments—too much beer and sunshine.

A demolition derby heat at the Ormstown Fair. The cars weren’t the only things experiencing heat. Photo: Hayley Juhl

This is a step down from Nascar. Come for the crumpled metal. Stay for the tramp stamps. Turn it into a game: Count the clichés permanently inked onto people’s bodies. I’m not just being catty—I’ve got a cliche stamped on my ankle forever. You’ve gotta own it.

If it seems I come to these things just for twisted metal, then I’m giving a slanted view. I also come for the crazy-butt chickens.

This is the Olympics of local livestock, where cows and pigs and a multitude of birds are judged by breed. It’s where you discover there is a whole world beyond the chickens and ducks one finds in children’s books. Discover roosters that look like peacocks and pigeons as sleek as ballerinas and ugly ducklings with spiderweb-fine down. Waddles come in rainbow colours. Feathers are iridescent, or nearly transparent.

There is no greater marketing for the Buy Local movement than a country fair. The Ormstown fair takes place in June, but there’s still time to check out demolition derbies and cute chicks at the Brome and Huntingdon fairs.

Huntingdon Fair: August 10-12, foirehuntingdonfair.com. Brome Fair: August 31-September 3, bromefair.com

Five ecosystems, 250 animal species, one stop: the Biôdome

July 2012

The Biodôme is not a zoo. It is an immersive exploration of five ecosystems—three of which are distinctly Canadian.

In 1989, a feasibility study was conducted on Montreal’s former Olympic Velodrome and three years later it was repurposed as the Biodôme—a zoological marvel unlike anything Montrealers had ever seen. Twenty years later, it houses more than 1,500 plant and 250 animal species seen by more than 800,000 visitors each year.

The tour begins in the heat of a tropical rainforest where birds roam free, monkeys swing in the trees and the world’s largest rodents, capybaras, lounge below.

On exiting, a blast of cold air might catch you by surprise as you head for the Laurentian maple forest, where you’ll find freshwater fish, beavers, porcupines, lynx and river otters.

The Gulf of Saint Lawrence can be viewed from below. Sturgeons swim and birds fly through the water as easily as the air above, where you can watch them roost on the rocks.

Then it’s on to the polar opposites: a Labrador coast featuring auks and other arctic birds and the Antarctic shore with its popular penguins.

Managing such diverse habitats is challenging—temperature and lighting have to be tightly controlled and the animals have to be cared for and stimulated. In February, the Botanical Garden, Insectarium and Biodôme, known collectively as Space for Life, won an award for their energy initiatives.

Energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions in the three buildings have been cut by nearly half. The Biodôme is upgrading its skylights, which will not only save on energy costs but will allow better control of lighting in the exhibits. The climate control system is particularly impressive—water is pumped from an underground spring where the temperature is a constant 12C. Heat is removed by a heat pump and sent to the areas that need it while the cold water cycles through the other environments. Additional heat can be provided through the use of a geothermal system.

The attention to detail has paid off. In the last two decades, more than 160 chicks have hatched in the polar habitats and a female Gentoo penguin recently celebrated her 33rd birthday, making her the oldest avian at the Biodôme.

Like the plants and animals that inhabit it, the Biodôme continues to grow and evolve. Plans are being drafted for the 25th anniversary in 2017, which is also Montreal’s 375th birthday.

The Biodôme is offering a free visit to anyone born in 1992.

Daytripping to Vermont is only natural

July 2012

It’s one of those perfect summer days where all the clouds look like turtles and teddy bears and a breeze takes the edge off the heat.

It’s one of those days where you just want to get in the car and chase that spot where the sky meets the blacktop.

For a change of scenery and a breath of fresh Yankee air, consider daytripping to Vermont. Lineups won’t be as long as if you choose the border crossing at Alburg, and from there it’s a short hop to a hearty lunch at one of Swanton, Vermont’’s many sweet offerings.

Try Jamerson’s Place for pub food and a calm, friendly ambiance (jamersonsplace.com). The local Coast Guard eats there, so you know it’s got to be hearty fare.

Fuelled and fired up, you’re ready to burn off some energy.

The Mississquoi Wildlife Refuge is just a few miles away. Established in 1943, the 2,700-hectare reserve attracts migratory songbirds and a host of other wildlife (fws.gov/refuges/). Wooden and gravel paths lead you through forest and field and marsh with buttercups and bulrushes at every turn. If you’ve ever thought of recording your own Sounds of Nature CD, this might be the place to do it.

It’s been a long day and you’re ready to leave Vermont, but not before rewarding yourself with an old-fashioned ice-cream cone from Devyn’s Creemee Stand in Sheldon Springs. You can enjoy your cone at a covered picnic table overlooking the water, or take it to go and drive one-handed. The perfect end to the perfect day.

Home is just an hour and a half north. You’ll be dreaming in your own bed by nightfall.

New animal law misses key issue, humane society says

Kristine Berey

June 2012

As July 1 approaches, shelters across the island are bracing themselves for the wave of discarded animals that will be left at their door. As a prelude to moving day, last May the SPCA took in 1,060 former pets, 703 of which were cats.

“There are thousands in shelters around this time of year,” says Sayara Thurston of the Humane Society International/Canada.

“They are just inundated, specifically with cats. They have to euthanize hundreds, if not thousands, of perfectly healthy, socialized, well-behaved animals because of the staggering numbers people bring, thinking they are giving them a second chance.”

In a brief presented last month to the Commission de l’agriculture, des pêcheries, de l’énergie et des resources naturelles, HSI/Canada said it finds it deplorable that the issue of sterilization is absent from a new animal protection law, Bill 51, that Quebec is about to pass.

“The law does not mention sterilization, which, if incorporated, would allow the government to regulate the issue,” Thurston said. “There is no penalty at all for letting a non-sterilized cat outside. Regulating the problem by sterilizing animals at point of sale would be a huge step.”

Quebec is rated by the Animal Defense Fund as one of the worst in the country in terms of its animal protection legislation. In the brief, HSI/Canada also decried the fact that the thousands of animals euthanized each year die in gas chambers, an outdated method and less humane, they say, than an injection of sodium pentobarbital.

They would like to see more control over an animals’ psychological welfare, which they say is part of protecting the animal.

Agatha is one of many cats who need homes. Contact the SPCA Montérégie: 450-460-3075, spcamonteregie.com Photo courtesy of SPCA Montérégie

“Sometimes strays are most at ease, they have seen it all. But an animal from a home becomes depressed and stops eating. It is very sad for us to see,” said Dana Girard, a seven-year volunteer at the SPCA Montérégie.

Because it is a no-kill shelter subsisting on private donations, some animals live there for years.

Like many other smaller shelters around the city, they are straining at the seams.

But no real change will happen until the public redefines the meaning of what animals are, Zoi Kilakos said. With two friends, she runs on a completely voluntary basis a trap, neuter and spay program. The last time their name appeared in the media, instead of receiving calls from potential volunteers, they were swamped with requests to accept unwanted cats.

“The laws are quite ancient regarding animals. There needs to be a major revision in terms of what animals actually are, living breathing feeling entities and not commodities,” she says.

Kilakos and her friends are working in partnership with a veterinarian on a colony of 10 cats in the Jean Talon area.

“There is nowhere to put animals right now. There was a series of poisonings. A cat can breed at 6 months, with three or four kittens who then have babies, of two or more litters a year. The only end is for people to realize they need to spay and neuter their animals, and not let them out.”

Kilakos says the lifespan of a cat on the street is an average of three years.

“Winters are very harsh, they are attacked by other cats. I’ve done rescues where the cats have no ears, they have been frostbitten.”

Thurston urges people to avoid purchasing pets online or from pet stores.

“People who buy puppies get them from puppy mills, unwittingly, thinking they are buying from a family breeder, not being able to see the conditions where the puppy has come from or in which its mother may still be living in.”

Discover a taste for every ear at the International Jazz Festival

Irwin Block

June 2012

Jazz fan or not, there is a tremendous range of music in free outdoor venues and paid indoor ones to satisfy most tastes at this year’s Montreal International Jazz Festival.

The first of hundreds of daily shows starts Wednesday, June 27, and continue until Sunday, July 7, with three big blowout concerts where the crowds are in the tens of thousands. There is almost no place to sit and they are best suited for the hale and hearty.

The best way to sample festival sounds is to spend a few hours checking out the free concerts on a mild afternoon or evening at the various outdoor stages scattered around the festival site. They are in the quadrilateral bounded by Ste. Catherine, de Maisonneuve, Jeanne Mance and Clark. The lineup is posted on site and listed in free festival programs.

Here are my picks for the indoor, ticketed events:

June 28

Singer-songwriter James Taylor returns after a four-year absence to rekindle the light with such songs as Carolina in My Mind, You’ve got a Friend, Fire and Rain. Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Place des Arts. $95 to $152. Also June 27.

Pianist Rafael Zaldivar, a Cuban ex-patriot, an emerging talent on the local scene, welcomes the great U.S. saxophonist Greg Osby to L’Astral, 305 Ste. Catherine, 6 pm. $27.

Master accordionist Richard Galliano plays everything from Bach to Piazzolla with tremendous verve and colour. Maison Symphonique de Montréal, 7 pm. $57-$65.

Electric bassist Stanley Clark goes acoustic in a duet with virtuosic pianist Hiromi. Théâtre Jean Duceppe, Place des Arts, 8 pm. $65.

June 29

The dream-team duo of pianist Kenny Werner and singer/songwriter/pianist Patricia Barber—love and values are her focus—perform. Maison Symphonique de Montréal, 7 pm. $57.

Richard Galliano plays Bach to Piazzolla at Maison Symphonique de Montréal. Photo courtesy of the jazz fest

Saxophonist Wayne Shorter, original, enigmatic, often poetic, arguably the most important jazz musician at this festival, leads a stellar quartet. Théâtre Maisonneve, Place des Arts, 9:30 pm. $66-$82.

June 30

Trumpeter/composer Joe Sullivan leads his local quartet with guitarist Lorne Lofsky in music that is adventuresome and challenging. L’Astral, 6 pm. $27.

July 1

Meshell Ndegeocello, a gifted American singer/songwriter and bassist, meshes idioms, from jazz to hip hop, with her oh-so-smooth delivery and swing. Club Soda, 1225 St. Laurent, 10 pm. $41.

July 2

An exceptional day: Classy bassist Ron Carter, who has graced 2,000 albums, returns with ace guitarist Russell Malone and pianist Donald Vega, Club Soda, 6 pm. $53.

Miles Smiles, a sextet of such Miles Davis alumna as trumpeter Wallace Roney, saxophonist Bill Evans and guitarist Larry Coryell, salute the prince. Théâtre Maisonneuve, Place des Arts, 9:30 pm. $56-$65.

They share their lives and art: Pianists Bill Charlap and Canadian-born Renee Rosnes challenge and complement each other. Gesù Centre de créativité, 1202 Bleury, 10:30 pm. $46.

Do not miss the off-Broadway hit The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith, the one-woman musical starring Miche Braden, who follows the highs and lows of the most popular blues artist of her era (1894-1937). Cinquième Salle, Place des Arts, 7 p.m., (8 p.m. on July 3). $69. Runs till July 7.

July 3

Master saxophonist James Carter performs with his (Hammond B3) organ trio, the powerful blues singer Miche Braden and Rodney Jones, a superb guitarist. Club Soda, 6 pm. $55.

July 4

Montreal bassist Adrian Vedady is joined by U.S. pianist Marc Copland, a gorgeous improviser. L’Astral, 6 pm. $27.

Ambrose Akinmusire, Blue Note’s new “young trumpet lion,” struts his stuff in a Montreal debut that could be a classic. Gesù Centre de créativité, 10:30 pm. $36.

Saxophonist Remi Bolduc celebrates his 50th birthday with pianist François Bourassa, and other Montreal musicians in their prime. L’Astral, 6 pm. $27.

Born in Russia, raised in Israel, Sophie Millman blossomed as a jazz vocalist in Toronto and travels the world as a star performer. Club Soda, 6 pm. $41.

July 6

Trumpeter Tom Harrell closes the nightly sessions at Upstairs Jazz Bar and Grill, with two performances in a piano-less quartet. 1254 Mackay St., 7 and 9:45 p.m., repeating July 7. $49 per set.

Singer Ranee Lee, also a strong actor, re-creates the brilliant, tragic life of Billie Holiday, the greatest of them all, in word and song. L’Astral, 6 pm. $33.

July 8

A staged “battle of the bands,” pitting The Duke Ellington Orchestra against the Count Basie Orchestra, will re-create the swing era. Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Place des Arts, 2 pm. $85-$103.

Note: Most prices include taxes and service charges rounded out. They may be slightly lower if purchased at the venue. montrealjazzfest.com

irblock@hotmail.com

Neil McKenty, Dec. 31, 1924 – May 12, 2012

June 2012

Neil McKenty began a relationship with The Senior Times in May 1998. He developed an avid following because of his integrity, his meticulous research and his strong and grounded opinions.

Neil was a master of argument and always gave us the big picture. He was most concerned by the failure of his own Roman Catholic Church to adapt its core teachings to evolving ethical values.

He championed those politicians who displayed his own passions for the rights of the marginalized in North American societies.

He had no patience for hypocrites and double dealers. That’s why readers awaited his monthly “Pit Stop” as did his editors, myself included.

I was proud to have Neil as one of ours. He raised the bar and set the standard for engaging and thought-provoking journalism.

Former Pit Stop columnist Neil McKenty with his wife, Catherine, in the fall of 2009.

Over the years, Neil’s writing helped shape The Senior Times, always reflecting our values and concerns as a newspaper.

We will miss him dearly and send our heartfelt condolences to his loving wife of 40 years, Catherine.

Barbara Moser, Publisher, The Senior Times

Neil McKenty exemplified the men who were trained in the Jesuit tradition of disciplined scholarship.

Intellectual rigour was always the basis of his structured viewpoints on a range of subjects, but after being ordained in 1957 he left the priesthood in 1969, unable to reconcile church teachings with his deepest feelings.

He hosted the highly popular phone-in show Exchange on CJAD in 1972 before moving to CFCF-TV where he did the same thing.

His producer Daniel Freedman had this to say in a recent appreciation: “He hated pretense. And he hated hypocrisy. I saw him show the same respect for a make-up artist, stagehand or waitress that he showed for a professor or prime minister. ... Life with Neil was never dull. He ate ice cream on the air with one of the founders of Ben and Jerry’s—with great gusto, but very little elegance.”

McKenty had his demons. He battled depression and wrote about it in his candid autobiography, The Whole Story, in which he recalls his struggle to reconcile his profound religious beliefs and his need to fully express himself as a human being. He did that with great eloquence and his voice, which echoes among his many followers, will be missed by all.

Irwin Block

Painting and sculpture are part of animated life at Symphonie

Daniel Sailofsky

June 2012

From sculptors and singers, to painters and programs, Donna Farmer and the people who live at Residences Symphonie know how to have a good time.

While Farmer, an animator at Symphonie, may have been the primary group leader and coordinator of this year’s event on May 31, it was the residents who stole the show.

“It’s lovely seeing these people try new things and express themselves through art,” Farmer said. “It’s also a way for them to be with other people and work together.”

Farmer says it is her mission to bring joy and fun to all the residents.

“Most residences have physical activities, which are important,” she said. “But I believe we’ve found a good balance between body and mind, heart and soul.”

The art of Ann Goldberg and Barry Goldenberg, along with that of other residents, at Residence Symphonie. Photo: Daniel Sailofsky

At this year’s show, residents’ paintings and sculptures were on display as the Symphonie choir gave a concert.

As each musical number was performed, from Broadway classics like If I Were a Rich Man to such ballads as Hallelujah, Farmer could be seen dancing, conducting and encouraging the choir and audience to enjoy themselves.

“Since I became a caregiver for my mom many years ago, I’ve always been a big advocate for activities for seniors, and this is why.”

Much of the art came courtesy of the husband and wife team Barry Goldenberg and Ann Goldberg. Barry crafted four sculptures; Ann four paintings.

Goldenberg, 62, suffered a stroke 16 years ago and he does not have the use of his dominant right hand.

“It’s a bit harder with only one hand, but I can do it,” Goldenberg said. “At first, I couldn’t even talk, so I’ve come a long way.”

“Barry was a dentist before he had a stroke, so he knew how to carve and was great with his hands,” Goldberg said. “I’ve watched him tie a knot with one hand.”

Shirley Spector’s painting Happy Hydrangeas was particularly eye catching, with its bright colours and intricate details.

“It was my first time painting, so I just tried to do my best, pick out colours and have fun,” Spector said.

“Food, activities, shows, it’s like a cruise ship here,” said Nessa Corber, whose mother and aunt are both residents at Symphony. “I already told my mom, once I’m her age, I can’t wait to come here.”

Language divide evident in tuition conflict, Dawson students say

Daniel Sailofsky

June 2012

Much has changed since the European colonization of the New World began more than 500 years ago, but one thing remains true: the French and the English remain distinct.

As Dawson student Daniel Etcovitch explained, while the conflict of the day may be tuition hikes instead of land ownership, many francophone and anglophone students have displayed contrasting attitudes.

“There seems to be a cultural divide,” Etcovitch said. “French students seem to have a very different attitude towards education than anglophones.

“The French CEGEPs and universities are the ones that went on strike immediately, as a quick reaction to the tuition hikes. The English students took longer to react and seem more conscious of completing their semester and moving on, stomaching the economic reality of the tuition hikes.”

This is because of the division of wealth between the French and English, said Kayla Christos, a member of striking committee Dawson Persists.

“Whether we like it or not, the English community in Quebec tends to be a lot wealthier than the French, which leads (the English) to believe that a hike of tuition fees would only better the universities and make them more exclusive,” Christos said.

Nicholas Di Penna, a Dawson student who has been actively involved in the protests, also attributes this cultural divide to the oppression he says the French population has dealt with in the past.

“We need to remember that francophone students have had to literally fight for everything they have, whether it was the installment of places like Université de Québec a Montréal and Université de Québec à Outaouais or even the installment of the CEGEP system,” Di Penna said.

Pirates and ninjas protest passes The Senior Times offices on Décarie Blvd. last month. Most protests have been peaceful. Photo: The Senior Times

Université de Québec a Montréal and Université de Quebec à Outaouais were opened in 1969 and 1981, respectively, after many requests from the French-speaking population.

“English students haven’t had to suffer the same oppression as our francophone brothers and sisters have,” Di Penna said.

Cory Schneider believes much of the oppression felt by francophones is exaggerated.

“French students are more defensive and always have been,” said Schneider, also a Dawson student. “They try to see any little move done by the government as an attack on their rights.”

Christos says this is part of protecting the Québécois identity.

“Fighting for what they believe are their rights is basically a reflex that French people are born with,” Christos said. “The loss of their culture is something they are always trying to avoid.”

Protester Mia Pearson says English apathy may be caused by a lack of understanding, as many documents, articles and debates relating to tuition hikes are only available in French.

“Those who aren’t fluent in French may have a difficult time learning about the issue,” Pearson said.

“Most people criticizing the student movement have a very uninformed view of what is going on,” Di Penna said.

However, Schneider and Etcovitch said that it is the protesters who should be more aware of the bigger economic picture before taking to the streets.

“While I see tuition hikes as a negative necessity, they are a necessity in today’s Quebec economy,” Etcovitch said. “We’re running a deficit, already taking money from the other provinces in equalization payments and our universities are suffering because we haven’t adjusted tuition in decades, not even for inflation.”

“You have to look at the fact that even after these hikes, you can still get an education at one of the best schools in the world, McGill, for a few thousand dollars per semester,” Schneider added. “Go to any average school in the United States and it can leave you in debt for the rest of your life.”

We shouldn’t compare ourselves to other places, Di Penna said.

“Most anglophones see that we have the lowest tuition fees and don’t ponder why that is,” Di Penna said. “Free education is possible here. Taxing two per cent from large corporations would be more than enough for a free post-secondary education.”

Etcovitch, Schneider and Sara Baron Goodman, who were interviewed separately, agreed that while they support the democratic right to strike, they have lost respect for the protesters because of the tactics they have used and the destruction the three say some protesters have caused.

Tensions have escalated since demonstrations began in March, as property has been damaged during demonstrations and traffic and public transit have been affected. There have been allegations of police using unnecessary force.

“I can’t sympathize with the violent and disruptive tactics that protesters have resorted to, which are affecting innocent third-party citizens,” Goodman said.

“It’s completely unfair to impede their fellow students’ education by not allowing them to go to class and to finish their semester, because they’re fighting for the right to education.”

Schneider said his anger toward the strikers comes from the same place. “You can’t complain that a government is being oppressive and infringing on your rights and then go and infringe on everyone else’s rights,” he said.

Di Penna blames the Quebec government, saying this isn’t how the protesters want to be heard. “For years we tried lobbying, peaceful protests, letters and requests,” he said. “The government had ignored us and dismissed our legitimacy. Believe me, if the government hadn’t ignored us, people wouldn’t have felt desperate, desperate enough to use civil disobedience as a tactic.”

“The media writes about students being violent, about traffic being blocked, about the ‘terrorism’ committed by the students,” Christos said. “But they leave out police brutality, the corruption of the government, and the way that the students are being silenced by laws and unfair rules.”

Economic slide not all bad: Rubin

Irwin Block

June 2012

As surely as lilacs bloom in spring, gas prices in Montreal soared above $1.33 a litre in May, and for economist Jeff Rubin, that may not be all bad.

There is little we can do about the growing demand for petroleum, especially in the new consumer economies of China and India, and higher prices for a limited resource.

Add to that the increasing cost of bringing to market harder-to-extract petroleum deposits such as those in the Alberta tarsands, and it is hard to argue with Rubin’s prediction of $100-U.S.-a-barrel oil, even with temporary slumps.

In this fascinating follow-up to his best-selling first book, Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller, Rubin argues that the inexorable rise in the price of oil is the environmentalist’s best ally.

It heralds a new type of society where growth, propelled by cheap oil, is no longer feasible, and we make do with less stuff.

Some will counter that human ingenuity and innovation can overcome this challenge. And Rubin’s earlier prediction of $200 U.S.-a-barrel of oil by 2012 has not materialized. But sooner or later it will.

His new book succinctly and colourfully wraps together statistics and major developments in the world economy to bolster his arguments in a fast-paced narrative.

Rubin, 57, was for almost 20 years the Toronto-based chief economist at CIBC World Markets, appearing often as a TV commentator.

He left in 2008 to pursue a writing and commentary career, which was not compatible with being a spokesman for a major bank.

He argues, for example, that the rate of economic growth, not such international accords as Kyoto, will determine whether total greenhouse gas emissions grow or diminish.

In the U.S., carbon emissions fell in 2009, not as a result of any legislation, but “because the U.S. economy shrank.”

“With the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia’s emissions fell 30 per cent and they weren’t even targeting emissions,” he said in an interview.

Rubin agrees with those who oppose Kyoto, because it was designed to redistribute emissions toward emerging economies, not to create a framework for worldwide reduction.

“If the tipping point is 430 parts per million in the atmosphere, what’s going to get us there is not emissions from the U.S. and Canada, but emissions from China and India,” he notes.

The slowdown in Western countries is putting a damper on demand for goods China and India export, and that will cut their meteoric rise in emissions.

But he ends on a positive note:

“Maybe we all need to slow down and take a minute to breathe. Go for a walk instead of driving to the mall. Ride a bike rather than turning over an engine. Put on a sweater instead of cranking up the thermostat.”

The End of Growth, by Jeff Rubin, Random House Canada, $29.95

irblock@hotmail.com

Seniors’ resilience is highlighted in UQAM research report

Kristine Berey

June 2012

The wall of silence surrounding elder abuse is not as insurmountable as it once was, but the issue remains complex.

Seniors living in abusive situations have historically been reluctant to seek help for a number of reasons—physical or cognitive frailty, shame, social isolation and especially the emotional ties they have to the people they fear, often their own children. The prevailing view has been that abused seniors are ambivalent, fearful and therefore helpless.

But a recent report on the implementation and clinical relevance of the Elder Abuse Help Line challenges this perception.

UQAM’s Michele Charpentier and Maryse Soulières of the CSSS Cavendish were surprised that of 4,879 calls during the first year, almost one-third came from the seniors themselves. Researchers found that ageist perceptions highlight seniors’ lack of capacity while diminishing their resilience and will to live in dignity.

Women between 70-89 made 43 per cent of the calls, but seniors over 90 called in as well. In more than half the cases, a family member was identified as the abuser and the most often cited forms of abuse were financial and psychological.

The line also provides a consulting service to health professionals. Among their cases, the incidence of physical violence was higher. It is estimated that between four and 10 per cent of seniors live in abusive situations.

Researchers also noted an overrepresentation of calls from private and public residences, 28 per cent, while only 11 per cent of seniors live in collective facilities.

Run by volunteers at CSSS Cavendish, the line employs social workers specializing in elder abuse.

The line is open from 8 am to 8 pm, providing confidential support, information, assessment, referrals and, with the caller’s permission, follow-up and intervention as necessary, so callers can get help at their own pace.

Thurza Dufresne is coordinator of SAVA Centre West (Shelter and Assistance for Victims of Elderabuse) a volunteer accompaniment and shelter service for seniors.

She says it is the first facility of its kind in eastern Canada. “Clients call us for support, social workers call us for consultations,” Dufresne says. “We are there to give social workers a helping hand; we can sit down as part of the intervention team.”

The public and health professionals may access SAVA’s services, delivered by a team of volunteers, as needed. “If a senior is in a suspected situation of abuse, where they need emotional support, they may not be ready to leave home, but are thinking about it and need someone to go to a lawyer or to the bank. A volunteer can take them. They are not involved in discussions but the senior will feel supported.”

The eight volunteers at SAVA come from diverse fields. “They are team of retired professionals who have had their own careers, including a judge, a doctor, a lawyer, nurse and administrator.” The team includes lawyer Ann Soden, who runs a legal clinic operated by law students.

When seniors decide they need to leave home, they are offered a safe place to stay while they rebuild their lives with SAVA’s help.

“They leave when they are ready. They choose where they want to go, tell us what they want.”

Dufresne’s experience reflects the research report’s findings. Since March, the refuge has had eight clients, only one of whom has decided to return to her former living arrangement.

She is awed by the transformation she has seen in the clients at the refuge, who go from exhaustion and despair to wanting to take initiative.

“The character and personality of the person starts to come out. It’s very powerful.

“Before, the belief was that seniors would never leave their home. It’s never been proved that they would. Now proof is there that says, yes, they will. To me, that is a huge display of the human capacity to want to live life to its fullest, to make our own decisions and be happy with ourselves.”

Elder Abuse Help Line: 1-888-489-2287

SAVA Centre West: 514-903-3550

Outsourcing aging at Best Exotic Marigold

Kristine Berey

June 2012

On the surface, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a piece of feel-good movie fluff with a great cast. But it has a point to make, and it makes it eloquently.

Set in a rundown hotel in idyllic India—visually beautiful without the scorching heat, noise and chaos—the story follows a group of diverse characters who have little in common except that they are all, still, looking for something intangible and have passed the age of most beginnings.

The owner of the hotel, an enterprising young Indian man played by Dev Patel, has a brilliant business idea: He wants to “outsource” aging, and believes there is a market for this in a North American society that “doesn’t like old people.”

This is the first moment in the film, which also stars Judi Dench, that one suspects something more serious is at work. Two quotes remain with me: “Perhaps what we most fear about the future is that it will stay the same,” and “Everything will be all right in the end and if it is not all right, it is not the end.”

Judi Dench stars alongside Maggie Smith in Marigold.

We do live in a society that fears, and therefore denies, the reality of aging. It is a small step of the imagination to think that if it were possible, we would love to “outsource aging.” We associate older faces and bodies with deterioration and ultimately death. Yet death is not necessarily the realm of the old. There are 80-year-olds who ski and 15-year-olds who die without ever having tasted a first kiss.

On the other hand, the film asks us to suspend our disbelief to the nth degree when a racist morphs into a sweet and wise old lady. But because this character is portrayed by the beloved Maggie Smith, we do so willingly.

At the screening I attended, there were invited groups of seniors in the audience. With blissful ignorance, a younger woman introduced the film to islands of white and grey as “a film especially made for ‘you people’.”

But the point of the film is that the exclusion of “the old” is a farce, as youth and old age are just part of the much greater cycle of life, an ever-swirling continuum. The film does not gloss over the byproducts of aging, such as death and disillusion, but it does make the point that while one is alive, one has the right to hope. And by definition, hope implies a future.

Perhaps being repelled by aging, or denying death is of commercial value. After all, there is a whole industry that tells us daily that the appearance of physical aging is a no-no.

But if we don’t see falling leaves as threatening and we don’t hate a flower when its blooms are spent, we should extend that perception to ourselves.

So, the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel can inspire debate and discussion, all with a touch of humour and tenderness. And that is what aging is all about.

Journalist tackles taboo of workplace depression with courage

Irwin Block

June 2012

Irwin Block

There are many inspiring moments in this gripping personal story of how one of Canada’s toughest, most courageous and successful journalists fell into the dark hole of workplace depression.

Told with honesty when it comes to revealing her weaknesses and many character strengths, we are reminded how depression in its various manifestations can strike anyone, even someone like the Montreal-born Wong who in mid-career had reached the pinnacle of professional achievement.

Here we see the much-admired Globe & Mail correspondent, who dodged mortal danger to bring readers a blow-by-blow account of the treacherous Tiananmen Square massacre while she was its China correspondent in 1989, reduced to a “reckless shopaholic” as her clinical depression sets in.

But Wong, still the meticulous researcher, inquisitive mind and relentless reporter, asks her psychiatrist why these impulsive and unnecessary purchases made her so happy.

He tells her the therapeutic effect of shopping—not window-shopping but actually buying stuff—“activates the brain’s reward centre, releasing a gush of dopamine.”

It’s the same happy chemical triggered by gambling, drug use and other addictive behaviours, she writes.

Anecdotes of her excesses while on sick leave from the Globe—some funny, many sad—are interspersed with research on the history of depression.

Jan Wong fought her former employer for paid leave during her depression. Photo courtesy of Jan Wong

As we follow her erratic behaviour, Wong quotes from literary figures and characters who were also afflicted, including author William Styron, Flaubert’s Emma Bovary and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Galloway.

Her saga, laced with self-deprecating humour, describes a courageous battle to be recognized as someone with a debilitating illness, entitled to paid sick leave. Equally courageous is her refusal to be gagged by her former employer.

It reads like a thriller, and Wong emerges the heroine as she and her union clash with her employer who, in spite of her dedication, work ethic and achievements, suspected she was faking her illness.

Human resources and her group insurer, Manulife, balked at her claim for paid leave on disability.

What triggered her depression was the Dawson College shooting in 2006, when Kimveer Gill killed Anastasia De Sousa and wounded 19 others before taking his own life.

The Globe sent Wong to Montreal the next day and in 24 hours she put together a 3,000-word front-page piece. It went through several editors, including then editor-in-chief Edward Greenspon.

Three short paragraphs of analysis her editors had requested resulted in a furor, with denunciations in Quebec City and Ottawa, racist epithets, death threats, and calls for a boycott of her father’s famous House of Wong restaurant in Montreal.

She had drawn a parallel between Gill’s Sikh background and those of the two other shooters in Montreal universities, Russian-born Valery Fabrikant and Marc Lépine, son of an Algerian father. She opined about their marginalization “in a society that valued pure laine.”

As she was having dinner, her editors called and asked for more on this angle, but Wong replied she had given all she could.

Faced with a storm of backlash, Greenspon wrote an apology for the offending paragraphs, stating they were “clearly opinion” and should have been cut. But he never stated that he had read and approved the piece before it was published.

The reaction triggered Wong’s descent. She was no longer able to write, precipitating her battle to regain her mental health as she sought paid sick leave.

The book includes anecdotes about the strong support she received from her two teenage sons, husband, family in Montreal and friends.

Wong eventually came to terms with her employer, never agreeing to a non-disclosure demand, except for the amount of the financial settlement, and moved on to a new career as an academic.

Anyone who has battled with depression, be it mild or debilitating, or is interested in the latest scientific understanding of this illness, will be moved, entertained and enlightened.

irblock@hotmail.com

Out of the Blue: A Memoir of Workplace Depression, Recovery, Redemption and, Yes, Happiness by Jan Wong is available at janwong.ca/outoftheblue.html, $21.99.

Vic Vogel’s Cuban music dances along the edge of bebop

Irwin Block

June 2012

The irrepressible Vic Vogel was on the phone from his home near the Jacques Cartier Bridge, searching for words to explain what he does with Cuban music.

Words failed him, so he put down the phone, went over to the piano and played a few bars of the languorous love ballad Claudia by Chucho Valdes.

Then he turned that same melody into a Vic Vogel special, punctuating it with some percussive chords and giving it the bebop edge that is characteristic of much of his musical language.

“I gave it a heart transplant,” is how he finally put it, finding the Vogelesque way to describe what he loves to do and why he has been a headliner at every Montreal International Jazz Festival but one since its inception 33 years ago.

Vogel’s leitmotif, on stage and off: “It’s gotta swing.”

He has a pronounced romantic side that underpins his frenetic and syncopated exterior, and it comes out when he plays solo ballads on his beloved Steinway.

Vogel’s back on Friday, June 29, with his Big Band, at l’Astral, the lovely bar with mezzanine in the Blumenthal Building, 309 Ste. Catherine W., a block east of Bleury.

On the menu, an evening showcasing the Afro-Cuban influence in jazz that has always been a big part of Vogel’s repertoire and personal connection and commitment.

Vic Vogel has a pronounced romantic side that underpins his frenetic exterior. Photo: Tandy Sauvé

“We’ve always been influenced by Afro-Cuban music—probably 90 per cent of my band book is Latin-oriented.”

“I grew up with Dizzy Gillespie, and he was among the first, with Chano Pozo, to bring in the Afro-Cuban influence.”

Poso played a major role in founding Latin jazz, a blend of belpo and Cuban folk music. He became Gillespie’s conga player and co-wrote the trumpeter’s famous Afro-Cuban compositions, Manteca and Tin Tin Deo.

The son of Hungarian-born parents, Vogel grew up in the Prince Arthur neighbourhood and, surrounded by Jewish neighbours, picked up a smattering of Yiddish. He remembers being a Shabbes Goy, the helpful Gentile boy who turns on lights for observant Jews.

As a self-taught pianist until the age of 10 when he studied classical for a year with Michel Hirby, Vogel learned to play trombone and tuba on his own, performed in show bands in the 1950s and became a busy musical director for CBC and Radio Canada productions. He composed and directed the music for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

He began his jazz big band in 1978 and it became a launching pad and finishing school for many of Quebec’s finest talents, some of whom continue to perform with Vogel.

Among the 17 stalwart musicians who will be with him at this year’s festival gig are saxophone players Alexandre Côté, Jean Fréchette, André Leroux, Al McLean, and Dave Turner, and trumpeters Ron DiLauro, Joe Sullivan, Jocelyn Couture and Jocelyn Lapointe.

The repertoire includes pieces by Gillespie, Cuban jazz heroes Chucho Valdes and Chico O’farrill, and our own Oscar Peterson.

That kinder, gentler side of the Vogel persona emerged on his wonderful 1993 solo album with mainly original material.

It also surfaced in 2008, when Vogel was visiting Cuba and in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, as he recalls the moment, “I saw a piano floating in the damn sea!”

“I was in a village—every town has its cultural centre in Cuba—and I said to myself, when I get home I’m gonna get one.

“I went on the CBC’s Homerun show on radio and when I mentioned I was looking for a piano for Cuba, I ended up getting 15 the same day.

“I had to get a U-Haul to pick up the pianos. There were a lot of pianos in very wealthy homes that were pieces of crap. The people were too cheap to get them out of there themselves. They figured, I am going to get rid of their garbage for them. They got mad when I said, ‘It’s not good enough’.”

“I also got cellos, trombones, saxophones, cellos, violins. I got one violin that a violin-maker told me was a very good instrument but would cost $1,500 to repair. He gave me in exchange eight brand new Yamaha violins for students, with bows and cases.”

The campaign became so popular that this year Vogel has collected enough instruments to fill a container “to the hilt.” The Cuban government agreed to pay for the container.

For Vogel, music with a rhythm and a beat is what it’s all about.

“I’m 76, and I still feel like a kid when I’m up there. That’s what keeps us going.”

He recalled the words of the saxophonist Jimmy Heath, who was Vogel’s guest at a jazz festival gig in 2003.

“The lady from the jazz festival came to pay us. He took the money, but he told her, “I don’t want the money—I want the time. He was 77.

“I know what he means. Instead of getting slower, I’m getting faster, I’m writing faster, because I don’t want to miss out.”

irblock@hotmail.com