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Dan Delmar

“Enemies of equality” Author warns of Islamist interference in politics

By Dan Delmar on May 6, 2009

A Syrian national is warning fellow Canadians to stand up for secular values and not make unreasonable accommodations for Islamists.
Djemila Benhabib, author of Ma vie à contre-Coran, spoke to a group of roughly 50 last week at a Côte des Neiges bookstore. Describing herself as an ordinary woman having experienced extraordinary hardships, she told the audience of her family’s persecution in Syria and the constant threats that came from religious fanatics that forced them to leave the country in the early 1990s. The title of her book refers to the battle she fought as a child and teenager against Islamist indoctrination in her homeland and the threat it now poses to the West.

“Arrogants, vulgaires et disgracieux!” - Downtown merchants fed up with green onions, parking rules

By Dan Delmar on April 9, 2009

Some downtown business-owners came out swinging on Wednesday, saying the Tremblay administration has lost control over its employees and is driving people out of the heart of the city with overbearing regulations...

The Anglo exodus may be over

By Dan Delmar on April 9, 2009

Angryphone alarmists would have you believe that the hemorrhaging seen in that community following Bill 101 and the referendums has not ended; that Anglophones are still driving U-Hauls down the 401 in droves to escape our oppressive Francophone overlords. Unfortunately, pesky facts and statistics expose that argument as one that is misleading, exaggerated and rooted in paranoia. The fact is, the bleeding has stopped and some of the Anglo deserters of decades past are coming back...

Brother Tremblay: Is Marcel Tremblay done with politics?

By Dan Delmar on March 19, 2009

The affable Marcel Tremblay – NDG councilor, Montreal executive committee member and City Hall’s resident crusader for civic-minded behaviour – is, as they say, in a period of reflection...

Is journalism dead? I will not be reduced to Twittering for attention

By Dan Delmar on March 19, 2009

Journalists, writers are insecure manic-depressives on a never-ending quest for praise – in the best of times. In a recession, they are still those things, but also hyper-aware of a new reality; no matter how much they are loved and admired, the advertising revenue is simply not paying the bills these days. Journalism was on life-support long before the economy tanked. Now, one has to wonder if the printed word can survive, let alone thrive in new economic and social contexts..

A neighbourhood or a casino? The future of the Hippodrome

By Dan Delmar on February 26, 2009

Montreal housing groups scored a major victory last week when the provincial government announced that it has reversed its decision to fund a video lottery terminal and off-track betting centre on land around the Hippodrome de Montréal...

So-So-So-Solidarité – with Palestine

By Dan Delmar on February 5, 2009

Pro-Palestinian marchers now weave their way through Montreal’s downtown core on a weekly basis since Israel began its military operation in Gaza last month. To say the crowds are diverse would be an understatement. Aside from groups whose main purpose is to defend the Palestinian cause, there are pockets supporters who wouldn’t normally be associated with that movement: New MNA Amir Khadir and his Québec Solidaire party, la Fédération des femmes du Québec, housing rights group FRAPRU, the neo-Rhinoceros party, Christian groups and even the Raëlians...

The “Shit Happens” factor

By Dan Delmar on February 5, 2009

If you will forgive the vulgarity, I would like to expand on a theme that this newspaper’s editor touches on frequently: The seemingly instinctive desire for politicians to enact laws that attempt to prevent the unpreventable, covering all possible bases to make sure that we all behave like good little boys and girls, while leaving us with the impression that they are earning their salaries...

Decision Quebec: winners and losers

By Dan Delmar on December 18, 2008

 After an election where the story was not so much who voted for whom, but who did not vote at all, Premier Jean Charest may find himself taking on a familiar role; that of Captain Canada, ready to fight a resurgent sovereignist movement...

Sex: Uncovered

By Dan Delmar on November 27, 2008

For the last two decades, Dr. Laurie Betito has been shining a light into the dark, dirty and sometimes depraved corners of the human psyche. “Better communication, better sex,” is her motto and beginning this week, she will help take readers of The Métropolitain on a journey to new heights of sexual enlightenment.

“The glass ceiling has been shattered”

By Dan Delmar on November 13, 2008

The stakes were high on Nov. 4 for American Democrats, but also for members of Montreal’s Black community who expect to see the election of Barack Obama as a positive development for black youth in this country as well...

Did Liberals give 100%?

By Dan Delmar on October 30, 2008

Just 14 of 75 seats in Quebec: The search for answers and the finger-pointing has begun inside Liberal Party ranks. Was it a one-off, attributable to an unpopular leader and a convoluted carbon tax scheme? Could more have been done to win battleground ridings like Outremont or Jeanne-Le Ber? Was this just an accident or was it…murder?..

Election review of selected ridings served by The Métropolitain

By Dan Delmar on October 16, 2008

 

Dévoilée

By Dan Delmar on October 16, 2008

Le Métropolitain s’est entretenu récemment avec une candidate néo-démocrate des plus controversées, Samira Laouni. La musulmane pratiquante s’est vu répondre à nos questions concernant ses croyances religieuses, sa vision pour la circonscription de Bourassa (où elle s’est classée quatrième Mardi) et ses impressions sur la politique internationale...

“We are a testament to their failures”

By Dan Delmar on October 16, 2008

Three Canadian Muslims took a stand earlier this month against the extremist branches of their religion and appealed for Quebecers to stand up for their secular values...

Decorated restaurateur spotlighted for extending a helping hand

By Dan Delmar on October 2, 2008

When the owner of a chic Parisian bistro hired Jean Lafleur, convicted in the wake of the sponsorship inquiry, to work as a sous-chef, he never imagined that his face would be plastered on the front cover of the Journal de Montréal shortly thereafter...

Inspectors wreak havoc on fromageries

By Dan Delmar on September 18, 2008

The province’s food inspection agency is in the midst of a zealous, unprecedented raid on Quebec cheese shops. Their mission: To seek and destroy any piece of cheese that has had even the most harmless flirtation with the sometimes harmful Listeria bacteria...

Safe injection facilities: compassionate or enabling?

By Dan Delmar on September 4, 2008

The ongoing debate over whether or not to provide Montreal drug addicts with clean syringes and a safe place to shoot up pits the tough love crowd against a more sympathetic, mothering approach; long-term solutions versus short-term relief...

The weekend to end modesty

By Dan Delmar on September 4, 2008

Everything about the recent Weekend to End Breast Cancer is over the top. Judging solely based on the millions of dollars raised, one could come to the conclusion that the adage ‘bigger is better’ should be applied to charity. But when a supposedly selfless deed is flaunted in front of an entire city and turned into an exercise of corporate and self-promotion, what’s left is a sad commentary on just how selfish we’ve become...

Mark Bruneau—raw

By Dan Delmar on August 21, 2008

It is apparent from the start that Mark Bruneau, who is seeking the Liberal party nomination in the south-west Jeanne-Le Ber riding, is different. And not the kind of “different” that is bandied about by most politicians who want to set themselves apart from so many of their dull and mediocre colleagues. Bruneau, 47, is an eccentric, in-your-face, heavy-set multi-millionaire with razor-sharp wit and, he says, a desire to spend the next quarter-century serving his country. In short, he breaks the mold...

Gilles Proulx!

By Dan Delmar on June 26, 2008

“Je suis vieux. Après 46 ans, ca me fatigue. J’ai des problemes de surdité et je n’ai plus d’énergie,” Gilles Proulx began as he prepared for last Friday’s edition of Le Journal du Midi on Montreal’s francophone powerhouse talk station, 98.5 FM. “À 68 ans, j’ai dépassé largement la plupart des carrières à la radio, qui durent en moyenne de 10 à 12 ans.”..

Parking revenues double in 2007

By Dan Delmar on June 12, 2008

Montreal made almost twice as much in 2007 from parking revenues as it did the previous year and City Hall says: mission accomplished...

A new brown entry for the Yellow Door?

By Dan Delmar on May 29, 2008

A well-known artistic space in the McGill Ghetto is a bit less recognizable after undergoing some minor renovations: The Yellow Door's yellow door is no more...

Discussion isn’t dead

By Dan Delmar on May 29, 2008

It’s hard to find good conversation these days. Who has time to talk about important issues in our communities when we’re drained at the end of the day from working longer hours for less pay? Kids, bills, chores…and American Idol is on, too...