Following the release of the newest video designed to help save the lower Main from destruction at the hands of a developer, the developer in question, Angus, has said it needs more time to complete its project.

They are also now talking about a smaller building, closer to the Monument Nationale in size, instead of the 12-storey behemoth Quadrilaterre they had planned. This is largely due to the efforts of the Save the Main Coalition and the court case brought on by Cafe Cleopatre owner John Zoumboulakis.

While this buys the artists trying to save the Cleo and other historic building some time (the wrecking ball was supposed to fall in March), the fight isn’t over yet. Some have suggested that a new, alternate plan is needed.

Donovan King of OTL explained this on CKUT radio before the latest announcement from Angus:

Following the viral success of Lapdance for Prince Charles, the artists hoping to save Cafe Cleopatre and the lower Main from destruction have released another video, this time in both French and English.

Rather than an appeal, it’s a parody infomercial for a new product called Demolition in a Box, that can “destroy any landmark, city, part of town” in one easy and incredibly corrupt step.

The French version is available here and the English version is below:

The following is a video plea and open letter to Prince Charles on the occasion of his visit to Montreal.  After having exhausted all other means of stopping the destruction of their performance space in the heart of Montreal’s historic Red Light district, burlesque dance troupe the Dead Dolls have turned to the Prince, a man who cares about heritage, with a simple request:  Save the Red Light District and Save the Main:

To HRH Prince Charles,

We are writing to you today from Montreal with one simple request. As someone who has demonstrated his love for the preservation of history, we are asking for your majesty’s assistance in saving the historic Red Light District on Montreal’s Main from destruction when you visit us on Tuesday.

St-Laurent Boulevard, commonly known as the Main, was the first street to leave the fortifications of what was then the city of Montreal. Over the next few centuries, it welcomed immigrants from all over the world to become the thriving multicultural hub that it is today.  It has even been declared a national heritage site.

Behind its historic facade, numerous independent artists including burlesque dancers, fetish performers and others call the vaudeville thrust stage of the legendary Café Cleopatre home and have done so for several years.

The lower Main, the gateway to the old port is living history and a vibrant artistic community, but it is under threat. A developer wants to evict the artists and residents, demolish the buildings and replace them with a twelve-story office tower under the guise of a Quartier des spectacles (entertainment district).

Despite objections from historians, academics, residents and artists and a ruling against the project from the Montreal public consultation office, the developer and the city plan to go ahead with the project, dubbed the Quadrilatere St-Laurent.

With nowhere else to turn, we are requesting that your majesty bring the issue up with Mayor Gerald Tremblay and any other officials you may encounter on your trip to Montreal or at very least make a public statement in support of the artists and residents and in support of our history.

UPDATE: TRYING TO MEET THE PRINCE

Tuesday night, the riot squad prevented us from delivering our message to Prince Charles in person:

Velma Candyass of the Dead Dolls and riot cops (photo by Domenic Castelli)

You can read media reports of what happened here:

“Prince Chuck misses out on lapdance” by Jamie O’ Meara, Up to the Hour (Hour Magazine)

“Royal welcome” photo by Kate Hutchinson, Montreal Mirror

“Montréal : œufs, tomates et strip-tease pour le Prince Charles” par Yannick Vely, Paris Match

“If the mayor won’t listen, maybe the prince will” by Jason C. McLean, Forget The Box

“please, charlie boy, save montreal’s red-light district” by Andy Riga, Montreal Gazette

“Une foule bigarrée accueille le prince” par Judith Lachapelle, La Presse

We never got to deliver our message to the Prince Charles in person and still haven’t received a response to our letter or video.  He’s in Ottawa until tomorrow.  Hopefully he’ll hear our message before returning to England.

** If you want to help spread the word, please forward, re-post, Facebook, Digg, etc. this post and/or this video to all your friends and lists, especially to people in England.

****You can also contact Prince Charles through his Regeneration Trust:

info@princes-regeneration.org

In case you haven’t noticed, this is election season in Montreal.  This year’s campaign has been quite a raucous one.  There has been plenty of talk about water meters, mayoral candidates’ ability to speak English and new transportation strategies.  One issue that seems to have been pushed to the background, though, is the protection of the Main.

St-Laurent Boulevard, the first street to make it’s way out of the fortified city which is now called Old Montreal was designated as a national heritage site by Parks Canada.  In keeping with this status “intrusive elements must be kept to a minimal.”

Anyone who’s been to the Main lately will notice that this is anything but the case.  From the giant scaffolding wrap billboard mounted last summer by an allegedly dubious promoter, to the billboard trucks that drive up the street all summer long, to the heavy corporate presence at street sales that are supposed to be for local merchants but instead are policed for the benefit of NewAd Media, to attempts by a developer to replace historic performance venues with a giant eyesore office tower, the Main is under threat.

Since Parks Canada has given the city of Montreal the job of protecting the Main, the Reclaim the Main campaign wants to know what politicians are going to do about it if elected or re-elected November 1st.  So, we are proud to present the first ever Reclaim the Main challenge! The rules are simple – mayoral candidates or their appointed representatives are asked to answer this one question:

What will you do to preserve the Main’s historic status, promote the interests of those who live and work there and protect against corporate intrusions?

One response per party. English, French or bilingual. Independents are also welcome to respond. Answers should mention their plan to deal with billboard trucks, unscrupulous advertisers and developers and how to combat corporate and private dominance of public space at street fairs.  They should be sent to main@optative.net and will be published here before the election.

The winner gets the endorsement of the Reclaim the Main campaign and OTL and will be featured in this space. Plus, they’ll be doing the right thing for the Main and for Montreal.  Ordinary citizens are also invited to address this issue and send their responses to the same address or just post them in the comments below – see how you compare to the politicians!

OTL has learned that agents of the Department of Homeland Insecurity along with the FBI will be in Montreal on Saturday, November 7th to track illegal aliens.  They need to be stopped and the aliens need to be protected at all costs.  You can help us by infiltrating the bureau.

In a secret communiqué obtained by OTL, the bureau is recruiting locals and offering a pay-what-you-can training session to give you the tools to help them track and apprehend aliens like this one:

We feel that this is a blatant attempt at discrimination and scapegoating.  After all, these supposed aliens aren’t evil.  They aren’t harming anyone.  They’re just trying to get by and aren’t even a drain.  They eat the food that the rest of us throw away or don’t even consider to be food in the first place as this photo suggests:

If you want to help us, here’s the plan.  Sign up for the bureau’s “training sessions” by phoning 514-699-3378.  You’ll need to have the password, which we have learned is “sparrowdove.”  These sessions are for three people at a time and leaving every 30 minutes or so between 3pm and 8pm on Saturday, November 7th, so you’ll need to reserve a spot in advance.

Then, at the appropriate time, go to the bureau’s Montreal headquarters which, due to budget cuts, are located inside Bar Bifteck, 3702 St-Laurent and look for this man:

Tell him you want to help, but always remember your mission.  You may get some help along the way from other more high-placed infiltrators in the bureau.  It’s a tough job, but please remember why you’re doing it, so the “aliens” can live free.

We’re counting on you, but more importantly, they’re counting on you

——————————–

Car Stories: Alien Invasion continues a tradition that has been described as “the most fun you might ever have in the backseat of a car” (Ottawa Citizen).  Three spect-actors at a time are invited to witness and take part in Montreal’s longest-running theatrical experiment by going on a guided theatrical joyride through the Urban Wonderland and its alleyways, cars and parking lots.

The 2009 edition won six Iffy awards at this year’s Buffalo infringement Festival where it premiered and now returns to Montreal for one day only.  Please call 514-699-3378 or e-mail carstories@optative.net to see the show or check out our site for more info.

If you saw us in June at the 2009 Montreal infringement Festival, this is a completely different show but it is still PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN at the end, so hop in and enjoy the ride!

*** Please FWD widely and re-post

Yesterday, the OTL phone got a very interesting missed call.  The caller ID said Time2Ad. This is the company responsible for the giant scaffolding wrap billboard on the corner of St-Laurent and Sherbrooke Street, so it’s quite surprising that they would be calling us.  Maybe it was to apologize for violating the historic status of the Main, a protected site – we could only hope.  Today, we got our answer.

Time2Ad called back, this time from a blocked number.  Once they established that they were indeed speaking with a member of the collective responsible for this blog, the phone was passed to someone identified to us as Matthew Alzubi, president of the company.

Alzubi said that we have until midnight tonight to remove this post dealing with what Time2Ad did on the Main or else face legal consequences.  Just what consequences may arise over a post that states facts and gives voice to people opposed to the cultural effects a company’s project has in their opinion is unclear at best.

This might explain why Mr. Alzubi merely repeated his statement about midnight tonight and added that we didn’t know what he was capable of “so help me God” when asked to send what he was saying in written form.  That could also explain why no one left a message when they called our phone yesterday.

Maybe they don’t want any record of what Time2Ad and Matthew Alzubi said to us to exist.  Maybe they know that we have a right to freedom of speech and any court that looked at their case against us would throw it out.  Maybe they thought they could scare us with some tough talk.  Sadly for them, they can’t.  Sadly for Montreal, it looks like Time2Ad still plan to put up more scaffolding wrap billboards.

From May 28th – 31st the Société de Développement du Boulevard Saint-Laurent (SDBSL) hosted a four day party known as the Mainfest. Despite bad weather reports, the sun shone radiantly throughout most of the festival. This was wonderful for local merchants, musicians, performers, and pedestrians who converged at the Mainfest to participate in a multitude of activities. This was also fantastic for the Schering-Plough Corporation because their brand Coppertone set up a promotional stand at the festival to distribute sunscreen and inform pedestrians about Coppertone products as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign. An entire weekend of rain would have put a damper on Coppertone’s sunscreen publicity.

Under the bright sun, Coppertone promoters gave pedestrians free samples of sunscreen while warning them about the problems caused by the sun’s ultra violet rays. They also invited people to have a free evaluation of their facial skin to test for existing sun damage. The test was administered by a man in a white laboratory coat in the shade beneath a Coppertone branded umbrella. He performed his test with a “diagnostic camera” which took one picture, developed it in two different ways laid out side by side. On the left, the picture appeared overexposed and hid any skin blemish and on the right, the picture was underexposed revealing every wrinkle and spot on one’s face. The diagnosis was performed by comparing the two pictures. The man pointed out skin abnormalities from the underexposed picture. If he found skin problems participants were told that they could prevent further harm by using Coppertone products. If he found no damage, people were told to use Coppertone to prevent future skin problems.

Instead of thanking Coppertone for caring so much about my well being, I approached the Coppertone display to ask some very important questions. Why was Coppertone so concerned about my skin? Do they truly care or is this another marketing ploy to brand the Coppertone name? Is their diagnosis real or is it a sales tactic? How qualified is the man giving the diagnosis? I know that sun exposure can cause skin damage, but can Coppertone really protect me? Does Coppertone contain any ingredients which cause skin damage? These questions induced a little panic in the Coppertone promotion team. I guess the presence of my camera man didn’t help. Though, I didn’t get to the bottom of all these questions, I did discover some awful truths about their campaign.

Since the promoters didn’t work for Coppertone it was hard to find out anything about their products. Coppertone paid actors and event organizers from New Ad, a marketing company who delivers young people to corporations, and a nurse from Quality Health Services LTD. The nurse alleged that he could not make any formal diagnoses because he was not a doctor. In fact, none of the promotional staff could not answer any questions about how the product worked, how it was made, what ingredients were in the sunscreen or if any ingredients used in the sunscreen were harmful.

Like the glare of the sun, light shed on the true intentions of Coppertone’s promotional spectacle. Coppertone’s campaign was not designed to help people but to scare them.  If someone is told that they may develop skin cancer because they are not well protected from the sun, they should be more likely to take advice from the street promoters and apply Coppertone sunscreen. Furthermore, if people are told they have skin problems from someone that resembles a doctor, they may be scared enough to use Coppertone more frequently so the ‘damage’ doesn’t escalate, especially if the Coppertone name is associated with cancer prevention. If Coppertone was really concerned about people’s skin, they would have hired real doctors to make real medical assessments instead of contracting a nurse from Quality Health Services LTD who can only provide an unprofessional opinion. He only told me he was a nurse and that he was not making an actual diagnosis after I inquired. Those who didn’t ask may have assumed he was a doctor giving valid evaluations, prescribing Coppertone to prevent skin cancer.

If Coppertone sunscreen really prevented skin cancer, my argument could be moot. Maybe a little scare for something healthy wouldn’t be so bad after all. These tactics are commonly used in anti-smoking and anti-drinking and driving commercials. The main problem is that Coppertone sunscreen does not do very well in research conducted by independent sources.

In 2008, the Environmental Working Group conducted an investigation of nearly 1 000 brand name sunscreens. This report concluded that none of Coppertone’s 41 sunscreens met the Environmental Working Group’s criteria for safety and effectiveness. Coppertone was accused of using dangerous ingredients including Oxybenzone, which is reported to be a possible cancer causing agent (for a comprehensive list of harmful ingredients used by Coppertone, follow this link).

The other sources of research on Coppertone products are conducted and/ or  sponsored by Coppertone themselves. The Coppertone Solar Research Center is responsible for testing Coppertone’s sunscreen for safety and effectiveness. This center was opened in 1971 and is described by Coppertone as the world’s largest state of the art facility for testing the quality of their sun-care products. In addition, the Coppertone Research Fund was established to provide financial support for dermatology research in Canada. Research on Coppertone sunscreen is mainly conducted by their research center through their charity fund, a blatant conflict of interest. In addition, they hire promoters, like those at the Mainfest, who cannot answer basic questions regarding the safety or effectiveness of their sunscreen.

Coppertone’s Mainfest masquerade came to an end when members of the Optative Theatrical Laboratories drew attention to the hypocrisy of associating Coppertone sunscreen to cancer prevention, especially by promoters who know nothing about the product. Since Coppertone paid actors to promote their sunscreen at the Mainfest, we intervened by sending in actors of our own. Because of the insincerity of their campaign, they were culture jammed. Here is what transpired:

Montreal’s “Quartier des Spectacles” project is proceeding at a fast clip. The neighbourhood is currently undergoing major transformations as new parks are laid out, a state-of-the-art concert hall goes up, and select buildings are appropriated and destroyed to make way for “development”. Designed to transform Montreal’s old red light district and environs into a less-seedy destination for those seeking spectacles of theatre, music, dance, and other performances, the project is attracting more and more controversy.

For reasons unexplained, developers have been busy trying to raze existing authentic performance venues in the area, despite their historical value and ongoing use by various artists and spectators. The storied Spectrum concert hall was unceremoniously demolished to make way for a box store, and now developers are threatening to appropriate and raze the Café Cleopatra, a burlesque venue that should probably be a heritage site by now, and Katacombes, an activist co-op spectacle hall. That St. Laurent boulevard is a historic site where “intrusive elements must be minimal” has not deterred a so-called French “starchitect” from drawing up plans to construct a gigantic 12-story glass office tower called the Quadrilatère Saint-Laurent on the footprint of the destroyed venues, which would only have their facades preserved.

The irony that the “Quartier des Spectacles” project is destroying real spectacle venues and replacing them with office towers is not lost on local artists or residents. Now the very artists who create the spectacles from which the Quartier takes its name are raising their voices in dissent. Many are demanding that developers respect existing venues and stop their plan to destroy local culture and heritage. The Coalition des Artistes du Cabaret Cleo has issued a RED ALERT! and is mobilizing. They are hoping to “integrate the creative spirit of the last 5 years at Cabaret Cleo’s within a constructive, honest and positive plan to revitalize Montreal’s legendary Main,” and have prepared a petition, which you can read and sign here.

You can sign the petition Saturday June 6th starting a 8pm on the occasion of a “Friends of Cabaret Cleo” rally event (1230 St-Laurent, 2nd floor). There will be a lively evening of performances, lectures and cultural resistance, so join in and add your voice to the chorus of diasapproval. Velma Candyass of the Dead Dolls Dancers, frequent performers at the threatened venue, asks:

“How is a 12 story office tower part of the Quartier des Spectacles? As alternative artists we were looking forward to learning about the proposed revitalization plans for the Quartier des Spectacles. However by eliminating the 2nd floor show bar, a vital venue for local alternative artists in the proposed plans does not endear us to the proposed ideas. They wish to have ‘ethical business’ such as ‘ethical flower shops’ ‘quebec artisinal soaps ‘ or or chic bistros. somehow neo vaudeville, neo burlesque and cheap hotdogs do not fit their image of things to be. Cleo is a special venue that has supported and mentored alternative artists. The stage setup is quite unique as it is the only cabaret style setup here in montreal. We simply wish to continue doing our shows and to be included in the Quartier des Spectacles.”

On Tuesday June 9th the Coalition will deliver a lecture of memorandums and a presentation of their petition at the final Public Consultation on the project, to be held at the ballroom of Hôtel Holiday Inn Select, 99 Viger ave. W. (corner St-Urbain), Place-d’Armes metro. The petition will be presented to Société de développement Angus (SDA), officials of the Ville de Montréal as well as the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) and Conseil du Patrimoine de Montréal.

Now is the time to support the real Montreal artists and the real Montreal culture. Destroying authentic and storied performance venues in a Historic Site should be illegal. To destroy them in a “Quartier des Spectacles” makes no sense whatsoever. If anything, they should receive protected designation for their authenticity. The idea of bringing in a French “Starchitect” to destroy Montreal culture is utterly appalling, and the notion that a 12-story office tower belongs in a Historic Site suggests that the “Starchitect” is misguided. The tough-guy tactics of threatening appropriation demonstrate once again that Mayor Tremblay is ignoring artists, heritage activists, and business owners in his attempt to push through yet another ill-conceived project. The “Quartier des Spectacles” has a history of kicking out artists who express themsevles in alternative ways, and with an election coming up in November, now is the time to voice your opposition to these disrespectful and counterproductive plans. Sign the petition, and join the artists of Café Cleo in demanding protection for our culture!

Today is the beginning of “MainFest”, a 3 day “street fair” on St. Laurent Boulevard, or “The Main” Historic site. The boulevard will be completely closed to traffic and is expected to receive an estimated 300 000 visitors. According to The Société de développement du boulevard Saint-Laurent (SDBSL), organizers of “MainFest” and other “street fairs”:

“With summer on the way, everyone’s invited to come to Saint-Laurent Boulevard and check out the action. MainFest is the perfect occasion for the public to enjoy Saint-Laurent Boulevard’s great terrasses and discover the hot new summer trends in fashion, decor and music. It’s time to put those tuques and boots away for the season and revel in the warm weather! MainFest will be serving up a fabulous cocktail of beauty, fitness, sports, and music sessions that will appeal to all our visitors.”

Known for its capitalist approach and corporate connections, the SDBSL even promotes “guerrilla marketing” in the historic site where, according to the Canadian government at least, “intrusive elements must be minimal”. In the past the SDBSL has sold out the historic site to corporate interests on many occasions, including to unethical sponsors such as PartyPoker.Net, which prompted local citizens, heritage activists and culture-jammers to launch a campaign to Reclaim The Main!

Culture wars on the street are starting to heat up, and as the “MainFest” sets up shop, signs of corporate interference are already all over the place.

This beer company/sponsor, which has a mobile “DJ Booth” has co-opted anarchist colours (black and red) and revolutionary imagery to sell its brand of suds. Furthermore, a security force including private guards and police officers is enforcing “rules” in the corporate zone, while not actually following them themselves. For example, cycling is apparently prohibited.

However, this regulation did not stop police officers from zipping through the crowd on their bikes, even blowing red lights, all the while warning others to dismount their bikes or face a ticket.

Faced with such hipocrisy, on the other side of the equation activists are working with culture-jammers on a movie documenting the corporate takeover of the historic site. Guerrilla Video Productions, Optative Theatrical Laboratories, and others are demanding change and inviting resisters to participate and Reclaim the Main. Contact optatif@gmail.com to get involved.

The next street “event” organized by the SDBSL is called “Club Main”, and runs June 18–21, 2009:

“We can’t bring Saint-Laurent to the beach, so we’re bringing the beach to Saint-Laurent! Everyone is invited to join the fun at Club Main, Montreal’s one-of-a-kind urban beach, where partying is the name of the game. No need to travel halfway round the world to soak up that holiday atmosphere. It will all be right here! Visitors will be able to stroll around, laze in the sun or underneath a palm tree, enjoy beach sports, volleyball, and Wake dans’rue, watch the performers, and in the evening, party under the stars!”

While corporate sponsorship deals have not been announced yet, the closure of “The Main” coincides with the opening of the Montreal infringement festival.

One act that is sure to participate in culture-jamming the corporate spam is the ninth edition of Montreal’s “longest-running theatre experiment”, Car Stories. Optative Theatrical Laboratories is seeking volunteers to participate and get involved. The show runs from June 19 – 21 during the street closure, and is open to all interested players. Interested players will bring it to the fifth annual Buffalo infringement festival in late July. The next meeting is Tuesday June 2 at 6pm at the Bifteck (3702 St. Laurent). All are welcome!

So get on down to “The Main” and witness the corporate SDBSL events theatrically clashing with heritage activism, concerned citizens, culture-jammers, and those demanding the protection of the historic site. Better yet, join in the action and help usher in a new era where people take precedence over corporations!

It looks like ripping up the ground to create open pit mines in places like Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala just isn’t enough for some Canadian mining companies: RoyalOr has gone local!  The Johannesburg, South Africa-registered organization has plans to turn Mount Royal into an open-pit mine.

“People always talk about buying local food and local produce,” argued RoyalOr CEO and director Alonse Barbe to people on the mountain yesterday, “so why are we taking our gold all the way from Mexico when we could be taking it here from Mount Royal?”

anticipated pit scope for the Mount Royal project

Barbe cited the activities of his firm and other Canadian mining companies in communities around the world and the lack of reaction in Canada as an example of Canadians’ acceptance of the practice of open-pit mining.  He also hopes that protests against and opposition to RoyalOr’s plans can be quashed in a similar manner to how dissent is dealt with in the developing world: through bribery of officials and silence in the media.

The RoyalOr plan involves digging up an area which goes from around Dawson College to St-Urbain Street on the Plateau.  This would gut most of the mountain and also prompt the forced relocation of residents, many of them currently living in Upper Westmount.  Barbe hopes that the company’s generous offer of moving everyone affected to places like Longueil and Laval for free will help to offset potentially litigious opposition.

There is also oppositon brewing against the project by community organization and citizens in general.  It has also started generating buzz in the media, with articles appearing in the Montreal Mirror and Rue Frontenac.

It was with this in mind that Barbe and a team of surveyors, geologists and marketers went to the weekly Tam Tams celebration on the mountain yesterday to explain their project to members of the community.  They were met with some skepticism, but support as well.  Here is a video of some of what happened:

Representatives of RoyalOr will make their claim official today as they hammer in the last stake as part of a press conference.  You are invited to join them at 1:30pm by the gazebo.