They're At It Again...

In September 2008, the Powers Of The City's Most Corrupt Administration Ever decided to allow the tearing down of cultural hallmarks and heritage spots to build condos and expensive live show venues, all while letting smaller show venues wither and die.

A year later, they're still at it, this time targeting a strip of the instersection of our two main streets, Saint-Laurent and Sainte-Catherine, expropriating commerces that have been in place for a century, defining Montréal institutions like Montréal Pool Room (usually considered the best steamed hot dogs in town) and vaudevillian/cabaret/burlesque venue Café Cléopâtre.

They claim they want to keep the façades and build 11-story buildings behind them which will house both condos and commerces, and we all expect them to end up not being able to use the façades and just build their new towers instead of what is already in place.

What's funny/odd is they want to destroy what is already there instead of using the vacant lots surrounding the place, but if they really wanted to revitalize that part of town, shouldn't they start with the vacant lots? And that's saying nothing of the fact that 11-story buildings are not allowed in that particular part of that particular street for preservation reasons.

But the people of my generation no longer care about issues like these. They're past the cynicism of decades past and just don't care or, worse, full-on agree that the cleansing of ''morally questionable establishments of the moment'' is the right thing to do, that it's vital that we turn a reputation-carrier into a cross between a peaceful suburb and Disneyland.

And that type of attitude is contagious, because fuckers like me then feel outnumbered and powerless when facing impossible odds when all we're trying to do is keep our city - and its spirit - intact.

Our city is known for its art and its artists. But you can't perform regularly when the only venues that are left are those who'll charge your crowd $50 a ticket to see you perform. And it's hard to create when you're too busy packing from being expropriated and evicted every other month because your landlord is no longer content on the $500 you give him monthly and would rather sell your place as a condo for a cool quarter million or more.

A friend of mine keeps telling me of his dream, to run off into a forest and just build himself a shack there out of what's available, and live outside of our way of life, except that the government wouldn't let you do this, they'd still come at your door and expect something of you.

Well... I'm starting to be at a point where I think to myself: if my city refuses to be a City, with decent public transit, a 'normal' amount of potholes, affordable housing, culturally diverse, at least some services and commerces available 24/7, varied entertainment, laws that make sense... then maybe I should move to such a place. Or go all-out opposite and move to Gaspésie, near the ocean, and relax, eat shrimp and lobster daily, and not worry about the assholes wasting my tax dollars, lounging on their friends' yachts after taking bribes for them.