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Maclean’s cover story angers Quebecers

by Nick Frid on

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In the weeks since its publication, the Maclean’s magazine cover story that branded Quebec with the title of “Most Corrupt Province in Canada” has aroused strong reactions throughout the province.

In the article, which appeared in the October 4 issue, Martin Patriquin examined Quebec’s political culture, which he called “perpetually rife with scandal.” Patriquin cited  former premier Maurice Duplessis’s allotment of money and contracts to favoured ridings, the uncertaintities surrounding former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s rise to power, and the current scandal over judicial selection as evidence of Quebec’s political failures.

Several organizations and politicians have publicly demanded an apology from the magazine.

“The article itself isn’t so damaging,” said Marc Poisson, a representative of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec. “It’s mostly the culmination that comes along with it and the cover of the magazine.”

Poisson said that the article could discourage investors from coming to Quebec and could have a lasting effect on Quebec’s image both nationally and internationally.

Some groups are also upset over the lack of a complete province by province ranking and any empirical support for giving Quebec the top-ranked spot. Journalists and bloggers for L’actualité, a French magazine owned by the same parent company as Maclean’s, have attacked the article by searching for  the methodology used to determine Quebec’s status as the most corrupt province in the nation.  

“This is xenophobia,” said Jean-François Lisée, a Quebec political analyst who blogs for L’actualité. “This is what Maclean’s salesmanship rides on and perpetuates as we speak.”

Patriquin, the author, said he believes the article has been misconstrued.

“I think it was misunderstood by a lot of people,” he said. “They see the headlines and the cover and they don’t read the story and they make their judgements that way. That’s the way it’s been the whole way through.”   

According to Patriquin, cover articles generally receive lots of feedback, but this article has received a particularly high amount, both good and bad.   

“There has been a ton of positive feedback … from people in the press and letters from people telling us we spoke the truth,” he said.

Opinion

A Woman’s Right to Sex

by Arielle Frank on

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Much to the chagrin of prudes, puritans, and everyone in between, the “Fuck List” of a recent Duke graduate was recently leaked on the Internet. The list, dubbed a “senior thesis” by creator Karen Owen (or as I shall soon need to call her, Hester Prynne), contained an in-depth analysis of 13 men she had slept with throughout the course of her university career. The specifics of the list are irrelevant, because  it’s really the reaction to the list that requires further discussion.

The countless media responses, including major news outlets such as The Today Show (twice), were, in a word, terrifying. Sitting in the library of my institution of higher learning, I felt as though I had accidentally bought a one-way ticket to 17th century Massachusetts. One Einstein mused, “How is she ever going to get a boyfriend now that guys will know how many guys she’s slept with?” Touché, my friend. How dare a 22-year-old college graduate have sexual experiences! In a world of sexually explicit art, music, theatre, and cinema where does a woman’s sexual liberation and her right to express it fit in? Respondents may have masked their disdain and horror for the fact that her list violated the privacy of the men she’d slept with, but somehow their arguments all seemed to conclude with the same point: Karen Owen is a slut.

I have never believed in the word “slut” because I have no idea what it means, and neither do the majority of the people who use it. When I hear someone use the term I’ll ask them, “What does it mean to be a slut?” This is often met with pauses and grumbles followed by shrugs from the challenged party. This word “slut” has become disconnected from any actual meaning, yet it still causes pain and embarrassment for those who are labelled it.

I don’t fancy myself a feminist, but the severity and intensity with which people negatively responded to the “Fuck List” and its author point to the fact that there is still a need for feminism, especially in the realm of women’s sexuality.  This is magnified when you compare the public reaction to Tucker Max’s book, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, with Karen Owen’s “Fuck List.” For those of you who are unfamiliar with Max, a graduate of Duke Law School, he is a self-proclaimed asshole who created a blog that chronicled his slew of drunken hookups, which eventually resulted in the aforementioned book. On certain accounts, he too divulged the names of the women he’d slept with. which resulted in a number of lawsuits. How was Max received? Some called him a douche bag and an asshole. But other than the obligatory labels, his book went on to be a New York Times bestseller and continued to place on the list every year from 2006 to 2010. He was also offered a television pilot for Comedy Central, a movie deal, and a $300,000 advance for his second book. Max made the rounds of interviews on all major networks while Owen has remained in hiding throughout the whole ordeal, only issuing a couple of apologies and granting a select number of phone interviews.

Where does a women’s right to express her sexuality fit in within our society? It becomes glaringly clear that it doesn’t. Women dictating sex on their terms and basing their actions on their desires is seen as overly aggressive and off-putting. Making matters worse, other women sometimes view women who do so negatively and pass judgment on them.  

Not to sound histrionic but this poses a problem to all of society; it results in the sexual exploits of anything other than white, heterosexual male sex being taboo. Yet we’re the only ones capable of propagating or stopping this. Much of what we’re taught at an early age about sex is littered with the biases of those teaching us, whether it be our parents, our religious institutions, or our schools. Freeing yourself and others from this cycle is very easy—it can start with cutting the word slut out of your vocabulary and that of your friends. Fifty years ago, married couples were afraid to sexually experiment or talk about their sex life. Imagine what the sexual landscape could look like 50 years from now if we promote open-minded thinking today.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Bedouin Soundclash: Light the Horizon

by Liya Adessky on

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Bedouin Soundclash, known for their unique brand of reggae-tinged rock/soul music, return with their latest effort, Light the Horizon. Understated as always, the band’s new release has a lot of what you’ve come to expect from them; lead singer Jay Malinowski’s distinctive vocals, sweet melodies, a laid-back vibe, and thought-provoking lyrics.  

This album feels a lot less rousing than previous efforts, though. While songs like “Follow the Sun” and “A Chance of Rain” make for easy listening, they’re not as memorable or exciting as previous hits like “Shelter” or “Walls Fall Down.”  The Juno Award-winning group definitely have their formula down pat, but this album feels a bit too safe and under-produced. Producer DJ King Britt brings out the tried and true in the band, and not much else. Aside from finding a new drummer, Sekou Lumumba, there isn’t a whole lot of noticeable change or growth on this album.  

There’s no denying that Bedouin Soundclash produce lovely music, but it’s just not enough. Most songs are heavily reggae-influenced, with acoustic songs like “No One Moves, No One Gets Hurt” few and far between. Standout tracks include the fun “Mountain Top,” and “Brutal Hearts,” where the band pairs up with Quebec’s Coeur de Pirate.  

Bedouin Soundclash continue to create quality music, but without any risk involved.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Antony and the Johnsons: Swanlight

by Alexander Hamilton on

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Swanlight is the fourth release from singer-songwriter Antony Hegarty, and one that sees him moving in a new, subtler artistic direction. After making waves in the music industry with his second album in 2005, Hegarty and his band have become a critically acclaimed staple in the indie scene. It’s easy to see why: Hegarty’s vocals are full-bodied and emotive, filled with passionate intensity but also a fragile sensitivity that few singers are able to match.

The baroque pop arrangements of Johnson’s first few records, however, are less present on Swanlight. Preference is given to sparse instrumentals, plucked strings, and stumbling keys, allowing Hegarty’s vocals to dominate more than ever. The title track is laden with reverb and distortion effects, “Ghost” abounds with delicate piano arpeggios, and “Thank You for Your Love” kicks in with a sultry brass chorus. All the while Hegarty’s voice is a constant, moody and evocative. Although this album feels less melancholic—love seems to be often on his mind—Hegarty also sings regretfully about his family on “The Great White Ocean” and sad beginnings on “Everything Is New.”

The lingering impression of Swanlight is the necessity of Antony’s lyrics. He sings like every song simply has to be sung, and this is what stays with the listener.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Black Mountain: Wilderness Heart

by Lucas van Lierop on

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Their music has been featured in Spiderman 3, they’ve opened for Coldplay, their last album was a contender for Canada’s coveted Polaris Music Prize—and you’ve probably never heard of them.

Straight from the heart of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Black Mountain has spent the last six years perfecting their unique, ‘70s stadium-rock revival sound. Wilderness Heart, the group’s third full-length album, is a heavy-hitting powerhouse of solid guitar licks, and thick harmonies.

A vintage feel is noticeable in their album’s opening tracks, “The Hair Song” and “Old Fangs.” In many ways, Wilderness Heart sounds like the lost tapes of a band that was scheduled to play Woodstock, but somehow missed the show.

Black Mountain sounds nothing like the usual suspects of indie rock, hip-hop, or pop rock for which Canada is currently famous. However, rather than going out to left field to create a new sound or style, the band looks back to arguably the greatest age of rock music and builds on it. With a sound reminiscent of Jimmy Hendrix and Crosby, Stills, and Nash, this album  brings back the vintage sound of an earlier generation.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Hamilton: city of vice

by Carolyn Yates on

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When Johnny “Pops” Papalia, Godfather of the Hamilton Mafia, was shot on May 31, 1997, he left behind a power vacuum in organized crime in Ontario that would eventually become a revolution.

As the head of the Hamilton Mafia, Johnny Pops had just one rule: his people could not deal with bikers. After his death and the subsequent passing of Carmen Barillaro, Papalia’s right hand man, control of the Hamilton Mafia passed to Dominic and Antonio Musitano, the same brothers who had hired Kenny Murdock, the shooter behind both Barillaro and Papalia’s murders. When Murdock turned into an informant, both he and the Musitano brothers landed behind bars. In less than a year, faced with leaders who were either dead or in jail, and with other families under such heavy police surveillance that they might as well have been, the Hamilton Mafia ceased to exist.

But the province’s biker gangs were still around. And with the drug, prostitution, and vice markets in Ontario hanging in the balance, the subsequent street war between the Outlaws and the Hells Angels—Canada’s most violent biker gangs—was especially bloody.

“It’s hard for people to understand now just how powerful Johnny Pops was,” says Jerry Langton, author of the recently released Showdown, which tells the inside story of the war between the Outlaws and the Hells Angels, and the bestselling Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick in the Canadian Hells Angels. “He was basically the only Canadian mafia figure who could sit at the table with the top guys in New York. He was part of the French connection; he ruled a big swath of Canada, particularly Southern Ontario, for a very long time. After the Mafia imploded in less than a year, there was no one to oppose the bikers and they came rushing in.”

Showdown begins, as the shift in organized crime did, with Johnny Pops’ murder, and tells the story of the resulting struggle for control over Ontario in a world where the Hells Angels and Walter Stadnick ruled the rest of Canada. But the origins of Showdown are almost as interesting as the story itself. Langton was initially contacted by former Outlaws leader Mario “The Wop” Parente to write his biography.

“[Parente] approached me originally to write his life story as he saw it, but I couldn’t do that,” Langton says. “I had to investigate things for myself.

“He got angry at me a couple of times, because he came into the process with certain things in mind that he wanted to get accomplished,” Langton continued. “He wanted me to tell the story as he saw it, and when I didn’t agree with that, he got angry at me, but was nothing short of gentlemanly and was very polite. I would have liked to have worked with him, but I couldn’t do what he wanted me to do.”

Drawing on interviews with bikers, police, and informants, Langton gives readers a look into both the history and the world of organized crime. With a level of detail reminiscent of FBI-agent-slash-Mafia-infiltrator Joseph Pistone’s The Way of the Wiseguy, and a conversational, engaging tone, Showdown is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of biker gangs in Canada.

Student Life

The Real World goes to New York

by Steven Hoffer on

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“How do you like the real world?”

From what I can tell, almost everyone over the age of 30 asks recent college graduates this question. I personally hope to never impose those seven words on anyone. But since you are wondering, the real world is just fine, thanks for asking.

Armed with my prestigious McGill undergraduate education and a “real world” conquering confidence that only a humanities degree will instil in a young mind, I recently began chapter one of my working life with AOLNews at their New York City headquarters.

On the first day of my new gig I learned that one of my editors is married to my high school English teacher, Mrs. Steinberg. I was off to a good start.

Within the AOLNews organization, I write for a recently launched hyper-blog called the Surge Desk. Please visit and click recklessly. In brief, the Surge Desk aims to identify “trending topics” on the Internet—think GoogleTrends or Twitter’s “trending” list—and write stories on these topics in order to generate hits for the website.

If, say, the Architecture Café was being shut down (yes, I still occasionally read the Tribune) and “Architecture Café” emerged as a highly searched term, I might write a story compiling student reactions from across the blogosphere (this approach works better for U.S. politics) or research the top five menu items students will miss when the café closes. Lemon poppy seed muffins would undoubtedly make this list.

When I do my job well, hundreds of furious critics will rush to the article’s comment section to viciously trash me and the liberal media as they hide behind the veil of Internet anonymity. They seem to hate me, but I adore them.

I also once cooked hot dogs for six-time hot dog eating champion Takeru Kobayashi when he visited the office to be interviewed two days after being arrested for climbing on-stage at the 2010 Nathan’s Hot Dog Easting Contest on Coney Island. Normally, I do not cook hot dogs for celebrity hot dog eating champions.

Other perks include an endless supply of free Starbucks coffee, a few good laughs over the days when AOL was the only “on-ramp” to the Internet, and having my photo on a pretty sweet bio page that reads “Steven Hoffer is a New York City based journalist who also worked for FoxNews.com and Relix Magazine.”

Also, I wouldn’t call this a perk, but it’s worth pointing out that before he joined AOLNews, my editor-in-chief worked for the New York Times. This means that he can say things like, “When I was at the Times…” To a media nerd like myself, it hardly matters what comes next.

Although compared to my days at the Tribune I consume far fewer Subway sandwiches (read: zero Subway sandwiches) and have fewer drinks when I go out with my colleagues, the “real world” is still treating me well.

And I guess a recent college grad can do worse than the occasional “How do you like the real world?” If it weren’t for that question, I’d just be left with friends and relatives uttering the seven other words that journalists straight out of school tend to adopt as a pet peeve: “I have a story you should write.”

Student Life

Pulling an all nighter vs. running a marathon

by Shannon Kimball on

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 This past Sunday, I joined 35,000 other runners and toed the line in the Chicago marathon. I also had four midterms scheduled in the six days surrounding the race, making for one exhausting week. Surprisingly, I’ve learned that running 26.2 miles and staying up all night follow a similar process, both mentally and physically.

Preparation

Marathon: Hydration, carbohydrates, and a touch of caffeine are the keys to propelling yourself by foot over 26.2 miles. Runners must drink their weight in water, and eat at least three pounds of whole wheat pasta the day before the race. This ultimately leads to an excessive number of trips to port-a-potties on race day.

All-nighter: Drink at least one cup of coffee per hour, and follow it up with some water (Redpath gets hot). Any experienced student also knows the importance of planning snacks for the late-night munchies.

Adrenaline at the start

Marathon, Mile 1: Tens of thousands of spectators hoot and holler in the first 1,600 metres of the marathon, making for an exciting start to the race. Loud cheering, painted signs, and the surge of adrenaline that comes with the start provide the runners with the confidence that they can run another 25.2 miles.

All-nighter, 9 p.m.: Midterm- and essay-plagued students file into Redpath, optimistic about the night ahead. Their papers may be due in 15 hours, but that’s plenty of time to write 12,000 words. If all goes well, they may even be home for a quick nap by 5 a.m.

The first half

Marathon, Mile 13: The first 13.1 miles go by in a flash, without so much as a break in the runners’ strides. They’ve covered this distance dozens of times in the past four months of training. As runners get into their zones, water stations seem superfluous. But with 13.1 more miles to go, fear looms ahead.

All-nighter, 1 a.m.: The first half of the textbook was a joke—just a review of high school material. While it’s tempting to once again review the material you already knew, the real work lies untouched. But before that, it’s time for a coffee break.

Back and forth

Marathon, Miles 14-20: Lactic acids starts to build in the quadriceps, glutes, and arms, and runners’ once-fluid form begins to decline. The next six miles are a combination of surges, relaxed running, and a bit of painful hobbling.   

All nighter, 3 a.m.: Fingers ache from typing, and eyelids droop as late-night studiers slow their pace. The once fast-paced studying is a medley of coffee breaks, Facebook stalking, and the occasional topic sentence or chapter summary.

The wall

Marathon, Mile 21: The notorious wall hits. Depleted of endorphins and glycogen reserves, the body can’t use fat for energy, and must now slowly eat away at muscle fibres. This results in a whole-body ache. Regret sets in as athletes desperately try to put one foot in front of the other. Many slow to a walk on the sidelines, and only a few of them return to finish. Despite the roaring crowds and thousands of other suffering runners, everyone is completely and totally alone.

All-nighter, 5 a.m.: Reading groups, a friend’s notes, or a stolen paper outline don’t matter anymore. You have only a few hours to go and no amount of coffee will help you get that A. Anger—toward professors, toward yourself, but most of all, toward that kid sniffling next to you—is the only emotion you have left. Others just can’t take it, and head to the stacks for a nervous breakdown.

Unreasonable optimism

Marathon, Mile 24: After running for 24 miles, 2.2 is child’s play. Pained grunts turn into ecstatic cheers in the final surge.  

All-nighter, 6 a.m.: The sun is rising, and you haven’t accomplished half of what you set out to do, but an overwhelming feeling of calm and acceptance abounds with the start of new day, allowing for one last push.

Science & Technology, Student Life

The greatest inventions of all time

by Iain Macdonald on

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freepatentsonline.com

Sliced bread is awesome. But, if it’s truly one of the greatest inventions of all time, why do people still own bread knives? Here are some other suggestions for the top innovative inventions of all time. While these inventors may not have won  Nobel Prizes, they certainly deserve some recognition.

5.    The Printing Press

 The early printing presses were mechanical devices that could be loaded with letters to be printed onto a page. This made the production of books and other printed media significantly easier. Before the days of laserjet printers, the printing press was responsible for the spread of knowledge. Long ago, books were significantly more expensive, as each book had to be handwritten by a scribe. The invention of the printing press by Johanes Gutenberg in the 1400s was one of the most significant events for the lower and middle classes in history. The printing press gave the lower classes increased access to books, which at the time meant increased knowledge, which has made possible each of the following inventions on this list.

4.    The Internet

CERN’s TCP/IP connection, and the youngest invention on this list has definitely made a name for itself. If the Internet was shut off, the effects would be disastrous. In the 21st century, the Internet has become our primary tool for communication. If the whole network of communication went down, we wouldn’t have access to email, telephones, television, radio, and more. Without the Internet, suppliers would not be able to coordinate with consumers. Food and other merchandise would stop being delivered. Even electricity is often managed by the Internet, so it would be hit-and-miss without it. Without significant government action, millions of people could die due to starvation, weather effects, and other disasters. It goes to show that the internet provides a bit more than Facebook.

3.    The Transistor

Electrical devices are everywhere, and so are transistors. From cell phones to microwaves to stoplights, every electrical device you come into contact with is likely made primarily of transistors. A transistor is a little electrical switch, invented by a team at Bell Labs in the 1940s. In modern computers, there are billions of these little switches. The number of devices using transistors is staggering. Cars, planes, and nearly every computer made makes use of transistors by the million.

2.    Vaccinations

Since the mid-1800s when it became popular, the process of vaccination has saved hundreds of millions of lives. The idea is quite simple: the immune system develops antibodies which render harmful agents in a human blood useless. However, when a person is infected with a terrible disease like smallpox or polio, the number of microbes in the blood becomes so large, so quickly, that the immune system cannot respond in an adequate amount of time. A vaccination is just a small dosage of living or dead microbes causing the illness, which can be killed by the immune system. Then, when the person contracts the illness later in life, the immune system “remembers” the microbes and is much quicker to mount a response, saving the person’s life. While the mechanisms for its action were unknown to Jenner and Pasteur hundreds of years ago, they noticed that it was effective in preventing illness.

1.    The Internal Combustion Engine

No invention has been more influential than the internal combustion engine. Try to imagine life without it: we would not have cars, planes, trains, boats, and a number of other things which depend on these forms of transportation. Everything that was manufactured and transported any more than a few miles could not easily make the journey without the internal combustion engine. This invention, conceived by Carnot, first manufactured by Otto, has transformed our lives in unimaginable ways.

Features

There’s more than one way to save a feral cat…

by Laura Tindal on

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brittanica.com

Allie, now a 10-month-old tabby, was found as a kitten living with a group of squirrels. A Montreal family started feeding her but knew that when they moved, she would be out of luck, so they brought her to Eleven Eleven Animal Rescue where she was socialized and adopted to a loving home.

The Montreal rescue group—which takes in mostly feral kittens and pets that are about to be euthanized—has found families for more than 100 animals since Caroline Ross founded the organization. This number may sound impressive to some, but Ross knows that this is barely a scratch on the surface.

“The number of cats we saved in the past year is less than the number of cats euthanized just last week at the pound that we work with,” she says. “We rescued about 60 cats last year and in one day they had to euthanize 40 cats.”

These euthanasia rates are not unusual in Montreal, which struggles with an alarmingly high number of homeless cats. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter in Montreal takes in approximately 10,500 cats a year—with 150-250 cats living at the shelter on any given day—and euthanizes 50 per cent of the those admitted. There are hundreds of thousands of feral and abandoned cats roaming the city’s streets, and most  cities in Quebec have done little to address the problem.

A large part of the problem comes from high rates of animal abandonment in the province. Some attribute this to a lingering agricultural mentality towards animals, in which pets are seen as disposable, while others blame the no pet clauses common in Quebec leases. Quebec’s annual moving day on July 1st has become a day dreaded by animal rescue workers; it is the peak of the moving season during which half of all abandoned animals in Quebec are left behind. This phenomenon is not seen in any other province.

“No-pet clauses are forbidden in Ontario leases, so you don’t have an issue of people moving and not being able to move with their animals,” explains Alanna Devine, director of animal welfare at the Montreal SPCA. “It’s also partly about attitude. Unfortunately, in Quebec, there are still a lot of people who don’t realize that owning an animal is a lifelong commitment to that animal and not just a convenience thing.”

These abandoned pets add to the growing number of cats animal rescue groups are trying to help. Taking cats into rescues and putting them up for adoption is often seen as the best way to help these cats, but lack of adopters make this unsustainable.

“Even if all cats were healthy at all times and were 100 per cent adoptable, it’s not about space—we’d be stacking cats on top of cats on top of cats—it’s about supply and demand,” says Devine. “There are too many cats and not enough homes.”

Smaller rescues, such as Eleven Eleven—which does not operate a shelter—rely completely on foster homes to house cats for adoption. However, the lack of foster parents limits the number of pets the group can save from euthanization. At the height of summer the group had 25 kittens in foster homes, but in one week received 80 emails asking the group to find homes for their cats, all of which had to be turned down.

“Even with all the effort we’re doing to save them, there’s still such a huge overpopulation,” says Ross. “The town that we work with, they’ve got the cage space for 20 cats and they get about 60 to 100 cats a week during the summer. So any cat that’s going to the pound is just going to get euthanized.”

Most of Montreal’s cats are not in shelters: they’re on the street. The feral cat population in Montreal is continuing to increase. When unneutered cats are unleashed on the streets—either abandoned or just let outdoors—they breed with homeless cats, creating an epidemic of street-born feral cats.  On average, a breeding pair of feral cats will spawn 100 offspring within their short lives. Unlike strays, feral cats have lived on the streets their whole lives and are not used to humans. After four months of age it can be incredibly difficult to domesticate feral cats.  

Until recently, the common way to deal with these cats was to trap them and take them to city shelters to be euthanized. But in recent decades, groups have been turning to Trap-Neuter-and-Release programs to slow the exponential growth of the feral cat population. One of the first TNR programs in North America was implemented by Stanford University in 1989 to deal with the more than 1,500 homeless cats living on their campus, and today the number is down to 200. Not only is the program touted as more humane for the cats, it has more support from citizens, and is supposed to combat the “vacuum effect” that removal programs ignore. Cats are highly territorial, but when feral cats are removed, new ones move in for food sources and the remaining cats breed at high levels until this environment can no longer support the population—this is the “vacuum effect.” One area has only enough food or space for shelter for a certain number of cats, and population of breeding cats will always be at this number, either by breeding or by cats moving in. But if cats are sterilized and returned, the population will stabilize and decrease as the cats stop reproducing while still protecting their territory from other strays.

However, TNR  requires hard work and patience. Citizen involvement is required in locating and trapping cats. In order to stabilize a population within cat colonies, at least 70 per cent of the colony has to be sterilized, and this can take more than a year depending on the size of the population. From there it will take years for the colony to decrease.

But organizations around Montreal are taking up the challenge. The SPCA runs TNR programs in Verdun and Lachine—two municipalities that were in dire need of help over a year ago—while Steri-Animal does TNR throughout the Montreal area. In the past seven years Steri-Animal has successfully stabilized cat populations in at least 30 colonies. They currently sterilize around 140 feral cats a year as part of their TNR programs.

“Just last week there was a colony of 12 cats and we sterilized all 12,” says Linda Heimann, co-founder and director of operations for Steri-Animal. “Now that the cats are fixed the neighbours are no longer complaining because the cats are no longer wandering into their yards or peeing on their barbeques.”

Mike Cohen, city councillor for Côte St-Luc, noticed the problem of feral cats in his municipality and realized that someone needed to take action. After research and a public meeting on the issue in August, Cohen has now obtained council support for funding a TNR program in Côte Saint-Luc. Once the program’s budget has been determined, Cohen’s next step will be to enlist citizens willing to roll up their sleeves to help find and trap the cats.

“There’s no way in a million years that we could come up with the funding to track down every cat, but if there’s 10,000—and that’s the number that the vet’s given us—we’re going to try to trap as many as we can and as many as we can afford to pay for.”

This may sound expensive, but those in support of TNR point to its lower cost compared to euthanasia.

“Our average cost is $200 per animal that we take into [the SPCA],” says Devine. “Some animals spend five months here, some animals spend five days, some spend five minutes—it’s really dependent upon an average figure. So if you look at that versus how much it costs to sterilize a cat, then yes it’s less expensive.”

In the long run, Devine says, TNR programs reduce the number of animals coming in, thereby decreasing costs over time.

But is this just soft-hearted idealism? Some argue that TNR is nicer for the people dealing with homeless cats than it is for the cats. Feral cats have more difficult and shorter lives than domesticated cats. On average, a house ca
t that is not allowed outside will live two to three years longer than those allowed outdoors, due to the inherent dangers outside. A feral cat has an average lifespan of only two years if it lives by itself, and five years in a colony, compared to 15-22 years for an indoor cat. Although spaying a female cat takes away the burden of delivering two litters a year, and neutered males are less likely to fight and spread injury and disease, even cared-for TNR cats face potentially painful ends.

“A lot of them are killed by cars,” says David Bird, professor of wildlife biology at McGill University. “You’ve got predators like coyotes that are coming into towns now more and more, and other predators like dogs and foxes. And on top of that you have to worry about nasty people out there who do not like cats running loose.”

Bird, a former cat owner, argues that TNR is not a practical solution for decreasing the homeless cat population, and is instead the easy way out of a difficult situation.

“I find catching and euthanizing cats distasteful too … But what’s more humane? You put them out there and have them eke out an existence, eating a lot of birds and living at the mercy of predators, bad weather, disease, all kinds of stuff,” he says. Ultimately, Bird feels putting them to sleep is more humane.

There is further controversy over whether TNR actually prevents the vacuum effect. Some studies have shown that cats around the feeding stations are not overly territorial, allowing feral cats from all around to converge at feeding areas. This may also lead to people dumping their unwanted cats at feeding locations, knowing that they’ll have food and be less likely to be euthanized than at a shelter. Yet the majority of studies in the United States and Europe, where TNR projects have been in place for much longer, have shown the program to be a success.

“For cats who have been abandoned, life on the streets can be very hard, but feral cats cannot be adopted. Who are we to say a cat has to be euthanized because it doesn’t have a home? The cats are healthier after we spay them; they don’t get sick [as much], they don’t fight,” says Heimann.

But in the end, TNR advocates and opponents both want the same thing: for the number of homeless cats to decrease. And as Devine says, “The options are: you can trap and kill, you can do nothing, or you can do TNR. The first two have been done in Montreal for years and years and the problem isn’t going away, so I think we need to look at a different alternative.”

TNR programs cannot work if people are letting unfixed animals roam around, or if they’re throwing their unwanted cats out on the street. One way to help limit this kind of irresponsibility is through low-cost spay/neuter initiatives. In 2008, Steri-Animal joined with the SPCA to start Operation Feline, a low-cost spay/neuter clinic to help decrease the number of unfixed cats and increase the amount of people able to afford these basic clinic services. Unfortunately, because of Quebec Veterinary Medicine Association (AMVQ) laws which prohibit veterinary clinics from being owned by non-veterinarians, the program had to rely on the donated time and goodwill of vets throughout Montreal. Due to a lack of voluntary vets willing to donate one day a year, Operation Feline was forced to close, but Steri-Animal still runs low-cost sterilization services through the four vets they work with.

“I sort of expected that there would be a lot more vets willing to contribute, but that’s not the case,” says Heimann. “[Low-cost spay/neuter programs] are dependent on the goodwill of the vets in the city, and there just aren’t that many who are interested in participating.”

As different municipalities start to look at the cat overpopulation on their streets, thought needs to be given not just to TNR, but to fundamental changes in the laws that affect pet owners in Montreal.  

“We’re fighting an unwinnable battle unless we change our strategy. We need to address the root causes,” Devine says, “I think it comes down to education, access to affordable spay/neuter surgeries, municipal legislation that outlaws having no-pet clauses in our leases, and stricter legislation to really promote responsible pet ownership, such as initiatives to make spay/neuter mandatory for people who aren’t responsible with their pet.”

 

As a student, one of the biggest ways you can help Montreal cats is by fostering. When you foster, you agree to provide a home for a cat or kitten and care for it until it gets adopted. Rescues pay for food, vet bills, etc., so while the cat is in your care, you get all of the benefits of having a pet, without the cost or 15-year commitment. And you’re saving a life.

 Montreal SPCA:

 Foster animals are often those that are too young to be adopted or ones needing minor medical treatment (e.g. ear drops) or behavioural work before being put up for adoption. Call (514) 735-2711 x2237 or go to spcamontreal.com/aidez3.php?lg=en for more information.

Eleven Eleven

Animal Rescue:

Specializing in feral kittens, foster animals are often young cats who are in need of basic socialization. Dogs and cats about to be euthanized for unnecessary reasons also need foster homes, but they can’t be saved if there are no homes available. Go to elevenelevenanimalrescue.org/Fostering.html.

Steri-Animal:

Kittens less than 12 weeks old that are caught in the TNR program are placed in foster homes to be socialized and re-homed. Helps keep the homeless cat population down and cats out of shelters. Fill out a form at steri-animal.org/ENFosterForm.html.

Animal Rescue Network:

This cat rescue needs foster homes for cats with special needs, such as special diets (food is provided), pregnant cats, senior cats, or cats with FIV (a feline auto-immune disease not contagious to people). Email [email protected] or go to animalrescuenetwork.org/info/display?PageID=989 to find out more.

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