Author: Milene Ortenberg

Categories
Music

KillaWail is terrific and Trans-Pacific

KillaWail launch their EP Get me Wise at Petit Campus at 8 p.m. on Friday Feb. 15. Tickets cost $10.
KillaWail launch their EP Get me Wise at Petit Campus on Feb. 15. Tickets cost $10. Photo by Fannie Bittner Dumas, 2012

It’s not everyday you hear an epic story like KillaWail’s. Who knew that a random encounter at a Montreal gas station in 2010 would be the spark that lit this international funk-infused bonfire that’s raging wild and getting bigger.

Melbourne-based rock guitarist Benji Miu was touring Canada with The Resignators when he bumped into J.P. Veillet (bassman Dizzy Veillet’s brother) at a gas station asking for directions. They became instant friends and lived together for a few weeks.

Through his brother, Dizzy only met Miu twice before flying over to Melbourne to meet him a few months later. The friendship bloomed and so did the music. As Miu shared the blueprints of his craft with Dizzy, Jono James—Miu’s trombone-playing friend—joined them soon afterwards. When Dizzy returned to Montreal, he introduced Sébastien Fournier, who plays the trumpet and Sarah Dion on the drums, to Miu and James through Skype.

“On Christmas day, before I left for Australia the first time, [Fournier] called me out of the blue to jam with [Dion] who played drums. I hadn’t spoken to him in years, it was just so random, but we jammed and it was really amazing,” said Dizzy, who later asked them to join the project.

“I was down straight away,” said Dion. “Going to Australia with a guy I barely know to meet another guy I barely know, why not! After being in school for three and a half years, this was my big break.”

Through countless emails and a few Skype sessions, they built a band from the ground up. Miu and James met every week, as did Dizzy, Dion and Fournier on opposite sides of the globe. Think of a long distance relationship with five other people and five other instruments.

A year later, the five of them met in Melbourne for four months and lived in a house, rocking out from dawn till dusk. With a few shows under their belt, the lot flew back to Montreal and Josh Michaud, a trombone player, became the third horn member to complete KillaWail’s signature sound.

“It was really difficult at first,” said Miu. “This is a really hard way to start a band, it takes someone to keep the fire alive. You have to keep contact […] it was a hurdle, but we overcame it.”

Would they recommend it to anyone? Absolutely. “The best thing is, once you’ve decided you’re a band and then you see your band members get off the plane for the first time, it’s awesome.”

So what does this trans-pacific band sound like? Take a witch’s cauldron, throw in Blood Sugar Sex Magik, a few Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys tunes, vigorously stir the mix and there you have something that starts to resemble KillaWail.

While Miu is self-taught, Fournier, Dizzy and Michaud all studied Jazz at CEGEP de Saint-Laurent back in 2011, which adds original complexity. With a solid and driven rhythm section complemented by a dynamic horn trio, KillaWail are obsessed with fast-engaging rock beats that dominate the landscape of their Latin-inspired, garage-soul funkadelics.

So forget Ska—just because they have a horn section doesn’t mean they’re like that. In fact, it sounds completely different. But while they don’t identify with that genre, they do share a similar trait.

KillaWail has a pretty serious side–effect: it makes you want to get up and bust a move. All band members agree, a venue could be packed to the brim, but if people aren’t dancing to their aggressive syncopated groove, the job is not done. For these energetic wailers, it’s all about having a good time.

For the last six months, they have been touring all over the country and have gained quite a following, so now it’s time for an EP.

“We’re all really stoked about it,” said Miu. “We were only planning to do two or three songs but ended up with five in two days. We were on fire!”

When they’re not jamming to prepare for their upcoming EP launch next week, Fournier and Michaud work as DJs and busboys at a strip club, Dion works at a cheese shop in Saint Lambert and Dizzy at an Italian restaurant in Outremont.

“We do what we can!” said Michaud, chuckling. In a few months, they hope to be in Mexico City and touring around central and South America.

As Mui put perfectly: “Travelling the globe and playing music; what more can you ask for?”

Trial Track: Murderflies

KillaWail launch their EP Get me Wise at Petit Campus at 8 p.m. on Friday Feb. 15. Tickets cost $10.

Categories
Student Life

Food war: Friend or pho

Pho Lien is located on 5703 Côte-des-Neiges Rd. Photo by writer.

For obsessive Asian foodies like myself, pho is nothing short of a legendary classic. In Vietnam and all over Southeast Asia, this soup is

Pho Lien is located on 5703 Côte-des-Neiges Rd. Photo by writer.

served day and night in bustling noodle houses right off the street. The enticing aroma of cinnamon, braised beef, and Asian basil floats in the air from several blocks away, irresistibly drawing you in for one of the most multi-dimensional comfort foods out there. It’s the balanced combination of textures, flavors and temperatures that truly make this soup a godly elixir. The broth is by far, the ultimate telltale sign of a good pho. Traditional Vietnamese folk swear by their mother’s broth, claiming their family recipe, often kept secret, is the best. The broth of pho takes a minimum of 24 hours to make and is generally done by boiling down beef bones, oxtail, charred ginger and onion, along with a myriad of spices including star anise, coriander seed, cinnamon, clove, and black cardamom. This week, two Montreal pho houses go to war.  May the best bowl win.

 

Round 1: Pho Tây Hô

My first round of pho tasting was at Pho Tây Hô. I decided to bring a friend along, who is also an Asian food aficionado that certainly knows her pho. As we approached the restaurant, we instantly could smell that signature smell of Vietnamese goodness. We each ordered a full pho of rare beef, well done flank, tripe and tendons. Within minutes, our bowls arrived along with the side plate of bean sprouts, lime wedges, and Asian basil. Unfortunately, just by looking at our bowls, we knew that we were going to be disappointed. First, the beef resting atop our bowls was not pinkish, but fully cooked. The beef is supposed to be rare, so that with a flip of chopsticks, the meat cooks in the steaming soup. Also, the broth was missing that signature glossy golden layer of fat with visible bubbles. Regardless, we dug in. Right away we looked at each other and knew that the broth had been cut with stock, a big no-no! It was opaque, lacking fragrance, and had an unusual greenish tinge to it. Perhaps passable for the average Joe, but not for us pho-enthusiasts. The noodles were obviously store-bought and lacked the silkiness of homemade ones, but sadly that is to be expected since few places make their own noodles nowadays. Glancing around at other pho diners, we noticed that every bowl was different. The color of the broth and cook of the meats greatly varied from bowl to bowl, a trait of unfortunate inconsistency. Perhaps if we had gotten another serving it would have been better, but who knows. Pho Tây Hô had friendly service, good green tea and was overall a good experience, but loses serious points for their pho skills.

 

Grade: B-

 

Round 2: Pho Lien 

Next comes, Pho Lien. This small, yet incredibly busy restaurant has a loyal client base, Asian and Caucasian alike. Very often will they have lineups going all the way up the block. I hadn’t been in a while, so I invited a friend for a bowl on a chilly day. I ordered the usual pho with all the trimmings, and my friend chose the beef meatballs. Steaming bowls arrived at our table almost instantly, as did a grin on my face. Everything was right about this pho. Unlike the pho at Pho Tây Hô, this one had a distinct golden layer of fat bubbles; the broth was clear and smelled of star anise and braised beef. The meat was delicately resting atop a generous amount of coriander and scallions, and was very thinly sliced. To my delight, the beef was perfectly rare. The noodles were perfectly chewy and fresh, pairing excellently with the meats and the coriander, thus creating that textural experience that’s key to a good pho. Also, the tripe in this bowl was very nicely cooked, as were the tendons and fatty flank (melt in your mouth delicious). The soup was very fragrant and beefy, but to my taste, lacked depth and that hint of sweetness. However, all the flavours were there and ended up being a delight.

 

Grade: A

 

Winner:

Without a shadow of a doubt, Pho Lien takes the win. Pho Tây Hô is decent, but lacks the traditional rustic aspect that makes this dish so special. There are hundreds of Vietnamese places in Montreal, but an authentic, solid pho is hard to come by. The winner of this food war is definitely pho real.

 

Pho Tây Hô is located on 6414 St-Denis St.

Pho Lien is located on 5703 Côte-des-Neiges Rd.

Categories
Opinions

Saving SARA

Photo via Flickr.
Photo via Flickr.

Flora and fauna are an undeniable part of Canadian identity. They are a hallmark symbol that appear everywhere, from our coins to our beer bottles, representing our nation worldwide.

But what is being done to protect our native wildlife from the changing landscape of our country? With Ottawa’s recent announcement to give the Species at Risk Act (SARA) a much needed overhaul, many ecologists and environmentalists fear that the strategies proposed by Environment Minister Peter Kent would further disable the act.

Parliament has initiated a mandatory five-year review of the act’s effectiveness in which four independent environmental organizations have collaborated to provide feedback and recommendations on its implementation. Among these are Ecojustice, Environmental Defense, the David Suzuki Foundation and Nature Canada.

In place since 2002, SARA’s purpose is to ensure protection and recovery for species at risk in Canada. They have the official listings and recognitions of plants and animals under their jurisdiction, with the mandate of identifying the habitats to protect fragile ecosystems. Some animals affected by the Act are grizzly bears, timber rattlesnakes, woodland caribou, screech owls and many more.

SARA also receives recommendations from the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada but often significantly delays adding recommended species to the list or doesn’t add them at all. According to the David Suzuki Foundation website, animals can be denied listing because of “economic, social or political impacts.”

For example, the site refers to the fact that scientists have recommended that polar bears be added to the list of endangered species, but the government has continued to postpone the addition.

This is one of the main shortcomings of SARA according to the review board, claiming the delays for inclusion in the listing are too long, going way beyond the official nine-month deadline. According to Nature Canada, 53 species at risk are facing a faster decline while the government takes 17 to 29 months to determine the listing, some of which are indefinitely pending.

Of the 551 species recommended by the committee, only 449 have been adopted by SARA. Only 35 per cent of the fish assessed to be “at risk” have been added to the list since 2004, and none that are “endangered or threatened.”

A major flaw is the absence of a clear timeline for action planning strategies. With no legal binding agreement to deadlines, projects sometimes remain idle and unfinished for years, going way past their initial due date.

The other problem is that the majority of reports which are done do not identify critical habitat. Habitat loss is the main cause for population declines in a staggering 84 per cent of species at risk in Canada. Identifying these habitats has proven to be a difficult task, since SARA does not cover the country as a whole. Protection of habitat is only mandatory on federally owned land such as national parks, military bases and much of the northern territories.

It seems that the government is focused principally on the cost efficiency of the Species At Risk Act. Recovery strategies and action plans to protect our habitats and our species are not cheap, and in a still fumbling economy, our wildlife has been put on the back burner. Habitats are not determined by political boundaries and governments should extend the coverage of wildlife regardless of land ownership. Regulated timelines forged by the law should also be more vigorously applied, since the delays in countless projects are paralyzing the recovery of many species.

In the 10 years that have followed SARA’s creation, it seems Canada has not taken bold enough actions to save our precious legacy. Let’s just hope that in the coming months the right decisions concerning aligning priorities are made, for the sake of the animals and us.

Categories
Opinions

Does undocumented have to mean uneducated?

Photo via Flickr.
Photo via Flickr.

For families with children, the fall routine is now in full swing. Days in the schoolyard are getting chillier, and iconic yellow buses roam the streets around the city bringing kids to school.

However, several hundred children do not have a seat on these buses, nor can they have a place in the classroom.

“We estimate that there are about 40,000 migrants without immigration status in Montreal, several hundred of them children. But with many of them living in hiding, it’s hard to tell for sure. There are no statistics for these people,” said Judith Rouan, member of the Collectif Éducation Sans Frontières, in an exclusive interview with CUTV News.

Because they do not posses status papers, the children of undocumented migrant workers cannot access public education, unless they pay a fee of $6,000, a whopper for most families.
Immigration Canada’s delays are increasing, and status papers are taking longer to process.

Parents usually work illegally for several dollars under minimum wage in dire conditions, supporting their children who stay at home with nowhere to go until their immigration documents go through, which can take several years. These parents are often scared to enroll their child in school; worried they will ask for immigration papers and fear the risk of deportation. So while the papers are pending, what do they do?

“It’s abominable, always living in fear like that […] children cannot have a normal life, it’s a deplorable situation,” said Rouan.

Immigration documents should not be a factor in the admission of a student, said Rouan, and such laws have been implemented already in France, Spain, and in the U.S. to ensure access to education for all children, with official status or without. Here in Canada, it seems that our own laws are grossly overlooked.

The Ontario Education Act clearly states that “A person who is otherwise entitled to be admitted to a school and who is less than eighteen years of age shall not be refused admission because the person or the person’s parent or guardian is unlawfully in Canada.”

However, according to a study made by Social Planning Toronto, this law is only respected one in seven times.

What’s alarming is that, unlike our neighboring province, proof of citizenship is required in Quebec for a child to be enrolled in school.

That being said, there are no specific regulations concerning undocumented migrants; except for that impossible $6,000 tuition fee. The school commissions are trapped between the Education Ministry’s regulations, and the children’s families.

“Sometimes, they can be accommodating and accept children on condition that they show their pending papers within a year of admission … but even in some cases when the parents can afford to enroll their child in private school, there always remains the issue of the permanent code and the legitimacy of their diploma,” said Rouan.

It seems that our educational institutions have their doors shut tight when it comes to undocumented migrants with only some schools leaving the door slightly ajar in secret. With most people unaware of the situation, awareness is the key to bringing this issue to light.

Clearly, a province-wide discussion needs to be held in order to determine a possible middle ground. Undocumented migrants could perhaps attend school on small grants, paying back their tuition once their documents are sorted out. Some say this is going too far, that it isn’t taxpayers’ responsibility to fund undocumented migrants, but doesn’t every child have the right to learn? How do we as a nation achieve this delicate balance between cost effectiveness, and access to fundamental rights for all, regardless of status?

With files from CUTV.

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