All posts on June 5th, 2017

Contact Staff For the third year running Freddy James will bring his funky stuff to the West Island Blues Festival. The superstar Montrealer who has been touring the world with his band the Freddy James Project for the past decade or more continues to thrill audiences with his soulful sounds and electric moves. Most of all, James is known for his boundless energy that has made him a massive hit with the thousands that have been jamming the Dollard des Ormeaux Park, in DDO, over the past three years. On June 17, the Chicago born musical dynamo will be back …

After his unceremonious trade, P.K is still standing and playing while his detractors pout   Egbert Gaye What is it about P.K. Subban that provokes so much unruly emotion in so many Montrealers? I know. He is an amazing hockey player and he’s Black. In a city with a strange fetish about the game and an ingrained misunderstanding of young Black men, P.K, with all his skills, talent, color and flair was like one of the so-called “Injuns” in the old John Wayne movies…. He didn’t stand a chance of finding his place in this city. He had to go. …

Gemma Raeburn Baynes: “retirement maybe…” Egbert Gaye It must have been something about 22-year-old Gemma Raeburn back in 1972, when Winston Roberts, the man accredited as been one of the founders of the Montreal Caribbean carnival parade, called on her to help organize the inaugural event. Union United Church was marking its 65th anniversary and they decided to make a Caribbean parade part of that celebration. As it turned out, the youthful Raeburn was one of the livewires in the community at the time called on to make it happen. And so it began. These days, more than four and …

Contact Staff It’s OK  to see Omardath Maraj as the new sensation on the Soca Chutney scene. In Trinidad and Tobago and across the Caribbean you ask who is the Village Ram from San Juan and they will tell you it’s Omar. Omar is actually from the central village of Las Lomas in Trinidad and he is a very affable guy who rode the popular soca chutney, Ramsing Sharma to capture the 2017 Chutney Soca Monarch. He also has a string of hits including Ring Bang, Balkissoon, and Devanna which he will bring to the chutney soca fans in  Montreal …

Show features local talent for a good cause Contact Staff The name Roen Higgins is familiar to many in the realm of community work, special needs counseling and slam poetry. But beyond dealing with behaviors in the schoolyard and flipping words on stage you should also know that she is passionate about young adult creative ministries. After observing the gifts and talents in Montreal churches not going beyond the pews and seeing the lack of events that millennials could enjoy and express their experiences freely, Roen felt motivated to bring Relevant God-centered events and programs into unexpected spaces that will …

So there they were again, G7 leaders at their annual summit, held this year in a place called Taormina, Italy. The gathering included the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, representing the political leaders of the seven major economies of the world. They discussed the important matters of the summit, such as their nation’s individual economies (as well as the global economy in general), the urgency of global warming… climate change, terrorism, etc. Once all the important matters of the world were discussed, the leaders used the latter day or two of the summit …

Contact Staff For most Canadians, universal healthcare – the ability for rich and poor to access and benefit from the same medical system – makes Canada one of the best places on earth to live. But for those who do not have the privilege of taking advantage of this system when needed, life can be a living hell. They are among the thousands of Quebecers who are without a medical insurance card and are unable to access health care when they are ill or pregnant. Magalie Benoit, a coordinator at the Institute of Research in Public Health at University of …

The struggles of life become a part of our story Life can be full of loss, frustration, disappointment, struggle and challenges. Yes, the struggles of life are real, but they’re also a part of our journey, they shape us and change us. The struggles of life become a part of our story. If we only focus on the struggles of life we will be in a continual state of overwhelm, but we have to remember that God is not a God of overwhelm, but a God of peace. “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” [1 …

A long-term foster home is being sought for a sibling group of three. Nine-and-a-half-year-old Jeff, 7-year-old Jack, and 4½ year-old sister, Jean. The siblings are very close and must stay together. Their parents are unable to take care of them, so they are in need of a family who can make the long-term commitment to them. Jeff is an outgoing, polite and sociable child who does well in groups. He is charming and helpful and loves to tease his brother. This behavior often gets him into trouble and causes conflict among the siblings. He requires structure to stabilize his behavior. …

Contact Staff It promises to be a Montreal jam session Parc Van Horne (corner Van Horne and Westbury- Metro Plamondon) on Saturday June 17, when The Black Coalition of Quebec stages its Living Together in Montreal 375th outdoor concert. The event will feature dance, music and spoken performances by artiste representing wide diversity of Montreal. Among those who are already carded to participate are Bonsa Syli d’Or, Ramon Chicharron, O.T.T, Salah and Family Steelband and Julian McIntosh. DJ Calm will also be supplying non-stop music for the event, which gets underway at 1:00pm It is being staged in collaborative unity …