The Wavelength
Monday December 5th, 2022 with Joe Reilly
We remember the Montreal Massacre in music, and highlight what is happening at Arts Court on Saturday as part of Pique Winter 2022 edition.

We remember the Montreal Massacre tonight with songs that were written in direct response to that horrific event on December 6, 1989 and other songs that remind us that there is still plenty to do in order to make the world a better, safer and more accepting place for women and ultimately for all of us! On December 6, 1989 a gunman entered the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal and separated female engineering students from the men and started shooting them. In all 14 young women died. We remember this outrageous act today and remind ourselves that while things are getting better for women there is still a great deal of work to do. And we remember the loss of life that happened on that day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/École_Polytechnique_massacre Today I find myself questioning the actions of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights (CCFR) - a Canadian gun lobby group that recently used "POLY" as a promotional discount code for purchasing merchandise on their website. They claim this is in reaction to the group PolySeSouvient - a Quebec-based organization that actively works for gun control lead by Nathalie Provost, who is a survivor of the Montreal Massacre - she was shot 4 times during that incident. Creating this promotional discount code this close to the anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre is disgusting and shows a lack of sensitivity from the CCFR. As well if you look online you can find all kinds of information about how the gun lobby and the Conservatives are trying to stoke opposition to the government's new gun control laws (that would ban semi-automatic weapons) by telling people that specific guns used by hunters will be banned when they are not part of the government's new gun law. The misinformation that the gun lobby and the Conservatives consistently trot out when any new gun restrictions are brought forward is both cynical and predictable. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/carey-price-gun-control-polytechnique-1.6674809 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/gun-promotion-canadian-coalition-firearm-rights-1.6672870 Tonight we also delve into Pique coming this Saturday night at Arts Court. On Saturday, the local arts collective Debaser will take over Arts Court and program almost every room in the building with lots of music, panel discussions, dance, DJs, visual arts and more. For more information check out this link: https://thisispique.com/ On the show tonight we talk to Rachel Weldon who is the founder of Debaser about how Pique came together and what to expect there this year. We also talk to Nadim Maghzal of the collective Laylit. Laylit will be programming Club SAW as part of Pique with DJs, dancers, drag queens and other artists. Nadim tells us how Laylit got started in New York City and how it's now based in New York and Montreal. He also tells us what Laylit will be presenting in Ottawa as part of Pique. Finally we play two piece of music by Pantayo, a five-piece women's group from Toronto. You can hear an interview with Pantayo on the Guest List this Thursday at 5 p.m. right here on CKCU-FM Head out to Pique on Saturday at Arts Court.