The Best of Montreal 2002
par Montreal Mirror
dans Montreal Mirror, 9 mai 2002
Article


Montrealer closest to sainthood
1. Father Emmett Johns (Pops) of Le Bon Dieu dans la rue
2. Saku Koivu
3. Leonard Cohen
4. Pierre Trudeau
5. Jose Theodore
6. Celine Dion
7. David Usher
8. Jean Leloup
9. Mom Boucher
10. Phyllis Lambert
Honourable mentions: Rufus Wainwright • Claude Rajotte • Frère André

Streetkid saviour Pops tops the list again, leaving more fallible mortals to battle it out for the remaining spots. Charismatic and dapper Hells Angels kingpin Maurice “Mom” Boucher’s debut here proves that the bad boy thing still works.

Montrealer closest to hell
1. Pierre Bourque
2. Mom Boucher
3. Castelli Brothers
4. Bernard Landry
5. Celine Dion
6. Gérald Tremblay
7. René Angélil
8. Davey Hilton
9. Jeffrey Loria
10. William Shatner
Honourable mentions: Brian Mulroney • David Usher • Alfonso Gagliano

Reappearing this year are Pierre Bourque, le p’tit roi Bernie, diva-creep Celine, child-molesting boxer and sporter of lazy testicle Davey Hilton and William Shatner. Jupiter Room co-owner Dave Castelli joins his brother-partner Domenic, and Celine’s porky hubby/manager René Angélil weighs in for the first time as well. Perhaps more sensibly, Mom Boucher is in this category too.

Most desirable man
1. David Usher
2. Jose Theodore
3. Rufus Wainwright
4. James DiSalvio
5. DJ Frigid
6. Saku Koivu
7. Todd Van der Heyden
8. Plastik Patrik
9. William Shatner
10. Jacques Villeneuve
Honourable mentions: Billy Mavreas • John Moore • Leonard Cohen

My, but Montrealers are a gender-inclusive bunch, seeing as two of our top 10 list are actually bona fide drag queens. Oh well, whatever turns your crank. So, two of our top 10 wear wigs, two have had hair transplants, at least four are gay, not counting the honourable mentions…

Most desirable woman
1. Mitsou
2. Sasha
3. Mutsumi Takahashi
4. Anne-Marie Withenshaw
5. Mado Lamotte
6. Celine Dion
7. Jessica Paré
8. Macha Grenon
9. Jamie Orchard
10. Tangerine Dream
Honourable mentions: Louise Lecavalier • Melissa Auf der Maur • Mimi la Twisteuse

The city’s premier chanteuse/actress edges out the Mirror’s sex columnist. Could a mud-wrestling match be in order?

Ballot-box stuffers
Every year hundreds of well-intentioned readers send in their heartfelt Best of Montreal picks. It’s an unfortunate reality that among these bright-eyed do-gooders lurk the pollster’s worst enemy: ballot-box stuffers. These villains range from the simpletons (like the guy who votes for himself in every category and signs each ballot with his own name) to the fiendishly cunning (like certain folks who mount elaborate cyber-stuffing-campaigns). Rest assured that every tainted ballot has been destroyed, deleted, or otherwise dismembered.

Corrections
Best of Montreal staffers work around the clock to ensure the accuracy of our information. Unfortunately, mistakes occasionally do occur, and we’d be more than happy to correct them. Errors should be reported by May 17 (to be printed in our May 23 issue), and should be sent via e-mail (listings@ mtl-mirror.com), fax (393-3756) or through the post (465 McGill, 3rd floor, Montreal, QC, H2Y 4A6).

Best dressed Montrealer
1. David Usher
2. Celine Dion
3. Rufus Wainwright
4. James DiSalvio
5. Jean Leloup
6. Mitsou
7. Bill Haugland
8. Lederhosen Lucil
9. Yso
10. Dennis Trudeau

The rabid Moist fan club weighs in heavily once again, while the silver medal for Celine Dion can only make one’s jaw drop. New this year is Lederhosen Lucil, whose Bavarian-Beer-Garden-look wedges her right between the anchormen and the designer.

Best Montreal weirdo
1. Great Antonio
2. Bourque
3. Spoonman
4. Celine Dion
5. Mado Lamotte
6. Jojo Savard
7. Michel Girouard
8. Accordi0n Guy
9. Plastik Patrik
10. The guy with the bike, cat and dog in Mile-End
Honourable mentions: Nantha Kumar • Harmonica Lady • Guru of All Gods

Perennial favourite the Great Antonio is back on top after a number five finish last year, and despite being booted as mayor, Pierre Bourque is still sending out strong weird vibes. The rest are a fine collection of drag queens, psychics, singers, cooks and combinations thereof.

ackiest personality
1. Celine Dion
2. Jojo Savard
3. Mado Lamotte
4. Plastik Patrik
5. Tommy Schnurmacher
6. Michel Girouard
7. Mosé Persico
8. Veronique Cloutier
9. Dom Castelli
10. Elizabeth Bromstein
Honourable mentions: Jack Todd • Tasso • Anne-Marie Losique

We certainly wouldn’t dare argue with our readers in this category. Of course, it should be pointed out that Elizabeth Bromstein (number 10 this year, number two the two years previous), moved to Toronto some months ago. It seems her legend still lingers.

Best politician
1.There aren’t any
2. Gérald Tremblay
3. Marc “Boris” St-Maurice
4. Jean Chrétien
5. Helen Fotopulos
6. Jean Charest
7. Michel Prescott
8. Irwin Cotler
9. Peter Trent
10. Any Green Party candidate

An oxymoron, scoff cynics. Yet there seem to be at least some who think that our elected—or aspiring—representatives do some good work. After all, someone has to be pushing for local municipal democracy or legalizing marijuana or advocating human rights or heading the country’s government. It’s a dirty job, especially when graft, pork-barrelling and megalomania lead so many to political doom. For example, we wonder if Irwin Cotler will make this list next year.

Political gaffe of the year
1. Megacity merger
2. Anything involving Gérald Tremblay
3. Evicting squatters
4. Anything involving Bernard Landry
5. Anything involving Pierre Bourque
6. Housing problems
7. Montreal Summit
8. Concordia University & the CSU
9. Alfonso Gagliano in his entirety
10. Police arrests at the anti-police brutality rally

It's to be expected that the one-island one-city chimera would come back and bite Pierre Bourque in the ass, but it didn't take long for his successor, Tremblay, to make his way up our poll. The greasy-palm scandals and invitation-only Summit certainly didn't help.

Best political/social cause
1. Housing activism
2. Anti-globalization
3. Dans la rue
4. Palestinian human rights
5. Save the Expos
6. AIDS
7. Legalization of marijuana
8. Anti-poverty
9. Citizens Against Police Brutality
10. Animal Rights

Voters were outraged both by the immediate (rent prices spiralling out of control, the need for weed) and the mighty (multinationals, corporate governance, etc). Note the surprisingly strong showing from the die-hard souls who still hope to keep the Expos in town.

Loudest activist
1. Jaggi Singh
2. Marc “Boris” St-Maurice
3. Alexandre Beaudoin-Duquette
4. Laith Marouf & Tom Keefer, students and Palestinian human rights activists
5. Brent Tyler
6. Dext-r X
7. Pro Israel supporters
8. Alex Popovic
9. Kaie Kellough
10. All who support anti-globalization

Anarchist gadfly Jaggi Singh, who was in prison this time last year for slinging teddy bears, is your favourite loudmouth-with-a-cause, followed by pro-pot Boris and anti-MAI guy Alexandre Beaudoin-Duquette. New public faces on the activist scene are Tom Keefer and Laith Marouf, who caused major headaches for Concordia rector Freddie “Boot 'em out” Lowy. Pugilistic anglo rights lawyer and Alliance Quebec chief Brent Tyler also strongarms his way into the top five.

Still smokin'
Pot booster Marc-Boris St-Maurice marks 10 years of activism

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

It all began, as usual, with a bust. In 1992, when Marc-Boris St-Maurice, founder of the provincial Bloc Pot party, now head of the federal Marijuana Party, was arrested for pot possession, he knew a change was needed in Canada's cannabis laws. Joining others in the pro-pot crusade, in 1997 he formally entered politics with the goal of legalizing recreational marijuana.

“I gave up rock 'n' roll for politics,” sighs the former Grim Skunk bassist. Making pot a full-time job, however, is not as easy as it sounds. “Politics is a lot of work, and it requires a lot of dedication.”

But the dedication can pay off. In the last federal election, he received just under five per cent of the vote in the Laurier-Ste-Marie riding, long a stronghold of Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe.

In between campaigns, St-Maurice is fighting drug trafficking charges, laid two years ago after police raided medical marijuana distributors the Montreal Compassion Club, where he volunteers.

“Medical marijuana is a side issue,” he says. “Recreational marijuana use is the main one. We can see the Liberals trying to use it. It's obvious [federal Industry Minister] Allan Rock is trying to get the marijuana vote, and the rest of the MPs are deathly scared of having us as the only voice for it.”

In his five years in politics, St-Maurice has gone from total neophyte to a well-informed and articulate advocate. “In 1997, I knew nothing about politics,” he says. “I knew a lot about pot, though. We've made some progress [over the last 10 years], but there's still a long way to go. I can certainly take some satisfaction in knowing that I helped push this issue along.” l

Best replacement mayor
1 Jean Leloup
2. Gérald Tremblay
3. Pierre Bourque
4. Saku Koivu
5. Mado Lamotte
6. Serge Savard
7. Marc “Boris” St-Maurice
8. Peter Trent
9. Youppi
10. Anyone

We agree, roly-poly Jean Leloup would make an excellent mayor. However, as the number two choice indicates, there seemed to be some confusion about this category: by “replacement mayor,” we mean who would do a better job than the person in office now, not who replaced the previous guy… oh, never mind.

Best sports personality
1. Saku Koivu
2. Jose Theodore
3. Vladimir Guerrero
4. Gabriel Morency
5. Felipe Alou
6. Marc Gagnon
7. Mitch Melnick
8. Randy Tieman
9. Ted Tevan
10. Doug Gilmour
Honorable mentions: Frank Robinson • Richard Zednick • Gino Odjick

No surprise here. Saku's cancer comeback is as heartwarming a story as you'll find in the cash-obsessed, marketing-saturated cesspool that is pro sports. Montrealers continue to swoon over the new-look Habs, while our soon-to-be ex-S'pos are sitting pretty in the NL East. No mention of the Alouettes, though.

Best radio show
1. Off the Hook, CKUT
2. Aaron and Tasso, Q92
3. Folk Roots/Folk Branches, CKUT
4. Brave New Waves, CBC
5. Terry and Ted, CHOM
6. Aack! with Lori Edmonds, CKUT
7. Daybreak, CBC
8. Sports Weekly, CFMB
9. Tommy Schnurmacher, CJAD
10. CKUT's two Palestinian human rights shows

CKUT's hip hop piss-take Off the Hook, hosted by Pat Wreck and Orion, wins for the second straight year, followed by Q92's morning team and, making a debut appearance, Mike Regenstreif's Folk Roots/Folk Branches.

Best radio host
1. Terry DiMonte, CHOM
2. Dave Bronstetter, CBC
3. Gabriel Morency, CFMB
4. Too Tall, CHOM
5. Aaron and Tasso, Q92
6. Claude Rajotte, CHOM
7. Nat Lauzon, Mix 96
8. André Maisonneuve, Mix 96
9. Patti Schmidt, CBC
10. Tommy Schnurmacher, CJAD

Terry Dimonte made the move back to CHOM from CJAD and unseated longtime fave Claude Rajotte, who dropped to number six. But the surprise this year is Daybreak's Dave Bronstetter, who didn't make last year's list but finished a strong second this time. Hope it makes manning the picket line a little easier.

Best local newscast
1. CFCF
2. Global
3. CBC
4. CJAD
5. TQS

Despite Global's convergence with the Gazette, CFCF once again wins by a big margin.

Best talking head
1. Todd Van der Heyden
2. Mutsumi Takahashi
3. Bill Haugland
4. Jamie Orchard
5. Dennis Trudeau

Congratulations Todd, you've reached the top of the heap. Now if only you'd do an investigation into the state of your hair.

(Article original)


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