The record, 13 mars 2001, mardi 13 mars 2001

65 CENTS Tuesday, March 13, 2001 THE record The voice of the Eastern Townships since 1897 WTO upholds French ban on asbestos Asbestos industry officials express disappointment By Stephen McDougall Special to The Record Black Lake Officials for the Asbestos industry and their workers expressed disappointment Monday over news the World Trade Organization (WTO) has rejected an appeal by Canada to overthrow an earlier ruling last year supporting a French ban on asbestos imports.“It saddens us for sure,” said Normand Boutet, an executive assistant at the LABChrysotile open-pit operation in Black Lake.“It does not change anything for us now, because the WTO position had been known for a while, but we don’t know what will happen to us in the medium and long-term.The morale of our workers is awful.” The ruling, issued Monday, upheld the WTO’s decision last September to allow an import ban by France, which said it had to protect the health of its workers and citizens.The ban was imposed in 1997 and immediately contested by Canadian external trade officials who feared it contravened international trade provisions governed by the WTO.But a special group of the WTO allowed the ban, arguing any member state had the right to restrict trade based on health reasons.That ruling was immediately appealed by Canada.Some forms of asbestos have been linked to lung illnesses and to mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer.The Canadian government and the Canadian Asbestos Industry have maintained that Chrysotile asbestos, mined in the Asbestos and Thetford Mines-Black Lake areas of the Townships is safe for humans if properly regulated and handled.France has claimed that any form of asbestos is dangerous for humans, arguing that up to 2,000 deaths there have been linked to the fibre.The Canadian asbestos industry presently employs close to 1,400 people at three mines in the Townships, one in Thetford Mines, one in Black Lake and one in Asbestos.Industry officials fear more bans will mean the eventual loss of many of those jobs.PERRY BEATON/SPECIAL ire**%% The open-pit operation in Black Lake.In the early 1970s, up to 7,000 people worked at 14 asbestos mines in the townships.But after the fibre was linked to lung illness, many of the mines closed, laying off or retiring thousands of employees.Rodrigue Chartier, the head of the miners’ union in Asbestos, said the WTO decision did not surprise him.“We expected the WTO would go this way,” he said.“The members would have liked to hear good news for once, but they have to be realistic.A lot of people in France are afraid of what we produce.” He said the ban has not affected the mine’s production, since most of the fibre is exported to African and Asian countries, and not to Europe.He added most employees don’t even talk about a proposal by the European Union to ban all asbestos by the year 2005.“If the Union shuts the door on our asbestos, will Africa and Asia follow?I don’t know.I think it’s too early to tell.” Denis Hamel, director of the Asbestos Institute, a lobby group for the industry, said the WTO decision closes the door on any further fight against the French ban.“Nothing more can be done about this,” he said.“It’s really over.” Hamel pointed out the WTO rulings dealt with agreements that govern international commerce and did not mean Chrysotile asbestos was put on trial.SEE ASBESTOS, PAGE 5 imm Bridge Under Flooded Waters The bridge on route 143 at Burrough's Falls was flooded when water from a broken Hydro Quebec pipe gushed streams of water, around 3:40 Monday afternoon.The break occurred near the abandoned gas station to the north of the bridge.Courageous motorists crept through the flowing water which filled the parking lot of the dance hall.A hydro crew working at the power station nearby quickly closed off the water at the dam.Nobody was hurt, damage was minimal and the road was reopened and traffic quickly returned to normal. page 2 Tuesday, March 13, 2001 ¦ ¦THE—i RECORD Rocker had its role returned Family chair brings peace of mind Strange things are happening in our home.A sort of magical magnetism has emerged, luring me repeatedly to a rustic old rocking chair day after day.Even at 12:51 a.m., as last Saturday turned into Sunday,I was enticed to rock a few moments before crawling into bed.Just a couple of backs and forths, slowly, quietly, so as not to disturb my partner’s slumber, yet to encourage my own.This is weird.I’ve always been intrigued by this piece of furniture.My earliest memory of it dates from childhood.The rocker, with its chipped white paint revealing an undercoat of navy blue and a still lower coat of Bull’s Blood stain, sat at an angle among no longer used items in the shed connected to the house.I can’t recall anyone sitting in it.But that should be expected: it had no seat.In the early 1970s, as I was setting up house, this family heirloom was handed down to me.In my mind, it’s a family heirloom because my dad could recall his grandfather sitting in this rocker on the front verandah of the home I grew up in.The chair was stripped down to the original wood by a specialist, then finished with a clear varnish.My former high school principal, Mr.Butler, wove a new seat onto its frame.And it was allocated a special place in the scheme of interior design in my various apartments.Curiously, the special chair was never rocked in, not even sat on - the rockers had long ago been worn flat.There was no rock left in it.Many anecdotes must be associated with this simply designed, hand-hewn, red maple, unarmed rocker with its octagonal-shaped legs and rungs and three slats across the back.Stories of babies being put to sleep, mothers doing needlework after the evening meal, grandmothers reminiscing silently while knitting next to the wood stove and old codgers puffing on their pipes as they tell tales are only a few of those stories about people slowly, lullingly moving back and forth, back and forth like a pendulum in the old rocking chair.This particular rocker left my possession in the mid-seventies when my companion at the time succeeded in convincing me to give away anything and everything I’d ever owned before meeting him.Long story, big mistake.Fortunately, the treasured rocker ended up in my sister’s hands.Once I’d come to my senses and found the true man of my life, she returned it to me with a new set of rockers installed and the old ones to boot for sentiment’s sake and posterity’s benefit.For the past twenty years, the old rocking chair has been part of our household furnishings, always in a special spot in our bedroom.Never once did I rock in it, despite the new rockers.Maybe rocking just wasn’t my style.A couple of weeks ago, I got the urge to move the chair next to a front window near a blossoming pink Easter cactus.And the spell of the chair created so long ago was cast.Now, my day seems incomplete without a few moments spent rocking.Priceless moments to ponder swirling snowflakes, to imagine spring blossoms, to empty the mind of mundane thoughts or challenging times - soothing, peaceful, refreshing.Susan Mastine For as long as I can remember, there’ve been men’s magazines.You know what I’m talking about: Playboy, Penthouse, that kind of thing.Now, I’m not here to pass judgment one way or the other, but I’m sure many wives don’t appreciate their husbands looking at these kinds of publications.Comparison shopping doesn’t belong in the bedroom.But I think there are more dangerous things to look at than men’s magazines.A lot of men my age have replaced sexy publications with monthly magazines offering used trucks and boats and RVs, for example.Complete with pictures.This has got to be much scarier than seeing your husband browsing through Playboy.When he looks at pictures in a men’s magazine, there’s no chance he’s going to bring any of those home.Totalitarian to egalitarian They used to teach us in history class that the type of government a country has is directly related to the age of the country and the level of education of its citizens.The implication was that you may start out as a dictatorship, and that can be a good thing, but through experience and teaching, democracy evolves naturally.I think this same theory applies to the human body.When I started out, my body was a dictatorship.Initially my stomach was the Grand Pooh-bah, but it was eventually overthrown by another dictator during puberty.That led to the Reign of Terror, which ended at some point during the wedding ceremony.And now I find, with the educational side effect of time and experience, my body has turned into a democracy.When I think that I’d like to play tennis, I first consult my arms and legs and back, trying to get a consensus.If the proposal passes at all, it’s usually in an amended form, which means I watch tennis on television.With me, the majority rules.And if there’s some kind of sexual initiative suggested, it often passes the Lower House but is then overturned by the older and wiser Senate.I HOPE I’M AN OPTIMIST These days, optimists have fallen on hard times.It seems that if you feel good about the future, you are either an idiot or uninformed, or, in the worst case, an uninformed idiot.So the best way for optimists to avoid the scorn of society is to hide their affliction.Here is a list of things you should never do because they tell the world that you are too hopeful: • Buy a car made in a communist country.• Dance with a woman half your age.• Cheer for the Toronto Maple Leafs.• Join a fitness club.• Watch any TV show produced by Dick Clark.• Answer the phone at dinnertime.• Carry a condom.Life’s a game When the first of my two sons was bom, I used to sit him in his stroller out in the backyard while a buddy and I would have a game of catch.When he started walking, I’d get him out there and roll the ball along the ground to him.A year later, I’d be throwing it underhand to him, and a year after that, I switched to overhand, but still throwing as gently as I could.After a couple of more years, he was in a baseball league, and I could throw the ball to him as hard as I wanted.A few years after that, I noticed he started easing off on how hard he was throwing me the ball.Last year he started throwing it underhand to me.This summer I figure I’ll be sitting in my stroller watching him and his brother have a game of catch.Quote of the Day: “Always remember you’re unique, just like everyone else.” — Red Green It’s okay to look North of Forty Red Green Weather Tuesday: Snow becoming intermittent by midday.Accumulation near 5 centimetres.High near 2.Winds easterly 15 to 30 km/h.Wednesday: Snow.Low near minus 3.High near 0.Thursday: Mostly cloudy with chance of flurries.Low near minus 7.High near 3.Probability of precipitation 30 percent.Friday: Snow or rain.Low near minus 6.High near 3.Normals for the period.Low minus 10.High 0.Ben by Daniel Shelton ftumin'iirê (WgilH'l'NS m ee gone THREE HOURS, TOPS/ i»ui Record Tuesday, March 13, 2001 page 3 Brick by brick for WW II interpretive centre By Janice Cunningham On June 6, 1944, 14,000 Canadians landed on Juno Bgach in Normandy.On this day, D-Day, the long-awaited invasion of Northwest Europe began with Allied landings on the coast of Normandy.It would claim the lives of359 Canadians and result in 1,074 Canadian casualties, but would give Allied forces their opening into Europe.To commemorate the role of Canadians in WW II and ensure that their story will not be forgotten, a group of Canadian veterans and Wal-Mart stores are raising funds to construct an educational centre at Courseulles-sur-Mer in Normandy, France, near Juno Beach.“It will be a typical, small museum,” said Garth Webb, president of the Juno Beach Centre Association, who is “just delighted” with the project.“It’s a good place and it’s the only one like it.” The only comparable museum in Europe is the Vimy Interpretive Centre which commemorates the role of Canadians in WWI.The association, which initiated the project four years ago, has hired a Canadian group to work on the project, as well as a Canadian architect to design the building.France is donating the land for the site, Webb said, but the money for the building is being raised in Canada.Wal-Mart, well-known for its involvement in community and educational projects, is selling paper bricks in its stores across Canada to raise funds for the Canadian memorial.A one-dollar minimum gets your name on the brick and lets you place it on the wall.The store has called on local Royal Canadian Legion veterans to help out at the booths, including Ted Rogers, vice-commander of the District 7 Royal Canadian Legion.“It started last Saturday,” he said.“Wal-Mart’s got a target of five million for the project, for the year 2002.” According to Rogers, Wal-Mart is trying to get cadets COURTESY WAL-MART Jan de Vries and Garth Webb are members of die organizing committee for the Juno Beach Centre and veterans to help out at the booth and to explain the project to shoppers but, according to Rogers, the work shifts of volunteers have not been well organized.There is no one to help out in the Sherbrooke area, he explained.“I got stuck there all morning on Saturday," the elderly veteran said, but added proudly that more than half the bricks already on the wall were due to his efforts.Rogers said that all the branches received a kit from legion headquarters asking that $250 be donated to purchase a brick with the branch’s number on it to be used in the Courseulles construction.But not all appear to be enthusiastic about the project though Rogers does believe that the Wal-Mart collection “is a very good thing.” The local district will be meeting on Sunday to decide on its policy for the project.As the number of remaining veterans from WW II dwindles over the years, there is concern that the story of Canada’s role in the invasion may be forgotten.“The centre will tell the story of Canadians in WW II,” said Webb, who himself was part of the invasion on D-Day.“There won’t just be a bunch of guns - they have modem techniques to tell the story.” On D-Day, the task that lay before the Allies was formidable - the Germans had turned the Normandy coastline into a continuous fortress with guns, pillboxes, wire, mines and beach obstacles.All three Canadian services shared in the assault.One of the seaborne forma- tions was the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, supported by the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade and troops attached from other arms and services of the Canadian Army.The first Canadian Parachute Battalion dropped on the eastern flank of the bridgehead with the British 6th Airborne Division.The crossing of the English Channel was made through lanes that minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy helped to clear.In the skies Royal Canadian Air Force bombers attacked German batteries and fighter squadrons tackled targets farther inland.The Canadian army’s task was to establish a beachhead along the five miles between Courseulles and St-Aubin-sur-Mer and push for the Carpiquet airfield 11 miles inland.The plan succeeded, and they halted just short of the airfield due to machine-gun fire which had held up the advance.More than one million Canadians served in the Second World War.Of these more than 45,000 gave their lives, and another 55,000 were wounded.Countless others shared the suffering and hardship of war.Brief Sherbrooke Afire at an apartment building on Prospect Street led police to a pair of apartments filled with pot plants.Sherbrooke fire department responded to a call around 6:15 Monday morning at 1490 Prospect.After evacuating the building, firefighters discovered apartments 4 and 5 were filled with pot plants, said Sherbrooke regional police force spokesman Const.André Lemire.Lemire said police got a search warrant, inspected the apartments and arrested the two occupants.André Picard, 50, the tenant in apartment 5, was charged with production of cannabis with intent to traffic.Police seized some 70 plants in his apartment with a street value fo about $35,000, Lemire said.The tenant in apartment 4 was released.Police found fewer than a dozen plants in his apartment and decided it was for personal use, Lemire said.The man will be summoned to appear in court later on charges of simple possession.A ti