The record, 17 juin 2003, mardi 17 juin 2003

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Subscribe now! 569-9528 THE The voice of the Eastern Townships since 1897 RECORD ( 1!’ CLASSIFIEDS I9| M2! 70 CENTS WWW.SHERBROOKERECORD.COM Tuesday, June 17, 2003 Coroner’s report on quarry drownings released Drugs, alcohol, darkness and panic contributed to tragedy By Tom Peacock The Quebec Coroner's office issued its report last week on the accident in a quarry near Scotstown two years ago which left five teenagers dead.Please see report page 3 The coroner's report into the June 2001 drowning deaths of five teens says youths were too impaired to save themselves.Magog coalition wants demerger vote By Nelson Afonso Magog Township A coalition fighting for the demerger of Magog Township is calling on dissatisfied residents to exercise their democratic right today by voting against a proposed Magog loan bylaw.With Municipal Affairs Minister Jean-Marc Fournier expected to make public a bill this week that will set out rules and a timeline for residents to launch demerger referendums, the Coalition des citoyens et citoyennes pour la défusion du Canton de Magog (Citizen Coalition for the Demerger of Magog Township) wants residents of the former municipality to send Magog Mayor Marc Poulin a strong message that he should not be spending taxpayers’ money until the demerger issue has been resolved.That bill, expected as early as this week, will fulfill the government’s election promise that if enough residents sign a petition expressing a desire to pull out of the new city, the costs and effect will be studied, then a referendum will be held.“We are asking our elected officials to show some common sense and to cease the spending that we do not consider urgent.It only creates additional dissatisfaction,” said coalition spokesman Richard Latulippe.The registry on the bylaw that would allow the city to spend $314,000 to purchase five vehicles will be available to residents at Magog Town Hall between 9 a.m.and 7 p.m.If enough residents sign the registry, a referendum will then be held to determine the matter.Please see merger Page 3 PERRY BEATON/SPECIAL ¦MAIRIE/BÏBLIOTHEQÜE Coalition members Richard Latulippe and Vicki May Hamm are hoping to get enough signatures to force a vote on the recent merger of Magog Township.Magog mayor vows to relocate laid off Barmish employees Garment factory to close in August By Tom Peacock After meeting with representatives from the Riviera Inc.(Barmish) factory yesterday afternoon, Magog Mayor Marc Poulin confirmed that the company is closing its factory on Aug.8.“The town and the local development council will look for someone else to buy the factory and take control of it,” the mayor said.“With the help of Emploi Quebec we will try to relocate the employees in the region and to find them jobs suited to their training and skill level,” he added.Please see factory Page 5 page 2 Tuesday, June 17, 2003 'THEi Inclement weather doesn’t stop walkers By Nancy Nourse Record Correspondent Magog Neither drenching rains nor soggy feet were going to stop the 22 determined teams who had signed up for the Walk for Life Relay last Friday.The 12-hour relay event, held from Friday at 7 p.m.to Saturday at 7 a.m., was sponsored by The Canadian Cancer Society, with all funds raised going towards cancer research.Combined, the teams raised more than $50,000, and sold 1,600 candles in memory of loved ones or in honour of those who were still battling cancer.Magog Mayor Marc Poulin was on hand to lend his support for teams like The Smileys from Stanstead, who raised $4,000.“It was the most heartwarming and satisfying thing that I have ever been in- volved in,” said The Smileys team member Janet Mosher.“We were not only wet from the rain, but there wasn’t a dry eye anywhere when the list of survivors who would be walking was read.The courage of these people amazes me.I just can’t put into words what it felt like to see my mom out there with the other survivors walking the first lap.Mosher also noted that it was surprising to see how many people from the Stanstead area whose lives had been touched by cancer in some way.“It was a great experience, and I look forward to being able to participate again next year,” she said.The soggy participants were treated to a supper on Friday evening and breakfast the next morning.Four other walks also took place at the same time as the one in Magog.The Coat-icook walk raised more than $61,000.You asked us Q, I’ve been hearing quite a bit about Township-pers’ Association’s Info Databank.What exactly is it, — and how can it help me?You ASKED US Townshippers’ Association A Very simply, the Info Databank is a way of keeping track of information about English resources and services in the Eastern Townships.Information about a group or institution - how to contact it, who to speak to, and what services it offers - is recorded and the information stored on computer.The computer program is located in a secure place on the Internet, so that Townshippers, information and referral coordinators in both the Lennoxville and Cowansville offices have access to it at all times.When a person calls for information, the coordinators can simply check the databank and quickly come up with answers.This databank is being constantly expanded as new contacts are made, and is upgraded on a regular basis to ensure that entries remain timely and accurate.Do you have a question?Would you like a prompt, courteous, confidential answer ' in English?Simply give Townshippers’ Association,s Info Service a call at 566-5717 or toll free 1-866-566-5717 and „Ask Us! Weather Today: Sunny.High 26.Wednesday: Sunny.Low 11.High 23.Thursday: A few showers.Low 12.High 22.Friday: Sunny.Low 10.High 22.Normals for the period: Low 9.High 23.i "¦* KM® .Waiting for Women BRUCE PATTON/SPECIAL Centennial Theatre manager, Luce Couture, left, and Quebec Women’s Institute President, Linda Hoy, discuss final arrangements for the upcoming musical evening to be presented in the theatre on Wednesday, June 25 at 7 p.m.as part of the Women’s Institute National Convention.The performance is open to the public.Tickets will be available at the door on the evening of the presentation for $15 each.The doors will open at 6:30 p.m.Featured in the performance are: Dancers from the Moran Academy of Irish Dancing; the popular Townships bluegrass and old time music group, ‘Last Chance’; Sherbrooke's renowned barbershop quartet, 'Le Quatuor à Médée'; James Naylor and the Rainbow Country Cloggers and talented local vocalist and entertainer, Karen McKenna.Briei s Volunteers needed for used book sale in Magog The community centre in Magog is actively looking for volunteers for the organization of the annual used books sale which will be held on Aug.7, 8 and 9.Help is also needed for the event preparation from July 17 to Aug 12.Don’t hold out on your generosity, please come and register at the library counter giving your hours or days available.Heenan Blaikie welcomes six lawyers to firm Hennan Blaikie LLP, a leading Canadian law firm, announced today that six lawyers from the Sherbrooke law firm Demers Bureau Borduas have reached an agreement in principle to join the Sherbrooke office of Heenan Blaikie, effective Sept.1, 2003.The six include the four partners of Demers Bureau Borduas, Jean-Laurier Demers, Martin Bureau, Luc R.Borduas and Alain Heyne, as well as Marcel Lacroix and Véronique Sin-dair-Desgagne.Since 1998, Heenan Blaikie has had a strong presence in Sherbrooke, where it is known for its expertise in labour and employment law, corporate and commercial law and civil litigation.The Sherbrooke team is comprised of 21 lawyers, most of whom have deep local roots and have practiced in the community since the beginning of their careers.Ben by Daniel Shelton 'TOR PINNER?WEÜ-.UHH.THERE'S THE LEFTOVER STIRfRY FROM THIS WEEKENP •YOU KNCM, THE ONE WITH THE SINGER S»AUCE, SWEET PEPPERS ANP marinate?.0RTÜUC0ULP PUT THE ROAST IN THE OVEN N0W.IIL MAKE THE MUSHROOM SAUCE AW A SlPEPISH OF SCALLOPS?POTATOES ANP PARSLEY WHEN X GET HOME.PLEASE,CAN I EATAT YOUR HOUSE TONIGHT1 PLEEEASE" RECORD Tuesday, June 17, 20U3 page 3 Mayor optimistic opponents will come around Merger: Cont’d from page 1 Among the municipality’s costly short term projects are the transfer of the Memphremagog regional police force’s headquarters from Magog to the former town hall in Magog Township, and planned renovations to the current town hall.The coalition currently has 761 members, and about 20 Township sector residents per day are signing up, said the group’s secretary, Vicki May Hamm.Recruiting is done door-to-door.“Our visits last a lot longer than we thought they would,” she continued, adding they last anywhere between 20 minutes to two hours.“People want a lot of information because they haven’t been told anything.” The coalition claims services in the Township sector have been sub par since the merger, and that the municipal government has raised property taxes and cut funding to community groups.It has even joined a Quebec-wide coalition against forced mergers that is calling on Jean Charest’s Liberal government to impose moratoriums on collective labour agreements, name changes, the sale of municipal buildings in the former municipalities and major loans involving the former municipalities.“Know that the sense of belonging (to a city or town) cannot be bought, so stop spending the municipality’s money unnecessarily,” Latulippe warned Poulin’s government.“We are citizens of Magog Township, this is where we chose to live and we firmly believe that our rights were infringed upon.” While it may not happen immediately, Poulin told The Record recently, residents will eventually see the positive results of the merger.“They (residents from the Township and Omerville sectors) profit from the many infrastructures we have in (the) Magog (sector).Yet, all we hear as that ‘we get nothing from the merger’,” he argued at the time, pointing to the city’s municipal library and arena that are now used by residents of all three sectors.PERRY BEATON/SPECIAL ' Can, .' V- " ~ /***¦& : A V if .t.• mm flwtioe The coalition currently has 761 members, and about 20 Township sector residents per day are signing up.f f SQseeking stolen tractor y ¦ |he Sûreté du Québec is looking for any information concerning the .1.theft of a tractor from a farm in Brigham last week.Between the night of Thursday, June 12 and Friday June 13, someone stole a tractor from a farm at 1605 Magenta Ouest in Brigham.The tractor was a green 1993 John Deere model 6400, with a front end loader and a cab.Police say the tractor is worth about $45,000.SQ spokesman Const.Louis-Philippe Ruel said investigators were left with no evidence and no eyewitnesses to the theft.Anyone who may have seen the tractor or have any information related to the theft is asked to contact the SQat 310-4141.Callers preferring to remain anonymous can also call the Info Crime line at 1-800-711-1800.Report: Cont’d from Page 1 Steve Rousseau’s Pontiac Sunfire GTO plunged off a four-metre-high cliff into a water-filled quarry in Scotstown around midnight, the night of June 10, 2001.The driver escaped through the window of the submerged car, but his Five passengers aged between 15 and 18 remained trapped in the car and drowned.According to the report by Investigative Coroner Dr.Jean Brochu, the teenaged victims all had blood/alcohol levels between .047 and .160 per cent and three of them had most likely consumed marijuana.“Their altered state, combined with the darkness, the state of panic resulting from the situation and the fact there were too many people in the vehicle, equipped with only two doors, left the victims with a very slim chance to react in time to escape,” said the report.The victims were Patricia Strauss, 15, from Montreal; Sebastien Poulin, 17, and Steve Gravel, 18, both from Nantes; and Carl Benoit, 16, and Marie-France Morin, 16, both from Milan.Rousseau, 21 at the time of the accident, was driving his young friends home from a party at the popular quarry located on private property, where upwards of 40 people had congregated.“When it came time to leave, the driver, probably distracted, steered his vehicle in the wrong direction and the vehicle fell into the water, about four metres deep at the scene,” said the report.About a year after the accident, Rousseau appeared in court to face 10 HLfcFHU1U There were too many people in the vehicle, equipped with only two doors: Coroner.criminal charges related to the accident, including five charges of impaired driving leading to death and five charges of dangerous driving leading to death.He was acquitted of all ten charges.The defence vowed to appeal, but a month later decided against pursuing the charges further.The coroner’s report does not call for any measures to be taken beyond what has already been done to make the pop- ular quarry site safer.After the accident, large boulders were placed all around the water-filled quarry to prevent cars from driving into it, said the report, “but it seems impossible to prevent people from meeting there, and the lake cannot easily be drained, since it is fed by springs.The only solution would be to fill the quarry with earth or stones, which would likely be very expensive.” Raffle winners Record Friendship Day winners: Kevin Doherty of Lennoxville, Pair of tickets for Golf Horizon 2000 Helen Nobes of Lennoxville, Pair of tickets for Golf Horizon 2000 Rita Mackey of Sawyerville, Walkie Talkies Rita Côté of Melbourne, Golf Longchamps page 4 Tuesday, June 17, 2003 THEi Low flying plane over Asbestos was on By Stephen McDougall Special to The Record Asbestos A large, low flying, four engine airplane that was seen hovering over the town of Asbestos two weeks ago was a Canadian Armed Forces search and rescue airplane on a training run, a CAF spokesman said Monday.“The town of Asbestos was chosen at random for a short, low-fly exercise by the plane’s pilot and crew,” said Capt.James McPhee from the CAF airbase in Trenton, Ont.“The plane was on a return trip from Sherbrooke, and it was decided to get some low-level flying training done.” The plane was witnessed by Asbestos residents Norma Day and Maria Millen on Monday, June 2 at 11:15 a.m.as they were walking on General Vanier St.They reported seeing a large, grey, four-engine plane come low over them, then banking toward the town’s open pit asbestos mine.“It got lower and lower and it looked like it was going to crash,” said Day.“It disappeared from our view, then it came around again and we realized it was not in trouble.” McPhee said the plane was a Hercules transport plane from the 424th air squadron out of Trenton used for primary search and rescue missions.He said the plane did not descend more than 1,100 feet in its manoeuver over Asbestos and at no time was the plane in any trouble.“The planes and their pilots,often have to go even lower when they are in actual search and rescue missions,” he said.“Sometimes, we go as low as 200 feet.You can’t see very much if you are flying way up high.“The pilots have to practice low level flying all the time so that they and the crew can spot people on the ground who need help.” McPhee said these manoeuvers are not planned in advance and towns they fly low over are not notified of their intentions.“If we had to notify each and every town about what we are doing, it would take forever to get any training done.Most of our time is involved in real missions, so we try to fit our training manoeuvers in when we can.” McPhee said the SAR squadrons often train in areas farther north in Quebec and other provinces, where populations are more sparse.But he said the forces still get complaints from residents who say their peace and privacy have been disturbed.“We take the complaints and note them, but there is little we can do to avoid this type of flying.Our pilots need the training and this is an essential service.” McPhee said if a plane were to malfunction over a populated area, the pilot and crew are trained to make sure it does not lose altitude quickly and crash into homes and other buildings.“We can lose up to three of the four engines and still keep flying,” he said.“If we lose all our engines, then the forward motion of the plane can help us glide to a safe area where there are no people.” He noted that the larger the municipality, the higher the planes will fly in order to avoid possible accidents with the population.“We always do a risk assessment, not unlike what airlines do when they fly their aircraft out of airports near populated neighbourhoods,” he said.“We want to be sure that the population is not in any danger.” This is not the first time CAF airplanes have been spotted in the Asbestos area.Last summer, CAF helicopters were seen assisting local and provincial police who were searching for marijuana plants in isolated fields throughout the townships.tiens Py*ym^.-i; pf> .* m \ .; U.,’.:.:.-.This equipment is designed to permit essential examination in the prevention of glaucoma and a follow-up of glaucoma striken patients.It is also used to detect certain secondary maculaires due to medication intake.This perimeter comes with the new SITA technology (Algorythme developped in Sweden) which is designed to improve and shorten testing intervals without loss of sensibility (non exhausting for older patients).On the picture, Diane Desroches, nurse, is conducting an exam on a young patient, Robert Buzzell.ANOTHER PIECE OF EQUIPMENT FINANCED 1.THANKS TO YOUR DONATIONS AT A COST OF 26 265 $ Tel.: (819) 820-6450 Toll free no : 1-866-820-6450 E-mail: www.fondationchus.ofg has Purchase of a Humphrey ophthamology automatic perimeter allowed the CHUS to purchase new equipment The Fondation Centre hospitalier UNIVERSITAIRE DE SHERBROOKE training run In years past, various helicopters, such as CH-118S, Chinooks and Sea Kings have been spotted doing training maneuvers over Asbestos, Danville and other E.T.towns.McPhee said the Search and Rescue squadrons do not have specific towns that they use for their training missions.“The same town is not chosen very often for a second training mission.It all depends on the mission requirements, but often the town is chosen at random.” Hydro trimming trees in Brome-Missisquoi Staff Tree cutters will be working along hydro corridors in the municipalities of Abercorn, Dunham Frelighsburg and Sutton in the coming weeks.One of the main causes of power failures, particularly in rural areas, is tree branches falling onto electrical lines.Often these are in remote areas that are difficult for repair crews to get to.Hydro has hired Aboriculture de Beauce, a firm that specializes in tree trimming.Its crews will be cutting branches to ensure they don’t come within 10 feet (3 metres) of power lines.Hydro spokeswoman Hélène Perrault said the crews will cut trees to favor growth away from the electrical lines.In the cases where a tree is growing directly under the power grid the tree will be cut in a “V” shape.In some cases the tree may present too great a danger for the utility wires.Hydro will then consult the landowner to discuss cutting the tree down entirely.For those considering planting trees close to hydro wires, Perrault suggests choosing varieties which grow slowly, or don’t grow to be very tall.The public is advised not to risk cutting trees too close to utility wires.When in doubt call Hydro Quebec’s customer service line at 1-888-385-7252. Tuesday, June 1*7, 2003 page 5 Talent show open to all languages and genres By Nancy Nourse Record Correspondent Magog Organizers of Decouvertes de la Chansons de Magog announced details of their upcoming 4th edition of group competition.What makes this year’s contest special is that it is open to not only Francophone groups but also other groups.“This is such a diversified region that it makes perfect sense to include everyone.This is the only competition that 1 know of in Quebec that is open to everyone.Music has a language of its own -not just French or English or Spanish.It is about artistic ability and the ability to perform in front of a crowd” explained Jean-Claude Gosselin, co-founder of the organization.The contest is open to any group that has not yet become fully established.The goal is to promote and encourage new young talent whether it comes in the form of rock, jazz, classic or hip hop or heavy metal.The competition will be handled in the same way as the one just held for solo artists.There will be auditions held for all those who apply.The number will be reduced to 16 and then to eight and then to four in two separate categories - Francophone and other languages until the final Competition on Saturday, Nov.8, added Gosselin.Honorary hosts of this talent event will be Jerome Côté and Guillaume Poulin of‘String Puppet’, the group that won the Decouvertes 2000 group competition.This well known group from the Magog area has just finished a tour in Europe where they recorded their first CD while in Belgium.They have also performed throughout Quebec and Ontario and are looking forward to touring in the fall.When asked to describe their style of music Jerome characterized it as “numetal/insinuendo, doing their own thing with a rhythmic difference from other main stream bands”.They are the only young Québécois band that performs in English and are familiar faces at the Hotel l’Union and the Traverse de Lac Memphremagog in Magog, the Café de Palais and the Granada in Sherbrooke.Registrations for the competition will be accepted from May 30 until July 11.The first auditions will be held during La Traversée de lac Memphremagog on Aug.3.The remaining hopefuls will compete on Aug.20 -21, 25-28th at the Pub du Pont in Magog.Semi-finals will be on Friday Oct.3 and Friday, Oct 17.There will be prizes worth over $6000 - including the ‘audience favorite’.For more info, contact Natalie at (819)868-3641 or de-couvertes@abacom .com V- NANCY NOURSE/CORRESPONDENT Guillaume Poulin and Jerome Côté of ‘String Puppet’ seated with ‘Decouvertes’ organizer Jean-Qaude Gosselin.Barmish: CONT’D FROM PAGE 1 Luc Gagnon, manager of the factory on Jean Bosco St., told the Tribune that Riviera Inc.is facing ferocious competition as a result of globalization.The loonie’s recent rise has also harmed the Magog factory, which sells over 70 per cent of its product to the United States.Last February, the trouser company cut its Magog factory workforce in half.As a result, the announcement last week that the factory would close totally in August was hardly a surprise to its remaining employees, although it came a little sooner than expected.“It’s obvious, having a big factory like that running at only half operation is not very profitable,” said Chief Mechanic Christian Carrier.“But we thought we might have two more years before they closed the factory entirely.” Carrier said the factory closure likely came as a re suit of several things, including a shortage of cheap, qualified garment workers in the region.“At any given time they might have needed more workers, but there weren’t any, so they couldn’t expand,” he said.Also, Carrier said morale among the factory’s employees was fairly low, due to frequent changes at the management level and the difficult nature of the work.He said the factory had a 10 per cent absentee rate.Some of the company’s activities from the Magog factory will be transferred overseas, but Barmish is mainly centralizing its pant-making operations at the new ultra-modern facility in Toronto.The announcement of the closure came only days before the company was expected to sign a collective agreement with its remaining employees.The em- FILE PHOTO Magog mayor marc Poulin will be puulling out all the stops to find new jobs for former Barmish employ tees ployees will receive eight weeks of vacation pay following the closure to tide them over until they find new work.“Some of the employees have been working for Barmish for more than 20 years,” said Poulin who remembers the factory as an important part of Magog town life even when he was a young child.“Changing jobs after that long, it’s not a simple thing to do,” he said.Carrier has worked for Barmish for 23 years.“It’s not easy for us,” he said, before admitting he’s not sure if he’ll be able to find work locally in the garment industry.“I have a lot of experience, and that means I demand a salary that some employees don’t want to pay.Sometimes they want good workers and they don’t want to pay for it.” The Barmish factory in Magog first opened for business in 1946.It is still owned by the Barmish family.Barmish Inc.also had a factory in Coati-cook, which closed in 1995.Beach testing begins f1 » jhe Quebec government has begun its annual water I quality surveillance of the province’s beaches.As in A.previous years these swimming areas must meet the program requirements for cleanliness and safety.Each beach is also tested periodically for water quality, which can range from A for excellent, to D, for polluted.Through the program beach-goers can find out if their favorite swimming area is up to snuff.This year beaches that got a B, C, or D rating last year will have to be tested.Meanwhile half of traditionally A-quality beaches will be tested as well.The objective is to concentrate more on the beaches where water quality can vary over the course of the summer.A beach may be tested as many as five times in a summer.To learn the water quality of your favorite beach, get on the Internet and go to www.menv.gouv.qc.ca.You can also call 1-800-561-1616 to get the latest results.f Fax: Ô19-Ô21-3179 email: sherbrookerecord@videotron.ca Yves Robert Advertising Consultant Tel.: Ô19-569-9525 page 6 Tuesday, June 17, 2003 ¦ ¦THE» Record Last week, there was a news story about the large number of complaints about potholes on our wonderful Quebec roads.Surprise! The temperature extremes of the winter of 2002-2003 have been given as one of the reasons for the pitiful state of our roadways.But the temperature in eastern Ontario and northern Vermont is pretty much the same as that in southern Quebec, and the road surfaces there don’t seem to be as bad as some of the roads in the Townships.I was musing out loud about the road conditions in a municipal office recently when the road inspector looked at me and said: “It’s the weight, of course.” We had just been through the period of the THAW/ DEGEL but, apart from the odd sign showing a truck tightening its belt, and the occasional flashing of lights at the weigh station between Omerville and Deauville, I haven’t noticed much concern about vehicle weight limits.I spend a lot of time in my car, driving 35,000 to 40,000 km a year.In the past ten years I have seen ONE truck pulled over for inspection by an authority.At the border I recently asked a Canadian customs officer if he knew what weight loads were permitted on our roads.He didn’t know, but one individual told me that often trucks heading south hauling two trailers park one trailer on the Canadian side, take a load down to the U.S.return with the empty trailer and go back into the U.S.with the second loaded trailer.I often wondered why an unhitched trailer was parked by the roadside in Highwater.Now I know.My attempt to figure out weight load restrictions by logging on to Web sites had me scratching my head over pounds, tons, metric tonnes, not to mention axel numbers and distances between axels but I finally found a site: CRASH (Canadians for Responsible and Safe Highways) which helped me to put things in context.Among other bits of information 1 learned was the fact that “Trucking is.the only commercial freight mode that is not regulated by the federal government.the federal government has delegated most of its responsibilities and authority for the safety of interprovincial and international trucking operations to the provinces.” CRASH claims that Nova Scotia has the best truck safety record in Canada and Alberta and Saskatchewan the worst.Quebec and Ontario are in the middle but both get a D grade.My earlier research with regard to weight limits seems to concur with this piece of information from CRASH: The current Canadian standard allows trucks up to 62.5 tonnes (137,850 lb) compared to 36.4 tonnes (80,000 lb) on the U.S.federal Interstate system! That being said, it is easy to understand the contrast between Vermont roads and Quebec roads.Bigger trucks mean more gasoline consumption, more pollution, more rutted roads.Bigger trucks are harder to pass, take longer to stop and tend to jackknife.The argument may be made that a well-maintained truck will cause less damage to our roads.Statistics show that roughly 30 per cent of all trucks have safety defects We are happy to eat the out-of-season produce and food brought to us by trucks from far and wide, and we need wood carried by trucks to the sawmills and the lumber yards to build and repair our houses, but maybe it’s time to “think smaller” and go for smaller loads on smaller trucks .and fewer potholes.Viewpoint Heather Keith i THE P.0.Box 1200 Sherbrooke J1H 5L6 or 1195 Galt E, Sherbrooke JIG 1Y7 Fax:819-569-3945 e-mail: newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com Website: wwwsherbrookerecord.com Randy Kinnear Publisher .(819) 569-9511 Sharon McCully Editor .(819) 569-6345 Jamie Zachary Corresp.Editor .(819) 569-6345 Richard Lessard Prod.Mgr.(819) 569-9931 Serge Gagnon Chief Pressman .(819) 569-9931 Francine Thibault Prod.Superv.(819) 569-4856 DEPARTMENTS Accounting .(819)569-9511 Advertising .(819)569-9525 Circulation.(819) 569-9528 Newsroom .(819)5696345 Knowlton office 88 Lakeside.Knowlton.Quebec, JOE 1V0 Tel: (450) 242-1188 Fax:(450)243-5155 MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS GST PST TOTAL Canada: 1 year 114.40 8.01 9.18 S131.59 6 MONTHS 59.00 4.13 4.73 S67.86 3 MONTHS 30.00 2.10 2.41 S34.51 Out of Quebec residents do not include PST.Rates for other services available on request.The Record is published daily Monday to Friday.Back copies of The Record are available.The Record was founded on February 7,1897, and acquired the Sherbrooke Examiner (est.1879) in 1905 and the Sherbrooke Gazette (est.1837) in 1908.The Record is published by Hollinger Canadian Newspapers L.P.Canadian Publications Mail Service Product Agreement No.0479675.Member ABC, CARD, CNA, QCNA m cust0 'r’SSTooMasst noms xemssm msm Letters to the editor Kudos to union prez Dear Editor, Re: Letter to the editor from Ross Drew, June 13.Mr.Drew has chosen a public forum to express his opinion of Ms.Barbara Heath, President of the Townships Regional Union of Support Staff and I wish to take equal opportunity to express mine.Ms.Heath, in my 58 years of experience in the private and public sector, is among the most fair and trustworthy people I have had the opportunity and privilege to work with.There are people I will not work with because I don’t have to, but 1 will work with Barbara Heath for as long as she is there.She has done more good for people than any of us realize and when she leaves, as we all must someday, we will be poorer for it.John Keenan Bus Driver, E.T.S.B.Volunteers made Friendship Day a success Dear Editor, I would like to thank The Record for covering Friendship Day for the Borough of Lennoxville.Although the day was soggy, we had a good crowd and there were many smiling faces.Hence, we are happy to state that the 14th edition of Friendship Day was a success regardless of the misty weather.The day was a challenge to coordinate but at the same time, it allowed me once again to feel the spirit of this community and work with some of its finest people.I have nothing but respect and appreciation for the people of the organizing committee and the numerous volunteers that help Friendship Day run so smoothly.Their experience, dedication and enthusiasm made working with them a joy.Therefore, to Alberta Everett, Gail Farrell, Gerry McNab, Elaine Green, Bill Hartwell, Jennifer Palik, David Wright, Jen Young, Annie Duriez, Esther Bassett, Struan Robertson, Tom Allan, The summer Day Camp staff and all the other volunteers, I extend my sincerest thanks.See you next year! Sarah Channell Section Chief of Recreation and Community Life Borough of Lennoxville City of Sherbrooke Send your signed letters to the editor to an address on this page.Community Forum Weighing in on the state of our roads — Tuesday, June 11, 2003 page 7 ' i-THE» Record Perspectives The things we survived in our youth “Oh man, the things we used to do when we were young.” An amazing expression to be uttered by a 22-year-old guy.“We had watched that movie, Home Alone, where the kid slides down the banister on a toboggan.We decided to toboggan off the garage roof.I got my brother to sit at the ffont.lt went really well, till we got to the edge of the roof.Then poof,the nose of the toboggan did a nose dive.I jumped off.My brother stayed on.His feet went right through the front.” Stories parents don’t necessarily want to hear; episodes that make them shudder.The young man reminiscing, one of our elder son’s best friends, was spending the last few hours with family and friends before heading off to the Canadian navy.On this quiet Sunday afternoon, we had gathered in a secluded back yard in downtown Trenholm to send him off with a fond farewell.Amid background music, conversations in different corners covered topics such as driving tests and techniques, ball room dancing, the evolution of mother-daughter relationships, pets, life-threatening experiences,the weather.The picnic table was laden with warm bagels, salads, snacks and sweets.The barbecue produced juicy, supersized hot dogs.Yum.Several of us, at separate times, wandered through the fern and forget-me-not-floored woods to the swiftly moving brook, passing a tree house beside the path, listening to the singing of birds,obviously happy that the sun had at last appeared.While we sat companionably next to the campfire, which served to take the chill from the air and keep insects away, a little brownish red hen performed her trick for us, jumping up into the air, wings flapping, to retrieve potato chips.Later on, 1 learned that watching one’s almost 22-year-old son climb a majestic pine tree, whose branches are seven or eight feet apart, surprisingly produces reactions no different those when he did the same thing at age twelve.Tense up.Cover your eyes.Tell yourself there are lots of branches to cushion him should he fall.Calm yourself with the nods of another mother witnessing his every move.Cringe when you hear branches break.Relax when he’s back down to the lowest branch.As evening arrived, while one of us sipped on hot cocoa and most of us shivered, two young women dove into the serpentine-shaped underground pool.What kinds of things did we do that our parents disapproved of when we were that age, some of the parents pondered.“Wear skin-tight clothes, “was one response.“I know one girl who had to use pinchers to pull up her zipper,” said another.“Mini-skirts,” added a third.On a whim, our hostess slipped into an 18-year-old’s sandals and found out what 2-inch platform, 5-inch heeled shoes can do for one’s look, line of vision and posture.“High heels are made for men,” our navy recruit concluded, after being informed that wearing high heels tends to make one’s back bow in and derrière stick out.Ha, ha.Hopefully, Sonny’s sense of humour will survive his basic training.We all wish him well.“Be calm and strong and patient.Meet failure and disappointment with courage.Rise superior to the trials of life, and never give in to hopelessness or despair.In danger, in adversity, cling to your principles and ideals.” - Dr.William Osler “It is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquility,” - Marcus Aurelius “A man may travel the world over, may live in palaces, make new friends, find new pleasures.But there's no place like home!” -John Payne Susan Mastine The shifting sands of Quebec politics It hasn't taken long for the Charest government to be tagged as a right-wing government and the defeated PQ to emblazon itself as the only true defender of social democracy.It’s not quite that clear-cut.Let’s take a short walk down memory lane.When the PQ.government embarked on its march to a zero deficit in 1996, it cleverly organized a couple of economic summits in order to legitimize its budget cleansing.The summits were a great success because not only did they allow the Bouchard government to cozy up to the anti-sovereignty business community, they also allowed it to co-opt the major unions into accepting its plan to slash budgets.When the cuts started to hurt, there were few left to cry about the PQ’s sell-out of social democratic principles.The “social consensus” that was hammered out allowed the government to push thousands of doctors,nurses,and civil servants into early retirement.It then smoothed the way for Bernard Landry, then the Finance Minister, to bring down a budget in 1997 that dramatically cut spending in the Education Ministry (by $683 million), Health and Social Services (by $760 million).Environment ($43 million), Natural Resources ($62 million), Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food ($100 million), and Public Security ($140 million).It also increased the provincial sales tax - a bigger burden for the poor than for the rich - from 6.5 to 7.5 per cent.That was the same Bernard Landry who, on Friday past, took up the cause of “the men and the women hit by the Minister of Finance and the blow of his billy club” in the budget the day before.To be fair, PQ.governments under Landry and Lucien Bouchard later improved the income tax system so that larger numbers of those on low incomes no longer have tax to pay.The PQ_also introduced $5-a-day daycare, fought with Ottawa for a more generous parental leave program, and brought in an anti-poverty fund, albeit directly and fully financed by taxpayers.Before too much revisionist thinking takes hold, let the record show the PQwas only too eager to schmooze with the business community to show off its capitalist credentials in the event of another sovereignty referendum, and just as guilt-free in putting its social conscience into storage until politically necessary.Let us now turn to last week’s budget of the new Liberal government of Jean Charest, widely proclaimed to be the incarnation of right-wing philosophy.It does not contain any increase in taxes.Indeed, it expects to extract $295 million less in personal income tax than did the PQ.’s March budget, while expecting to receive $40 million more in corporate taxes.The boldest move was to axe 56 different tax breaks and incentive measures for business.This will save $759 million annually, representing more than a quarter of the government’s corporate welfare bill of roughly $3 billion.That’s just the beginning, said Finance Minister Yves Séguin.Over the next year, all corporate tax credits, subsidies, and in- centive programs will be reviewed as part of the Liberal “reengineering” of the state’s involvement in the economy.Moreover, the government’s investment agency, the SGF, which lost $172 million on its investments in private enterprise last year, will be reined in, along with the Innovatech venture capital fund.Their funding will be cut in half.As well, the Charest government restricts corporate tax writeoffs of business entertainment expenses, and becomes the first jurisdiction in Canada to go after stock options used for compensation of senior corporate executives.Now, any gains they make will be more heavily taxed.If the Charest Liberals are the voice of the right-wing business community, it’s hard to understand how, at the same time, they are borrowing a page from the “socialist” NDP, which campaigns against corporate welfare bums in almost every federal election.Of course, the Séguin budget had much more.Like Landry six years ago.Séguin carves into many departmental budgets.The biggest loser is the Ministry of Economic and Regional Development (down $273 million), while Agriculture, Fisheries and Food loses $11.2 million, Natural Resources, Wildlife and Parks $15.3 million, and Revenue $28.7 million.On the other hand, the health budget is increased (by $1.3 billion), as is the budget for education ($397 million), the environment, highways, culture, and tourism.Compare that with the 1997 budget of that great practitioner of political pro- gressivism and see who can lay claim to the mantle of social democrat/right-wing ideologue.But wait.There is additional dreariness in the Liberal budget.The cities of Montreal and Quebec City, each with signed development contracts with the government, now find that all the provincial cash may not be coming.In Montreal’s case, only $365 million of the $587 million promised has been confirmed, jeopardizing major infrastructure projects.In Quebec City’s case, where the contract was signed just prior to the PQ.’s defeat, several major re-development projects, the restoration of the St.Charles River, and a clean-up of the Bay of Beau-port, have been left up in the air.For the regions, the budget is cheerless as cuts litter the landscape.The FAIRE program, designed to spur private investment, loses 60 per cent of its funding, or about $150 million.Another $130 million vanishes from various other local and regional development funds, not to mention reduced binding through the SGF.Even the budget for school transport, a critical issue for English school boards serving far-flung populations, has been cut by one-third, or $130 million.Bizarrely, Treasury Board President Monique Jérôme-Forget insisted to reporters the budget was not being cut even though documents showed it clearly is.There is more to complain about, but time is short.Let it be noted though that, on the weekend, members of the third-place ADQwere talking about repositioning themselves leftward, closer to the centre, because they’re finding it crowded on the right wing.PROVINCIAL Affairs Glenn Wanamaker ¦ V \ Lennoxvi Link Serving the greater Lennoxville area / Also See: A photographic look back at Friendship Day festivities .see Page 10 Page 8 Tuesday, June 17, 2003 WWW.SHERBROOKERECORD.COM NEWSROOM@SHERBROOKERECORD.COM Residents petitioning CLSC for walk-in clinic CLSC de la Région Sherbrookoise open to discussion By Rita Legault Sherbrooke Some 500 residents of the Lennoxville area, who no longer have access to a walk-in clinic in their own neighbourhood, have signed a petition asking the CLSC de la Region Sherbrookoise to fulfill its obligations to the community and reopen a walk-in clinic at its local branch.The petition, which was born out of a discussion at the last meeting of the board of Lennoxville and District Community Aid, notes that since a local walk-in clinic was closed following a fire last January, a number of Lennoxville residents have been without a doctor.It also points out the high number of seniors over the age of 65 — 22 per cent — and notes that a large number of students and young families do not have a car and it is difficult for them to get to walk-in clinics in other parts of Sherbrooke.Ivy Pankovitch, the president of the board at Lennoxville and District Community Aid, said that when she dropped by the local pharmacy this week, six pages of petition were already full, and people were turning them over to sign the backs.“Once upon a time, the CLSC had a walk-in clinic that was very popular,” Pankovitch said, adding that the clinic closed after the arrival of family doctors Leigh Clarke and Mario Soulard.Earlier this year, Clarke closed his medical practice after 25 years and relocated to Ontario.He followed on the heels of Soulard, who left following a fire that destroyed the walk-in clinic that the two physicians had operated on the ground floor of the building at 160-164 Queen St.See Clinic, Page 9 Lennoxville children get their own playground Parle is the first of its kind in borough for young children By Scott McLean Children ages two to five in Lennoxville will now be able to join in the fun following the recent completion of new playground facilities in Centennial Park.In what was originally a mandate of the Town of Lennoxville, the plan to build the park was put on hold during the merger with Sherbrooke on Jan.1, 2002.Now, the Borough of Lennoxville has completed the park designed specifically for those children who are not of the age to attend elementary school.The project, which cost $40,000 to complete, was pushed by parents because other parks were affiliated with local elementary schools, requiring parents of children ages two to five to have to leave during recess.“We had a number of people come with different ideas and designs for the park,” said Sarah Channell, Section Chief of Recreation and Community Life and who was in charge of the project, explained the process behind the creation.“The modules that we chose are uniquely designs for a very specific age group, using primary colours to attract the children, along with finger mazes, places for the children to draw, designs to explore and touch.” Safety is also an issue when building any structure designed for the use of children, but is especially important when those children will be particularly active.Channell said that a lot of planning went into the design to insure both safety and visibility were the top priority during the park’s creation.“Many safety issues were looked at, specifically the distance between the modules, so that if a child were to fall off one, they would not come into contact with any other children,” said Channell.*.“Wood chips are being used instead of sand because of safety issues.Sand is harder and the wood chips provide more cushioning, to help protect the children’s spinal cord when they fall.Children two to three years old fall a lot on their bottoms.” Borough President Doug MacAulay said he has already received positive feedback from parents of children who are using the facility.“On Saturday (Friendship Day) people came up and said ‘keep up the good work,’” said MacAulay.“Young kids need a place to play safely, and our long range plan involves expansions to other parts of town.” PERRY BEATON/SPEOAL ¦¦m v y www.comlcs.com Soup to Nuts THanK YbO, ANd(ëvj.vjéLi have To keep This iovth sll the dHer vaiyabLe GLasswafe HeY, |Y\om.lpo\