The record, 22 septembre 1999, mercredi 22 septembre 1999

THE Record The voice of the Eastern Townships since 1897 65 CENTS Wednesday, September 22, 1999 No hunting at Montjoye Staff Lennoxville Montjoye will be a safe haven for people and wildlife this fall as municipal partners running the regional park on the mountain announced an outright ban on hunting in the 700-acre recreational area that includes cycling, walking and riding paths.For more than a half-century, hunters have flocked to the hill each fall to bag a few deer or trap a few rabbits.With the creation of a regional park there, conflicts between hunters and outdoor enthusiasts were increasing, as were the dangers of a hunting accident.The inter-municipal board that runs the park had considered the idea of loaning the land to an outfitter in exchange for a contract to control hunting on the mountain and keep hunters away from paths and other public areas during the hunting season in October and November.But faced with growing public pressure, the board announced this week that hunting was incompatible with family recreational activities and decided to go ahead with a permanent prohibition on hunting and trapping in the park.The decision to ban hunting was made possible by citizens who not only demanded the ban, but also offered to help enforce it, said Hatley Township Mayor Pierre Levac, who presides the inter-municipal board that runs the park.“Without an offer of help from citizens, I don’t know what the board’s decision would have been,” Levac told The Record.Originally, the board supported and promoted the offer from a local outfitter to keep tabs on hunters in exchange for the profits from daily hunting permits.It insisted controlling hunting had become imperative due to insurance and liability, fears of a hunting accident and growing conflicts between hunters and outdoor enthusiasts.SEE MONTJOYE, PAGE 3 Sherbrooke Students Support Teachers PERSY BEATON/SPECJAl TO THE RECORD About 500 students walked under police escort from école le Phare in the southeastern part of Sherbrooke, past école St-François, where a few other students joined the group, to end up at école Le Ber on 13th avenue in the northeastern part of Sherbrooke.Students at le Ber waved through the windows at the gathered crowd, but made no move to join them.Student Victor Perrault said the demonstration showed that Sherbrooke students could actively participate in the province-wide movement to support their f teachers.The cold, wet weather didn’t seem to bother anyone.- Perry Beaton, Special to The Record.Pot farmers nabbed in Windsor Staff Three women and one man will be charged by summation after they were caught with bags of pot in their car Sunday night.Quebec Police Force spokesman Cst.Serge Dubord said the four had been under surveillance when they were stopped by police in St-Georges-de-Windsor.Inside the car, police found 10 garbage bags containing recently harvested pot plants.Police estimate the street value of the seized pot at $120,000.A raid was also carried out on a residence belonging to one of those arrested, however it turned up nothing.Following questioning by police, the four were released.They will be summoned to appear in court at a later date to face charges of trafficking in marijuana.Thieves grab propane truck in Brigham Staff The Brome-Missisquoi detachment of the Quebec Police Force is looking for a truck stolen in Brigham sometime between Sunday and Monday.Quebec Police Force spokesman Cst.Serge Dubord said the truck was loaded with 120 propane tanks weighing 33 pounds each when it was stolen.The truck had been parked in the yard of the Superior Propane depot at the corner of Magenta Road and Route 139.Dubord said the truck is estimated to be worth about $60,000, while the propane tanks are worth about $24,000.Anyone with information on the stolen Superior Propane truck is asked to contact the Brome-Missisquoi detachment of the QPF at (450) 266-1122.yWe learned our\ ABC’s by going to “Portes & Fenêtres A.B.C.” It was clearly our best j choice! s' Warranty 20 year^plusjj Highest rated system Energy glass 1215 Wellington St.S., Sherbrooke Portes et Fenêtres JCeeping you warm since 1991 — Marcel Brassard (619)820-7299 page 2 Wednesday, September 22, 1999 - —THE—i Record Police abuse means more than brutality The words ‘police abuse’ naturally bring to mind images of brutality, corruption and frame-ups.However, there is a more subtle and less-publicized variety that has nothing to do with such well-known wrongdoings.It is all about excesses in side-tracking the prosecution process and where the lawbreakers are the last to complain.When it comes to enforcing the Criminal Code, police officers are supposed to treat every suspect on the same footing.The theory is that everyone is equal before the law and therefore is entitled to receive similar treatment.The police have a duty to initiate criminal prosecutions according to the evidence and not on the basis of personal interests or to advance other investigations.Their discretion not to initiate the prosecution process in our province is limited to minor or trite matters while the Crown attorneys shoulder the real responsibility.Too many brakes to sympathetic or co-operative suspects can easily turn abusive and smack of discrimination.Failing to provide any or all information to a Crown attorney is one sure way to prevent an offender from being prosecuted.However, if investigators get caught doing so, they can also face severe disciplinary measures.Police officers who bend the rules often do so with informers who want to trade information against potential criminal charges.In the best-case scenario, the investigators obtain tangible proof against other suspects and, in return, the informers walk away scott-free.The whole process is speedy and informal but avoids all of the safeguards and procedures that are supposed to be followed by those justice officials who handle plea transactions and immunity deals.Some con artists occasionally outfox their investigators even after being prosecuted.By coming up with so-called crucial information just before being sentenced, they get the investigators to plead their case before the prosecutor in order to get a lighter sentence.Once relieved of a tough sentence, they often return to their lifestyle of crime until getting caught and the process starts all over again.Those police investigators who are willing participants in such practices do so because of pressure to solve certain crimes, the desire to catch bigger fish and, of course, the driving push for favourable statistics which is so common to most government agencies.With regards to provincial and municipal laws, tradition and public perception are far more tolerant when it comes to police discretion.Highway infractions bring out the best and worse.Despite quotas and stringent departmental policies, most police officers still possess immense discretion when it comes to issuing traffic tickets.Since no supervisor is ever present when a driver is intercepted, the final decision is left to the police officer.While detailed statistics are available regarding the number of traffic tickets issued in any region, there is no way to determine how many drivers get away with only a warning.For less serious driving infractions, it is safe to say that they are high.It is obviously impossible to issue a ticket to every driver who commits a driving infraction, even when they are committed in the police officer's presence.This means choices must be made.When one patrol car is on duty and three cars are seen speeding, only one can be targeted for interception.Also,not every police officer feels the same way about issuing traffic tickets.There are those who bend backwards to favour warnings while others are only comfortable when applying the letter of the law.For some officers, intercepting a vehicle and issuing a citation means more paperwork and the possibility of having to testify in court.Other human elements come into play, such as whether the officer is having a good or bad day.Equally impor- tant is the fact that the smaller the municipality the more likely the officer knows the driver.This accounts for why some police tend to be less generous to out-of-towners.In many municipalities, the task of issuing a daily quota of tickets is left to new recruits or part-timers, mainly because senior officers are often far less-inclined to accept the daily and even monotonous grind of catching speeders.Police recruits, like most newly hired public officials, tend to be more zealous and less inclined to favour the warning approach.The extent to which a police officer exercises his or her discretion can depend as much on the attitude of the driver.Just sounding pleasant, polite and co-operative can help a driver end up with only a warning.The opposite is equally true.It hardly pays to argue, get angry or claim a lack of understanding in order to encourage the police officer to apply his or her discretion.Most of them have heard every con- Staff Sun Media a visit to Michel Trudeau's watery Z\ grave let Pierre Trudeau say his Jl jL final goodbyes to his youngest son over the weekend.RCMP in Nelson, B.C.confirmed the former prime minister and his oldest son, 28-year-old Justin, paid a visit to Kokanee Lake after flying into the area ceivable lame excuse.Besides, the police officer's intervention, as well as the questions, may be just a pretext to determine if the driver is impaired by alcohol or drugs.Attaching a $50 bill to your driver's license is a good way to get arrested and charged with attempted corruption while making a driving offence sound like children's play.Any driver who thinks that by saying he or she is an attorney will encourage the police officer to bend backwards is dead wrong.Many police just don't like lawyers, especially those who practice criminal law.If, on the other hand, the driver just happens to be a prosecutor, judge, police officer, celebrity or public figure, the officer may be more inclined to demonstrate a generous dosage of discretion.Others get a bigger charge by doing exactly the opposite.except, of course, when the driver is another police officer.• • • • • Henry Keyserlingk is a retired Crown attorney.He can be e-mailed at hen-ryk@virtuel.qc.ca Friday."Saturday morning he went up to the site with his son Justin," said Cpl.Randy Koch.The Trudeaus chartered a helicopter to reach the lake.They spent some time at the lake, but we don't know what happened up there - it's sort of a private family matter." Henry Keyserlingk ' *x '* i 's, ¦ Trudeau bids son final farewell Weather WEDNESDAY: Clearing in the morning.Sunny with cloudy periods later on.High near 17.THURSDAY: Variable cloudiness with chance of showers.Low 3 to 6.High 16 to 18.Probability of precipitation 40 per cent.FRIDAY: Sunny with cloudy periods.Low near 7.High near 16 to 18.BEN by Daniel Shelton NEVER NOTICE THE THINGS I fV AROUNP THIS HOUSE.TIE I PÜN T THIS IS SO TYPICAL.- P0 THEM. ¦ — THEi.RECORD Wednesday, September 22, 1999 page 3 Glen Mountain to be open year-round Staff The management at the Glen Mountain ski hill have decided to expand their mandate to take advantage of all four seasons of the year.At a press conference last week, $1.9 million in investments were announced at the ski hill property in West Bolton.The new Glen Mountain Park will offer hiking, camping, swimming and a model forest.Glen Mountain director general Denis Morin said the decision was made to offer year-round activities rather than opt for snow-making equipment.Glen Mountain is one of the only ski hills in the region that doesn’t have snow-making equipment, leaving it open to varying winter conditions.The lion’s share of the investment comes from Glen Mountain owner Peter White, who put up $1,145,120 for the project.The provincial government invested another $354,000, and the federal government put up $400,000.The project covers Glen Mountain, as well as nearby Foster and Gauvin Mountains.Foster will be a conservation area, while Glen will have skiing and recreation activities.Gauvin Mountain will be used for forestry and maple operations.This fall, six shelters will be built at the summit of Mount Glen for campers.However, downhill skiing will continue to be the primary winter activity there.In all, 25 to 30 camp sites will be built, as well as another 16 sheltered camp sites.Some 20 km of trails will be opened up to hikers.Mountain bike trails and an “adventure circuit” are also planned.Morin said five permanent jobs will be created, while the ski hill will continue to hire 25 workers each winter.Another five summer jobs will also be created and some 14 young workers will have six months of work.New on the 1,600-acre property will be the Adrenaline Adventure School.The school is aiming at “corporate tourism,” offering adventures that require teamwork, problem-solving and leadership.Morin said the objective for the first year of operation is to double the number of people who come to Glen Mountain.Last winter, some 25,000 people made use of the ski hill.Volunteers will help patrol the mountain during hunting season Montjoye: CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “We had to find a way to prohibit or control hunters,” Levac said, adding the involvement of volunteers will allow them to occupy and control the territory during the hunting season.Over the summer, residents of the area and park enthusiasts made it clear they didn’t want any hunting in the park.They were pleased with the outcome of their pressure tactics, which included public pressure, petitions and offers to patrol the hill during the hunting season.Also applauding the decision was the Hatley Fish and Game Club.About two dozen volunteers for the club will help patrol the mountain during the hunting season to ensure the ban is respected.Levac said that a citizen’s committee led by Gina Fattore was formed on Sept.13.As well as organizing patrols with the Hatley Fish and Game Club, it will also get involved in other aspects of the park, Levac said.Among other things, the committee will look into setting up a non-profit foundation to support the regional park, he explained.It will also organize a committee to develop new paths, including a major path that would circle the outside of the park.Anyone interested in the committee can leave their coordinates at the Hatley Township municipal office at 842-2977.Levac also said that about 2,000 signs will be posted, some of them informing visitors they are entering the Montjoye regional park and other warning hunters of the ban on hunting and trapping.Have >n! 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