The record, 4 décembre 1989, lundi 4 décembre 1989

Monday Births, deaths .8 Classified .10 Comics .11 Editorial .4 Farm & Business .5 Living .6-7 Sports .12-13 Townships.3 O 6 OÛ ô poôe£o Or?a ô Pa Oori’ooo°„o0 &t>Pn6c> VERY COU) JASON OAKI.EY ST FRANCIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Weather, page 2 Sherbrooke Monday, December 4,1989 40 cents ‘Meeting could result in accelerated timetable for troop cuts in Europe’ NATO leaders in Brussels to talk about superpowers vteks "And this one is of me and George up on deck, and this one is of me and George on the bridge, and this one.” By Paul Mooney OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Brian Mulroney will play a strong supporting role when the Western allies gather at NATO headquarters in Brussels today, say senior Canadian officials.The Western leaders will discuss the superpower talks in Malta and ways to divide the dramatic troop and arms reductions in Europe now being negotiated.Like the other leaders, Mulroney goes to the summit prepared for any new disarmament initiatives from the Soviet Union, the officials said Friday.Seated around a long, heavy table in a conference room protected against electronic eavesdropping, the NATO leaders will first hear a 30-minute briefing by U.S.President George Bush on his meeting in Malta with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti will then speak for about 15 minutes, giving an account of his visit with Gorbachev last week in Rome.Mulroney will then speak for about 15 minutes, describing his recent meetings with Gorbachev in Moscow.Most of the other leaders are expected to speak for about five minutes before they begin what diplomats call a “free and frank exchange of views.’’ Diplomatic channels were humming late last week as the 16-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization tried to prepare for any new peace offensive Gorbachev might throw at Bush during their mini-summit.International security officials in Ottawa said the superpower meeting could result in an accelerated timetable for troop cuts in Europe.Given Gorbachev’s flair for dramatic peace initiatives, the allies had to prepare for the unexpected - even a Soviet proposal that all Russian forces be withdrawn from East Germany and other east bloc allies.Conventional arms negotiations in Vienna between NATO and the east bloc alliance, the Warsaw Pact, have gone smoothly, the official said.A last major sticking point is a Western proposal that each side keep no more than 275,000 troops stationed outside their national borders in Europe.The Soviets could maintain 275,000 troops outside the Soviet Union in Czechoslovakia, East Germany and the territory of other allies, while the United States would have the same number of soldiers in Western Europe The Soviets argue that doesn’t take into account the British, French, Dutch, Belgian and Canadian troops in West Germany, a senior Canadian official said Friday.‘‘Either we could agree to deeper American cuts or divide a further reduction of 100,000 troops among the allies." Audrey McLaughlin elected NDP leader By Jim Coyle WINNIPEG (CP) - Ten years ago, Audrey McLaughlin loaded a pickup truck in southern Ontario for an adventurous solo foray to the far North.This weekend, she packed her bags for a historic trip to the political cockpit in Ottawa — with the hopes of New Democrats behind her.The Yukon MP topped former British Columbia premier Dave Barrett on the fourth ballot on Saturday to succeed Ed Broadbent as New Democratic Party leader and become the first woman to head a federal political party in Canada.“The real history is going to be made when we have the next New Democrat federal government,” she said Sunday.“That’s the history I want to make.” Calm, confident, she was briefly caustic in telling Canadians they had finally caught up to Pakistan in vaulting a woman into the centre of political life—a reference to Benazir Bhutto.McLaughlin overcame a mediocre showcase speech Friday to beat Barrett by 244 votes in the final showdown that ended a nine-month, sometimes-lacklustre campaign.McLaughlin, 53, with only two years in the Commons but with an impressive resume as an adventurer, administrator, entrepreneur and social worker, knit support from feminists, the party establishment and some key union leaders into a victory.After the 1,316-1,072 victory, McLaughlin squeezed out a characteristically tight-lipped smile.After watching high-profile supporters, including labor leader Bob White, bump hips to the rock tune Talkin’ About a Revolution, she took the podium to deliver a relaxed, spontaneous address.She declared herself ready to “take on the world” in the euphoric Police down MONTREAL (CP) — Reluctant to directly tackle the operators of an illegal high-stakes bingo hall in the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve, Quebec provincial police are cracking down on their clients.On Saturday night, police intercepted a busload of bingo players returning to Quebec City from the reserve across the river from Montreal.The driver and 26 passengers were charged with participating in an illegal bingo game and could face six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.They are to appear in court Dec.8.The owner of the bus will also receive a summons charging him with participating in an illegal bingo.Last week, a Lachine woman whose husband won a car as a door prize at the hall was ordered to trial on the same charge.Lise Grenier was among the bus passengers police detained and questioned for several hours Saturday.“They wanted to know how much we spent on the reserve, tips included,” she said.“We also had to declare the prizes we won.One man who won $500 was stooled on and the poke seized his prize.“When you buy a mini (lottery ticket) for 50 cents and win $50,000 nobody comes to seize your winnings.Why isn't it the same thing for the bingo?Is the money won few minutes just after her victory.On Sunday, she acknowledged that work is needed to unite a party unusually split on leadership and show Canadians “from Parliament to the picket line" there is an alternative to the Conservatives and Liberals.THROWN OPEN Union delegates and the defeated campaigners had scattered across the cavernous Winnipeg convention hall after a first-ballot result that gave McLaughlin much lower-than-expected backing.It appeared to throw the race wide open to a surge from a back-of-the-pack dark horse.Windsor MP Steven Langdon made a decisive walk when he joined McLaughlin after dropping off the third ballot.Saskatchewan’s Simon de Jong said he had followed his heart to McLaughlin’s side after a second-ballot vote that left him in fourth place.“My head told me Dave, but my heart told me Audrey.” Vancouver MP Ian Waddell had dropped out to back Barrett after the first ballot.A bitter Howard McCurdy went first to southwestern Ontario neighbor Langdon and then to McLaughlin, while hinting that racism had scuttled his chances.“If on the final ballot there was a woman and a black, then that would have meant that the party is open to all,” the black biologist and former Windsor city councillor said.“The party is open to women.” Roger Lagasse finished last, earning 53 votes on the first ballot and a standing ovation for his quixotic campaign on behalf of children’s rights.The defeated Barrett said the party — which applied a $150,000 spending cap — had offered a lesson to the Conservatives and Liberals about campaigns run ‘ ‘from the heart, not the pocketbook.” on Bingo at the Indians less honest than Loto-Quebec’s?” The high-stakes games, supported by the armed Warrior Society, offer about $23,000 in prizes despite a Quebec law limiting prizes to $5,000 in a single day.The $3.2-million hall opened in October but only began the high-stakes games Nov.25.Operators of the Mohawk Super Bingo Hall suspect the police had undercover agents inside the hall and possibly on the bus, said Kenneth Deer, a member of the hall’s board of directors.Provincial police have not openly entered the reserve since 1979 when an officer shot and killed David Cross, a young native, after a high-speed chase.The officer was later acquitted of manslaughter.Last week, the police issued warrants for the arrest of three of the bingo’s most prominent supporters.Sam Elkas, Quebec’s public security minister, suggested the police would not raid the reserve to make the arrests but wait until the three leave the area.Police spokesman Robert Poeti refused to say if undercover officers were aboard the bus or in the bingo hall Saturday night.Deer said the bingo promoters have no intention of shutting down their games.They are looking into how to help players facing criminal charges.illfr * .t***' I * Is II/.,- I .RELORIMjRANT SIMEONl vfüh the major snow accumulation this weekend getting around was not LennoxviUe and his 5-year-old golden retriever Toulouse.the easiest thing to do (see Slip-and-Slide, Page 3).The two are in business together — newspaper delivery service — and But the snow posed few problems for 14-year-old Jacob Martin-Malus of snow on the sidewalks makes their work easier and more fun, Jacob said.I____________ _____________________________ Audrey’s inexperience worries friends and foes By Scott Edmonds WINNIPEG (CP) — Audrey McLaughlin garnered praise aplenty from friend and foe on Sunday, but it was tempered by worries about her inexperience — and fears about the future of the New Democratic Party.“I am absolutely delighted to have the first party at a national level with a woman leader,” said Ed Broadbent who stepped down as party leader on Saturday.“In principle, I’m happy but in this particular case I’m delighted.I know Audrey well.” There was praise even from supporters of Dave Barrett, the former British Columbia premier who came a close second to McLaughlin after a rabble-rousing speech to delegates Friday.Former Manitoba premier Howard Pawley said McLaughlin just might have what it takes to shape a brighter future for the party.But he added a note of caution : “It’s not going to be an easy task for her.She’s probably got a year legates to the NDP leadership convention haven’t had much to cheer about, but a resolution giving the provincial party unprecedented autonomy produced a few smiles Saturday.The resolution, which won easy approval on the convention floor, allows the NDP in Quebec to advocate nationalist policies — even support independence if they want, said Paul Cappon, the bespectacled doctor who leads the federal party in the province.“That was the most important vote at this convention, more important than Meech Lake for me.” he said.“It assures the fu- to catch up but I think she can do it.” Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who will face McLaughlin as NDP leader on Wednesday in the House of Commons, was quick to congratulate the Yukon MP.“Winning the leadership of a national party is both a tremendous personal achievement and a great public responsibility,” Mulroney said in a telegram.“I wish you well as you undertake this important new role.” Later, Mulroney told reporters that McLaughlin appears to be “a fairly able and hard working and thoughtful person who is very devoted to her cause and cares quite deeply about what she is trying to defend.” He dismissed suggestions that she is weak on policy.“They say that about all new leaders and she will be as good on policy as anybody else.” The Opposition Liberals, for their part, said McLaughlin will help their party’s prospects.ture of the NDP in Quebec at the federal level.” Quebec delegates threatened Friday to walk out of the leadership event if the motion was rejected , Cappon said.But it passed almost unanimously.Previously, the Quebec provincial party was directly linked to the federal party.Now it will be almost totally autonomous, as long as it adheres to the party’s social democratic principles.The Liberal party in Quebec has similar autonomy and has frequently clashed with the federal organization.The vote on the resolution came one day after delegates strongly “I think it’s great for us,” said Liberal MP Sheila Copps, who attended the convention as a television commentator.“Her dull performances here and in the House don’t augur well for her future.” BIG CHALLENGE Liberal House leader Herb Gray said it will take more than a woman as leader to lift the NDP out of its third-party status federally.“She will also have quite a challenge in getting the caucus united and the party as whole working together.” Some New Democrats had similar concerns.Cliff Andstein, an NDP vice-president in British Columbia, said McLaughlin’s election has caused a split in the party between Ontario and the West.“The Ontario party establishment did everything in their power to stop a Western candidiate.” Alberta NDP Leader Ray Martin said McLaughlin’s win brings the endorsed a motion calling for immediate changes to the Meech Lake accord.Although the Meech Lake motion recognizes Quebec as a distinct society, Quebec delegates warned it could hurt their electoral chances.The NDP has never elected a candidate in Quebec — federally or provincially.By creating an autonomous wing in Quebec, the NDP has also freed the federal body to concentrate on national issues and pursue more federalist poheies, Cappon said.“It fits in with the culture and history of Quebec,” outgoing party leader Ed Broadbent said during debate.Mm.Audrey McLaughlin.‘take on the world’ party back to its western roots and rejects control by central Canadian intellectuals.“People think you have to be from Ontario to have a national vision and that’s not true.” The most serious cracks in McLaughlin’s foundation appear to be in the ranks of organized labor.She had the backing of some prominent union leaders, such as autoworkers’ czar Bob White, but others, including Shirley Carr, president of the Canadian Labor Congress, did their best to swing the labor vote to Barrett.Lynne Kaye, president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, said the election signals that Canadians are finally ready for a female leader of a political party.“I think the cool confidence and dignity that she showed throughout the convention will have won admiration from Canadians across the country,” said Kaye.Autonomy for federal wing in Quebec By Tom Blackwell WINNIPEG (CP) - Quebec de- < 2—The RECORD—Monday, December 4, 1989 Malta Summit: World leaving Cold War era and enters another By Michael Putzel MARSAXLOKK BAY, Malta (AP) — President George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev wrapped up two days of superpower summitry Sunday, claiming strides toward a new era of East-West peace but underscoring differences that linger at the end of a 45-year Cold War.Both men said they would meet again next year in the United States, and expressed the hope — but not the certainty — they would be able to sign agreements in 1990 to cut long-range nuclear weapons and reduce conventional forces in Europe and make progress toward a chemical weapons ban.“We stated, both of us, that the world leaves one epoch of Cold War and enters another epoch,” Gorbachev said at an unprecedented joint news conference that marked the end of two days of storm-tossed talks held aboard a Soviet luxury liner."We are just at the very beginning of our long road to a long-lasting peaceful period.” Said Bush after his first summit as president: “I am optimistic that as the West works patiently together and increasingly cooperates with the Soviet Union, we can realize a lasting peace and transform the East-West relationship into one of enduring cooperation.” Even so, neither man sought to gloss over differences on two topics, the Soviets’ call for cuts in naval forces and American anger at what the United States claims is the continued flow of Soviet bloc weapons to leftist rebels in El Salvador.LEAVES FOR HOME Gorbachev departed Malta for Moscow, where he was convening a meeting of virtually an entirely new lineup of Warsaw Pact leaders to discuss the summit.Bush went to Belgium to report today to NATO leaders, including Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, on the summit.He returns to Washington tonight.The joint news conference in Malta was held aboard the Soviet cruise liner Maxim Gorky, which was pressed into service as the site for the two days of talks after bad weather forced cancellation of plans to use U.S.and Soviet warships anchored offshore.An afternoon session and a dinner Saturday were cancelled because of the rough weather.The two superpower leaders met for eight hours over two days at a time of extraordinary change in Eastern Europe.The upheaval was dramatized in the summit’s final hours by the resignation of the East German leadership and the formation of a new government in Czechoslovakia that opposition leaders immediately denounced as too much like the old one, although it includes some non-Communists.Gorbachev said he was “encouraged and inspired” by the changes in Eastern Europe.Bush said the Soviet president's acceptance of the changes there “lays to rest previous doctrines,” under which the Soviet Union had asserted a right to intervene militarily in Eastern Europe.OPPOSES PLAN Still, Gorbachev at one point said he opposed “artificially” speeding up the process, a reference to West German proposals for eventual reunification of the two Germanys — a plan strongly opposed by the Soviet Union.“There were no surprises,” Bush told reporters before he flew to Brussels.He said he thought the Mediterranean summit had helped him and the Soviet leader better size each other up as individuals.Asked about Gorbachev’s desire for naval arms reductions, Bush said he was “disinchned to think that is an area where we will make immediate progress” and that: “We still have differences with the Soviet Union.He knows it and I know it, as it relates to naval forces.” On the issue of Central America, where the United States has complained about the continued flow of Soviet bloc arms to leftist rebels in El Salvador, Bush said the United States will stand by its assertion that these weapons are still reaching the rebels — most likely being supplied by Moscow’s allies MOSCOW (AP) — The Soviet Defence Ministry newspaper said Sunday that the western arms policy, including U.S.refusal to reduce its naval forces, still is based on confrontation and threatens efforts to ease tensions with Eastern Europe.“There is little optimism in the fact that military budgets and programs in the United States and other NATO countries still regard military force as the major means of achieving designated foreign policy goals,” Red Star said in a commentary written by Vasily Pustov.The newspaper printed the commentary as Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S.President George Bush completed talks in Malta and expressed optimism at plans for arms reductions.However, the leaders also cited their disagreement over proposed naval arms reductions.Red Star said both East and West must change their outlook to improve international relations.“In the current stage of transition in international development, it is all the more obvious that the in the region, Cuba and Nicaragua.Bush also said: “I will not be satisfied until total self-determination takes places through verifiably free elections in Nicaragua.” path to a stable world and mutual security lies through serious changes not only in the East, but in the West,” the newspaper saidy.It praised signs of change in some North Atlantic Treat Organization countries, specifically consideration of military cuts in West Germany and the United States.GLARING ANACHRONISM’ But, it added, “some actions by NATO and its leading members appear to be a glaring anachronism against the background of improving international climate.” Pustov said the unwillingness of NATO and the United States to include its superior naval forces in negotiations with the Soviet Union were alarming.“This puts in doubt, and even threatens much of what has been achieved in the area of limiting weapons as a result of long and difficult negotiations.” Top Soviet military officials previously have expressed concern about U.S.naval superiority even as the two sides try to work out an agreement to reduce their coven-tional forces in Europe.Gorbachev said the Soviets also supported free elections in Nicaragua.But, he said, “We have reaffirmed once again to the president that we have ceased arms shipments to Central America.” Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev, the former chief of military staff and a Gorbachev adviser, said in the Communist party daily Pravda in October that the United States has 2V1 times more large-surface ships, 15 attack aircraft carriers to none for the Soviets, ZVi times more maritime aircraft and 19 times more marines.“The U.S.A., most likely, intends to continue using these forces to put pressure on us and threaten the Soviet Union,” he said.Red Star cited NATO doctrine that regards nuclear deterrence as a condition for constructive talks with the Warsaw Pact, and the western view that the presence of U.S.conventional and nuclear forces is “vitally important for European security.” Bush flew to Brussels, Belgium, after the summit Sunday to discuss the summit with NATO allies.Prime Minister Brian Mulroney will be on hand for today’s Bush briefing.Gorbachev flew to Moscow, where he’ll meet with the Soviet Union’s Warsaw Pact allies this week.NATO budgets not optimistic—Soviets News-in-brief Canadians head for cover during Philippine coup By Jim Sheppard More than 700 Canadians bedded down Sunday night after being warned not to leave their homes, hotels or offices because of continuing fighting in Manila, although the government says it has crushed an attempted coup.“It’s not safe for any Canadian (or other foreigner) to move out of their residence,’’ Canadian Ambassador André Simard said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press.“There has been shooting around,” he said.“There are snipers around.” Government forces battled rebel holdouts Sunday after driving off an assault on military headquarters by mutineers seeking to oust President Corazon Aquino.Simard said there was no direct threat yet to any of the thousands of foreigners living in Manila, capital of the Philippines.But there is still danger of being inadvertantly caught in the middle of rebel activity in the Makati business and hotel district of the city and in a nearby residential area where he lives along with most foreign residents.Simard estimated there are about 750 Canadians resident in Manila and about several thousand in the island chain.The ambassador said he told four embassy staff late Sunday to stay in the building in the heart of the Makati district for yet another night.The embassy had been staying open since the coup began early Friday.But the four, who came on duty Saturday at 4 p.m.Manila time, have not been able to get out and will have to stay until this morning at least.CONCERN Simard reported the staff were well and the situation calm Sunday night.“I have a lot more concern for the other Canadians here,” he said in an interview from the offical residence where he lives with his wife and two children.The residence is in a nearby district where many Canadians and other foreigners live next to two major military bases which were occupied by rebels during the coup.The district has been caught in “a crossfire” as government forces tried to dislodge them, Simard added.The ambassador suggested there was also more danger for Canadians and other foreigners staying in hotels and offices in the Makati district.Simard noted that many other foreigners are being urged to stay in their Makati district hotels because there are snipers on the hotel roofs.“They might be even more exposed than my people at the embassy,” he said.Embassy staff contacted at their building Sunday night referred all questions to Simard but said they were generally well.The ambassador said Canadian officials were able to move in a large supply of food and drinks Saturday during the last shift change before the rebels moved in force into the Makati area.“I don’t want them to leave (at this time),” Simard said Sunday night.“I want them to stay there.It’s not safe for them to leave.” —____fo-l «Beam Randy Kinnear, Publisher.569-9511 Charles Bury, Editor.569-6345 Lloyd G.Schelb, Advertising Manager.569-9525 Richard Lessard, Production Manager.569-9931 Mark Gulllette, Press Superintendent .569-9931 Guy Renaud, Graphics.569-4856 Francine Thibault, Composition.569-9931 CIRCULATION DEPT.819-569-9528 KNOWLTON OFF.: 514-243-0088 FAX: (819) 569-3945 Subscriptions by Carrier: weekly: $1.80 Subscriptions by Mail: Canada: 1 year- 574.00 6 months- $44.00 3 months- $30.60 1 month- $15.00 U.S.& Foreign: 1 year- $151.00 6 months- $92.00 3 months- $62.00 1 month- $32.00 Back copies ot The Record are available at the following prices: Copies ordered within a month of publications: 60c per copy.Copies ordered more than a month after publication: $1.10 per copy.Established February 9, 1897, incorporating the Sherbrooke Gazette (est.1837) and the Sherbrooke Examiner (est.1879).Published Monday to Friday by The Record Division, Groupe Québécor Inc.Offices and plant located at 2850 Delorme Street, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1K 1A1.Second class registration number 1064.Member of Canadian Press Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation Montrealer wins spelling bee PARIS (CP) — Twenty-year-old Stéphane Ephier of Montreal won a top award in the international French-spelling championships held at the National Library of France on Saturday.One of 252 participants from France and 45 countries around the world, Ephier placed first in the junior category with only IVi mistakes in a difficult two-paragraph dictation.“I feel great,” beamed the McGill law student, accepting his award of a trip for two to Paris and an IBM typewriter.“I didn’t expect to win.But now I have to explain to my anglophone friends what a French dictation is.” Singing for VIA HALIFAX (CP) — CP Rail trainman Bill Hoff-meister of Kenora, Ont.is hoping his guitar will help keep a train on the tracks.Hoffmeister hopes the sound from wooden six-string instrument will add to the public outcry against plans to cut several Via Rail lines.He’s on a two-week singing trek by rail across Canada with musician Doc Tibbies of Thunder Bay, Ont., using music to persuade rail travellers not to give up the fight.“I wanted to write a song for the people working so hard to save Via,” Hoffmeister said in Halifax Friday, just before boarding Via’s Atlantic for points west.Hunting fatality ANTIGONISH, N.S.(CP) — A man killed in Nova Scotia’s second hunting fatality of the season was identified Saturday as Ross Murray Drake, 45, of Dartmouth, N.S.RCMP said Drake was with a relative at a hunting cabin at St.Andrew’s, southeast of Anti-gonish, when a rifle discharged around 11 p.m.Friday.A police spokesman said the shooting was accidental.No charges were expected but their investigation was continuing.Comaneci comes to America NEW YORK (AP) — After four days of hiding out in Europe, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, the darling of the 1976 Montreal Olympics, spent her first full day of freedom in the United States on Saturday by staying out of the limelight.The tiny 28-year-old, who burst into prominence with her run of perfect 10s in the Montreal Games, slipped out of sight Friday following a brief news conference shortly after her arrival from Austria at New York’s John F.Kennedy International Airport.Batmobile for sale RICHMOND, Va.( AP) — Patrick McLynn has the perfect Christmas gift suggestion for the person who has everything, including a car that works : a Batmobile that doesn’t.It won’t be cheap.The college student, who won the Batman movie car and $25,000 in an MTV contest, is hoping to get $125,000 to $330,000 for the sleek, black car and is seeking sealed bids from around the world.The deadline: Dec.20.“My accountant thinks it’s going to be more lucrative if we try for somebody in California,” he said.“Somebody who’s going to want to sit on this thing for an investment or just for laughs and has that kind of money.” First motorcycle mama DALLAS (AP) — It took a lot of pull to become the first female motorcycle police officer in Dallas.In fact, D.K.Lowe had to pull up all 340 kilograms of her department-issued Kawasaki 1000 many times a day.The exercise is required of all Dallas motorcycle officers.The 37-year-old policewoman, who stands five-foot-four, said recently that there were many times, especially toward the end of the day, that the motorcycle seemed to weigh a ton and she wondered, “What am I doing here?” Brazil’s two presidential choices SAG PAULO, Brazil (Reuter) —The presidential election in Brazil on Dec.17 will be a choice between a radical and an enigma.And pollsters say the enigma is favored to win.The election pits Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s most famous strike leader, against Fernando Collor de Mello, a handsome, suntanned populist.It is Brazil’s first presidential election in 29 years and the country is in deep crisis, with mass poverty, four-digit inflation and a huge foreign debt.East Bloc prisoners want reform EAST BERLIN (AP) — Convicts at several East German prisons are staging work stoppages and hunger strikes to demand a general amnesty in keeping with the spirit of reform sweeping the country, the state news agency said Sunday.The ADN news agency quoted spokesmen for a prisoners’ committee as saying prisoners should get a chance to start anew while the country is in the midst of its political changes.Protest in Beijing BEIJING (Reuter) — About 100 Chinese turned out Sunday to defy a government ban on English Corner, a Beijing parkland haunt where enthusiasts have gathered for years to practise their English-language skills with foreigners.Cordons sealed off a glade in the Purple Bamboo Park that acts as a Sunday venue, and official notices nearby proclaimed: “English Corner has been withdrawn.” But defiant students and workers, in a rare flicker of dissent against China’s government, said they would ignore the ban and continue to hold Sunday conversation sessions until they are driven away.Czech opposition denounces appointed government PRAGUE (AP) — Czechoslovakia’s Communist leaders named a new government Sunday, but the opposition immediately denounced it because of the large number of holdovers from the last cabinet and then called for a renewal of mass street protests.A few hundred people gathered on Prague’s Wenceslas Square in the night and urged people to show up for a rally today.The new government includes five non-Communists, but the other 16 members are Communists, and 13 served on the pre-viouscCabinet.It failed to meet opposition demands for a non-Communist interior minister, who is in charge of police, and a civilian defence minister.President Gustav Husak swore in the cabinet and indicated he may be ready to stop down, as the opposition has demanded.Husak was one of the leaders installed after the crushing of reforms by Soviet-led Warsaw Pact forces in 1968, and he is the last of them still in power.The cabinet holdovers include Foreign Minister Jaromir Hohanes, criticized for defending past harsh stands on human rights, and Antonin Krumnikl, whose energy policies have been blamed for serious pollution problems.First deputy premier Bohumil Urban, announcing the appointments at a news conference, said it wasn’t poss ble to meet every de-mand of tie opposition Civic Forum group.“But this is what life is like; you can’t take into account everybody’s demands immediately,” he said.STUDENTS UPSET Striking students, whose protests of police brutality at a Nov.17 demonstration sparked Czechoslovakia’s peaceful revolt, laughed in derision at their headquarters as they listened to the news on the radio.The state-run news agency CTK reported that students decided they would not return to class today as previously planned.The new government seemed a clear attempt by the Communists to buy time to get reform going at a pace they dictate, rather than at the rushed tempo forced by the protests of the past two weeks.The biggest protest occurred a week ago when millions of people observed calls for a two-hour general strike.After the strike, Communist Premier Ladislav Adamec agreed to Civic Forum demands for a new government that would include non-Communists for the first time in 21 years.Urban said Sunday that the government and local administrations would continue to be reshuffled and said new officials could be appointed “regardless of political affiliation.” “You must understand this as the start of a process,” he stressed.Jiri Dienstbier, spokesman for the Civic Forum movement, said his group was calling another mass rally today at Wenceslas Square, the focal point of the protests that toppled long-time leader Milos Jakes and ended the Communists’ 41-year constitutional monopoly on power.The opposition also seeks new laws that would anchor the democratic rights of assembly and free press and pave the way for free elections.At its first meeting, the new government condemned the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968, which crushed the so-called Prague Spring reform movement.It appointed Johanes to negotiate with Moscow on the future of the estimated 80,000 Soviet troops stationed in Czechoslovakia ever since.The move was clearly intended to try to win sympathy for the government from a population that was horrified by the invasion and despised the leaders installed by Moscow afterward.All except Husak have since been toppled.Weather Cold and windy Monday, with snow flurries and sunny breaks.High -14 Doonesbury Poppy is sreAMED.]' JP '.I WHAT IS THIS! i autwrjzb a covert PLOT TO CWEPJHTmj N0RJE6A, and THRae weej',5 later,m P£APLH6 ABOUT LT IN THE HOW CAN UB POSSIBLY OVERTHROW A GOVERNMENT IN 0POAP DAYU6HTT WE'RB GOING TO HAVE TO SCRAP THE WHOLE OPERATION! MEl a au a a a a a ?a a a BY GARRY TRUDEAU (WELL.SIP, WE BELIEVE THAT PLATS WHAT EVERYBODY THINKS WE'LL CO, WHICH IS WHY THE CIA IS GOING AHEAD WITH ITS MIAMI RECRUITMENT PPJVE AS - ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED ! emu iO.mü: n n n n JU U GOOD MORNING.WE'RE LOOTING FOR A FEW BAD MEN The RECORD—Monday.December 4.1»»—3 The Townships —___ uccora ¦ Jury clears Rock Forest researcher Gaston Naessens: By Ann McLaughlin with CP files SHERBROOKE — It's back to the lab for Gaston Naessens today, after a Superior Court jury found him not guilty Friday of the five charges he faced in criminal court.Naessens emerged elated but subdued from a Sherbrooke courtroom immediately after the acquittal early Friday, but later gave his lawyer Conrad Chapdelaine a bear hug that nearly lifted the man off his feet.“I said from the beginning that the truth would have its turn.The proof has been given today,” Naessens said of the jury trial that began Nov.10.The five man, six woman jury was sequestered for about 18 hours before clearing Naessens of criminal negligence leading to the 1984 death of cancer patient Angèle Langlais.HIS OWN REMEDY Naessens was alleged to have Seeking health-care alternatives ‘should not have to be a fight,’ says researcher Gaston Naessens.Work on 714X begins again today discouraged the 68-year-old woman from seeking conventional care by promising he could cure her breast cancer with his 714X serum, a potion he concocted in the basement lab at his home in suburban Rock Forest.Although Langlais family members testified the woman had put her total confidence in Naessens’ treatment, defence witnesses said Langlais feared hospitals and refused conventional treatment.Naessens was also charged with two counts of fraud and two of assault causing bodily harm for injecting patients with the serum.The 65-year-old self-taught biologist added that his acquittal is a vote of confidence for alternative medicine, and gives him the go-ahead to continue researching his controversial cure.Naessens’ elixir has been popular among some AIDS and cancer patients.He claims it props up the immune system to fight disease.YEARS LOST “Life will go back to its normal rhythm, although I’ve lost four or five years of research.Many things could have happened if there had not been this trial and the accusations,” he said.Although Naessens expects the trial’s publicity will see him swamped with prospective patients, he added that 714X will not be available at his Rock Forest laboratory.“I am not there to heal people, I am there to do research,” he said.Naessens has an export permit for the drug, which he sells in Mexico and other countries, but Health and Welfare Canada has not authorized 714X for use in Canada.Medical experts from Toronto and Montreal hospitals testified that Naessens’ 714X serum was ineffective.In tests funded by the MacDonald Stewart Foundation, the doctors said 714X did not heal cancerous tumors in dogs, cows or rats.A chemist from Health and Welfare Canada also told the jury that the potion was equivalent to a grain of camphor diluted in a large glass of water.MORE TO IT Although Naessens did not testify during his trial, he maintains there are other ingredients in 714X that the experts failed to detect.“In the future we will have to prove that this product is something other than camphor and water.This is what I am going to pursue,” he said.Several star witnesses came out in favor of legalizing the unusual treatment, including Mercier MNA and ex-cabinet minister Gérald Godin, French ambassador Renaud Vignal and Quebec Court Judge François Wilhelmy.The defence witnesses said when the terminally ill are condemned and abandoned by conventional medicine, there can be no harm in exploring alternative treatments.“It’s fantastic,” Godin said of the verdict.‘But I expected it because his activities weren’t criminal,” he said in an interview from Montreal.He said Naessens’s acquittal "can only help him and people like myself.” FIGHT NOT NEEDED Naessens said he would like to see the medical establishment work alongside independent researchers like himself.“It should not have to be a fight.We should co-operate,” Naessens said.The charges against the French-born Naessens stemmed from a 1984 joint raid on Naessens’ unauthorized clinic by provincial police and the Quebec College of Physicians.Françoise Naessens, who never left her husband’s side throughout the trial, compared the charges to a biblical story, with Naessens the underdog fighting the pharmaceutical giants who control modem medicine.“It was the battle of David and Goliath, and David has come out the winner,” she said.Defence lawyer Conrad Chapdelaine argued that independent researchers and innovators such as Naessens should be supported by medical authorities.“Of course we are very happy,” Bernard Baril, director of the Committee to Support Gaston Naessens, said in a telephone interview from the committee’s east-end Montreal office.Baril, who was suffering from AIDS and AIDS-related cancer, credits 714X administered to him in a series of injections about a year ago with the disappearance of his symptoms.“And it’s a nice coincidence” that Naessens’ acquittal occurred on International AIDS Day.Baril said.LAID CHARGES He said the Quebec Corporation of Physicians, which brought charges against Naessens in the name of Langlais' family, should know "they are not there to stop researchers from pursuing their work.” The jury was told that in addition to developing the serum 714X, Naessens invented a “somato scope" — a microscope twice as powerful as the modem electron microscope.Naessens’ invention, which uses ultraviolet rays and laser-beam technology, can examine living tissue, unlike its standard electron counterpart which kills specimens.But while Naessens won this battle, the legal war continues.Sixty four charges of practicing medicine without a licence have been laid against him.They come from the Quebec College of Physicians and Surgeons — the group that represents the medical establishment Naessens hopes will now co-operate with him.He is also scheduled to reappear in criminal court Jan.8 to face three additional charges of fraud in connection with 714X.NJayor pleased: ‘A couple of new alternatives’ Fisher’s Point: Study says local sewage treatment OK By Sharon McCully KNOWLTON — A soil study released Saturday by environment consultants EAT Environment Inc.has opened the door to new and less expensive alternatives which could help solve Brome Lake’s legendary sewage problem at Fisher’s Point East and the Auberge du Lac condos.Town-paid studies were carried out on four potential Brome Lake sites to determine the feasibility of establishing a local on-site collection system which would meet the requirements of the Quebec Environment Ministry.EAT engineer Jean Pierre Dubé SHERBROOKE (CV) — Mother Nature did her Christmas decorating in one shot this weekend, dumping up to 25 cm of snow on the Eastern Townships — creating a fan-tasyland for kids and hell for vehicles and pedestrians.Road crews worked diligently, but windy weather and a sharp drop in temperature Saturday night hindered the usual melting.Thus a thin layer of ice under the drifting snow added to the headaches.Local police forces reported no major accidents or serious injuries Saturday or Sunday.Brome Lake police, with four traffic accidents, reported one collision with minor injuries.Lennoxville-Ascot police were still helping motorists out of ditches on Sunday night, with a total of 10 vehicle mishaps over the weekend.They also reported one motorist arrested and charged with impaired driving.PEDESTRIAN HIT Sherbrooke police were also kept hopping all weekend, with up to 30 minor accidents, also mainly due to slippery roads.There were no reports of extensive property dam- Second in month Magog woman killed by train MAGOG —- A 55-year old woman was killed here Friday morning when the car she was driving was struck by a Canadian Pacific freight train and dragged about a kilometre along the railway tracks.The death of Huguette Beaudoin-Grégoire of Magog was the second fata) train accident in a month along St-Patrice Street east.Beaudoin-Grégoire was killed instantly.Firemen had to cut her car open with hydraulic shears to remove the body.Magog police are investigating.On Oct.31, 75-year-old Lucille Beaulieu was killed by a train wrhile crossing the tracks on foot close to the scene of Friday'* explained his findings to town councillors and about 50 residents at a public meeting Saturday in Knowlton.Mayor Gilles Decelles said he was pleased with the study because it offered the town “a couple of new alternatives.” THE COST “The main obstacle to any of our proposals in the past has been the cost,” Decelles said.“We will have to seé'flow acceptable the cost will be to condominium owners.” “And,” he added, “we will have to see if the Ministry of the Environment will accept it.” To respond to the sewage collection problem at the Auberge du Lac age and no injuries except a pedestrian struck by a car Friday night in front of the courthouse on King Street west.The man is in hospital.The Quebec Police Force regional headquarters in Sherbrooke covered dozens of “loss of control” accidents due to icy conditions on all roads and highways in the region.Most of the rural misahaps were along the Eastern Townships Autoroute 10 and Transquébécoise condominiums, the EAT study proposes a waste reduction system which would entail modifications at a moderate cost to the present plumbing in each condominium.Dubé said that by attaching waste reducers, the flow of water to the residences would be reduced, cutting in half the volume of effluent entering sewer pipes.Dubé added that the same waste reduction method could be used to reduce the flow of waste water from all Brome Lake residences.REPAIRS NEEDED Dubé also recommended that repairs be made to prevent further leaking on the condo sewer pipeline.Highway 55, and caused no injuries and minor material damage.“Lots of people are in the ditch.There are people flying off the highways in every direction,” a busy QPF dispatcher said Sunday night.All the police spokesmen contacted said that because of the number of holiday parties over the weekend they were suprised there weren’t more accidents.Councillor Michael Caluori said the town was informed of the leaky underground pipes at the condo site.But in response to a question from the public, Mayor Decelles said that no plans of the condo pipeline are available at town hall.After effectively reducing the amount of waste-water and repairing any leaks in the underground pipes, Dubé said, waste-water from the condos could be trucked periodically to the town sewage treatment plant between Fulford and Bond ville.Although he was not able — nor required — to provide precise estimates of the cost of his proposal, Dubé estimated the cost would be about 80 per cent less than the municipal plan to extend a town sewage main to the site.ONE BY ONE For residences on Fisher’s Point East, the report recommends a solution based on individual situations.“For 60 per cent of owners, domestic water could be pumped regularly,” Dubé said.He proposed a “mound system” of filtration to prevent nitrates from emptying into the lake, and suggested sealed sewage tanks for those with space restrictions.Dubé added that corrective measures should be taken in some instances, and a restriction should be By John McCaghey COWANSVILLE — François Bourassa, a former Cowansville lawyer, was sentenced to 18 months in jail Friday by Quebec Court Judge Gabriel Lassonde.Bourassa, 36, earlier pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud involving hoaxing clients out of about $41,000 in 1985-1986.Crown attorney Pierre Proulx dropped parallel theft charges following the guilty pleas.Bourassa resigned from the Quebec Bar Association in 1986, and the bar trustee paid out $10,000 to partially indemnify the victims.Defence lawyer Claude Hamann managed to have sentencing delayed several times to allow Bourassa some leeway in an attempt to repay the victims.FINAL ENTRY A last deposit of $14,800 was put in Hamann’s trust account immediately before sentencing.Prosecutor Proulx told the court during representations on sentencing that Bourassa had benefited : from the clemency of the court 7 eight or nine years ago when he j was caught kiting cheques; he £ made restitution and was handed - an unconditional discharge.?Proulx provided reports of sent-i ences for previous similar crimes including some involving other lawyers charged with fraud, and urged a prison term at the discretion of the court.placed on further building in Fisher’s Point East.Municipal Association president Neil McCubbin said he was “very impressed” with the quality of the consultants’ work.McCubbin said he was a little disappointed that the tests in some areas showed a high level of clay, which seems to make them unsuitable for the “mound” system.‘VERY OBJECTIVE’ Marc Decelles, president of the Brome Lake Conservation Association and another advocate of a localized sewage system, called the study “very objective and thorough.” “I feel the recommendations for individualized systems for Fisher’s Point will be accepted,” he said in an interview.“It’s too bad nothing conclusive came for the condos other than a waste reduction plan,” Decelles added.He said a localized system for the condos could still be established on a Brome Lake property which extends into neighboring West Bolton.During the meeting environmentalist Decelles raised the question of the town’s own sewage treatment plant.“Our own system is just a secondary system and it dumps large amounts of nitrates and phosphates into the Yamaska River,” Decelles said.the crimes merited a period of imprisonment but he urged thye court to consider the efforts made to refund the victims’ money.Bourassa, a grand-son of pioneer French-Canadian nationalist and newspaperman Henri Bourassa, had been working for a local landscaping contractor.MOWING LAWNS During the past two summers he was often seen in cut-offs mowing lawns around the local courthouse.The defence made a final plea requesting that the court not give Bourassa more than two years, COWANSVILLE (JM) — Denis Vachon, 31, of Glen Sutton area has been sent to jury trial following a preliminary hearing on a list of charges connected with an alleged rape.Vachon is accused of rape while armed, two counts of illegal confinement, two of illegally pointing firearms, use of a firearm during the commission of a crime, possession of an unregistered restricted firearm, and theft of a car worth more than $1000.Quebec Court Judge Gabriel Lassonde granted a publication ban on any information which might identify the alleged victim*, Marc Decelles.Town system needs improvement.Consultant Dubé agreed that all main sewage systems will come under scrutiny in the future, but said it is unlikely that such systems, found throughout the province, would ever be banned or restricted.Brome Lake councillors will publicly discuss their recommendations during the first segment of a work meeting at 7:30 Monday night at the firehall in Knowlton.which would send him to federal penitentiary.Judge Lassonde placed Bourassa on three years probation following his release, with the specific condition that he set up terms for reimbursing the bar trustee within the first year out of jail.Bourassa choked back a sob, and tears welled behind his glasses as he was led off to cells pending his transfer to the Waterloo minimum security rehabilitation centre.If he behaves in prison, as a first offender he could be released after completing one-sixth of his sentence.re Proulx.He did the same for all testimony, as demanded by legal aid lawyer Michel Marchand.The alleged event occured in the Mansonville area on October 12, Prosecutor Proulx produced the two alleged victims and three Quebec Police Force officers as witnesses at the hearing.Defence lawyer Marchand waived reading of the voluntary statement form and said he had no-thing to add nor any witnesses to be heard at the preliminary stage.Vachon remains free on bail with strict conditions for himself and family members.The next term of Superior Court jury trials opens in *•«**•»*•• mem •