Big uneasy continues
for Quebec duo

A Quebec couple facing long prison spells in a Louisiana prison aren’t off the hook yet in spite of a recent court victory. In January, acrobatic street performer David Fiset, 23, and his tightrope-walker girlfriend, Myriam Gagnon, 21, allegedly bought heroin and then fled New Orleans police, with Fiset punching a police officer in the face and then driving his car over another officer’s foot. Fiset protested that he mistook the undercover cops for bandits and that they tossed satchels of heroin into his vehicle. The case sparked several fundraising efforts to help clear the couple. The effort ended with an apparent victory last month when Criminal Court Judge Arthur Hunter sided with a defence motion to suppress the state’s evidence. But a representative of District Attorney Harry Connick’s office says that the state plans to retry the case.

“That case is alive and well,” says Zully Jimenez of the New Orleans DA’s office. “We are appealing the judge’s decision. The way it stands now is that this case is open for both defendants on possession of heroin, and for battery of a police officer, flight from an officer and negligent injury for Fiset only. There is no statute of limitations on this prosecution, so we’re proceeding as normal.”

Fiset faces a potential 21 years in prison, while Gagnon could spend 10 years behind bars. : » Kristian Gravenor

No resting on
pesticide laurels

Quebec likes to think it has a pretty good record when it comes to pesticide control. The off-island township of Hudson, for instance, is still beaming on its pesticide-free lawns, courtesy of a Supreme Court decision earlier this year granting it the right to ban the use of weed-killing chemicals, and a group of municipalities on the North Shore is preparing its own similar legislation.

But we shouldn’t be all that content, experts warn, because banning cosmetic pesticides is only a first step in a much wider fight. At a symposium hosted by Concordia’s School of Community and Public Affairs next week, Michigan-based alternative pest control and anti-toxin advocate Steve Tvedten will speak on how to avoid using pesticides and the politics behind industry lobbies and local legislation designed to counter it.

“Quebec is considered progressive with its promises of new legislation, but we have to go back to the table and ask for better protection,” says symposium organizer Jeremy Wallace, the environmental director of the Anne and Max Bailey Centre for Human Rights and Cultural Diversity. By supporting Hudson’s fight against pesticides, he says, “Quebec is made to look more environmentally progressive than it really is. It’s not as if we have a really progressive regime here, but [the victory] does give us cause to be emboldened.”

The symposium, The Politics of Pesticides and the Real Grassroots, takes place on Thursday, October 24, at 2149 Mackay. Tvedten speaks at 4 and 7:30 p.m. : » Patrick Lejtenyi

Filling up
Empty Bowls

It’s no Happy Meal, but the soup and bread you’ll get this Saturday at the United Church of Montreal’s Empty Bowls Hunger Benefit will probably taste a lot better than a fast-food burger. Plus, you’ll come away with a cool souvenir.

Empty Bowls is the second annual fund-raiser for organizations dedicated to fighting hunger and promoting food-related issues. This year’s beneficiaries will be the NDG Food Depot; Eco-Initiatives, an urban farming project; Chez mes amis, a community restaurant, and the Montreal Diet Dispensary, which helps pregnant women with low incomes eat better and deliver healthy infants.

The meal itself—on the menu this year is leek minestrone—may be somewhat modest, but that, says organizer Alison Hall, is the point. “We’re serving a simple soup and bread because it’s meant to remind us about those who don’t have much to eat,” she says.

The bonus is, those who pay the $20 entry fee get to keep the bowl. “All the bowls are made from ceramics or pottery and were donated by the artists,” Hall says. “People just pay, pick up the bowl and it’s theirs to keep.”

Last year, Empty Bowls raised $2,600 and sold 133 bowls. Hall says she hopes to top that this year. The benefit supper will be held on Saturday, October 19, at 5035 de Maisonneuve W. from 5 to 8 p.m. For more info call 636-8406. : » Patrick Lejtenyi

Angel >> The return of the eastern cougar, maybe Believed extinct for over 60 years, the eastern cougar may be back in Quebec. Scientists at Bishop’s University have discovered that strands of fur found in a Gaspésie hair trap may belong to the elusive feline. Cougar sightings have cropped up intermittently since the last one was shot in 1938, but there has never been actual solid evidence that any in fact remain. Modern DNA analysis proves that they do—maybe. Previous cougar sightings in the province have been related to escaped exotic pets. But the growth of prey population in Quebec suggests that the species may be making a comeback.
Insect >> The TazMahal’s new toxic digs Since getting the boot from its old place on Berri a year and a half ago to make way for the Bibliothèque Nationale, the TazMahal skatepark has been without a home. The city graciously offered it the old Carrières incinerator, inactive since 1993. One hitch, though: it turns out the incinerator houses dangerously high levels of dioxins, furans and diesel, and is coated in paint with high levels of lead. Data from 1991 showed levels of dioxins at nine times that deemed safe by Canadian environmental norms.