Record Drug Bust On The Islands

In Fatima last Saturday, October 27th, 2007 at 7:30 pm, the police arrested one man in possession of a sizeable quantity of illegal drugs. Tipped off by the public, the Surêté du Quebec (Quebec Police Force) from two municipalities seized 42lbs or 21.3kg of marijuana and one kilogram of pure cocaine, with a street value of more than $639,000. They also took advantage of the opportunity to seize the vehicle, a 2007 dark grey Honda Ridgeline valued at $40,000 and $5000 in cash as well as illegal weapons.

Thirty-five year old Yancy Gleeton from Montreal was arrested when 10 police officers, five from the islands and another five from Pabos, Quebec, stormed the vehicle in question while it was parked in the parking lot of the Co-op L’Eveil of Fatima. The suspect, Gleeton was arraigned in the courthouse in Amherst, on drug possession charges, Monday October 29th. He will face her Honor Judge Mrs. Louise Gallant at 3:00 pm, where he will be charged with two different files. First will be the charge of carrying illegal weapons and the second will be the possession of drugs.

This operation and investigation were several weeks in progress when the arrest occurred. The Municipalities Police Force wishes to thank the public for their information leading to this arrest.

DFO Takes HSUS Members To Court

Trial of Five Begins

On October 18th, 2007, the trial of five seal watchers began in the Amherst courtroom, on the Magdalen Islands. The trial was presided over by his Honour Judge Jean-Paul Dècoste. The government of Canada, through the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) took five of seven seal observers to court after completing an investigating that took over six months to complete. The incident occurred when seven seal observers from the Humane Society of the Untied States (HSUS) were charged for allegedly coming too close to a sealing vessel, violating the conditions of their observer permits, on March 26th, 2006.

The trial began with the Crown witness, Officer Jean-François Sylvestre taking the stand to relate his observations of the incident. The prosecuting attorney, Denis Lavoie asked numerous questions pertaining to the activities of the day and to the eventual arrest of the seven individuals.

A call on March 26 was made by VHF radio from Sealer Captain Jeremy Cyr, to the DFO, saying that watchers were interfering with one of the sealers, his crew and his boat, the Marika Sandrine. An agent, Officer Sylvester from the department had been dispatched, along with another officer, to the sealer’s boat. They had carefully watched the proceedings from the cabin for a period of 40 to 50 minutes, that same afternoon.

Officer Sylvestre explained how he had met with the seal observers on the morning in question and had verified who they were and that they had the legal permits to observe the hunt. He also noted the two zodiacs that would be used in the activities, including taking note of their approximate size. Later, after receiving the call to investigate the complaint from Captain Cyr, Mr. Sylvestre and the other officer, donned life jackets, which hid their uniforms from view and boarded the sealers boat, which was southeast of Iles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

While on the stand, Officer Sylvestre explained that the two zodiacs, though constantly on the move because of a number of conditions, entered the area of the Marika Sandrine, within the allowed space of ten-meters according to the observers permits. The zodiacs were both approximately 20 feet long and at times water could not be seen between the zodiac and the Marika Sandrine. One zodiac, the black one was near the bow of the sealer boat and the red was at the just off the stern.

Crewman sealer, Ghislain Langford went on the ice, after the seal. Using a hakapik (traditional legal weapon of choice) to kill the seal, he then hauled the animal back to the Marika Sandrine. The observers had their zodiacs within the 10-meter range and were photographing the kill with still and video cameras. Once the seal was brought aboard the boat, Officer Sylvestre came to check to make certain it was a legal kill. With confirmation he waved to the seal observers to come and check the kill. Upon confirming a legal kill with the observers, the officer then proceeded to arrest four people from one zodiac and three others from the second zodiac. After reading them their rights, he cited that they were in violation of their permits.

Five of the seven accused are: Rebecca Aldworth, of Newfoundland, Andrew Plumbly (Canadian), Chad Sisneros (American), Pierre Grzybowski (American) and Mark Glover (British) were present in the courthouse to face the charges. The Crown attorney decided not to call on two other. His Honour Judge Dècoste fixed the next date of the trial to be continued on May 6th to 9th, 2008, when the defendants side will be heard. The defendant legal council, Clayton Ruby is expected to call two experts on video extracts, to the witness stand, to prove his clients innocence. The Crown attorney claimed that he had only received the new information from the defense, the evening before and had not had the time to examine the reports of these expert witnesses, thus delaying the conclusion of the trial. As of this time, it is uncertain whether or not these seal observers will be allowed to renew their observation permits for the 2008 seal hunt.

Magdalen Islands Hosts Annual Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary Competitions

On Saturday, September 15th, 2007, the Magdalen Islands was host to the 25th annual Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA) friendly competitions. The exercises were held at La Grave, Amherst between 8:00am and 4:00pm, at the wharf behind the Islands Aquarium. This was the second time that the competitions were held on the islands. The first time it had been held here was 20 years ago.

Each year a different zone is chosen to hold the annual competitions. There are sixteen zones, throughout the Maritime Provinces and the Magdalen Islands, with the Magdalen Islands being zone 7. Zones 1 to 16 are around the coastal regions of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands. Last year the competitions were held in Shediac, N.B. Next year they will be at Caraquet, New Brunswick.

Each of the sixteen zones sent three of their members to join in, on the friendly competition, along with each of the zone directors, judges, wives and volunteer victims. For the most part, they arrived Friday evening on the islands’ car ferry, ‘Madeleine’, though a few arrived earlier in the week to do some island exploring.

The Maritime Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary has been in effect for the past 29 years. Because the Coast Guard was and still is stretched thin owing to the extensive coast line of Canada, various regions created a volunteer auxiliary with the fishermen and pleasure boaters of each of the small harbours. Newfoundland/Labrador and Quebec both have their own auxiliaries, but the Magdalen Islands chose to be a part of the Maritime-based auxiliary. In essence, the Coast Guard Auxiliary keep their ears, eyes and radio open and watch over the waters in their areas and are the first to respond to an emergency on the sea. These are the fishing boats that are in the harbours or the pleasure boats in the marinas. Each year, these volunteers study new means of saving lives and if possible the vessels. Their primary goal is to save lives and if they can save the vessel in trouble without risk to human lives, they will do so.

“This year, the three member team that was chosen from our Islands rank was Steve Burke of Grosse Isle, Roberto Bourgeois and Roberto Martinet. Because of an illness on the Prince Edward Island team, Mario Déraspe has volunteered to be a part of their team,” said Andréa Landry, member of the CCGA. “The exercises are held in the spirit of a friendly competition, but the emphasis is on overall team practice and not on the competition factor.”

“On the Magdalen Islands, we have approximately three full practices a year. However, every volunteer must take the courses in communications, first aid, chart reading and others, to be prepared for emergencies,” said zone 7 director and coordinator for the event, Michel Noël. “The Islands’ auxiliary have fifty members and 32 fishing (80%) and pleasure (20%) vessels.”

“Our Search and Rescue (SAR) Competitions are held annually to give our volunteers a chance to compete in various events and to meet members from other zones. It is a valuable learning experience that our volunteer members receive, at these Competitions. Winning a prize or an award is not the objective of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, but working together as a team is our goal. By teamwork almost anything is possible,” said Frank McLaughlin, President of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Agglomeration Council Refuses Reasonable Request

The mayor of Grosse Isle, Christopher Clark, wants to negotiate an agreement so that the residents under his administration ca have leisure activities that are offered by the Municipality of the Magdalen Islands without discrimination. At the regular assembly of the Agglomeration Council, he spoke of a reasonable request. The residents of Grosse Isle must assume an additional billing of 25 percent, for registration for the activities offered by the islands municipality, in order to pay for their part in the maintenance of the used infrastructures, which is normal admitted Marsha Lapierre. The problem is that the youth of their village have no equality benefits for this extra 25%, as other youth of the territory, at the moment of registration. Ms. Lapierre wishes that the arenas must become regional infrastructures, much the same as the swimming pool, so that everyone will be treated on the same equal footing.

The Islands Municipality has declared open to the inclusion of the arenas, in the regional infrastructures of leisure generated by the agglomeration council. It’s director-general Hubert Poirier, recalls that a proposition in this sense has already been rejected by the transition committee at the moment of the de-merging municipality of Grosse Ile.

Public Consultation For The Exportation Of Garbage

Close to fifteen people from the village of Etang-du-Nord, on the west end of the islands, participated in the first public meeting, held by the Municipality of the Magdalen Islands, in the frame work of the evolution on the future management of residual matters or island garbage. Those present appeared to be in favour of exporting both the recyclable and non-recyclable matter. This is the least costly of four scenarios proposed by the Municipality Iles-de-la-Madeleine. It has been noticed that the citizens of Etang-du-Nord are concerned with the ineffectiveness of the islands incinerator and the loss of the investment of upwards of four million dollars, which was necessary to consolidate it’s operations. One of the participants, Jean Louis Lapierre, believes this is a huge area that accounts for great pressure on his tax bill.

For his part, Léon Déraspe, councilor for the village of Grindstone presided over the consultation in his village. He said that he felt privileged as a tax payer, to recommend the exportation of the waste matter, in place of the investment for the next 10 to 15 years on the incinerator. The local union representative Réjean Leblanc was worried that because of the loss of the incineration process it would mean a loss of half of the 90 jobs under the Management of Waste Matters, that would be made in the exportation of islands wastes. The Municipality of the Islands has already said that it will not invest in the renovation of the incinerator unless it is to convert the heat loss into electricity. The firm of experts ABCG Technologies does not recommend this avenue because it is financially unsound. The Municipality has not communicated or negotiated with Hydro-Québec, the islands power company, on this matter.

Public Consultation Coming

The direction of Maritime Politics of Transport Canada will hold a public consultation on the islands around the end of September, on a project for the annual ferry service to Souris, PEI. Magdalen Islanders have already clearly expressed their request, in the effect of a large gathering that was held at the port of Grindstone on the first of April, 2007, where as many as 500 persons participated. The Minister will nevertheless, come to the islands to validate their needs, explained his spokesperson, Anne-Marie Bouchard.

As soon as the consultations are completed, on the relevance of establishing a ferry service for the whole year, the direction of Maritime Politics of Transport Canada will present the recommendation to the Minister, Lawrence Cannon. The final decision should be made as early as this fall, assured Mrs. Bouchard. A suggestion was made of the CTMA, under examination with Transport Canada since last February, for the year round maritime crossing project. The Minister himself, will put aside a subsity of close to four millions dollars for the upgrading and operations of the Maritime wharves in Grindstone and in Souris, and for discussions of using the 'Madeleine' from the first of April to the end of January. The additional one trip per week during the months of February and March will cost about another million dollars.

Fish Transforming Plant Defends It’s Policies

Madelimer has rejected the accusations from competitor fish processing plant, Norpro. The latter has accused the Grande-Entree Plant of not respecting its permit conditions for the transformation of crab. Norpro spokesperson explained that because of Madelimer Inc. activities, the supply of crab has been decreasing at the Amherst factory, putting the business in financial difficulty.

The President/Director-General of Madelimer Inc., Jacques Chevarie asserted that the Grande-Entree company purchases its product at the wharves, respecting the limits of the 125 tons fixed on their permit, since the year 2000. This is the same proportion that was allocated to the Archipelago quotas. He also explained that if Madelimer has benefitted from the tax credits, with important breaks for the wage mass, this was because the business knew to develop the production, beyond the traditional fishing season months of May, June and the first week in July, thanks to the importation of the crab from the mainland, since first implemented. Madelimer Inc. has seen an increase in its employee payroll from near one hundred persons in the year 2000 to more than 300 this year, stressed Mr. Chevarie.

Jacques Chevarie concluded his statement by saying that the fishermen who had been supplying the company in 1995 have now moved to other companies, leaving Madelimer with a loss of fish stocks in the range of 50% of it local lobster supply. Nevertheless, the company has transformed some three million pounds of fish stocks per year, from May to July. The imported stocks from the mainland accounts for 80 percent of this volume.