SPEC Headlines, Oct. 5, 2003

No foul play suspected in tragic plane crash
Jeanie LeLacheur

A Piper Navaho licensed to the commercial carrier Les Ailes de Gaspé, left
the Magdelen Islands airport on  the evening of Saturday, September 27 at
about  6:05 pm carrying pilot Marc Bouchard, Constable Patrick Lévesque of
the Sureté du Quebec, and a prisoner who was to appear in Percé court on
Monday.  At approximately 6:55 pm a radio communication was received from
the plane  requesting "approach clearance".  This would prove to be the
final radio contact with the Piper aircraft and the Rescue Coordination
Centre in Halifax was contacted shortly after to report the plane's
disappearance. 
Ground and aerial search and rescue operations  began at 7:45 pm  by the
Sureté du Quebec, the Gaspé Fire Department, the Canadian Armed Forces and
the Coast Guard. The search continued into the night and the missing
aircraft was  located the following morning Sunday September 28th  by a
military helicopter, less than two km from its destination. All three
passengers were killed in the crash. Pilot  Marc Bouchard 60,  24 year old
Constable Patrick Lévesque of the Sureté du Quebec MRC of Gaspé, and a 32
year old prisoner  whose name has not yet been released pending family
notification.

Fishermen want to challenge Bennett's project in court
Actor André Montmorency also joins the opponents
Gilles Gagné

CARLETON - The Maritime Fishermen Federation has recently filed a legal
action in order to nullify the construction permit granted to Bennett
Environmental, the company behind the thermal oxidizer currently under
construction in Belledune.

Euclide Chiasson, the spokesperson of the group representing 1,400 members,
mostly New Brunswick lobster fishermen, revealed in a big rally held in
Carleton on October 23rd, that his organization currently challenges the
construction permit in front of the New Brunswick Town Planning Commission.

"Any municipal permit must take into account the impact of a new building on
its neighborhood. No study was performed to measure this impact of the
incinerator on fisheries or fish farming. We just put in the water 10
million scallops about three miles off the coast of the NB Power electricity
generating plant, in order to resume or improve scallop fishing in that
area. We don't want to lose that investment", says Mr. Chiasson.

"We are also very worried about the reputation of fishing products that will
be sold out of the region once the incinerator is operating. The perception
of quality is very important on our sector. Our area stands to lose much
more than gain with Bennett's project. They are talking about 36 jobs? Our
development strategy (in fishing and fish farming) will create far more jobs
than that", adds Euclide Chiasson.