SPEC Headlines, Nov. 30, 2003

Military Museum Official Opening
Jeanie LeLacheur

It seems fitting that November 11th or Remembrance Day should mark the
inauguration of the Military Museum at the Royal Canadian Legion of  Gaspé.
The venture  actually got underway in 1999 and was the idea of veteran Jules
Sirois, who was instrumental in its creation but sadly,  passed away without
seeing the final result.  The project had many volunteers, Charles Bouchard,
president of the museum, Denis Synnott, Legion president, Alfred Cassidy,
Jennifer Morin, Marc Bernatchez, Shauna Simpson and countless others too
numerous to mention but all deserving of thanks.
    . 
PORT DANIEL: Polycor thrilled by marble potential
Many citizens worried about possible exploitation in the Cap à l'Enfer area
Gilles Gagné

    PORT DANIEL - A company based in Québec City, Polycor, is progressing in
its effort to exploit marble deposits in the Gaspé, especially in the Port
Daniel area. The company has identified three deposits in Port Daniel, one
in Saint Jules, another one in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, and considers  other
findings in the region highly possible.
    Polycor is the biggest quarry operator in the province of Québec with
annual sales of $50 million. It  specializes in ornamental rocks. Marble is
a relatively new field for the company, which recently acquired Georgia
Marble, based in the United States.
    Company president Jean-Nil Bouchard was in Port Daniel on November 20th
to present his projects and the progression of the work the company has been
carrying out in the area over the last two years. "Our plan consists on
developing all the quarries that can be profitable in the Gaspé", says Mr.
Bouchard, adding that he wants to obtain all the necessary permits to do so.

Tennier pleads guilty to reduced number of charges
Gilles Gagné

    NEW CARLISLE - Former New Carlisle mayor Barry Tennier decided to enter
a plea of guilty on November 24th regarding a reduced number of charges,
including sexual touching of boys under the age of 14 and sexual assault on
older people, often teenagers.
    The 62 year-old man was supposed to appear in court four days later in
order to learn about his trial dates, but he decided to change his strategy.
Originally accused under 34 counts, 16 accusations were dropped in the
negotiations leading to his plea of guilty. Another set of seven counts
was conditionally dropped, mostly because the exact age of some witnesses
when the crimes took place could have been challenged by the defense. But
these accusations all had their counterparts in the other category, namely
the charges retained for sexual assault of people over 14 years of age.