SPEC Headlines, June 20, 2004

Election profiles

Philip Toone, of the NDP
Gilles Gagné

New Democratic Party candidate Philip Toone is a 39 year-old law student at
the University of Ottawa, the city where he was born. But, except for studies,
he does not lived there full time. He moved to Maria two years ago, "because it is beautiful". To preserve
precisely the beautiful Baie des Chaleurs, an NDP government "would choke
the Belledune incinerator", he says. The fact that more than 60,000 people
from both sides of the Bay have signed petitions for an independant, in
depth environmental assessment of the Bennett project is a good enough
reason to launch such a study or to flatly reject the project, if that is
what people want.


Guy Decoste of the Conservative Party
Gilles Gagné

CARLETON - Lawyer Guy Decoste, 42, arrived in the Gaspé in 2002 and now
starts his third year as the coordinator of the Consumers Protection Office
for the Gaspé and Magdalen Islands. This son of a banker, who has lived in
so many places that he cannot pinpoint a town he calls "home", has extensive
experience in back scene politics, having served as a political aid of
former Parti Québécois Energy and Resources minister Jean-Guy Rodrigue in
the mid-1980's.
He was a sovereigntist at the 1980 referendum, held a permanent position at
the Youth Association of the Parti Québécois but points out that he also
supported the «beau risque» of René Lévesque in 1984, when Brian Mulroney
convinced the former Québec Premier that federalism was worth one more try
. "I am a realistic nationalist", he says.


Profile of Georges Farrah, of the Liberal Party
Gilles Gagné

NEW CARLISLE - Even if he is only 47 years of age, Georges Farrah already
has 17 years of experience in politics. Mr. Farrah was the Member of the
National Assembly representing Magdalen Islands for more than 13 years,
between 1985 and 1998, and for the last three and a half years as the Member
of Parliament for what is now called the riding of Gaspésie-Magdalen Islands.
Mr. Farrah launched his energenic campaign May 23rd in Gaspé but he has
adopted a more discrete approach since, at least on the coast. He
participated in a debate on the Magdalen Islands last week. He was also
visible in the Bonaventure MRC on a few occasions, but when he visited the
MRC of Avignon, he didn't hold any public meetings. "We just spent six
consecutive days in Avignon, and we've adopted a different strategy, with
smaller meetings", he told SPEC. Since the beginning of 2004, Georges Farrah
has been targeted a couple of times by opponents to Bennett's incinerator and
this factor has influenced his campaign, he admits. He shrugs off potential clashes
with demonstrators, such as the one that marked his February convention in Paspébiac
or a June 5th meeting, also in Paspebiac. Return to Sender coalition members wanted to
talk to him and they apparently banged on the window to get his attention,
and a short meeting. "It was a wild way to force me to get outside. It is
unacceptable in a democracy", he said a few days later.


Robert "Bob" Eichenberger of the Green Party
Gilles Gagné

MARIA - Robert "Bob" Eichenberger, of Maria, never intended to enter
politics but he was not satisfied with the options offered by the four other
parties, so the 48 year-old native of Fabreville, who describes himself as
an eco-reforestry promoter, made the decision to run for the Green Party.
Mr. Eichenberger moved to Maria permanently in the summer of 2001 but
for the last 25 years he has been familiar with the Gaspé. He has been a
producer of vegetables for the last two years and was one of the main founders
in 2002 of the Gaspesian branch of Union Paysanne, a new agriculture syndicate.
Recently, he moved to the second range of Maria and is currently starting his own
business in eco-forestry, an ecological way to harvest wood and other
renewable resources.A very active opponent to Bennett Environmental's incinerator in
Belledune, Bob Eichenberger thinks that "the Green Party could be the ideal tool to get
rid of it. If Bennett is able to start the facility, a lot of jobs creating, environmentally
friendly projects will be scraped. Our first responsability as citizens, as activists,
is to block Bennett. The Green Party envisions things from another point of view.
We must manage and solve economic and social problems using a fair, sustainable
and responsible approach for today's population but also for those who are not yet born",
says Bob Eichenberger.