The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 128

Montreal, Saturday, May 1983 Wi maoteSami uses Ms Mcks Punitive damages awarded to renters i4 fi debu dtdC psydtoic spoolers 1 is A re I oy forum iy CHERYL CORNACCMA TM Cill If yoa tx-hcva th future ran fc M4 wiia KM', Urot card cryU fcatti, Irivci df nurwrologf 1 Arnold A I Bennett L-iX4 Hilton pointed out that the landlord. irtMead of arttng legally by requeu ing cancellation of the leave through' There have btvn a fuir nmntwr if in the past two yf4rs hrre rouru have awarded punitive d-iro-! ag4inil landlords who illegally evict tenant or refused to let ttwm return after renovations. In jmU ol IheMt car. the tenant suffered substantially and the courts have combined punitive dam ages with cnmpensation for cutri additional rent and loa of peaceable enjoyment In severs! of ihe cases, (he total damages awarded have been as mK-h at 8.000. even more.

The legal bai for granting punitive damages, or "making an cianv pie" of the landlord, has been the Quebec Charter of Rights. Article 7 of the charter says a person's borne is inviolable, while Article says nobody can enter another person's place and remove anything without that person's "express or tacit consent" Under Article 49, the courts can order an offender to stop the violation of the victim's rights, repair the moral or material barm resulting from this violation, and pay "exemplary damages." A recent rental board decision has Henry Gordon back la town, wuli a nrw bag of tricla that be fcopM will ihow ywi up. i Tfc one-limt Montr! msjN I tan an4 former owner el Henry Offdim'i Tarty Ontrt oa (Juwn Mary R1 now one of world I trading invrttigatori el paraaof I nut phenomena, And in hu new book, aory Deception (Macmlllaa of Canada. 1 1 9 8S). Gordoo Mrt ad-! ence, phyin and magic to eiplaia 1 away "paranormal nonsense.

i Gordon now lives la Toronto. Montreal on a crow-Canada book i tour, the (J-year-old ikeptlc ibarcd hit vlewt oa magic, a pot-! pourrl of psychic happening! and today'! burgeoning New Agt i movement "Iho Shirley Mac Latne phenomenon." i haa motivated your. Wit V- I i i extended the frontiers for using these provisions, making them a potent deterrent even in cases here the tenant's real losses are minimal (Anderson vs. Clifton Management, Demande 33-87042I-077-G, March 23. 1988).

The evidence presented at the hearing showed that on Oct 21, 1986, the landlord changed the lock on a II9S-a-month dwelling at 4004 St. Ralph Nadar-atyla cruaada as a i fihoitbuatar? I have been a professional magi- cton lor 40 yean About 25 years I W-o, I nollred that quit a lew peo I pie in the field ol conjuring magic these were big-name people in i the VS. were twinging over and calling themselves psychics. They could make more money that way. This upset me.

I began to look Into it. You dtierlba youraalf as magical mind reader. What doaa thla mean and what rolo dc-aa magic ptay In your Ufa today? A mentalist is someone who Denis St without the tenant's consent and did not give him a copy of the new key. me ooara, naa artea in an iiiicili manner to the detriment of tbe rights of the lenant and the law." The landlord sUo claimed that the! tenant had signed an agreement to; move out, but Uisson noted that' when a tenant fails to respect such! an agreement the landlord must ap- ply to the court for eviction under' Article 1648 of the Civil Code and' not take the law into his own hands, The evidence showed that the ten' ant had suffered no material losses except for the broken security liisson also ruled that he was entitled; to compensation for the days that be' did not have peaceable enjoyment of! the dwellings and that his belongings! had not been returned. In all, these damages amounted to 1 100.

Breach of rights But Bisson also ruled that the landlord's illegal intrusions and the! temporary removal of some of the; tenant's belongings constituted an "illicit and intentional" breach cf one of the tenant's fundamental, rights. i "The landlord acted in contempt, of the tenant's rights and the law, when he could not have been igno- rant of the consequences," Bisson concluded. He based the need for punitive; damages on the "dissuasive" effect of such a penalty and the landlord's conduct in entering the tenant's home on three separate occasions. "Such an attitude must be pun-f ished to avoid its being repeated," Bisson ruled. He considered a penalty of $1,000 to be reasonable and ordered the landlord to pay the tenant a total of $1,100 in damages, plus 11 per cent interest retroactive to the filing date! of April 21, 1987, and $20 for court costs.

Information: The Housing Hotline at 488-0412 is open Monday td Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.mj and Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be tenant information; meetings today and every Saturday at 11 a.m. at 4335 Hampton Ave.

I OEIL, a tenant organization inj Cote des Neiges, also holds weekly) The tenant managed to re-enter the dwelling and installed a security chain until be could get a key to the new lock. On Oct. 25, 1986, the landlord i does what I call sleight ol mind. la 1 Athup wnrnm haw tic Am mftrrU rirt broke the chain and "threw the tenant into the street." The tenant refused to be intimidated and moved back in the next day. vmii.1 wvivu uv fcw aaaaisiv tf wv mind-reading.

i I do a lot ol lecturing all over Removed belongings the continent and I use magical i effects to illustrate points. Henry Gordon demonstrates the "magic" floating Of course, it's a trick. But on Oct 28, an employee of the landlord entered the dwelling with .1 ve been doing this lor years. But I let the audience know I'm using normal magical methods. If you tell someone you're a psychic and you have supernatural I think it made a good point I still use this trick today at universities I pretend to be a psychic.

I Conversation out authorization and removed some of the tenant's belongings. The tenant was finally able to recover these belongings on Nov. 11, 1986. powers, that's something else. Eventually the tenant moved out of the dwelling of his own accord at This is about the only time I do magic today.

I know when I started out I never went anywhere without a the end of March, 1987. On April 21, 1987, he sued the landlord for $1,750 in damages. pocket lull ol tricks. You didn't At the hearing, the landlord tried i nave 10 asK me. to justify the intrusions on the my Iriends stopped asking lor TL L.

I. grounds that the tenant did not keep the dwelling clean and cluttered it with "all kinds of objects to the detriment of the most elementary rules 1 ucinuiuiidiiuiis. lut'jr uiuuui uicy were imposing. -Of rniiKP nnr trnn'ro Tnacri. of safety." information meetings every Wednesj day at 2 p.m.

and 7:30 p.m. at 3600j i cian, you are always a magician. This allegation was accepted by Van Home Ave. the rental board, but regisseur Jean CHILD SEARCH But I no longer do magic shows tin-) less it's a very special occasion. When did you first become- In-; terested in magic? That's the strange part.

Most magicians start as children. In fact, I recently wrote a book, It's Magic (Stoddart, filled, with magic tricks lor kids. But I didn't start doing magic until I was 20 years old. I was stationed in Calgary with the PCAF during the Second World In one way, science has sown a lot of fear. It has pointed out how infinitesimal we are in the cosmos.

People have the feeling we are Just pawns. They are looking for something to bolster their confidence. That's what religion has always done. Since many people have lost their faith in religion traditional religion, that is they are going to these other gurus. Unlike traditional religions, the New Age movement tells people to have faith in themselves.

"You are God," it says. "Everybody, you are Cod." It's a narcissistic movement. But it's very big. They are not getting kooks. They're getting yuppies, corporate types, the housewife, the average man and big entertainment figures Shirley MacLaine, John Denver and John Travolta.

What ia your religion? I'm Jewish. I am not practising, but I believe in upholding the ethical values of Judaism. And before you even ask me if I believe in God, I believe there could be some power that is guarding the universe. But I don't believe in a personal God that you can-pray to. I'm an agnostic, in that respect.

In 1977, you stung Montrealera who turned out at the Saidye Bronfman Centra to hear El-chonen, "on of the world's great psychics." Your face covered with a vinyl mask, you performed apparent miracles and read minds. Then after intermission you reported you had used simple magical tricks to dupe the audience into thinking you were a psychic. How do you view this incident now? Boy missing since October do mind-reading feats and then I tell them who I am. The point being you can be deceived by a magician who says he is a psychic. Anybody can be deceived.

I've done this to scientific groups. You're committed to a count-er-movement that triea to debunk North America's growing fascination with crystals, channellora and other New Age phenomena. What type of support is there for this movement? Groups lor skeptics have' jumped up all over the States. There is the Bay Area Skeptics in San Francisco, there's a Los Angeles Skeptics and many more. I was asked to get things organized in Canada.

We're forming provincial skeptics groups. I started the Ontario Skeptics. And we have a Quebec Skeptics society and the British Columbia Skeptics. Eventually we'll be able to hold our own Canadian conferences. Are you concerned by revelations that Nancy and Ronald Reagan rely heavily on astrological advice? It depends how much they apply it to their decisions.

We know now that William Lyon Mackenzie King was a kook when it came to occult matters, but he governed the country well for a lot ol years. So it's hard to say. We have no way of knowing how much he applied his psychic predictions to politics. The same thing goes with Reagan. It can be scary, thinking ol the things that might happen.

We have to keep our eyes open. renowned behaviorist B. F. Skinner. The committee is a loose-knit organization that leeds information to the press.

In fact, the media is always consulting with the committee when big stories come up like Ronald Reagan and astrology or when there are big UFO sightings. We organize special investigations. Why did you write this book now? la the timing important, some way tied into a full moon, last year'a "Harmonic Convergence" or some other mystical vent? The book is made up of a collection of columns that I have written lor the Toronto Star over the past three years. But the New Age, which I take aim at, is a really an old story. What they call the New Age phenomenon is a mix of all the paranormal nonsense such as psychic readings, astrology and faith healing and it's tied with all the various self-help groups from the '60s movement The whole thing is one big smorgasbord.

A lot of it is good self-help stuff. But you don't have to go to a seminar for it or spend big bucks to get it What is the basis for the growing public interest in spiritualism? la it strictly gullibility? People today are living in a very dangerous world. They don't have religion to hang on to any more. And they are looking for something to help them. fit got a little boring.

One day, I wandered into a little bookstore and found a book on performing coin tricks. That got me interested in it as a hobby. I'; Your now book debunks 5, iv Child Find Quebec is assisting authorities in the search for 10-year-old Varian Kirst-Kunst. The former Montreal resident is believed to be with his mother. He was last seen on Oct.

9, 1987. Varian is between 3' 6" and 4' 5" tall and weighs between 40 and 59 pounds. The English-speaking lad has blue eyes and red hair. I from ESP to UFOa, h-ghosts, channellora and astrolo- hgy. Have you over comt acrota I that couldn't do ox- "plained? No, not yet 11 I belong to the Committee for -he Scientilic Investigation of Anyone with information on the child's whereabouts can contact Child Find by dialling their 24-hour toll-free number, 1-800-ENFANTS.

For tips on how to street-proof a child, or to register a missing youngster with the organization, call Claims of the Paranormal (CSI-3nOPV There are some well-known DeoDle on this committee: Carl Sa- Jgan, Isaac Asimov and the world- VARIAN KIRST-KUNST Blue eyea, red hair ADVERTISEMENT Nancy Dumford's Consumer Watch column will return mid-June. VANIER COLLEGE Oregon Pharmacist's Wrinkle Cream Great Success attire Student Proorarrs l. -i If you want to: i 4 I f- We pave the way for your success! A comprehensive support system is available to all students, including Academic Advising, Counselling, and a Learning Centre. An optional series of seminars is offered which address the needs of adult learners (i.e. Stress Management, Study Skills).

Quebec loans and bursaries are available to eligible students. Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible for regular full-time studies at Vanier. begin or resume your college education explore new fields and career choices prepare for entry to a technology program (i.e. Nursing, Business Administration) prepare for entry to a pre-university program (i.e. Science, Social Science) Vanier's Mature Student Program is for you! M.S.

P. is a 4-course preparatory program, offered during the day for 15 weeks. Its purpose is to increase the academic skills of the adult learner. To be eligible, you must be 25 years of age or older, and a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant. It's an exciting story of a pharmacist who developed a wrinkle cream which women all over the country are clamoring for.

Robert Heldfond, a Portland pharmacist, used knowledge from pharmacy school and years of experience, to compound eb5, a wrinkle cream he started selling in his drugstore and which is now making cosmetic history throughout the country. Women started coming to Helfond's pharmacy when the word got around about its wonderful results helping women look younger. The phones never stopped ringing and letters poured in praising the results with eb5 cream. Research lab tests show that by daily use, morning and night, eb5 cream helps smooth facial lines. eb5 contains Liprogen.

an exciting combinatiohde reloped iyPirarmacisi Heldfond. and other aids to help smooth aeing skin. Heldfond's base for the cream Application deadline date: ANSWER TO AGING SKIN? Pharmacist Robert Heldfond shown working in his laboratory where he developed his wrinkle cream, eb5, after 12 years of research. absorbs quickly, leaving the skin soft and velvety. eb5 cream is actually 5 creams in one a wrinkle cream, moisturizer, night cream, day cream, and make-up base, all in one.

One jar lasts many months and is sold with a monev-back cuarantee. June 15, 1988 2 (Applications received after this date will be considered if space permits) Start your future today by inquiring about M.S.P. at tVanier. Call Meira Shapiro 7 or Ellen Shizgalat: 744-7000 du College Cote-venu tVANlER COLLEGE, 821 Ste-Croix Saint-Laurent.