The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 1

THE GAZETTE, MONTREAL, SATURDAY. JANUARY 30. 1993 A 3 iwiiiu in ml itf'-- trri i i Wl i. 1 li! --J I wdra-winnina sc alycia ambroziak the gazett: reasons she has been unable to get government funding. She said both the Education and Social Services Departments recognize the school's value.

But, she said, there is some bureaucratic confusion as to which department should fund what. "The problem is that, like many of our children, we are different," she said. "And, like them, we seem to fall within the cracks of the system." Even a last-minute donation of $5,000 Wednesday from MNA Russ Williams, was not enough, Feres said. "We need $70,000 to stay open until June and as of today, we owe $25,000 in rent, electric and other bills," she said. Feres said many of the children did not realize they wouldn't be coming back next week.

"I don't think many of them understand what it means to close," she said, adding that of the 23 children attending the school, about half have handicaps. Their ages range between one and 6. Carol Sweet, whose 4-year-old-son, Jonathan, attends the school, said she had not told him of the closing. "I haven't told my son yet because I don't want to believe the school is really closing," Sweet said as Jonathan played with other children in the music room. "Jonathan is development-delayed," said Sweet, a Beaconsfield resident.

"And in the short time he's been at this school, I've seen a huge difference in him. "We're all praying that some money will come through either from the government or private sources so that the school can open again. Feres said she moved the learning centre from her Pierrefonds home to a separate building last September to be eligible for provincial funding. Feres said she was initially told her school could receive "entente" agreements, which allow school boards to pay schools that care for childen with disabilities. The school boards in turn are reimbursed by the provincial government.

Education Department spokesman Germain Tanguay said, however, that the school was never promised government funding. The school did not meet a Nov. 1, 1992 deadline to qualify for subsidies for the school year starting next September. "Ms. Feres foresaw that she would be receiving money through 'entente' agree ments with school boards," Tanguay said.

"But that was never a guarantee." Feres said the school receives approximately $10,000 in private and corporate sponsorship and parents are charged $300 a month per child. A 100,000 fundraising drive in December raised about $6,000. "And we have yearly operating costs'of about 1 75,000," Feres said. The school employs five people and has 1 1 volunteers. In December, the school was honored by the Boston-based Exceptional Parent magazine, which publishes information and advice for parents of children and adults with disabilities.

Feres's school was one of four pre-schools, and the only Canadian school, named by the magazine's annual preschool mainstreaming contest. Most of the 23 children at the Feres Alternative Learning School in Pointe Claire weren't aware that yesterday was their last day of school. But a lack of funds has forced the closure of the school, which has been operating from its Ste. Anne St. premises since September.

"We have exhausted all our resources and can no longer survive," Pamela Feres, founder of the award-winning school, said at a news conference yesterday. "The school closes today." Feres said the fact that her school caters to non-disabled and handicapped children, some with multiple handicaps, is one of the 9 CENTREPIECE No celebration yet We're still waiting to see improved ambulance system Urgences Sante workers say Fabrikant lays assault charge against guard Judge grants ban on pre-trial hearings CATHERINE BUCKIE THE GAZETTE Group recycles clothes and helps create jobs MIKE KING THE GAZETTE MICHELLE LALONDE THE GAZETTE The 950 ambulance technicians employed by Urgences Sante aren't yet ready to celebrate the para-public corporation's announcement of about $15 million worth of improvements to its system. "We won't believe it until they actually start the work," union president Mario Cotton said yesterday. Cotton, who heads the Rassemble-ment des Employes Techniciens Ambulanciers du Qudbec, added that the technicians "have no confidence left in Urgences Sante." He said the ambulance company, which serves the islands of Montreal and Laval, has been promising the changes since 1984. Urgences Sant6 spokesman Claude Desrosiers said "yesterday that some of the improvements announced Thursday by president Pierre Lamarche have already been in effect since last summer.

Info-Sante, which helps separate urgent from nonurgent calls, has been operating since August. Desrosiers said that, at the time Info-Sante was created, Urgences Sante also implemented the Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System which enables the dispatch of appropriate resources in less than one minute in an emergency. The system will be computerized within a month at the latest, he said. Ambulances will be equipped with Sophisticated portable radios and defibrillators (devices which restart stopped hearts) by June. It will take another 1 'h years, however, before the new Computer-Assisted Dispatch system is running.

'r i tr i Manon LeBoeuf chats happily as she feeds a toddler-sized white sweater through the cutter, snips off the blue buttons, chops the garment into six-inch squares, and drops them into the bin. "I've never really been in the workforce. I was too busy doing my duty for the province," she said with a wry smile. LeBoeuf, 38, has six grown children. She became a mother at 17, and has worked at paying jobs only sporadically since then.

Now that the children are grown and LeBoeuf is on her own, she's looking for ways to make ends meet and gain some work experience. That's where Ateliers Les Recycleurs Inc. comes in. It's a non-profit textile recycling operation that was launched two years ago and employs about 100 people. Most are on welfare, some have drug or alcohol problems, some have been recently released from prisons or psychiatric hospitals, some have physical or mental disabilities.

Many, like LeBoeuf, have simply been out of the workforce for 10 or 15 years. The plant processes about 1,800 tonnes of used clothes each year. But spokesman Roland Pedneault said that is nowhere near its potential. "The big problem for us is getting enough raw material," he said. "The Miron Quarry receives about 1 5,000 tonnes of textiles every year.

But we could create 500 jobs if people brought them here instead." Pedneault says the boom comes in spring and fall, when people clean out their closets for the change of season. He worries that without more clothes, the plant won't be able to hire more workers when current workers complete their programs. Employees stay on for nine to 15 months on average. Afterwards, about 20 to 30 per cent find jobs, Pedneault said. The process is fairly simple.

Reusable clothes are separated and donated to emergency services, or sold to used clothing vendors. (Proceeds support the Ateliers operation.) Remaining clothes are placed in bins according to their color and composi- EMnmn GAZETTE. DAVE SIDAWAY Manon LeBoeuf and Roland Pedneault stand amid clothes ready for recycling. "The first reaction with the kids is Valery Fabrikant, accused of murdering four Concordia University professors, laid his own charges yesterday against a prison guard and a newspaper. Fabrikant, 57, met Quebec Court Judge Guy Guerin behind closed doors to lay assault charges against several guards who accompany him while he is in the courthouse.

Fabrikant said he was assaulted in October and November and last Tuesday as he was leaving a courtroom. On Tuesday, Superior Court Justice Fraser Martin ordered the guard to remove Fabrikant from the courtroom when Fabrikant refused to accept one of the judge's rulings. The guard took Fabrikant by the arm and began leading him to the cell when the former professor began shouting: "Don't you ever touch me! You have already assaulted me and I advise you not to do it again! Ever!" Laid criminal libel complaint Yesterday, Fabrikant also laid a complaint of criminal libel against the Journal de Montreal for publishing an article in December which suggested the former professor is insane. Fabrikant is charged with the first-degree murder of four of his colleagues at Concordia's Henry F. Hall building on Aug.

24. He is also charged with the attempted murder of a secretary and two counts of forcible confinement. Yesterday, the former engineering professor repeated his complaints that he cannot prepare his defence because he has no lawyer and has no access to witnesses and legal documents while he is in jail. The subject first arose when Fabrikant asked the judge how he could get a tape-recording of his Jan. 26 hearing.

Martin: "I told you, I am not here to advise you. You are the one who has elected to represent yourself. I am not here to serve as your lawyer. I am not your servant, and I am not going to get you tapes." Fabrikant: "Then change the conditions of my detention." Martin chuckled a bit then responded: "Mr. Fabrikant, I have guessed that would have been your next statement." Ban imposed Prosecutor Jean Lecours then requested a publication ban on Fabri-kant's pre-trial conference, where questions of evidence and law are discussed before the jury is empanelled.

Fabrikant called the publication ban "totally absurd" in iew of the fact that up until yesterday, every aspect of his case has been published, albeit not to the former professor's liking. "All this has already been published and lied about," Fabrikant told Martin. "Let the press lie as before. We have a free press here." Martin did order a publication ban on all pre-trial motions and voir dire questions of evidence or law discussed in the absence of the jury. The pre-trial conference continues Feb.

1 7. Gunmen in drive-by shooting were riding a snowmobile Jonquiere police are searching for two suspects who killed a man yesterday in an unusual drive-by shooting they were on a snowmobile. Jean-Claude Maltais, 29, was gunned down about 2 p.m. in a downtown parking lot. Rock Gilbert of the municipal police force said 1 0 to 20 shots were fired from two handguns and that Maltais was hit in the stomach at least five times.

The assailants escaped on a red Ski-Doo. No arrest yet in stabbing death No arrests have been made in the city's latest homicide, police said yesterday. So far, police are at a loss to explain the motive for the stabbing of Chambord St. welfare recipient Robert Painchaud, 36. Painchaud's semi-nude body was found Wednesday in a pool of blood.

An autopsy indicated he died from loss of blood early Tuesday. He wa the third homicide victim in the MUC this year. There were five at this time last year. Police hunt kidnapped 3-year-old tion: brown polyester, white wool, red acrylic, and soon. Buttons, tags, zippers are removed, and the garments are cut into smaller pieces.

Next they are fed into mulching machines that reduce them to fibres. The fibres are then pressed into bales, weighing 300 to 500 pounds, wrapped in plastic, and stacked for shipping. Consumers are not yet accustomed to the idea of recycled fabrics in clothes, Pedneault said. He often visits schools to talk about the project and passes around a sock or two made from recycled wool or acrylic. they hold the sock by its edges and sniff at it," he said.

But the recycling process removes all impurities, he said, so the clothing is like new. But with other recycling programs catching on, Pedneault looks forward to the day when municipalities will have blue-box collection programs for clothing. The Ateliers les Recycleurs Inc. plant is at 2065 Parthenais. Clothing can be dropped off from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m.

to 5 p.m. If you have more than five bags to donate, call 524-5000 for pick-up. .4 Mostafa Nouh Funeral for Sauve will be televised The state funeral for former governor-general Jeanne Sauve will begin at I p.m. today at Mary Queen of the World Cathedral. The service will be broadcast live by CBC television and most other networks.

Some streets will be closed to accommodate the funeral procession. Parts of Rene Levcsque de la Cathedrale St. and Metcalfe St. will be closed off from until 2:30 p.m. The governor-general's Foot Guards and the Canadian Grenadier Guards will be present and there will be a 21-gun salute.

Mme Sauve died Tuesday at age 70. She was Canada's 23rd MUC police yesterday asked the public's help in finding a little boy who was kidnapped from his Laurier St. E. apartment by his father. Karim Noah, 3, was taken from his home earlier this month.

He has brown eyes and brown hair and stands 3 feet, 4 inches tall. He weighs about 45 pounds. His father is Egyptian-born Mos-tafa Nouh, who has black hair and brown eyes. A heavy-set man, he stands 6 feet I inch and weighs 220 pounds. He is 33 years old and also goes by the name Moustafa Nouh.

Police have issued a warrant for the father's arrest. Karim's name is different from his father's because of an error on his birth certificate, MUC police tfi! (jAZEKE.ALLtN MCINNIS Neither Wind nor ram it used to be that postmen had the monopoly on facing up to bad weather, but couriers including this one who braved yesterday's gusts on a his trusty bicycle have started to show that they, too, can confront winter. The temperature was expected to dip to minus-22C last night. sa'0, ne lamny aeciaea noi io ha that mistake and the boy uses Noah Karim Noah as his last name. West ioateci in $16-milIion scam Island man smpl U.S.

affadavit names businessman as source of stolen government cheques Winning numbers Andrew Mcintosh THE GAZETTE Friday, 930129 Provincial wins 1 5 0 5 0 2 5 $1,000.01 5 0 5 0 2 5 J5.K 0 5 0 2 5 5 0 2 5 0 2 5 2 5 $M0 JIM $25 $5 "I don't know anything about what you're talking about," he said. "You don't have the right Reginald De Souza." Minutes after De Souza hung up, his lawyer, Jean Arscnault, called The Gazette, saying that his client has no comment. RCMP Insp. Carl Gallant also refused to comment on the investigation into the stolen cheques that were seized by police in Tampa during a money-laundering probe by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

But the sworn affidavit by RCMP Cpl. Jean Guiirin states that "the thefts we arc investigating were planned by several people," Suspects might include employees of the Quebec Revenue Department and not the federal government, as it first appeared. banks, the IRS said. Mctzen was denied bail after police argued he might flee the country. A Grand Jury in Florida will decide next week whether to hand down indictments against Mctzen and Taylor.

The RCMP's affidavit states that Interpol in London contacted them in August 1991, asking for information on Metzcn after he claimed to have access to $100 million. The RCMP discovered that Metzcn and his wife have collected welfare since 1982, the affidavit states. Joanna Mctzen denied she and her husband receive welfare. A Montreal businessman who contacted The Gazette and asked not to be identified said Metzcn helped arrange the sale and shipment of a dozen pre-fabricated buildings to Europe before Christmas, The two stolen federal cheques were payable to the Quebec Revenue Department. And before Mctzen and North Carolina accountant William Taylor were arrested.

Metzcn told an undercover IRS agent that "his contacts" had 1 1 7 or 1 20 stolen cheques worth $42 million which were payable to the Quebec Revenue Department. The cheques were from merchants remitting sales tax. Revenue Quebec spokesman Rial Roussy said that the department hasn't detected the loss of any merchants' cheques. No employees have been suspended or fired. Metzcn and Taylor planned to use phony endorsement stamps to cash the cheques at a Tampa cheque-cashing business set up as part of a secret IRS sting operation.

The pair wanted to launder the cash through offshore A Brossard man arrested in Florida with two stolen federal-government cheques worth 1 5.9 million told police he got them from a West Island businessman, court documents show. Hans Joachim Mctzen, currently in a Tampa jail, said he got the cheques from Reginald De Souza of Dollard des Or-mcaux and provided his telephone numbers, according to a sworn affidavit bythcRCMP. The Mountics used the affidavit to get a warrant to search De Souza's home and cars on Jan. 8. Officers seized lists of telephone numbers, an address book, answering-machine tapes and a safe containing $321 in cash.

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