National Post from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 6

A6 CANADA NATIONAL POST, FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1999 During a concert this week in left, known as Quebec's "bad boy of Hogtown's beautiful girls do not have of stomach fat. But francophones in ently thought he had said "putains," he had called all the city's women bec's ever-vigilant Office de la Four charged with voter fraud in Montreal riding FALL ELECTION PQ's lost his seat to the Liberals' Lamoureux BY PHILIP AUTHIER MONTREAL Electoral officials have charged four people with voter fraud after uncovering what they believe was an elaborate scheme to buy votes in Montreal's Anjou riding during last fall's provincial election Seven months after allegations of vote-buying surfaced in the Nov. 30 election, which cost Parti cabinet minister Pierre his seat in the National Assembly to a Liberal candidate, Quebec's chief electoral officer yesterday laid 16 charges against four people under Quebec's Electoral Act. Alberto Berardinucci, the man identified as the alleged organizer of the scheme, faces seven charges of inciting individuals to vote illegally by either using false names or voting in the place of others. Those accused have 30 days to respond to the summons.

If they plead guilty, they faces fines of between $500 and $1,000. If they plead not guilty, the cases are referred to Quebec Court. Mr. Berardinucci could face a total of $4,500 in fines, plus court costs. If found guilty, the four would also lose their right to vote for five years.

The charges will not change the result of the election in the riding, since the date to contest the result under Quebec law has al- Pierre ETCETERA LINGUISTIC GAFFES Toronto, Jean Leloup, rap," remarked how "bourrelets," or rolls the audience apparmaking them think whores. In June, Quelangue announced a campaign to persuade the province's sportsmen to use French terminology. concerned that golf enthusiasts such as "putter" (fer droit). cois fencer vacationing in Agency officials were often use English terms, Consider the fate of a Jousting on the piste, BOB FROST THE CANADIAN PRESS Ronald West, 52, in a July 12, 1995, file photograph. Saskatoon police probe program SASKATOON The Saskatoon Police Service confirmed this week it is investigating allegations of fraud at Employment and Training of Saskatoon, one of 12 regional organizations that carry out programming for Employment and Training of Saskatchewan Inc.

(METSI). METSI, which two years ago was also under police investigation, receives more than $10-million a year from Human Resources Development Canada and sends most of the money to ready Mr. lost the election by 143 votes to 24-year-old Liberal candidate Jean-Sebastien1 Lamoureux, son of the current president of the Quebec Liberal Party, Jacques Lamoureux. Mr. Berardinucci, who confirmed he worked for the Liberals at the start of the campaign but not on the day he is alleged to have done the vote-buying, could not be reached last night.

A woman answering the phone at his home, who identified herself as his girlfriend, said he would fight the charges. "He's not guilty," said the woman, identifying herself only as Francine. The charges follow a television report last February on RadioCanada in which three unidentified people claimed they were paid to vote for Mr. Lamoureux in advance polls and on election day. One man, who had his face obscured and called himself only Tony, said he voted for the Liberals 18 to 24 times and was paid $10 each time he voted.

He said he did it because he "needed the money." Tony and another couple claimed they had been invited to a St. Leonard mall, the Princesse, on the day of the advance polling and were told how to vote in the place of registered voters. They said they were told to memorize the names, addresses and place of birth of the voters and that they were among 60 people present for the session. Liberal party officials reached last night said they had no knowledge of the alleged scheme and did not know any of the people who were charged. The Gazette Jean-Sebastien Lamoureux regional offices.

Sergeant Jim Hamilton, an officer with the Saskatoon Police Service's commercial crime unit, said the investigation at Employment and Training of Saskatoon focuses on cheques written on the organization's account. METSI, which is responsible for auditing the performance of the regional programs and ensuring the money is properly spent, and the board of directors of the Saskatoon organization called in police this month. Phyllis McDonald, a Saskatoon board member, said the board was tipped off by a METSI employee. Student visa refusals have soared due to irregular documents This means refusals have also soared, and this was because applicants and their families had "irregular" documents or did not have the funds they said they had, or needed, to attend four years of school here. "We examine the bona fides, the student, a letter of acceptance from a Canadian institution.

Do they have the money to be a student in Canada?" Ms. Gregson said. "Tuition fees, books and living expenses can cost $20,000 a year, depending on where and what institution is involved. FRAUD Continued from Page Al Stethos Reinventing the stethoscope HP Stethos electronic stethoscope amplifies sounds at the touch of a button, filters out intrusive background noise, and eliminates the unwanted resonance of ordinary stethoscopes. Call 800-291-6743.

Up PACKARD www.hp.com/go/hpstethos he took out he But anglophone, sword and took the iron al Post his and shouted, "en garde." By a clever accomplished a prise de fer and yelled, realizing his words might be offensive to an he did a replay. This time he unsheathed his shouted, "in keep." With a clever crossing, he and yelled, "touched!" Neil Seeman, Nation- COLD-CASE ARREST MAY SHED LIGHT ON OTHER MURDERS Former policeman charged in two 1970 sex killings BY KARINA ROMAN BY JAMES PARKER been coming up with documentation that is not reliable," she said. "False documentation is so easily available here. There has grown up a whole industry of immigration agents who provide, as part of their service, fraudulent documents. This is the minority of cases we believe, but I don't have the resources to check out every application," she added.

Once in Canada, nobody tracks the whereabouts of the students or what they are doing, said the source. The Beijing office loses track after a visa is granted, Ms. Gregson said. "I can't get the figures and once they have gone there is no file anymore," she said. "I get no feedback, but I'm aware of 33 who have done that as Many others apply for permanent landed immigrant status not the intention of a student visa.

In fact, some university officials in Canada have been complaining that foreign visa students paying higher tuitions are able to get landed immigrant status after a short time, which means their tuition rates suddenly drop to those charged Canadian residents. Once they are immigrants they also get health benefits. Between 1992 and 1996, the Canadian Bureau for Interna- tional Education said there was a decline in the number of international students at Canadian universities and a increase in landed immigrants, formerly visa students. "The recent boats are not unexpected and have been going for quite some time," said Ms. Gregson, a participant in high-level meetings with Chinese officials who warned Canada about illegal smuggling from Fujian province due to Canada's generous refugee and immigration process.

"We are trying to work with the Chinese government," Ms. Gregson said. "But people-smuggling is an increasingly lucrative business. It's an international problem and requires an international solution," she said. National Post Hacking suspect now immigration consultant MISSION EMPLOYEE IN CANADA BY FABIAN DAWSON "Although market reforms have created a number of rich people here, and the population is comparatively richer than 15 or 20 years ago, there's only a small fraction of the population who could afford this," she said.

The pressure to study abroad is due to the fact that there's a shortage of places in China's universities. Many families have only one child and are willing to sacrifice their entire savings to send them abroad, she added. "In the application we have to be satisfied the family has the funds. With salary levels much lower, we have to wonder how $20,000 a year for four or five years can be afforded. And some people have VANCOUVER A key suspect in the infiltration of computers at the Canadian High Commission in Hong Kong has settled in North Vancouver as an immigration consultant.

The woman, who an RCMP officer said in 1992 had fled to Taiwan, moved to Canada in the early 1990s with her husband and two children. A family member confirmed yesterday that the woman worked at the Canadian mission in Hong Kong before coming to Canada. "She is on vacation now," said the family member, who refused to answer further questions. The RCMP yesterday confirmed that the Computer Assisted Immigration Process System at the Canadian High Commission (now the consulate general) in Hong Kong Ms. McDonald and other board members say the operation of METSI's other regional programs should now be reviewed by the federal government.

"This money was meant for our kids. It has to come to an end or the government is going to cut off funding to the Nation completely," she said. Randy Smith, manager of the Saskatoon program, resigned on July 26. He could not be reached for comment. Documents obtained by The StarPhoenix on the Saskatoon organization indicate METSI officials were concerned about expenditures made without proper documentation, cheques written to unknown persons and cheques backdated for no apparent reason.

METSI requested documentation on cheques worth more than $30,000. The Star Phoenix "This is a very sensitive case involving the breach of national security and the investigations are ongoing," said Cpl. Moreau. The apparent security breach was kept under wraps for more than seven years, despite reports filed with the RCMP, the Department of External Affairs, Immigration Canada and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The penetration of the computer came to light in 1992 after Brian McAdam, then immigration control officer, discovthat background information on triad members and others was being deleted.

He and Inspector Garry Clement, then the RCMP liaison officer, sounded the alarm in Ottawa. The government responded by sending David Balser, an electronic data processing officer, and RCMP Sergeant John Conohan to Hong Kong. Despite evidence indicating security breaches by locally employed staff and the discovery of fake Immigration Canada stamps in the worker's desk, neither inves- A former Toronto policeman charged in two sex-slayings that happened almost 30 years ago may be questioned in connection with other unsolved murders, sources familiar with the investigation say. DNA evidence was the major factor in the arrest on Wednesday of Ronald Glenn West, 52, who faces two counts of first-degree murder in the 1970 slayings of Doreen Moorby, 34, and Helen Margaret Ferguson, 38. The two mothers, both of small towns north of Toronto, were killed within 13 days of each other when they opened their doors to a stranger, were raped and shot multiple times in the head and back.

Yesterday's "cold case" arrest is one of the oldest in Canada. The investigation continues and sources said police are looking for possible connections between Mr. West and other crimes. "Anytime you see a former police officer involved in a crime as heinous as that, you've got to shake your head," said Constable Devin Kealey, a Toronto police spokesman. "Especially since he was with the police at the time.

It's scary." Mr. West joined the Toronto force in 1966 as a cadet and became a constable a year later. He served in 53 Division, in the city's north end. However, he voluntarily left in 1972, his record stating it was "to seek other employment." "It's a shock, a surprise. is something we didn't expect," said Ken Martindale, 62, brother of the late Mrs.

Ferguson. The family, who had believed the case had been forgotten, is relieved, he said. Five years ago, Mr. Martindale's mother, now 91, told her family she worried she would not see an arrest before she died. Family members began writing letters and eventually had a meeting in January, 1997, with detectives from the OPP Criminal Investigation Bureau.

"Sometimes in order not to harm the case, we can't inform the families of developments right away," said Detective Superintendent Larry Edgar, who said it was not the letters that spurred the investigation on. Unsolved cases are never closed, although they go through periods of inactivity. In 1997, the family was told police had a suspect. However, the DNA did not match that of the suspect, who was not Mr. West.

"We figured that was the end of it," said Mr. Martindale yesterday. "Fortunately something else came along." Mr. Martindale said his sister's children and husband have moved on and are doing well, but with the trial still to come, the family is far from finding closure. "It brings back memories, you know?" said Mr.

Martindale. "She was a kind person, would do anything for anybody, but she didn't get to live much of her life." National Post, with files from The Canadian Press had allegedly been infiltrated. Classified documents allege that at least 788 files were deleted from the CAIPS computer and up to 2,000 blank visa forms disappeared. The documents allege that locally hired staff at the Hong Kong mission were paid to delete some people's background files from the computer system, purportedly to hide their links with Chinese triad gangs. The documents also alleged that the missing visa forms could have been used by hundreds of people including criminals to enter Canada illegally.

The woman now living in North Vancouver became a suspect after fake immigration stamps were found in her desk and she was discovered to have given herself access to the CAIPS computer. Corporal Gilles Moreau said the RCMP is now investigating how sensitive information involved in the case found its way into the public domain, along with allegations of a cover-up by senior RCMP officers. tigator recommended further action. Cpl. Moreau said yesterday the 1992 investigation was shut down due to a lack of evidence.

He said the investigation was reactivated in 1995 when new evidence surfaced. Cpl. Moreau refused to comment on allegations of a cover-up put forward by Corporal Robert Read of the force's immigration and passport section in Ottawa. Cpl. Read took over the case in September, 1996, and made some headway but was abruptly taken off the case.

Documents allege that Cpl. Read tried to track down the woman who became a suspect after the fake stamps were found in her desk. Cpl. Read told his superiors that the original officer involved in the case was given a business card, B.C. driver's licence number and the address of the suspect, but did not pursue the information.

RCMP sources familiar with the case said they are also puzzled why Cpl. Read's recommendation that Vancouver officers find the woman was not followed. Cpl. Read has filed an obstruction of justice complaint against his superiors, alleging a con of the case. The Province 1,.