Days before a class-action over tainted water opened, a lawyer representing citizens living in Shannon, a small town in Quebec, in its legal battle against the federal government and an ammunition company faced an audit by federal tax authorities. “I tried to explain that I should be devoting all my time to the trial for the next six months, asking them to delay the audit until July but they said no,” said Charles Veilleux. Questions are surfacing around the timing of the audit.

A Quebec university suspended, with salary, a professor teaching psychology. Paul Bellemarre, a psycholgist, was suspended from practicing for two years by the Ordre des psychologues du Québec (a professional corporation that oversees psychologists) for committing uncalled for gestures on two patients several years ago, one of whom was a psychology student at the university. The Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières has been criticized for reacting slowly.

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The Supreme Court of India rejected an appeal to ban asbestos, on the grounds of “lack of specific data.” The nation’s highest court said that ‘what is required is better supervision and regulatory control rather than banning of the activity.” A  consortium of international investors that wants to buy Jeffrey mine in Asbestos, Quebec and increase chrysotile exports to developing countries salutes the landmark decision while groups calling for its ban decry the latest in “a long line of missed opportunities.”

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Quebec Superior Court ordered an enterprise, Roch Lessard 2000 Inc.,  to reimburse $4.3 million, plus court costs and interest, to the town of Saint-Augustin in Quebec, for failing to respect the terms of a contract it obtained to clean up muncipality’s water. The enterprise began its work in 2000 but stopped two years later after it sought to renogiate terms of the contract. The town used the services of another company to complete the work.