By
CAMPBELL CLARK
Globe and Mail Update
Thursday, November 7 Online Edition, Posted at 8:46 PM EST
A new incident has riled residents of towns on the Quebec-Maine
border, but this time it is two U.S. Border Patrol agents who are
under criminal investigation.
The Quebec provincial police has opened an assault investigation
after witnesses reported two Border Patrol agents beat up a Quebec
man outside a bar, then rolled off in their official jeep.
The incident occurred in the little border town of Daaquam, Que.,
about 100 kilometres down the border from Pohénégamook, Que., where
forestry worker Michel Jalbert was arrested when he went 15 metres
into U.S. territory to buy a tank of gas.
Mr. Jalbert remains in prison in Maine but the Border Patrol
officers are back in the U.S. prompting outrage from local
residents and local Liberal MP Gilbert Normand.
"I think it's unacceptable that these guys come for a blowout in
Quebec bars with the official Border Patrol car," Mr. Normand said.
Sonia Coté, the owner of the bar, said: "Unfortunately, for the
Americans, everything is allowed."
Ms. Coté said the two Border Patrol agents arrived about 8:30
p.m. last Friday, speaking only English, playing pool and dancing
with women. But at about 1:30 a.m. the two became involved in a
fight with a local man, Yves Paré, 25, who was apparently jealous
because one was dancing with his girlfriend.
Ms. Coté said Mr. Paré was badly beaten and his car window was
broken. The officers left, but returned about 15 minutes later,
asking if she planned to call the police.
Some locals said they believe the officers had returned to the
U.S. and then came back into Canada to speak to Ms. Coté which
Canada Customs officials said would be an illegal entry after the
local border post was closed. But Customs officials said they could
not confirm they left Canada and returned.
A spokesman for the Border Patrol said they are gathering
information about the incident.
The incident has drawn comparisons to the case of Mr. Jalbert,
who has been in a U.S. jail since Oct. 11, when he was arrested
after buying gas at a station 15 metres inside the U.S.
Locals often bought gas at the isolated station without reporting
to customs because the U.S. customs post is a kilometre away, a
practice long accepted by U.S. Customs.
But Mr. Jalbert was arrested. The officers noted he had a minor
criminal record and a hunting rifle in his car. He was indicted on
three charges this week.
Yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said the case was
"special" because U.S. officials has told him that Mr. Jalbert had
twice been warned not to fill up at the U.S. station.
However, in an interview from a jail outside Bangor, Me., on
Wednesday, Mr. Jalbert denied that he had been warned by Border
Patrol agents. He said he had not even spoken to any agent in more
than a year, and that when he spoke to one about 18 months, he did
not understand them because he does not speak English.
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