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[Brian McGinn]
Okay, where should we start?
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[in French] First, you need to know...
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it is a cartel.
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Or we say it's like...
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a communist regime.
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Or a regime of terror.
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Or a bit like the mafia.
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No one can stop...
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the Federation of Maple Syrup Producers.
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They took all my syrup.
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They started taking our right to speak.
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The Federation owes us a lot of money.
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They will turn us all into criminals.
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[theme song playing]
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[Simon Trepanier] It's an insult in Canadato serve fake maple syrup on the table.
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It's like if you are in France and, instead of serving wine,
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you are serving water.
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Maple syrup for Québecers
is part of not only our culture,
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but it's running through our veins.
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I don't know what I would be doing
without maple syrup somewhere in my life.
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[Carolyn Jarvis] You grow up in Canadaand maple syrup is everywhere.
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The maple leaf is on our flag.
It's what our country represents.
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I'd say it's almost like baseball
to Americans.
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It is our national treasure.
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And we keep it in our Global Strategic Reserve.
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It's like the Fort Knox of Canada.
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One barrel worth about $1,800.
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About 30 times the price of oil.
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And if you want to work with maple syrup,
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you have to deal withthe Federation of Maple Syrup Producers.
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[Hans Mercier]
It became a very lucrative business.
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That's when it went from
such a proud industry
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to such mercenary work.
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[Angèle Grenier in French] The Federationhas labeled me a "rebel of the system."
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Yes, I rebel.
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I fight so producers can regaintheir freedom from this mafia.
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[Normand Urbain in English]
They play with words like "mafia."
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And, ''We don't own
our maple syrup anymore.''
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And, my God, I'm gonna shed a tear.
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It's sexy to sell somethingwhen there's a controversy,
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but it doesn't mean
you have all the facts.
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We wanted this systemand we still want this system.
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Over 80%.
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[Jarvis] There is a war going on
in the maple syrup industry in Québec
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between people that want a free market
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and people that are very proudof this Federation.
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And it's really created this environmentfor theft of maple syrup to happen.
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[Julien Beauchamp-Laliberte]
August 24, 2012,
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the Federation of Maple Syrup Producers
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lay a complaint to the Sûreté du Québec,
the provincial police corps,
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reporting a theft at the warehouse.
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The crime was really unusual.
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It's not about blood, it's not about hair.
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It was simply about maple syrup.
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It's like, if someone stole milk
from your fridge,
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and you called the police and said,
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"Hey, someone stole the milk
from my fridge.
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Find all that milk, please."
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Syrup does not have a GPS on it,does not have any serial number,
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and the worst of it is that
you can eat it.
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So they build upa special investigator team
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with 250 investigators.
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It was the biggest crime scenethat they ever investigated.
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[camera shutter clicking]
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For the first two weeks,
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the main job of the police
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was just to find out
which barrels were emptied
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or which barrels were still full.
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[Luc Briand in French]
While we were inspecting the barrels,
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we noticed one had a ring of rust.
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Syrup does not sweat.
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Even if it's cold,
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it's not like a glass of waterthat leaves a ring on the table.
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We started opening barrels.
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They were filled with water.
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[Beauchamp-Laliberte]
By the end of the investigation,
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around 9,561 barrels had been discovered stolen.
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Worth more than $18 million.
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It was the biggest theft ever in Québec.
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Well, Canada seems to have
a bit of a sticky problem
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when it comes to maple syrup.
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Apparently, lots of it, really lots of it,
has been stolen
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from a strategic reserve of maple syrup
in Québec.
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[Jarvis] When I heard aboutthis maple syrup theft,
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I thought, ''Are you kidding me?"
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People might be less surprised
if it was $18 million worth of cocaine,
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but this wasn't, it was syrup.
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[announcer] Here's Carolyn Jarvis.
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Good evening and welcome to 16×9.
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Is it time for a rethink across the board?
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The journalism that I embark on
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can change people's lives
and change laws in some cases, too.
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But, I mean, it's maple syrup.
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My approach is always to walk up to people
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and to present myself,
and ask them to tell their story to me.
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Can we just ask you about your role
in the theft?
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[in French] I've told everything
to my lawyer and the investigators,
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so I've got nothing to say.
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-Can we have a couple of words with you?
-[speaking French]
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[Jarvis] There is only one versionof the truth and that's the truth.
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That's what we are trying
to core down into.
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What really happened here?
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What was the precise chronology
of how things unfolded?
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And the more I looked into it,the more I realized
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that it had all started withthe Federation of Maple Syrup Producers.
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So, they call Québecthe Saudi Arabia of maple syrup,
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and the Federation is essentially OPEC.
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It's a legal cartel that is employingstrict, strict, strict control
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with the total goalof keeping prices stable.
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There's an enforced quotathat tells producers
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how much maple syrupthey can make in any season.
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So, in high-production years,any excess syrup is placed
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in the Global Strategic Reserveof maple syrup.
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This is the backup maple syrup supplyfor the world.
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If there's a low-production year,the syrup is released into the market.
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It's all about supply and demand.
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For some producers, it works really wellbecause it keeps the price where it's at.
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But there are a lot of people
that are really angry right now in Québec
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because they want a free market.
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They don't want this system
that tells them
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what they can and cannot do.
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It doesn't work for them.
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[Grenier in French] I've alwayshad a dream that my husband and I
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would be able to retire peacefullyin our own sugar bush.
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When I started with syrup production,the Federation already existed.
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Until 2000, I didn't have any issues.
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Then the Federation prepared
to take power.
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The Federation startedan exclusive selling agency
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so that we can't sell elsewhere.
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It is writtenin the Federation's regulations,
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the sap that runs in my maple treesbelongs to them.
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I can tell you that up to 90% of producerswere against the new system.
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We knew we were losing our freedom.
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So there was nothing to stop mefrom fighting.
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It's a fight for everyone
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to have the right to selloutside of the system of Québec.
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It's the Federation or freedom.
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[Urbain] I don't need a black market.
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I follow the rules,
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I'm making ends meet
and I'm proud of what I'm doing.
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I'm doing it because
I want my kids to look up to me
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just like I look up to my dad.
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My father was the second vice presidentof the Federation.
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It's people like my dad that fought hard
and risked everything
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and were able to get us
to where we are today.
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I remember going with my dad in the '80sto the maple syrup conferences.
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The places were always half full
and there were only people with gray hair.
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Back then, everything was a free market, but a lot of people went belly-up.
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I remember the next door neighborscutting down all the maples.
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People thought they would get more return
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by cutting the treesthan by tapping the trees.
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There was no real future in the industry.
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THE FARMERS ARE ORGANIZING
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And then the Federation started controlling the supply of the maple syrup.
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At first, a lot of people were discontent,
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and then they started seeingthe prices going up.
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Nowadays, you go to the conferences
and you see all of these young people.
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There's actually a future.
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It's a success story...
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but it's not being talked about.
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[newsreader] Producers like Angèle Greniersay the Federation is a den of thieves.
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[in French]
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It's harassment and intimidation.
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It's one legal battle after another.
I have a stack at my house.
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It's like I'm in purgatory.
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[Urbain] It's alwaysthe same people that are going on TV.
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[indistinct chatter]
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[Urbain]
And it's easy for them to criticize.
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What do you propose instead?
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A free market?
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Tried that, done that, failed.
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Playtime is done.
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At first, when police came in,
they did not have any specific suspects.
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And for them, at first,
everybody could have been a suspect.
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During the investigation,over 223 witnesses were met.
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By meeting one witness after another,
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the police started to build up a case
that concentrates on some people.
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Avik Caron was one of the owners
of the warehouse.
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Before buying the warehouse,
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he was convicted of a fraudagainst an insurance company,
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for his involvementin a fake stealing of a car.
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So he has already been involved
in fraudulent operation.
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Someone from the Federationhad another theory
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about who was one
of the main ringleaders of that theft.
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From the start,
I suspect that the Federation
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when the time came to find a scapegoat,
they said, "That's Vallières for sure!"
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Because Vallières was probably
the most-known barrel roller in Québec.
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On the black market,
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the producers sell everything
that they produce over quota
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to barrel rollers,
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who then resell to exporters.
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Well, it's illegal in the sense that
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you have to be an authorized buyer
to buy and sell.
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So you may be liable to a fineof some sort.
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And my client had been finedover a million dollars for selling syrup,
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which, of course,
benefited the Federation.
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[Jarvis] You don't think aboutRichard Vallières
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and think about drugs and guns and violent crime.
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This is a maple syrup dude
that worked in maple syrup,
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his dad had a sugar shack in the bush,
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and who worked outside the rulesof this Federation.
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And clearly thumbed his noseat the Federation.
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We've got a long history with that guy.
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We thought maybe there's a path here,
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because that guy knows how to sell
maple syrup on the black market.
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There is early speculation
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that the maple syrup
may have already left the province
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and headed off the to US or Europe.
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How do you get rid of
that much maple syrup?
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How does it seep back into the system?
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[St. Pierre in French]
I was the only one in New Brunswick
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to start buying maple syrup
and exporting it in the US and Europe.
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I was buying from big shotslike Richard Vallières,
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but I have small producerswho sell to me, too.
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One day, Angèle Grenier said,"I can sell you syrup."
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She was frustrated with the Federation.
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I think they owed her a lot of money.
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The system in Québec,
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it's like...
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a prostitute market.
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The producers work very hard,
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but it's the Federationthat is paid very nice salaries.
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[in English] Just like a pimp.
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[in French] The Federation saysit's a black market,
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but it isn't a black market.
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I have a license from Ottawa,
and in Ottawa it's a free market.
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I didn't sign any contractwith this syndicate,
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so I will fight until the end.
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[Grenier]
Okay, now you put it all at once.
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Okay. I'm going to stir it a little.
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Okay, Katrina.
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You'll see, it's going to turn into sugar.
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-[Katrina] A trio of three.
-A trio of three.
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Since I didn't want to conformto their regulations,
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they fined me $50,000.
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We had several lawyers at the beginning,
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but they only thought ofhow much they could make.
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But then we arrived at Hans Mercier,
and he really wanted to fight the battle.
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[Mercier] When you go to a party
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and they say,"What kind of law do you practice?"
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and you say, "Maple syrup,"
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you usually get a laugh.
"Are you serious?" and I say, "Yeah."
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I think the Federation startedwith good intentions.
244
00:21:19,278 --> 00:21:22,906
They wanted to help the producers
stabilize their income.
245
00:21:23,615 --> 00:21:26,326
But, at some point,they created this system
246
00:21:26,410 --> 00:21:28,495
that became more and more unhealthy.
247
00:21:34,376 --> 00:21:38,755
They've tried for years
to paint the rebels as crooks
248
00:21:38,839 --> 00:21:42,968
and people who would screw the system
for financial gain,
249
00:21:43,051 --> 00:21:45,971
but that's simply not true.
250
00:21:47,597 --> 00:21:49,725
These are good people.
251
00:21:51,768 --> 00:21:55,856
But they get hundreds of thousandsin penalties,
252
00:21:55,939 --> 00:21:57,816
and in some cases, millions.
253
00:22:00,902 --> 00:22:04,531
I'm the kind of guy,when I see that, I want to change it.
254
00:22:10,245 --> 00:22:13,123
One of the biggest fights we actually hada few years back
255
00:22:13,206 --> 00:22:16,251
was to say that these fines
were unconstitutional.
256
00:22:20,339 --> 00:22:22,257
I won the Appeal Court decision.
257
00:22:26,303 --> 00:22:27,846
Six or seven months later,
258
00:22:27,929 --> 00:22:31,266
the government came back in
with a special law to bring them back.
259
00:22:37,189 --> 00:22:39,441
That's how powerful the Federation is.
260
00:22:40,942 --> 00:22:46,531
They do the rules. They apply the rules.They cash in the fines.
261
00:22:46,615 --> 00:22:48,700
Judge, jury and executioner.
262
00:23:06,551 --> 00:23:08,095
[train horn sounds]
263
00:23:13,100 --> 00:23:16,436
In material evidence
found in the warehouse,
264
00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:18,730
fingerprints, footprints,
scratches on the barrels,
265
00:23:19,356 --> 00:23:23,276
forensic investigatorswere starting to build up a case.
266
00:23:34,996 --> 00:23:36,748
[Briand in French]
The Federation's drivers
267
00:23:36,832 --> 00:23:39,209
always use these specific forklifts,
268
00:23:39,292 --> 00:23:43,797
because they do not leave a mark.
269
00:23:49,052 --> 00:23:52,222
But the empty barrels we foundhad marks on the sides.
270
00:23:54,474 --> 00:23:57,561
We could seethis was caused by a forklift.
271
00:24:04,442 --> 00:24:06,486
[Beauchamp-Laliberte]
The investigators had to find out
272
00:24:06,570 --> 00:24:09,197
where the forklifts were rented
273
00:24:09,281 --> 00:24:15,370
so they actually just went
from one renting shop to another
274
00:24:15,453 --> 00:24:17,956
and see if someone rented
that special forklift.
275
00:24:28,925 --> 00:24:33,346
One of the accused left his nameat one of the places.
276
00:24:40,937 --> 00:24:42,606
[Jarvis] I'm a journalist.
277
00:24:42,689 --> 00:24:46,318
And we're doing a story
investigating the Federation.
278
00:24:46,401 --> 00:24:50,614
And I wanted to speak with you
to get your side of the story.
279
00:24:51,323 --> 00:24:53,408
-[Sébastien Jutras] All right.
-Okay. We're starting.
280
00:24:54,910 --> 00:24:57,579
Did you transport stolen syrup?
281
00:24:57,662 --> 00:25:01,750
I transport the maple syrup,
but I don't know it's stolen.
282
00:25:01,833 --> 00:25:04,586
Nobody ever said to you,
"This syrup is stolen."
283
00:25:04,669 --> 00:25:05,503
Nope.
284
00:25:06,129 --> 00:25:08,089
-You were just a driver?
-Yeah, that's it.
285
00:25:08,173 --> 00:25:10,008
[speaking French]
286
00:25:12,135 --> 00:25:15,347
[Jarvis] On the surface,Sébastien seems like a really nice guy.
287
00:25:15,430 --> 00:25:18,350
He didn't have a criminal flair to him.
288
00:25:18,433 --> 00:25:21,019
Was he playing dumb? Was he in on it?
289
00:25:23,188 --> 00:25:28,360
What came to light was that he was the connector between Avik Caron...
290
00:25:29,653 --> 00:25:31,363
and Richard Vallières.
291
00:25:37,827 --> 00:25:40,205
[Beauchamp-Laliberte] In 2010, Avik Caron
292
00:25:40,288 --> 00:25:44,042
decided to buy the warehousein Saint-Louis-de-Blandford.
293
00:25:44,125 --> 00:25:47,712
And in 2011, the Federation came to them
294
00:25:47,796 --> 00:25:51,591
and asked if they can rent some place
in the warehouse
295
00:25:51,675 --> 00:25:54,135
to store maple syrup.
296
00:25:59,683 --> 00:26:03,853
When Avik Caron cameand saw that maple syrup...
297
00:26:05,230 --> 00:26:09,192
he found himself sitting on a goldmine.
298
00:26:12,445 --> 00:26:16,658
He had no prior relation with maple syrup.
299
00:26:16,741 --> 00:26:20,245
So in order to steal itand actually make money off it,
300
00:26:20,328 --> 00:26:22,789
he needed someone who can do it
on the black market.
301
00:26:25,083 --> 00:26:28,461
He asked Sébastien Jutrasto find him a guy
302
00:26:28,545 --> 00:26:31,631
who was in the maple syrup black market.
303
00:26:35,635 --> 00:26:38,722
Sébastien Jutras knows Richard Vallières.
304
00:26:41,349 --> 00:26:43,601
For Richard, selling maple syrup
on the black market,
305
00:26:43,685 --> 00:26:44,978
that was familiar to him.
306
00:26:45,812 --> 00:26:49,024
But he took it to the next levelby engaging with Avik.
307
00:27:16,384 --> 00:27:19,471
[Grenier in French] It was a Sunday,and I was working in the sugar bush.
308
00:27:22,307 --> 00:27:27,645
And I realized that, on the road,
there was a car stopped.
309
00:27:27,729 --> 00:27:29,689
[camera shutter clicking]
310
00:27:31,274 --> 00:27:33,485
I was being filmed.
311
00:27:38,531 --> 00:27:42,911
It was a private investigatorfrom the Federation.
312
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:51,378
[Mercier] The approach ofthe Federation was, "Break them.
313
00:27:51,461 --> 00:27:53,755
Remove any fight they have in them."
314
00:27:55,548 --> 00:27:57,425
These people would go in their houses,
315
00:27:57,509 --> 00:28:00,387
ask for their electricity bills,
their gas bills.
316
00:28:02,472 --> 00:28:07,644
Your personal bank account, what you gaveto your wife as alimony, they didn't care.
317
00:28:10,688 --> 00:28:14,317
Oversight isn't bad itself,
318
00:28:14,401 --> 00:28:16,820
but personal freedoms
should be the basis of it.
319
00:28:22,575 --> 00:28:25,203
At some point,some of them started saying,
320
00:28:25,286 --> 00:28:28,331
"I thought I lived in a free country.This has to stop."
321
00:28:31,793 --> 00:28:35,130
People were refusing inspection.
322
00:28:37,966 --> 00:28:39,509
[indistinct chatter]
323
00:28:39,592 --> 00:28:42,762
[Mercier] One time,there was a mob of 50 people
324
00:28:42,846 --> 00:28:44,889
waiting for an inspector, and says,
325
00:28:44,973 --> 00:28:50,562
"You better turn back or we'll make you.You're not getting in that sugar bush."
326
00:28:50,645 --> 00:28:53,314
[in French] You're going to
wake up somewhere
327
00:28:53,398 --> 00:28:56,025
and you're going to get straightened out.
328
00:28:56,526 --> 00:28:58,778
[Mercier] I would saythat was a turning point.
329
00:28:59,612 --> 00:29:03,450
That's when the rebel movementstarted to gain momentum.
330
00:29:03,533 --> 00:29:06,661
[in French] We want to break up
this monopoly, the UPA.
331
00:29:06,745 --> 00:29:09,956
[Mercier] Now you have producersthat are trying to take this fight
332
00:29:10,039 --> 00:29:11,833
all the way up to the Supreme Court.
333
00:29:15,128 --> 00:29:17,714
This is gonna be fighting fire with fire.
334
00:29:17,797 --> 00:29:19,883
[indistinct chatter]
335
00:29:34,481 --> 00:29:38,109
[Urbain in French] A photo with Granddad.
336
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:42,864
[in English] When my fatherwas the regional president,
337
00:29:42,947 --> 00:29:46,868
he had a lot of other people to convince to get on board with the system.
338
00:29:46,951 --> 00:29:49,120
[speaking French]
339
00:29:50,413 --> 00:29:51,956
[in English] Sometimes you get threats.
340
00:29:53,374 --> 00:29:56,669
People would like to continue the way they were doing before.
341
00:29:56,753 --> 00:29:59,005
Sometimes, it gets nasty.
342
00:30:09,349 --> 00:30:12,227
I remember, in 2000,we were tapping the trees.
343
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:15,271
I look up to the sugar shack.
344
00:30:19,818 --> 00:30:21,861
I saw a lot of smoke.
345
00:30:24,197 --> 00:30:28,785
I don't remember how I got
my snow shoes off, and I ran,
346
00:30:29,702 --> 00:30:31,871
and arrived at the door
and it was too late.
347
00:30:31,955 --> 00:30:33,873
Our operation was on fire.
348
00:30:41,005 --> 00:30:43,466
We were the first of three.
349
00:30:43,550 --> 00:30:48,137
THE MAPLE SYRUP MAFIA HIT
350
00:30:48,221 --> 00:30:49,889
FEDERATION PRESIDENT'S SUGAR SHACK BURNS
351
00:30:49,973 --> 00:30:52,267
I can't accuse anyone, but I can say this.
352
00:30:52,350 --> 00:30:54,435
FIRE AT PIERRE LEMIEUX'S SUGAR SHACK
IS OF CRIMINAL ORIGIN
353
00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:57,105
Three fires in two weeks.
354
00:30:57,188 --> 00:31:02,610
All of those three happened to be regional presidents of the Federation.
355
00:31:02,694 --> 00:31:04,112
Coincidence?
356
00:31:09,158 --> 00:31:11,661
It was the first time I saw my father cry.
357
00:31:16,875 --> 00:31:19,836
What did my father do to deserve this?
358
00:31:22,255 --> 00:31:27,176
Because we get into an assembly and we
democratically vote to do certain things,
359
00:31:27,260 --> 00:31:31,139
it gives the right to go
to these extremes?
360
00:31:56,456 --> 00:32:00,376
The Madrid is a pit stop, just beside
Highway 20 here in Québec.
361
00:32:05,006 --> 00:32:09,135
In June 2011, a meeting occurred between
362
00:32:09,218 --> 00:32:14,390
Avik Caron, Sébastien Jutras and Richard Vallières.
363
00:32:16,100 --> 00:32:21,940
The team decided that Avik Caron's rolewas to steal the syrup
364
00:32:22,023 --> 00:32:25,944
and Richard Vallières' role was to transport it, transform it and sell it.
365
00:32:28,780 --> 00:32:33,242
At that point, they actually agreedto move on with the theft.
366
00:32:37,664 --> 00:32:40,750
[Jarvis] This was really well coordinated.
367
00:32:40,833 --> 00:32:43,252
With a whole enterprise of people.
368
00:32:46,255 --> 00:32:50,760
[Beauchamp-Laliberte] Barrels were liftedfrom the warehouse, put into trucks,
369
00:32:50,843 --> 00:32:54,263
and then they'd have to introducenew fake barrels.
370
00:32:57,350 --> 00:33:03,231
Sébastien Jutras brought 104 barrels
that were taken from a legitimate company.
371
00:33:04,983 --> 00:33:07,485
[Jarvis] Every single barrel looks exactly the same.
372
00:33:08,778 --> 00:33:12,448
They had to get the exact same paint color
to make sure that they were identical.
373
00:33:13,282 --> 00:33:15,702
The same shade of blue, and the right sticker on it
374
00:33:15,785 --> 00:33:19,205
with a Federation stamp that labels them as being Federation barrels
375
00:33:19,288 --> 00:33:21,124
so that nothing looked off.
376
00:33:23,751 --> 00:33:26,462
[Beauchamp-Laliberte] And then they wouldmove the barrels into a warehouse
377
00:33:26,546 --> 00:33:28,715
rented by Richard Vallières.
378
00:33:28,798 --> 00:33:31,050
There, the syrup needed to be transferred
379
00:33:31,134 --> 00:33:33,928
from the original Federation barrels
to other containers.
380
00:33:41,978 --> 00:33:44,647
[Jarvis] Some say they took those barrels to a creek
381
00:33:46,649 --> 00:33:48,359
and then put water in on the spot.
382
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:54,615
[Beauchamp-Laliberte]
The barrels were transported back
383
00:33:54,699 --> 00:33:55,825
to the original warehouse.
384
00:33:59,620 --> 00:34:03,791
And then Richard Vallières sells the syrupto Étienne St. Pierre,
385
00:34:03,875 --> 00:34:07,503
who transports to the United States, Germany and Japan.
386
00:34:10,631 --> 00:34:14,969
This was going on
from the year 2011 up to 2012.
387
00:34:17,513 --> 00:34:19,474
[ship horn blowing]
388
00:34:33,071 --> 00:34:35,198
[Jarvis] Richard Vallièreswas over his head.
389
00:34:36,240 --> 00:34:37,867
I think he should have done his research.
390
00:34:37,950 --> 00:34:42,997
I think he should have looked into who
he was about to start doing business with
391
00:34:43,081 --> 00:34:44,832
under the table.
392
00:34:45,416 --> 00:34:46,876
If anybody had looked into Avik,
393
00:34:46,959 --> 00:34:49,587
they might have thought twiceabout doing business with him.
394
00:34:56,427 --> 00:34:58,387
Caron is not a man who is involved with maple syrup.
395
00:34:58,471 --> 00:35:00,515
He's got no history in the maple syrup industry.
396
00:35:00,598 --> 00:35:02,600
This was somebody with a criminal past.
397
00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:08,731
There were allegations that were quite serious. Mafia connections.
398
00:35:13,069 --> 00:35:15,696
People started to feel uncomfortablewith what was going on.
399
00:35:20,076 --> 00:35:23,204
But they were in it so deep,
they couldn't stop.
400
00:35:25,748 --> 00:35:27,750
They knew that their numbers could be traced,
401
00:35:27,834 --> 00:35:29,127
so they got burner cell phones.
402
00:35:32,255 --> 00:35:33,673
You read those text messages,
403
00:35:33,756 --> 00:35:38,177
and it shows the increasing concern and anxiety about what was going on.
404
00:35:43,182 --> 00:35:44,642
[cell phone chiming]
405
00:36:20,553 --> 00:36:25,183
[reporter] Police are investigating a hugemaple syrup heist outside Montreal.
406
00:36:25,266 --> 00:36:29,061
Thousands of gallons of maple syrup were taken from a warehouse.
407
00:36:30,354 --> 00:36:31,814
[cell phone chiming]
408
00:36:40,072 --> 00:36:43,743
[Jarvis] Things all of a suddenstarted escalating, becoming more scary.
409
00:36:44,911 --> 00:36:47,580
Richard claims thatAvik Caron said to him,
410
00:36:47,663 --> 00:36:48,831
"I know where you live."
411
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,961
And that if he spoke out, that he would get shot in the head.
412
00:36:56,589 --> 00:36:58,799
It was in their best interest not to say anything,
413
00:36:58,883 --> 00:37:03,054
or else they were going to go to jail for some serious time.
414
00:37:13,314 --> 00:37:16,400
[interrogator in French] So you can
just sit in the back, Sébastien.
415
00:37:16,484 --> 00:37:19,654
Have you had any promises
or threats from anyone for doing this?
416
00:37:19,737 --> 00:37:22,114
-No promises.
-Okay.
417
00:37:22,198 --> 00:37:24,659
Obviously, they told me
it wouldn't hurt my cause,
418
00:37:24,742 --> 00:37:26,661
but no promises.
419
00:37:26,744 --> 00:37:30,206
That's a fact. It's called collaboration
in the investigation.
420
00:37:32,875 --> 00:37:34,168
[Jutras] Avik Caron.
421
00:37:34,252 --> 00:37:37,338
I knew people who sold syrup
because I was shipping syrup.
422
00:37:37,421 --> 00:37:38,256
[interrogator] Okay.
423
00:37:38,339 --> 00:37:42,176
So he told me, I have some syrup to sell.
424
00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:44,428
I didn't know where it came from.
425
00:37:44,512 --> 00:37:48,057
He asked, "Could you give me
your guy's number?"
426
00:37:50,142 --> 00:37:53,813
So I gave him Richard Vallières' number.
427
00:37:53,896 --> 00:37:55,898
Then I saw the barrels.
428
00:37:55,982 --> 00:37:57,984
1+1=2.
429
00:37:58,067 --> 00:37:59,777
I understood.
430
00:37:59,860 --> 00:38:01,946
Because they were making you deliver
syrup elsewhere?
431
00:38:02,029 --> 00:38:02,863
[interrogator] Okay.
432
00:38:02,947 --> 00:38:04,991
I understood what was going on.
433
00:38:06,367 --> 00:38:10,204
Sébastien Jutras testified
against Avik Caron and Richard Vallières.
434
00:38:11,706 --> 00:38:15,376
But he also testified against Étienne St. Pierre.
435
00:38:18,587 --> 00:38:19,964
In order to make money,
436
00:38:20,047 --> 00:38:25,219
the thieves needed to sell the maple syrupto an exporter.
437
00:38:26,095 --> 00:38:31,600
Étienne St. Pierre
was outside of the main theft.
438
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:40,026
But moving and selling maple syrup produced in Québec was illegal.
439
00:38:46,490 --> 00:38:49,535
[St. Pierre in French]
They seized everything, all my syrup.
440
00:38:50,119 --> 00:38:52,621
Then they seized all of the business documents.
441
00:38:53,748 --> 00:38:56,125
They closed my bank accounts.
442
00:39:01,339 --> 00:39:03,257
They said I plotted, but I never plotted.
443
00:39:05,301 --> 00:39:08,596
Richard just called me
and he asked me if I wanted syrup.
444
00:39:09,138 --> 00:39:09,972
And I said yes.
445
00:39:16,395 --> 00:39:21,817
The police told me it was all regarding the theft,
446
00:39:21,901 --> 00:39:25,154
but it wasn't just for the theft.I think it was to stop my business.
447
00:39:30,201 --> 00:39:34,121
The Federation doesn't like itwhen anybody else does business.
448
00:39:35,581 --> 00:39:38,709
For them, it's all aboutcontrolling the syrup. 100%.
449
00:39:45,257 --> 00:39:47,968
[reporter 1] Québec police havebeen busy this week making arrests
450
00:39:48,052 --> 00:39:50,638
in a theft that has made
international headlines
451
00:39:50,721 --> 00:39:52,640
because the crime was so unique.
452
00:39:52,723 --> 00:39:55,726
[reporter 2] This week,they've been harvesting their suspects.
453
00:39:57,061 --> 00:40:00,815
Among the charges, theft, conspiracy and fraud.
454
00:40:10,908 --> 00:40:15,329
[Grenier in French] I followed themaple syrup heist from beginning to end.
455
00:40:17,123 --> 00:40:19,667
I've always wanted to support
456
00:40:19,750 --> 00:40:21,961
people who are in a situation
similar to mine,
457
00:40:22,044 --> 00:40:24,547
because I know how hard it is.
458
00:40:24,630 --> 00:40:26,257
And I understand them.
459
00:40:33,180 --> 00:40:40,104
For Richard, I think this was his wayto protest against the Federation,
460
00:40:41,397 --> 00:40:44,608
but I think maybe he got carried away.
461
00:40:47,278 --> 00:40:51,699
[Mercier] There's fightingin the legal system, like Angèle is doing,
462
00:40:51,782 --> 00:40:54,493
and there's these guys that
want to fight in a different way.
463
00:40:56,996 --> 00:41:00,416
But, I mean, it's the same fight.
464
00:41:01,125 --> 00:41:03,669
They are people not afraidto fight the machine.
465
00:41:13,512 --> 00:41:15,806
[reporter] A Canadian juryfinds three men guilty
466
00:41:15,890 --> 00:41:19,518
in connection to the Great Maple Syrup Robbery of 2012.
467
00:42:05,773 --> 00:42:10,152
[Grenier in French] What I can sayabout this whole thing is that
468
00:42:10,236 --> 00:42:14,865
the Federation managed to turn
469
00:42:15,574 --> 00:42:17,117
buyers into criminals.
470
00:42:21,789 --> 00:42:25,209
Here in Québec, drugs are decriminalized,
471
00:42:28,003 --> 00:42:32,258
but they have criminalized maple syrup.
472
00:42:34,093 --> 00:42:37,596
Which is more dangerous for people?
473
00:42:48,274 --> 00:42:51,318
When you've known someone for 15 years,
474
00:42:52,027 --> 00:42:53,571
you know that they are honest.
475
00:42:53,654 --> 00:42:57,116
They're just trying to make a living with maple syrup.
476
00:42:57,199 --> 00:43:01,120
I find this very hard for Mr. St. Pierre.
477
00:43:06,125 --> 00:43:10,879
Like us, all he wanted to do was retire peacefully.
478
00:43:26,645 --> 00:43:32,401
When all this started in 2002,I was still hopeful for my retirement,
479
00:43:32,484 --> 00:43:38,741
because we thoughtwe would win in five to ten years,
480
00:43:39,700 --> 00:43:41,368
and then things would be sorted out.
481
00:43:44,330 --> 00:43:47,374
But things didn't happen
the way we wanted them to happen.
482
00:43:51,587 --> 00:43:56,133
Right now, as far as my retirement goes,it is non-existent.
483
00:44:11,315 --> 00:44:13,901
[Urbain] There is somethingwritten on our license plates
484
00:44:13,984 --> 00:44:16,904
in the province of Québec called "Je me souviens." I remember...
485
00:44:18,113 --> 00:44:22,826
Well, I remember all the effort that my father put into this industry.
486
00:44:22,910 --> 00:44:24,662
He did a hell of a good job.
487
00:44:28,749 --> 00:44:31,293
In terms of working with maple syrup,
488
00:44:32,127 --> 00:44:35,881
I believe that this year is going to be the first time
489
00:44:35,964 --> 00:44:38,634
where our family could live off it.
490
00:44:38,717 --> 00:44:41,470
It was impossible in the '80s
to think about that.
491
00:44:44,556 --> 00:44:46,308
In the past 15 years,
492
00:44:46,392 --> 00:44:51,522
we have doubled our exports
and tripled its value.
493
00:44:53,899 --> 00:44:59,780
And if you look at the industry which was worth less than 100 million 20 years ago,
494
00:45:01,323 --> 00:45:05,327
now it's worth half a billion in the province of Québec alone.
495
00:45:07,704 --> 00:45:12,584
What we did is, we were
the locomotive in the industry.
496
00:45:16,338 --> 00:45:18,590
I have a future now,
497
00:45:18,674 --> 00:45:21,760
because of the decisions that were made back then.
498
00:45:24,096 --> 00:45:27,224
Without the Federation, there would still be maple syrup being done
499
00:45:27,307 --> 00:45:29,351
because it's part of our genes.
500
00:45:29,435 --> 00:45:30,727
But it wouldn't be an industry.
501
00:45:45,868 --> 00:45:48,036
[Mercier]
It was always David against Goliath.
502
00:45:48,912 --> 00:45:51,248
You truly are fighting the machine.
503
00:45:52,499 --> 00:45:56,295
And, you know, I wouldn't make
this kind of crusade fight
504
00:45:56,378 --> 00:45:58,755
if I was afraid of these kind of things.
505
00:46:02,759 --> 00:46:06,054
I am going to keep fighting to retrieve personal freedom in Québec.
506
00:46:12,269 --> 00:46:17,399
Every controlled economy
in the world has always failed.
507
00:46:19,067 --> 00:46:22,196
If it continues at this rate and it does not adapt,
508
00:46:23,614 --> 00:46:27,618
it only has a few years left
in it before the system crumbles.
509
00:46:31,872 --> 00:46:35,501
Those people want to deal with economy
without any rules.
510
00:46:36,627 --> 00:46:38,670
They say that the strongare going to live through
511
00:46:38,754 --> 00:46:42,716
and the bad ones are gonna die,
and it's too bad for them.
512
00:46:45,385 --> 00:46:48,222
They don't understand that it's because of the rules
513
00:46:48,305 --> 00:46:50,766
that bankruptcy in maple syrup production in Québec Province
514
00:46:50,849 --> 00:46:53,060
is almost not existing.
515
00:46:54,937 --> 00:46:58,857
With the Federation,
there's no limit where maple syrup can go.
516
00:47:03,195 --> 00:47:06,615
[Urbain] I am not a mafia man. I am an entrepreneur.
517
00:47:08,283 --> 00:47:11,286
And when I talk about the future, my eyes light up,
518
00:47:11,370 --> 00:47:13,330
because I see opportunity.
519
00:47:14,665 --> 00:47:19,002
Right now, there are 1,200 people
waiting to get into the system.
520
00:47:21,296 --> 00:47:24,800
People want to get in because it's profitable.
521
00:47:24,883 --> 00:47:26,552
It wasn't before.
522
00:47:31,974 --> 00:47:37,187
[Grenier in French]
I don't think too much about the future.
523
00:47:37,271 --> 00:47:40,983
Because thinking about the future
makes me sick.
524
00:47:43,360 --> 00:47:45,612
Why bankrupt people like this?
525
00:47:47,239 --> 00:47:49,283
Why not let us live?
526
00:47:50,450 --> 00:47:53,829
We are going to lose all of our freedom.
527
00:48:00,961 --> 00:48:05,340
Everybody's angry.
And this theft renewed that discussion.
528
00:48:07,884 --> 00:48:11,638
The Federation says that a theftof this size will not happen again.
529
00:48:13,974 --> 00:48:17,686
But if the division in this province keeps escalating,
530
00:48:18,812 --> 00:48:20,814
it's conceivable it could happen again.
531
00:48:42,711 --> 00:48:44,713
[music playing]
48948
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