April 27, 1987

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COVER/SPECIAL REPORT

FOOD THAT CAN KILL

Sometime in late 1964, breweries in Quebec began putting increased amounts of a chemical called cobalt sulphate into beer. The additive had been used for several years to make the foam last longer. But during the next six months 48 beer drinkers in Quebec became ill—and 20 died. By RAE CORELLI15 min

ART

The protean vision of Joyce Wieland

There is something inherently hazardous about the idea of the retrospective. The artist places before the public a lifetime of work in a form that can be consumed by the casual viewer in perhaps half an hour. At best, such an exercise can give shape and illumination to a career. By GEOFFREY JAMES7 min

CANADA

First Family in exile

Since a popular uprising drove them from Manila’s Malacañang Palace on Feb. 25, 1986, ex-Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, have been living quietly in Hawaii. The new government of President Corazon Aquino has sequestered many of the ex-leader’s lands and companies in the Philippines and has moved to recover his properties abroad which it claims belong to the nation. By PETER S. GREENBERG7 min

WORLD

Rumors of peace at hand

It is traditionally the time of year when hope blossoms in the Holy Land. And last week, as Christians celebrated Easter and Jews marked Passover, optimism about the possibility of an international peace conference on the Middle East was growing.

COVER SPECIAL REPORT

DINING-ROOM DETECTIVES

The case of the contaminated cucumbers began on Friday, May 31, 1985. An 8:45 a.m. telephone call to the Vancouver office of the federal Health Protection Branch reported that two restaurant workers in the eastern suburb of Maple Ridge had experienced vomiting, diarrhea and dizziness after eating cucumber two days before.

WORLD

An arms tango in Moscow

The 4½-hour meeting in Moscow began with a theatrical flourish. As U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz prepared to talk with Mikhail Gorbachev on fresh approaches to arms control, he passed an envelope to the Soviet leader. Then, well within earshot of reporters covering the event, Shultz told Gorbachev that the letter contained an invitation to a summit meeting from President Ronald Reagan.

COVER/SPECIAL REPORT

WEIGHING THE RISKS

On the main floor of a red brick building in west-end Toronto, there is a laboratory where scientists in white coats work silently with test tubes and microscopes amid tight security and the glow from fluorescent lights and computer screens.

COLUMN

Small business on a recharge

The idea that government should treat taxpayers like good paying customers may appear novel to many of us. Indeed, although “quality of service” may be the fashionable buzz words in the private sector, they have not yet hit most government operations in Canada. By Dian Cohen5 min

CANADA

Constitutional clouds

The speech was at once a promise and a warning. In a major address in Ottawa last week to a gathering of the country’s top lawyers, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney gave new impetus to his drive to have Quebec sign the 1981 constitutional accord—accepting explicitly for the first time Quebec’s demand for constitutional recognition as a distinct society.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Unions fighting unions

Richard Cashin moved quickly and decisively. A little more than a month ago, on the afternoon of March 10, he summoned the 24-member executive board of the Newfoundland fishermen’s union to a special meeting in St. John’s the following day.

April 201987