Québec National Holyday St-Jean Baptiste

My friends gathers at my place for a drink before the biggest night of the year! Québec independence day.

As we are waiting for the show the start, the party is already started !

Québecois from all over the west coast are gathering and I even meet old friends !

The show starts and they are very interpreting some classics of the Quebec music.

Wow the place of packed. This is the bigest bar in Vancouver and it is full of Frenchies !! I love it.

Each song and speach reminds us of how we are.... A beautifull drop of french culture in an Ocean of English influence.

My good friend Francois-Louis now takes the microphone and making this night truly magic.

With solidarity and courage, one day Québec will be sovereign country. I the mean while:VIVE LE QUÉBEC LIBRE and a la prochaine si Dieu le veux.

Yvan`s Haloween Sabbing incident THE VERDICT

All of these facts events were taken from the official Vancouver Police Report of october 31 2004.

As most of you know, a terrible incident changed the course of my life about 3 years ago. It happened on my way back from a costumed party on Halloween Eve 2004.

At the party, I think I am pretty believable vampire just ask my friend Taz!!

I was outside the lobby of my building still in my werewolf costume when intoxicated men came from the street addressing me and my best friend Paul because we were speaking French.At first i tried to ignore him but the drunken Vietnam Veteran (that was his costume) was getting more and more intrusive even insulting my culture and my language while pushing me on the shoulder several times. Coming from a small town myself I took offense to this and asked him politely to get going with his walk and leave us alone. At this moment the man grabbed the cane that was part of his costume and started hitting me as hard as he could in the face. After receiving 3 direct hits , I managed to block the next five strikes with my forearm as I was walking toward him to force a fist fight. Unfortunately for me the next strike came with so much speed and force that i could not block it properly and got it right on the nose. Witness were starting to gather around us as I realized that i was bleeding like a river. My nose was now bent in a 45 degree angle to the left . A fist fight followed in the middle of Nelson Street. I managed to land a couple of rights and a powerful uppercut right on the chin. The unknown man left the by foot running away and crying loudly. This is when 2 of the witness took me into their home to clean up my injuries and putting my nose back to place. About 1 hour later I came back downstairs to the lobby to look for my cell phone that i dropped during the incident. These photos were taken less then 15 minutes before the stabbing.

All of the sudden, a man dressed with a long black jacket and a hoodie walk by us pushed me twice on the chest and on the hips. As I turned around I notice that the men was holding a large butcher knife (about 30 com long) with blood dripping from the tip. This was the same man that hit me with the cane 1 hour earlier.It took me about 5 seconds to realize it and then it struck me !!! ``This is my blood and I just got stab``. My first reaction was to engage the fight once again but I quickly change my mind when the men started running after me yelling and wiping his weapon from let to right yelling I will kill you! , I will kill you ! His eyes were the ones of a animal or even so a demon. I ran for my life all around the building and coming across the security guard. I tried explain what was happening and kept running to the other side of the building. There was my best friend Paul. He was hurt too. He got several stabs in the back and in the sides. The small holes were getting bigger each second and we were loosing blood very fast. I took the decision to run to the nearest hospital only 1 block away because I knew our time was running out. Only a few meters before the St-Paul`s emergency, Paul collapse the knife punctured on of his lung and breathing was now impossible for him...then blackout... I woke up the next morning with 2 nice scars on my right side. One just bellow the pectoral muscle and the other on the hip bone. The police was already in the room taking my deposition. This is when i heard the loudest OOOOUCH!! from a room across the hall.
Paul was till alive too and he was receiving treatment to remove water from his lung. We both will recover completely from our injuries said Doctor Labonté. Paul was gonna have to be out of work for a few weeks.

As of for me. Well God was on my side !

Fortunately the knife went strait in a about 15 centimeters into right side of my chest. If that would have happen into my left side, my heart would have been cut. But on the left side there is no major organ and I thank god for that.


Now 3 years latter:.... Stabbing incident ... the verdict!

Well my friends, after a very intense couple of months spent in court, I am back in the groove. The now famous stabbing trial is finally to my greatest joy. During that time I had to explain over and over what I remembered about the night of October 31st 2004 when myself and my best friend Paul Théberge were attacked by mysterious disguised men .

Most of my job in court was to comment and identify what I was seeing on the surveillance camera . It might be be over 3 years already but to be confronted to that situation once again was quite a personal challenge. To see my death so close and survive to talk about it in front a jury is an experience I will remember all of my life. Has of today I can confidently say that I am physically and mentally completely healed from my wounds. I am now ready to move on with the rest of my life. Unfortunately due to the lack of proves and despite the fact that both myself and Paul clearly identify the stabber, the young men accused of committing this ugly crime was officially found NOT GUILTY today at the British-Columbia Provincial Court. The 10 men and women of the jury were not convinced without a doubt on the identity of the person. I am Yvan Cournoyer and I am very proud of my statement in court and I know I said all the truth, only the truth. For that reason I am honestly accepting the verdict of the Court of British-Columbia and I welcome the next stage of my life ! Thanks so much for your support messages and Let`s get ready to enjoy to the summer heat!! I feel like 100lbs is removed from my shoulders and I feel really good about this.

C`EST LA VIE !!! See you next Halloween !