Cedrika | Family still holds out hope

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MONTREAL - A popular Quebec comedian, who turned the high-profile case of a missing girl into a punchline, claims he is being shunned by neighbours and has become the target of death threats.

Francophone comic Mike Ward has come under fire in Quebec for using 10-year-old Cedrika Provencher, who vanished almost a year ago, in one of his jokes.

In his June 27 stand-up routine during Montreal's comedy festival, Ward cracked that the provincial tax collection department would take the children of those who owe money.

"Revenu Quebec, they're mentally ill," he quipped during a Just for Laughs gala. "You owe them $8 and they'll kidnap your kids.

"They're the ones who have little Cedrika."

In a video posted Monday on his website, Ward claims the joke was well received by the audience.

But ever since Le Journal de Montreal reported the story last week, he has been chastised by prominent media personalities for delivering a tasteless punchline.

Now he says his joke has turned into a personal nightmare.

"Since Friday, I have not been able to leave my place," Ward said in the video on his website. "Everywhere I go people stare at me, they judge me."

Ward said two people have been hanging around outside his home for days and he claims to have received death threats.

"I think I'm going to stay inside for a year and a half.''

Police departments in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Montreal both said Tuesday that Ward hadn't filed a formal complaint about the threats.

Provencher disappeared July 31, 2007, from her suburban neighbourhood in Trois-Rivieres, about midway between Quebec City and Montreal.

The girl's case made headlines countrywide and police fruitlessly pursued tips of reported sightings everywhere from Fredericton to Calgary.

Provencher's grandfather said while there is nothing funny about Cedrika's disappearance, he doesn't think Ward intended to be malicious.

"It's a bad joke for us," Henri Provencher said. "It's not the right (time) to make this joke because the situation with Cedrika is not a joke."

He also condemned any threats against Ward.

"The population must be calm," he said.