(Quebec) The Legault government will return to the charge to force the Chief Electoral Officer (DGE) to lift the secrecy on the investigation into the illegal financing of the No camp in the 1995 referendum.
The motion tabled by the Parti Québécois and adopted unanimously by the National Assembly two weeks ago is not enough, said Tuesday the CEO, Jean-François Blanchet.
“It is surprising, this decision, not to immediately make the documents public”, reacted on Wednesday the Minister responsible for Democratic Institutions, Jean-François Roberge, announcing that he will table a new motion, this time more binding. .
The documents and testimonies filed in evidence at the Grenier commission in 2007 are subject to a publication ban, but according to PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the population must know the truth about what happened during of this referendum campaign.
However, in a letter to the President of the Assembly, the DGE had indicated that the motion led by the PQ was not going to allow “probably a complete disclosure of the testimonies and documents concerned”. Among other things, he mentions “the prejudicial nature that certain documents could still contain”.
Mr. Blanchet suggested that either a bill or a more clearly defined motion would be needed.
“He told us how to proceed,” said the minister, ruling out the filing of a bill-what the PQ wants to do.
“The law would be longer, more complicated”, whereas a motion, “it doesn’t take very long to write”, justified Mr. Roberge.
The CEO made explicit reference to two necessary provisions. First, the motion must recall that the Assembly can summon and compel any person to “produce any document it deems necessary for its acts, investigations or deliberations”.
Also, the motion should recall that “no legal proceedings may be instituted by reason of an official act performed in good faith by a person […] in carrying out an order of the Assembly”.
The motion should be tabled Thursday or Friday, so before the end of the session.
At the origin of this whole story, there is the narrow result of the referendum of October 30, 1995 and the financing collected by the No camp.
The No to sovereignty had won by a narrow margin, 50.58% against 49.42% for the Yes camp.
Sovereignists have often accused their federalist adversaries of having cheated during the referendum campaign by not respecting the funding ceiling allocated to the two camps under Quebec’s law on popular consultations.
The commission chaired by Bernard Grenier had been charged with investigating the allegations of illegal financing of the No camp. The commission filed a report in 2007.
No less than 90 witnesses had been heard behind closed doors and 4,500 documents filed as evidence. But everything is struck by an “order relating to the non-disclosure, non-communication and non-dissemination of evidence”, without time limit, issued by Commissioner Grenier.
Bernard Grenier had justified his order by saying that he was “sensitive to the warning expressed by some about the risk of damaging the reputation of people who have worked for the No cause in good faith after 11 or 12 years. “.
He also said that he did not see how he could make the documents accessible at the time: “The damage and injustice that we would have liked to avoid by proceeding behind closed doors would thus be caused. »