On October 30, 1995, the people of Quebec voted in a referendum on a constitutional project aimed at making Quebec a sovereign state. The close results of this consultation — 50.6% against; 49.4% for, show to what extent Quebec society is divided on this issue.
In January 2006, the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec gave commissioner Bernard Grenier the mandate to investigate the activities of Option Canada in the months leading up to the 1995 referendum.
Today, the leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (PSPP), asks the Legault government to declassify all the documents that are still subject to a publication ban without time limits in order to that all the information hidden in the archives of the Grenier commission be revealed. In addition, PSPP claims to have obtained a legal opinion which certifies that the Government of Quebec may, “by simple law, declassify all information obtained within the framework of this investigation”.
October 30, 1995 marks a high point in the political history of Quebec. The option of Yes to a sovereign Quebec came within a hair’s breadth of prevailing over the No. However, “we know that in 1995, tens of thousands of people who did not have the right to vote voted, but we do not know exactly how many millions of dollars were spent illegally on the No side. […] Part of the answer may be found in the testimony and documents of the Grenier commission,” the PQ leader said in an interview.
Quebecers have the right to know. It is a question of probity and transparency which the hidden documents still today, 28 years later, cannot escape. In the name of democracy, Prime Minister Legault must accept the PSPP proposal and ensure that the light is shed.
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