The National Assembly on Friday ordered the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec (DGEQ) to make public the documents of the Grenier commission on the financing of the activities of the No camp during the 1995 referendum campaign.
The Minister of Democratic Institutions Jean-François Roberge presented a motion on this subject which was adopted unanimously by all the political parties represented in Parliament.
Prime Minister François Legault said it is very important for him to take “all the necessary procedures to shed light” on this case. He did not advance on the hypothesis that illegal funds could have caused the defeat of the Yes camp.
“We don’t have all the information yet. When I have all the information I will be able to answer your question,” he said, answering a question during a press conference about his parliamentary record in recent months.
Government House Leader Simon Jolin-Barrette explained that this motion was intended to meet the demands of the DGEQ in his response this week.
“The DGEQ sent us a correspondence saying, if I paraphrase it: it was not so clear the order of the National Assembly. The motion we tabled is clearly worded so that it is an order from the National Assembly to make the documents public. »
The motion adopted on Friday is the second to request the documents. This week, DGEQ Jean-François Blanchet responded to the first request, made at the end of May. He then said that he had to do the analysis before making a decision, but that certain documents would likely remain under the seal of a publication ban.
take two
This first initiative came from the Parti Québécois, which on Friday supported the second motion presented by Mr. Roberge.
In a press briefing, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon confirmed his support, although he believes that a bill would be preferable to a motion.
“We will support any approach to obtain the documents, but it is difficult to understand why the CAQ insists on proceeding by resolution, when the legal opinions we have obtained are that it is legally difficult for the National Assembly to give a binding order to the Chief Electoral Officer which is in his discretionary power,” he said.
The DGEQ had mandated Judge Robert Grenier, in 2006, to shed light on the activities of the No camp during the 1995 referendum on Quebec sovereignty.
In a report filed in 2007, he concluded that $539,460 was spent illegally by two federalist agencies, Option Canada and the Canadian Unity Council. Judge Grenier ordered that all documents collected by his commission remain secret.