PQ to table bill to obtain documents of spending by the NO side in the 1995 referendum

QUEBEC – The Parti Québécois (PQ) announced Wednesday its intention to table a bill in the National Assembly to obtain the publication of documents concerning the financing of the NO camp during the 1995 referendum campaign.

Pascal Bérubé, MNA for Matane-Matapédia, recalls that two motions were adopted by the National Assembly to obtain the documents relating to the Grenier Commission. He points out that there was subsequently no follow-up by the Chief Electoral Officer (DGEQ).

One of the two motions was adopted last June. In its wording, the Minister responsible for Democratic Institutions, Jean-François Roberge, requested that the DGEQ disclose the documents and testimony of the Grenier Commission, which was charged with investigating the financing of the NO camp. The report of the Grenier Commission, formed by the DGEQ, was tabled in 2007.

The result of the 1995 referendum on sovereignty was very close, and the sovereignist camp often accused its NO opponents of circumventing referendum campaign spending rules. The NO side won with 50.58% of the vote, against 49.42% for the YES camp.

Pascal Bérubé says that the testimonies and documents will enable Quebecers to know the truth about these expenses. For him, the Chief Electoral Officer’s reluctance to make the Grenier Commission documents public is inexplicable, and in his opinion leaves the National Assembly no choice but to opt for legislation.

At the Grenier Commission, nearly a hundred testimonies and more than 4,500 documents were submitted as evidence, but they are subject to a non-broadcasting, non-communication and non-publication order with no time limit,” says the PQ MNA.

Retired judge Bernard Grenier had justified his order by saying that he was sensitive to the warnings expressed by some about the risk of damaging, after several years, the reputations of people who had worked for the NO cause in good faith.