QUEBEC — He has no solid proof, but the leader of the Parti Québécois says he has reasons to believe federal officials are spying on the Quebec separatist movement.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said if the past has taught his party anything, it is that Ottawa will stop at nothing in keeping its eyes and ears connected to the PQ’s plans.
The PQ is promising to hold a third referendum on independence during a first mandate in office should it take power in the October election.
St-Pierre Plamondon said espionage has evolved from the days when an RCMP informer infiltrated the PQ. Technology is such that top PQ brass regularly leave their mobile phones in signal blocking bags outside party strategy meetings when delicate questions are discussed, he said.
“My fear is founded on decades of espionage and dubious actions of surveillance on elected PQ officials, particularly in the lead-up to referendums,” St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters at a morning news conference Tuesday.
“We don’t have the means to verify what is happening now, but we have to assume the federal government has not changed and does this kind of surveillance, especially since the technology makes it even easier.
“All we have is the history of the PQ where this kind of dubious action always happened. I have a duty to be prudent. It is not paranoia. It is just knowing your recent history and taking the most prudent steps possible.”
St-Pierre Plamondon made the comments during a wide-ranging news conference where the potential use by Ottawa of the Clarity Act in the event of an Alberta referendum on separation was discussed.
The news conference followed the death last week of former PQ cabinet minister Claude Morin. It was revealed while Morin was still alive that he had acted as an informant for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the 1970s.
St-Pierre Plamondon was asked specifically if he thinks Ottawa is spying on the party today. He started by recalling the past, noting the federal government at one point went so far as to seize membership lists from the PQ and arrest supporters.
“If there is a constant in the history of the PQ, it is that the leader and influential leaders are spied upon,” St-Pierre Plamondon said. “Now with digital technology and smartphones, we have moved beyond the days of someone with a recorder taped to his chest.
“We work saying it is highly possible that it be the case, but we will never have the means to check. We know what we know. We have information, but it is not shared in public. We are vigilant. We have snippets of information.
“We assume what happened in other decades will happen to us and we have given ourselves precautionary rules. Historically, the federal government has spied and made a lot of illegal and unethical moves to have surveillance over the PQ. It’s been done in each decade.”
There was no immediate response from the federal government to the accusation.
Ian Lafrenière, Quebec’s minister of domestic security, expressed some doubts as to the veracity of St-Pierre Plamondon’s statement.
“I heard the fears of the PQ,” Lafrenière told reporters. “I’m a bit surprised. I hope they don’t fear a member of their own caucus is a spy.”
Lafrenière said he’s more worried about foreign attempts to gain access to Quebec’s industrial secrets than domestic meddling.
“I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I have doubts,” he said.
Ruba Ghazal, co-spokesperson of the pro-independence Québec solidaire party, said she does not believe St-Pierre Plamondon’s assertion at all.
“I have no such fears, no,” Ghazal said.
St-Pierre Plamondon said his options are limited in terms of proving his assertion.
“I have no means to make an inquiry on those topics, but I need to take into account the constant history, decade after decade, of the federal government abusing its powers against the independence movement,” he said.
“Our data is supposed to be safe, but what we’re told is it’s possible to crack mostly every protection there is if you have secret services or people who are specialists in that field.”
Recent polls show that while support for the Quebec Liberals had gone up in recent months, the PQ still leads in voter support, especially among francophones.
A Pallas Data/Qc125/L’actualité poll conducted April 13-14 showed support for the Yes side in the event of a referendum at 31 per cent. Support for the No side was 63 per cent. Six per cent were undecided.
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