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<\/p>\nSix days before the nail-biting 1995\u00a0Quebec\u00a0referendum that nearly tore the country apart, Jean Chr\u00e9tien told his ministers to keep their cool.<\/p>\n
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The prime minister acknowledged that day that Quebecers might vote to separate from Canada on Oct. 30. He told his cabinet it wasn\u2019t the time to discuss the consequences of a vote for independence, but if it happened, \u201cno one should panic or act precipitously.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sombre message, delivered behind closed doors, is coming to light through newly disclosed federal cabinet minutes obtained by The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n
In the months before the vote, Chr\u00e9tien had expressed confidence about the campaign. But 30 years after the referendum, the meeting\u00a0minutes show how the tone of the conversations around Chr\u00e9tien\u2019s cabinet table shifted dramatically as Canada confronted a national unity crisis.<\/p>\n
The documents, released by the federal government through access to information legislation, offer a glimpse behind the scenes during a critical moment in Canada\u2019s history. They paint a picture of a campaign that was abruptly thrown off course, of a prime minister who urged his cabinet to stay calm, and of a last-minute scramble to keep the country together.<\/p>\n
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During that meeting just before the vote \u2013 on Oct. 24, 1995 \u2013 Chr\u00e9tien told his cabinet he would, at last, be taking centre stage in the campaign. Until then, the prime minister and other federal officials had largely stayed on the margins of the campaign, which was led by the\u00a0Quebec\u00a0Liberal leader.<\/p>\n
Chr\u00e9tien stressed the gravity of the situation, even as he warned his ministers against becoming \u201coverly distraught.\u201d In the preceding days, the federalist campaign had seen its polling lead evaporate as the charismatic Lucien Bouchard galvanized support for Quebec\u2019s separation.<\/p>\n
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According to the minutes, several ministers from outside\u00a0Quebec\u00a0expressed their frustration at \u201cbeing on the sidelines\u201d of a debate \u201cthat could profoundly affect the future of their country.\u201d They said it was \u201ccrucial\u201d for Chr\u00e9tien now to get more involved and \u201cspeak from the heart.\u201d The prime minister said he would give a televised address to the nation the following day.<\/p>\n
Chr\u00e9tien\u2019s remarks during the Oct. 24 meeting contrast with minutes from cabinet meetings leading up to the October campaign, which show the prime minister at times wondered aloud whether a vote on independence would be held at all.<\/p>\n
In the end, the federalists won the referendum by a razor-thin margin, with 50.58 per cent of the vote \u2013 a victory, but only just. The following day, Chr\u00e9tien reminded his ministers to \u201chave a positive attitude in public and in front of the media and to be confident in expressing the referendum outcome as a victory for Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cHad he not stepped in \u2026 I think we would have lost the country,\u201d said then-deputy prime minister Sheila Copps in a recent interview.<\/p>\n
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The 1995 referendum campaign officially kicked off on Oct. 2, though it had unofficially begun months earlier. Then-Quebec\u00a0premier Jacques Parizeau had promised to hold a referendum within a year following his 1994 election, and in early 1995 he launched a series of public consultations meant to drum up support for independence.<\/p>\n
At the time, Chr\u00e9tien\u2019s instructions to his cabinet were to \u201cremain calm and avoid any overreaction.\u201d The referendum campaign was still far away, he said in January, and \u201cthere was not much which could be done now.\u201d<\/p>\n
In any case, the \u201cNo\u201d campaign would be led by provincial Liberal leader Daniel Johnson \u2013 not the prime minister. Chr\u00e9tien, who was not popular in\u00a0Quebec, was \u201cpretty well told to butt out,\u201d said Copps.<\/p>\n
That spring, things were looking grim for the separatist movement, whose leaders were fighting among themselves over the wording of the question on the referendum ballot.<\/p>\n
Parizeau favoured a clean separation from the rest of the country, while Bouchard, then-leader of the Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois, felt Quebecers would not vote for independence without the promise of an economic partnership with Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had quiet confidence that the \u2018Yes\u2019 side would not prevail,\u201d said John Rae, a longtime Chr\u00e9tien adviser. \u201cWe felt that things were going pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Cabinet records are usually kept secret, but they can be released under federal access to information legislation after 20 years. The Privy Council Office initially tried to censor portions of the records prior to releasing them under the transparency law, but it later agreed to uncensor some of those passages following an investigation by the federal information watchdog.<\/p>\n
In March 1995, when it seemed unlikely that Parizeau would call a vote that spring, Chr\u00e9tien told his cabinet he thought the sovereigntists \u201cwere afraid to hold a referendum.\u201d He said in April it was possible a vote \u201cwould not be held at all,\u201d citing\u00a0Quebec\u00a0editorials calling for \u201can indefinite delay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite those encouraging signs, Lucienne Robillard, the minister responsible for the federal campaign, cautioned in the spring \u201cthat the government should be careful not to appear triumphant.\u201d And by the summer, the situation was starting to change.<\/p>\n
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