The House of Commons committee has called upon former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to provide testimony regarding “Opération citoyenneté,” a controversial action carried out prior to Quebec’s 1995 sovereignty referendum.
Recently, Sergio Marchi, who served as the federal immigration minister during that period, disclosed to the Journal de Montréal that Chrétien had instructed him to expedite the processing of citizenship applications as the referendum date drew near.
The intention, as Marchi revealed, was to enable more new citizens, who were perceived to lean towards the No side, to participate in the October 30, 1995, referendum.
Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, emphasizing that “the Liberals need to clarify their conduct,” put forth a motion demanding Chrétien’s appearance before the House standing committee on citizenship and immigration.
Furthermore:
The motion, which also requires Marchi and his then-deputy minister, Senator Peter Harder, to testify, was approved on Tuesday evening.
“It’s quite uncommon to have a former immigration minister assert that the prime minister urged him to expedite processes to influence an election,” Brunelle-Duceppe stated while presenting the motion.
He stressed the substantial impact of the Journal’s revelations in Quebec and insisted that the committee must delve into the matter with all involved parties.
The scheduled hearing with the three witnesses is set to take place the following week.
The narrow victory in the 1995 referendum went to the No side, securing 50.58% of the votes against 49.42% for the Yes side.
Marchi, in his interview with the Journal, expressed his belief that the accelerated processing indeed played a role in tipping the result “in favor of Canada.”
