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Army poised for Yes vote
Collenette ready. PM was prepared to dismiss a loss of 1995 referendum, new biography says
ELIZABETH THOMPSON
The Gazette
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
ADVERTISEMENT
Former Defence Minister David Collenette was prepared to call in the Canadian armed forces to protect federal property and assets in Quebec in the event of a referendum victory by sovereignist forces in 1995, according to a new biography of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
In Iron Man: the Defiant Reign of Jean Chrétien, author Lawrence Martin reveals that the federal government was prepared to take a much harder line with Quebec than it publicly admitted, should sovereignist forces have won the agonizingly close referendum.
One of the strongest advocates of adopting a hard line with Quebec was Collenette.
"Defence Minister Collenette was ready, in the event of a loss, to make the federal presence felt," Martin writes in his book just published by Viking Canada. "For starters, the army was to protect federal property and federal assets from a sovereignist takeover. 'I was in a tough position,' he recalled years later. 'I was minister of defence. There were things that went on that we had to prepare for that I don't even want to talk about.' "
Earlier in the chapter, Martin suggests Collenette was also prepared to come to the aid of federalists still in Quebec.
" 'My view,' Collenette would explain in a later interview, 'was that these guys aren't going to get away with this. This is my country. I don't care what the numbers are. It's one thing to say you want to separate. But now we start playing hardball. Because we're not going to abandon all those people who want to stay in Canada.' "
Martin is the author of The Will to Win, a biography of Chrétien's earlier years, as a well as The Antagonist, a controversial biography of ex-Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard.
In the Iron Man, Martin reveals that Chrétien adviser Eddie Goldenberg had prepared two speeches for the PM to deliver on referendum night - one in the event of a federalist win and the other in the event that sovereignist forces were victorious.
"A negation of the verdict in front of tens of thousands of celebrating Quebecers would have risked a bloody backlash. But in fact that is what Chrétien planned to do," Martin wrote. "Goldenberg recalled the speech he prepared for Chrétien that night. 'He wasn't about to let the country break up,' he said. Chrétien's speech would say, 'We are getting a message from the people. But this is not the breakup of the country.' "
Former solicitor-general Herb Gray said he and most cabinet ministers agreed with a hard-line approach. Gray said Chrétien was to say that "the referendum was a consultative exercise and that nothing in our constitution allows anything to be changed by a referendum."
In an interview for the book, Chrétien admitted he would not have recognized a close vote.
"You know, at 50 (per cent) plus one, I was not about to let go the country. You don't break your country because one guy forgets his glasses at home."
Jacques Parizeau, then the premier of Quebec, revealed in his book Pour un Québec Souverain that he was prepared to declare unilateral separation if Ottawa refused to accept the referendum result. Throw in Chrétien's stance and Collenette's willingness to call in the troops, Martin speculates, and you have the elements for a possible civil war.
In his book, Martin paints a picture of a cabinet lured into a sense of complacency by Chrétien lieutenant Alfonso Gagliano, only to suddenly wake up and realize the country was on the brink of disaster.
Sheila Copps was one of the few federal ministers who made forays into Quebec to campaign and was one of the few to sense trouble, Martin writes. "Copps, who normally had deep faith in the instincts of Jean Chrétien, couldn't believe the attitude."
It was only near the end of the referendum campaign that the feds woke up, he writes, recounting how Chrétien broke into tears at a caucus meeting only a few days before the vote.
All the while, federal and provincial federalists were barely on speaking terms, said Liza Frulla, a key organizer of the No forces. Frulla and other Italian Canadians in her riding were being warned they would "have to go back to your own country," when the sovereignist side won.
http://www.canada.com/montreal/story...0-3C2F0511B92E
Army poised for Yes vote
Collenette ready. PM was prepared to dismiss a loss of 1995 referendum, new biography says
ELIZABETH THOMPSON
The Gazette
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
ADVERTISEMENT
Former Defence Minister David Collenette was prepared to call in the Canadian armed forces to protect federal property and assets in Quebec in the event of a referendum victory by sovereignist forces in 1995, according to a new biography of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
In Iron Man: the Defiant Reign of Jean Chrétien, author Lawrence Martin reveals that the federal government was prepared to take a much harder line with Quebec than it publicly admitted, should sovereignist forces have won the agonizingly close referendum.
One of the strongest advocates of adopting a hard line with Quebec was Collenette.
"Defence Minister Collenette was ready, in the event of a loss, to make the federal presence felt," Martin writes in his book just published by Viking Canada. "For starters, the army was to protect federal property and federal assets from a sovereignist takeover. 'I was in a tough position,' he recalled years later. 'I was minister of defence. There were things that went on that we had to prepare for that I don't even want to talk about.' "
Earlier in the chapter, Martin suggests Collenette was also prepared to come to the aid of federalists still in Quebec.
" 'My view,' Collenette would explain in a later interview, 'was that these guys aren't going to get away with this. This is my country. I don't care what the numbers are. It's one thing to say you want to separate. But now we start playing hardball. Because we're not going to abandon all those people who want to stay in Canada.' "
Martin is the author of The Will to Win, a biography of Chrétien's earlier years, as a well as The Antagonist, a controversial biography of ex-Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard.
In the Iron Man, Martin reveals that Chrétien adviser Eddie Goldenberg had prepared two speeches for the PM to deliver on referendum night - one in the event of a federalist win and the other in the event that sovereignist forces were victorious.
"A negation of the verdict in front of tens of thousands of celebrating Quebecers would have risked a bloody backlash. But in fact that is what Chrétien planned to do," Martin wrote. "Goldenberg recalled the speech he prepared for Chrétien that night. 'He wasn't about to let the country break up,' he said. Chrétien's speech would say, 'We are getting a message from the people. But this is not the breakup of the country.' "
Former solicitor-general Herb Gray said he and most cabinet ministers agreed with a hard-line approach. Gray said Chrétien was to say that "the referendum was a consultative exercise and that nothing in our constitution allows anything to be changed by a referendum."
In an interview for the book, Chrétien admitted he would not have recognized a close vote.
"You know, at 50 (per cent) plus one, I was not about to let go the country. You don't break your country because one guy forgets his glasses at home."
Jacques Parizeau, then the premier of Quebec, revealed in his book Pour un Québec Souverain that he was prepared to declare unilateral separation if Ottawa refused to accept the referendum result. Throw in Chrétien's stance and Collenette's willingness to call in the troops, Martin speculates, and you have the elements for a possible civil war.
In his book, Martin paints a picture of a cabinet lured into a sense of complacency by Chrétien lieutenant Alfonso Gagliano, only to suddenly wake up and realize the country was on the brink of disaster.
Sheila Copps was one of the few federal ministers who made forays into Quebec to campaign and was one of the few to sense trouble, Martin writes. "Copps, who normally had deep faith in the instincts of Jean Chrétien, couldn't believe the attitude."
It was only near the end of the referendum campaign that the feds woke up, he writes, recounting how Chrétien broke into tears at a caucus meeting only a few days before the vote.
All the while, federal and provincial federalists were barely on speaking terms, said Liza Frulla, a key organizer of the No forces. Frulla and other Italian Canadians in her riding were being warned they would "have to go back to your own country," when the sovereignist side won.
http://www.canada.com/montreal/story...0-3C2F0511B92E
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