The leader of the Parti Québécois says he believes the federal government may be spying on his party, despite saying he has no proof.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters Tuesday there is “a long history of surveillance targeting the PQ,” but said the party does not have the means to confirm whether it is currently happening.
“If there’s one constant in the history of the Parti Québécois, it’s that the leader and influential members are spied on,” he said at a press conference at the legislature in Quebec City.
“The truth is, we don’t have the means to verify it.”
The PQ leader said modern technology has made potential eavesdropping easier, and that he is operating under the assumption Ottawa could be listening.
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“It’s much easier than back in the day when someone had to tape a recorder to their stomach,” he said.
He said party members are taking precautions, including placing phones in signal-proof bags and removing them from meeting rooms.
St-Pierre Plamondon isn’t wrong to say that the federal government has been interested in the PQ in years past. For example, the recently-deceased Claude Morin, an architect of the PQ’s 1976 election victory, was a paid informant for the RCMP.
“We know that each decade, the Government of Canada has taken ethically and legally very questionable steps to monitor elected PQ members.”
Quebec’s public security minister, Ian Lafrenière, said he was surprised by the comments and expressed doubt.
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“I’m not saying it’s impossible. I really doubt it,” he said, adding the PQ’s positions are already well known.
The PQ is currently leading in the polls ahead of Quebec’s October general election and has pledged to hold a sovereignty referendum by 2030 if it forms government.
Poll aggregator Qc125 suggests the PQ would win about 64 seats, or a slim majority, if the vote was held today.
–with files from The Canadian Press
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