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The money trail leads to France

It's now confirmed by Jacques Parizeau himself that the French government secretly offered hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance the separatist Parti Québécois. So says a biography launched Wednesday titled Jacques Parizeau. Vol. I: Le Croisé. The author, journalist Pierre Duchesne, had 50 interviews with the former premier.

As Mr. Duchesne tells it, in 1970, six years before the PQ came to power, the party's treasurer, Fernand Paré, was on a business trip to France when the French official in charge of the Americas, Jean-Daniel Jurgensen, made a surprising offer. "The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced to the treasurer of the Parti Québécois that France is ready to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to his party to help it achieve its political objectives." The account claims that party leader René Lévesque, informed of the offer, hit the roof. A letter of refusal was hand delivered to Mr. Jurgensen.

"Thirty years after the event, Jacques Parizeau decides at last to speak out. He confirms the role played by Jean-Daniel Jurgensen, who did indeed offer to help the Parti Québécois financially. 'It was an offer of money, a large sum for us who were at our beginning as a political party.' "

This, the PQ's latest version of events, confirms long-standing rumours that the French government did offer money in 1970. But it differs from previous stories in two respects. It claims that the French government, not the PQ, initiated the idea. And it appears to place the offer after -- not before -- the April, 1970, elections, in which the party of René Lévesque, then only two years old, ran for the first time, promising that it would declare independence if it won a majority. The offer of money is more subversive if it came before those elections than if it came after. But the account says that no one can remember the precise date. Credible?

Another account is much more precise. Marc Lavallée, who was on the PQ's national executive at the time of the events, claims that, in 1969, he was sent by René Lévesque on a mission to the French authorities to obtain money for the PQ. According to his 1982 book, Adieu la France, Salut l'Amérique, Dr. Lavallée met Jean de Lipkowski, France's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. "I put to him candidly the possibility of a generous contribution to the party's campaign chest. My frank and direct approach seemed to cause him no surprise. He indicated that he would be following up on my request."

The account goes on. In February, 1970, some 11 weeks before the Quebec elections, Dr. Lavallée said he returned to France and met with Jean-Daniel Jurgensen. The official told him that he was aware of his request for financial support but pointed out that he had forgotten an important detail: to indicate the amount of money that was to be turned over. "I threw out the amount that we had calculated would be required to maintain a certain visibility during the election campaign in the major news outlets, on television and the mass circulation newspapers, which was $300,000. He didn't even blink."

On his return to Quebec, Dr. Lavallée reported to René Lévesque, who told him that Jacques Parizeau would do the follow-up. Indeed, Mr. Parizeau left for France shortly after, even though he was in a close race as a PQ candidate. Dr. Lavallée had no knowledge that Mr. Parizeau had actually received the money.

Which account do you prefer? My judgment tells me that this week's admissions strengthen the credibility of Dr. Lavallée.

wjohnson@globeandmail.ca