2023-09-18 18:21:37
The memory of Claude Morin, at 94 years old, remains unaltered, as do his intellectual abilities, which have made him an essential part of the contemporary history of Quebec.
The one who advised five prime ministers and was the father of the etapism which led to the election of the first government of René Lévesque, in 1976, has been considered a traitor for 31 years by part of his clan, following the journalist Normand Lester revealed that he had been a paid informant for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) at least until 1977, when he was Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Lévesque cabinet.
The documentary series Claude Morin: a dangerous gamewhich arrives on Vrai this Tuesday, is interested in this thrilling period in our history.
What information would the man nicknamed the Sphinx have given to the secret branch of the federal police? Was this cultured and erudite man a sovereignist during the day and working in the shadows to undermine his efforts to make Quebec a country?
Journalist Antoine Robitaille with Claude Morin. PHOTO PROVIDED BY VRAI
It was by conducting an interview with Claude Morin in 2019 for the series The last Felquist that Morin dropped a bombshell by saying that he had noted in detail, in notebooks, his exchanges with the RCMP. Antoine Robitaille, accompanied in this project by journalist and historian Dave Noël, finally had access to the notebooks for this new series directed by Flavie Payette-Renouf and produced by Babel Films and Productions Déferlantes, in collaboration with Quebecor Content.
“It amused him to play the secret agent, especially once morest the USSR and the communist countries, but I seriously think that he did not do that to deceive his side or make it fail, because without the trapism there would have been no Lévesque government,” says Antoine Robitaille.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY VRAI
Gray areas
Political columnist at Journal and host on QUB radio, Mr. Robitaille does not hide the fact that gray areas remain regarding Claude Morin’s involvement with the feds.
Around thirty meetings were held in 1974 between the RCMP and Mr. Morin, bringing in $20,000 for the main person concerned, the equivalent of nearly $90,000 today.
“The role of Mr. Morin in this affair has been greatly exaggerated. He fought for Quebec’s autonomy all his life, but he played a dangerous game, hence the title of our series. »
Was Claude Morin naive, even vain, in believing he was stronger than the RCMP? Since 1992, he has told anyone who will listen that he used the federal police – and not the opposite – to learn more regarding Ottawa’s intentions with regard to the Parti Québécois.
Journalists Dave Noël and Antoine Robitaille carry the documentary series “Claude Morin: a dangerous game”, which arrives on the Vrai platform on Tuesday September 19. PHOTO PROVIDED BY VRAI
Espionage and interference
There is also talk of espionage – from France and Russia – in the four episodes, which is still relevant with suspicions of interference by China in the recent federal elections.
Note that the RCMP rejected the team’s disclosure of its notes related to meetings with Claude Morin, referring to state security.
“We would like to know what the RCMP learned from the meetings with Claude Morin,” said Antoine Robitaille. I have the version of a well-informed source within the RCMP who corroborates Mr. Morin’s statements, namely that he never revealed any secrets and that this is even why the RCMP put end of the agreement because we found that he did not say much. »
Antoine Robitaille is preparing a book on the Claude Morin affair, which will take the content of the documentary series even further.
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