Former Quebec sovereigntist premier Rene Levesque in 1981. (CP Photo/Ron Poling) Mountie spies wary of Levesque trip to Europe Updated Wed. Nov. 7 2007 6:59 PM ET The Canadian Press OTTAWA -- The RCMP intelligence service feared Rene Levesque would use a 1972 European jaunt to solicit cash from foreign governments to further his political goals. Newly declassified files underscore the Mounties' intense interest in the June visit to France and Belgium by Levesque, then leader of the separatist Parti Quebecois. In late March 1972, a senior RCMP officer sent a secret memo to unspecified recipients seeking help in monitoring the coming journey. "The avowed goal of this trip is to popularize the Quebec separatist cause abroad. There is a possibility that other goals exist: in particular, the obtaining of financial and other assistance from foreign governments and/or parties,'' wrote L.R. Parent, an RCMP assistant commissioner at the time. "Any reports or information which should come to your attention regarding this trip, and any general publicity afforded Mr. Levesque and his party would be of great interest to us. We would appreciate your forwarding of such material to us as it appears.'' There is no hint as to the basis of the RCMP's suspicions, nor evidence the Mounties turned up anything illicit. The letter, portions of which remain classified, is part of a 2,520-page file the RCMP's security and intelligence wing compiled on Levesque over a period of more than 30 years. A copy was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act from Library and Archives Canada. Personal dossiers amassed by the RCMP can be released through the access law 20 years after a person's death. Levesque died of a heart attack at 65 in November 1987. RCMP spies chronicled every turn of Levesque's evolution from popular broadcaster in the 1940s and 1950s through his career as a member of the Quebec legislature and eventual champion of the sovereignty movement. In 1972, Levesque and his party were four years away from forming the government in Quebec City, setting the stage for a 1980 referendum on sovereignty-association in which Quebecers voted to remain part of Canada. In a followup memo, the RCMP's Parent wrote in July 1972 that Levesque was a strong Quebec nationalist who advocates separation "through peaceful and democratic means.'' "The party is considered a threat to national unity but in no way illegal.'' Parent stressed that "we are interested in the international activities of Mr. Levesque and his associates only to the extent that their international contacts are individuals and groups who advocate separation of Quebec from Canada.'' Despite the fact Levesque was a democratically elected politician, the Mounties had no compunction about shadowing him, noted Steve Hewitt, a lecturer in the Department of American and Canadian Studies at the University of Birmingham in England. "Clearly they were on alert to monitor what Levesque was doing,'' said Hewitt, author of Spying 101: The RCMP's Secret Activities at Canadian Universities, 1917-1997. In the early 1970s, the RCMP Security Service was actively spying on the separatist movement and its most extreme members in the Front de liberation du Quebec. Some of the service's more reckless tactics, including the burning of a barn, led to its demise and eventual replacement with the civilian Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The file includes copies of diplomatic cables assessing the impact of Levesque's trip, with one official concluding he made no "appreciable impact in Belgium.'' "Levesque may nevertheless have found it advantageous to renew acquaintances with some Belgian journalists and politicians sympathizing with some of his views and whose public positions in Belgium could be useful to him in terms of domestic political propaganda in Quebec.'' Though the file covers the historic period leading up to the 1980 referendum, many of these records remain secret. In June 1980, the RCMP evidently decided to keep Levesque's file open, at least through passive collection of information, if not active spying. The move followed an officer's recommendation to continue monitoring Levesque's activities "because of the key position he occupies at this time'' in Canadian history. <http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071107/Rene_Levesque_ 071107/20071107?hub=Politics> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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