Canada. Special Public Inquiry 1964 : The Commission to Investigate Fully into Allegations about any Improper Inducements Having Been Offered to or Improper Pressures Having Been Brought to Bear on Counsel Acting upon an Application for the Extradition of One Lucien Rivard and all the Relevant Circumstances Connected Therewith was established under Order in Council, P.C. 1819, 25 November 1964, as amended by Order in Council, P.C. 1820, 27 November 1964, under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1952, c.154) and on the recommendation of the prime minister. The Commission was mandated to inquire into and report upon allegations about any improper inducements having been offered to or improper pressures having been brought to bear on counsel acting upon an application for the extradition of Lucien Rivard and all the relevant circumstances connected therewith, and in particular to consider fully the reports submitted to the Minister of Justice by the RCMP and the evidence laid before him in connection therewith and any further evidence elicited by or laid before the commissioner, to consider such other matters as may appear to the Commissioner to be relevant and to report whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant any prosecution for offences that may be involved. The commissioner was Frédéric Dorion. The secretary was Nicol Henry.
On 19 June 1964, Lucien Rivard was arrested in Montreal on a charge of smuggling heroin into the United States. Rivard was detained in the Bordeau Jail until extradition proceedings were held.
In August 1964, the RCMP informed the federal Minister of Justice, Guy Favreau, that attempts had been made to bribe Pierre Lamontagne, counsel acting on behalf of the Government of the United States for the extradition of Rivard. By 18 September, the complete RCMP investigation on the Rivard case was turned over to the Minister of Justice. After reviewing the file, the Minister decided that there was not sufficient evidence to lay charges against anyone.
On 23 November 1964, Erik Nielsen, Member of Parliament for the Yukon, made allegations in the House of Commons that Raymond Denis, the former executive assistant to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, had offered Pierre Lamontagne, counsel for the Government of the United States, a 0,000 bribe if he agreed to have Rivard released on bail. Further allegations were made in the House of Commons that Guy Lord, former Assistant to the Minister of Justice; André Letendre, Executive Assistant to the Minister of Justice; and Guy Rouleau, Member of Parliament for Dollard, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, had also brought pressure to bear on Lamontagne to induce him not to oppose bail for Rivard.
On 24 November, Rouleau admitted in the House that he had made representations on behalf of Rivard to Lamontagne and offered his resignation as Parliamentary Secretary. Under intense pressure from the opposition, the Minister of Justice, Guy Favreau, informed the House, on the same day, that he had decided to accept the suggestion made by T.C. Douglas, Leader of the New Democratic Party, and appoint a judicial inquiry into the Rivard affair. Favreau then enumerated some of the matters which the commission ought to investigate. But, the opposition challenged the terms of reference for the inquiry. As a result, on 27 November, the government tabled an amendment which allowed for a fuller inquiry. On 2 March 1965, while the commission was still sitting, Rivard escaped from the Bordeau Jail. On 16 July, he was recaptured. Subsequently, he was extradited to the United States where he served a prison sentence. (See Special Public Inquiry, 1964, Report of the Commissioner the Honourable Frédéric Dorion, Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1965; and House of Commons, Debates, 23 to 27 November 1964, pp. 10378-10393, 10423-10430, 10495-10496, 19507-10517, 10543-10549 and 19597-19600).
Hearings of the commission were held in Ottawa, Quebec City and Montreal from 15 December 1964 to 9 April 1965. The commission filed 119 exhibits. RG33-93 General Inventory
