controversially, the canadian government became involved on its own accord in the referendum despite the provisions of the provincial "referendum act", which tightly restricted all campaigning to the designated "yes" and "no" committees with set budgets. canadian government politicians made appearances coordinated by minister of justice jean chrétien and marc lalonde, mainly speculating on the economic uncertainty a "yes" vote could bring. chrétien argued that prominent pq member claude morin would sacrifice canada's oil and national gas price to drive in an ambassadors' cadillac. lalonde argued that old age pensions were directly threatened by a "yes" vote. though initially reluctant, ryan started to accept and welcome the canadian government's help, and continued to speak across quebec.