Québec and Canada

Separatism, Terrorism, and Murder

An Effort to Enlighten

1960s: dissatisfaction over Québec’s place in Canada

1963: Pearson appointed the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism to examine the growing crisis between French and English speaking people

1965: hired 3 Québec activists to help him with the separatist attitude, one of whom was Pierre Elliott Trudeau

The Quiet Revolution•Political and religious leaders in Québec had

protected French culture by embracing French CDN traditions

•Preference of rural life over urban, religion over state, and isolationism instead of engagement with the wider world

•Maurice Duplessis - Québec leader from 1944 until his death in 1959 - had kept a tight rein on these traditions

•English was the spoken language for businesses owned by American and English-Canadians

The Quiet Revolution•Il faut que ça change -- this became the

theme for the political party that took over from Duplessis

•Jean Lesage - new leader

•This change marked the start of a transformation in Québec society on all fronts: political, social, cultural, and industrial•called La Révolution Tranquille•Determined to overcome Québec’s attachment to Roman Catholicism, French, and rural life

The Quiet Revolution•Determined to become “maîtres chez nous”

•Established a stronger French presence in the Québec economy

•French Language Office established to promote the use of French in business

•Government took over control of the province’s social services, thereby restricting the influence of the Church

•new hospitals, provincial hospital insurance plan

•Government also gained control of education

•Government developed its own pension plan

Terrorism in Canada

•During the Quiet Revolution (all the changes, etc.), some Québécois began to embrace the idea of Québec separating from Canada to become an independent state

•Most of these people wanted to work at separating peacefully

•A select few were impatient and chose to operate outside of the law in order to get what they wanted

Terrorism in Canada

•1963: Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a campaign of terror in Québec

•Extremists fighting for separatism

•Bombings, bank robberies

•Between 1963 and 1970, the FLQ committed over 200 violent acts that killed several people

•Targeted symbols of English business establishment and the federal government

Terrorism in Canada

•Bombs were placed in mailboxes in Montréal’s affluent, largely English, districts

•More bombs in Montréal’s Stock Exchange and at McGill University

•Threatened the life of Queen Elizabeth II in advance of a royal visit to Canada

•1970: 23 members of the FLQ were in jail

The October Crisis• By 1970, the FLQ was ready to use more dramatic tactics

• October 5, 1970, 8:15 a.m.: The doorbell rings in the luxurious home of the senior British trade commissioner in Montréal, James R. Cross. Two men carrying a gift-wrapped package tell the person who opens the door that they want to deliver it to Mr. Cross. Inside the house, they pull a rifle from the package and seize James Cross.

• 11:30 a.m.: A radio station receives ransom demands from the kidnappers. They identify themselves as members of the FLQ and demand the release of 23 “political prisoners” being held for bombings and terrorist activities. They also demand transportation to Cuba or Algeria, $500 000 in gold bars, and publication of the FLQ Manifesto (statement of beliefs). The government has 48 hours to comply or Cross will be killed.

• Authorities agreed. They needed to buy time.

The October Crisis• 8 October: The government refuses the demands of

the kidnappers, but the FLQ Manifesto is read o the radio and television networks of Radio Canada. It calls the people of Québec to revolution and ends with the words, “Long live free Québec!”

• 10 October: Québec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte is in his front yard tossing a football with his nephew. Suddenly, a blue Chevrolet stops. Four men with machine guns shove Laporte into the back seat and speed away. The No.2 man in the Québec government has been kidnapped. The Québec government now begins to take this crisis very seriously. Premier Bourassa takes refuge in the Queen Elizabeth Hotel surrounded by armed guards. Laporte’s kidnappers identify themselves as a second cell of the FLQ.

The October Crisis• Québec Premier Robert Bourassa took up refuge in a

hotel, surrounded by tight security.

• Laporte wrote a letter, pleading for his life.

• Québécois nationalists demonstrated their support for the FLQ in a rally in Montréal: more than 3000 people

• Canada’s leaders disagreed on how to handle the crisis:

• Wanted them to talk with the kidnappers

• Trudeau refused to negotiate.

The October Crisis• Bourassa wrote a letter requesting the Canadian Army

to maintain law and order.

• Canadian soldiers were sent into the streets of Québec City, Montréal, and Ottawa.

• The War Measures Act: invoked on October 16, 1970 - gives the government extraordinary powers:

• police could arrest anyone suspected of belonging to - or sympathizing with - the FLQ, without a warrant

• raids happened across the province: 465 people arrested

• 16 October, 4:00 a.m.: On the advice of the Québec government, PM Trudeau proclaims the War Measures Act. It is the first time this act has ever been used in peacetime. This Act takes away the civil rights of Canadians. It makes membership in the FLQ a criminal offence and bans political rallies. The police anywhere in Canada can hold people without charge for up to 21 days and without trial for up to 90 days. Police and military can arrest people just on the suspicion of belonging to the FLQ.Trudeau argues that this Act is justified because the kidnappings are the beginning of a conspiracy to overthrow the government. Asked by a reporter how far the government will go, Trudeau replies: “Just watch me”

The October Crisis• 18 October: In the early hours, the body of Pierre Laporte

is found in the trunk of the car used to kidnap him. He had been choked to death with the religious chain he wore around his neck. Amazingly, the car is parked near the armed forces base at St. Hubert. The kidnapping/ murder lost the FLQ the support of many Québec nationalists

• 4 December: Police surround a house in suburban Montréal where James Cross has been help for 59 days. After hours of bargaining, the armed kidnappers and their lawyer drive to the Expo ’67 site. The kidnappers surrender Cross and, in exchange, are flown to Cuba.

• 28 December: 3 FLQ members accused of assassinating Laporte crawl out of a tunnel hidden under a farmhouse south of Montréal. They surrender to the police and are charged with murder.

The October Crisis• December 28, 1970: four men were arrested

and charged with the murder of Pierre Laporte

• January 1971: Canadian soldiers withdrew from Québec.

• The Crisis was over.

• 89% of English CDNs agreed with the way Trudeau had handled the crisis. Surprisingly, 86% of French CDNs also agreed with Trudeau’s actions.