Events That Led To The October Crisis Of 1970 In Quebec

There were many events that led to the October crisis of 1970 in Quebec. There are differing opinions about the actions of Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) with some in favor and some against them, but in my opinion any step that may put lives of civilians in danger and lead to hostage situation and anarchy should be stopped to protect innocent citizens of the country. in light of this the war measure act requested by the them premier of Quebec and supported by the then prime minister Trudeau was a necessary step in curbing terrorism and threat to human lives.

October crisis of 1970 were triggered by the kidnapping of British trade commissioner, James cross from outside his office and that of minister of labor Pierre Laporte while playing

Resulting in continuous threat to human lives and disruption of normality hence enforcement of war measures act was required to curb the situation. In 7 years leading to 1970, FLQ used terror tactics to communicate their message to people and detonated almost 100 mailbox bombs across Quebec causing high number of injuries and millions of worth of property loss. These bombings occurred particularly the city of Westmount, which was predominantly an English speaking city. Besides Westmount, Montreal City Hall, railway tracks, army installations, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police recruitment offices were also targeted at different occasions to give a symbolic message to the government. first casualty of these bomb attacks was a 65 year old veteran who was one month away from his retirement. FLQ’s total disregard for human lives was evident from their most devastating attack on the Montreal stock exchange, on Feb. 13th 1969, This explosion caused massive destruction, estimated in the millions of dollars, and seriously injured 27 people. Despite such gruesome acts by the terrorist organization like FLQ, the authorities in the province of Quebec seemed powerless as they were unable to raid and make arrest of suspects unless they are granted warrants, which sometimes took months to obtain. Some people might argue that only two high profile kidnappings don’t provide

The government composed directly after with one of the requests, and read the manifesto, broadcasted to the nation in French. Also after this, the FLQ ferociously murdered British trade commissioner Pierre Laporte by trying to murder a parliament member or a great importance , can be seen as an act of war itself. Local and provincial authorities could also do nothing to stop these attacks, as they did not know where the hostages were located, and needed a warrant to find out. The War Measures Act allows citizens under suspicion of involvement regarding a terrorist activity to be arrested without a warrant or explanation, and held in custody for up to 3 days without reason. The act resulted in 497 people getting arrested, 62 of those were charged and 32 of them without bail. Perhaps if the FLQ did not murder Pierre Laporte the War Measures Act would not be invoked, but if a murder goes un-noticed, after the victim is kidnapped from his own home, then the actions will only escalate. Furthermore, it would also seem irresponsible for the government to simply hand over half a million dollars worth of gold to a terrorist organization, without stopping them in anyway. After one hostage taken by a terrorist organization is kidnapped and murdered 7 days