Pierre Trudeau's War Measures Act

The Canadian political system is based entirely on democracy. As a democracy it has the duty “to protect itself against the forces of dissolution as soon as they [appear]” (Pierre Trudeau 133). Few people would disagree with the government’s decision to invoke the act. Surely because of the apprehension, almost everybody in the nation was feeling during the violent insurrection in Quebec. Resulting from “seven years of terrorist assaults in Montreal and Ottawa” (130) in which “resulted in six deaths” (Eric Kierans 181). As a country previously experiencing peace and prosperity to experiencing the “gravest disaster in national history” (Action: The October Crisis of 1970) Prime Minister Trudeau has to make a decision due to the unrest of the populace. The decision to invoke the War Measures Act would be the correct one since it has a ‘just’ cause behind invoking it, enacting the act “was almost

The police clearly were undermanned and unprepared for such an insurrection. On the other side, the FLQ were arming themselves with stolen weapons and “dynamite from construction sites” (Dominique Clément 164). Without the War Measures Act invoked the FLQ would just continue to spread fear in the Quebec populace and continue to arm themselves unless military personnel with equal and or better armaments appear to take control of the situation. Therefore, with a defeated police force the War Measures Act would help support the local police into bringing back the law and order. All things considered, the decision to implement the War Measures Act would be the correct one for the situation. With Prime Minister Trudeau invoking the War Measures Act at this point, the crisis would be diffused without any more kidnappings or