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, December 3, 1970]] The October Crisis was a series of dramatic events triggered by two Terrorist Kidnapping s in the province of Quebec , Canada , in October 1970 , which ultimately resulted in a brief invocation of the War Measures Act by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau . Against the backdrop of a rising Quebec nationalist movement fostered by the Quiet Revolution , the Front De Libération Du Québec (FLQ) made headlines as a terrorist organization seeking Quebec independence. Since 1963, the FLQ had engaged in bombings and bank robberies across Montreal. In October of 1970 the FLQ kidnapped a British Diplomat and a short time later, the Vice-Premier Of Quebec . At that point, the Premier Of Quebec , Robert Bourassa and the Mayor Of Montreal , Jean Drapeau , requested that the Government Of Canada invoke the War Measures Act, something previously reserved for use only in World War I and II . The Act provided for far-reaching powers for Police . In recent years, because of the parallel requisitioning of the military "in aid of the civil power" by the Premier Of Quebec , in the October Crisis, it has been mistakenly thought of as invoking martial law. The FLQ members were eventually caught and either tried and convicted or granted their request for exile to Cuba . The October Crisis contributed to the loss of support of independence via violent means, and gave rise to support for independence via political means, which was embodied in the Parti Québécois . BACKGROUND Since 1963 , the militant Quebec Nationalist group Front De Libération Du Québec (FLQ) had carried out over 200 Violent Crime s, including several bombings that resulted in the killing of five people. The largest single bombing was of the Montreal Stock Exchange on February 13 , 1969 , which caused extensive damage and injured 27 people. FLQ members also had stolen several tons of Dynamite from military and industrial sites. Financed by Bank Robberies , they threatened the public through their official communication organ, known as ''La Cognée'', that more attacks were to come. By 1970, 23 members of the FLQ were in jail, including four members convicted of Murder . On February 26 , 1970 , two men in a panel truck were arrested in Montreal when they were discovered to be in possession of a Sawed-off Shotgun and a communiqué announcing the kidnapping of the Israeli consul. One of them was a man named Jacques Lanctôt . In June, police raided a home in the small community of Prévost north of Montreal in the Laurentian Mountains and found firearms, ammunition, 300 pounds (136 kg) of dynamite, Detonator s, and the draft of a Ransom note to be used in the kidnapping of the American consul. TIMELINE
In the middle of the crisis, adding to the fear were the comments of the powerful and radical labour leader, and vociferous FLQ supporter, Michel Chartrand who said, "We are going to win because there are more boys ready to shoot members of Parliament than there are policemen." WAR MEASURES ACT AND MILITARY INVOLVEMENT When asked how far he was willing to go to stop the FLQ, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau stated, " Just Watch Me ". Three days later he invoked the '' War Measures Act '' at the request of the Premier of Quebec, Robert Bourassa , and the Mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau . At the time, opinion polls in Quebec and the rest of Canada showed overwhelming support for the War Measures Act. Politician and future Parti Quebecois Premier René Levesque wrote that he agreed it was necessary under the circumstances. Since then, however, the government's use of the War Measures Act in peacetime has been a subject of debate in Canada as it gives police sweeping powers of arrest and detention. Simultaneously, under provisions quite separate from the War Measures Act and much more commonly used, the Solicitor-General of Quebec requisitioned the deployment of the military from the Chief of the Defence Staff in accordance with the National Defence Act . Troops from Quebec bases and elsewhere in the country were dispatched, under the direction of the '' Sûreté Du Québec '' (Quebec's provincial police force), to guard vulnerable points as well as prominent individuals at risk. This freed the police to pursue more proactive tasks in dealing with the crisis. Outside Quebec, mainly in the Ottawa area, the federal government deployed troops under its own authority to guard federal offices and employees. The combination of the increased powers of arrest granted by the ''War Measures Act'' and the military deployment requisitioned and controlled by the government of Quebec, gave every appearance that martial law had been imposed. A significant difference, however, is that the military remained in a support role to the civil authorities (in this case, Quebec authorities) and never had a judicial role. Nevertheless, the sight of tanks on the lawns of the federal parliament was disconcerting to many Canadians. Once the War Measures Act was in place, arrangements were made for all detainees to see legal counsel. In addition, the Quebec Ombudsman , Louis Marceau, was instructed to hear complaints of detainees and the Quebec Government agreed to pay damages to any person unjustly arrested. On February 3, 1971, John Turner , Minister Of Justice Of Canada , reported that 497 persons had been arrested under the War Measures Act, of whom 435 had already been released. The other 62 were charged, of which 32 were crimes of such seriousness that a Quebec Superior Court Judge refused them Bail . AFTERMATH Pierre Laporte was eventually found murdered by his captors while James Cross was freed after 60 days as a result of negotiations with the kidnappers who requested exile to Cuba rather than face trial in Quebec. The cell members responsible for Laporte were arrested and charged with kidnapping and murder. This incident proved to be the most serious terrorist attack on Canadian soil in modern times and the response by the federal and provincial governments still sparks controversy. However, at the time, opinion polls showed overwhelming support in Quebec for the War Measures Act. A few critics (most notably Tommy Douglas and some members of the New Democratic Party ) believed that Prime Minister Trudeau was being excessive in using the War Measures Act to suspend Civil Liberties and that the precedent set by this incident was dangerous. The size of the FLQ organization and the number of sympathizers in the public was not known. However, in its Manifesto, the FLQ terrorists stated:
Given that declaration, plus a decade of bombings and the wording of their communiqués throughout that time that strove to present an image of a powerful organization spread secretly throughout all sectors of society, the authorities took significant action. Some supporters of the government's strong measures continue to maintain that there have been no equivalent terrorist incidents since 1970 because of the vigorous response by all levels of government. On the other hand, the more general consensus is that terrorism was found by Quebecers to be both repugnant and unrequired. Those who desire independence became fully conscious that it can and should be achieved through the democratic process. Those who are against independence, both in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada, received a traumatic shock and have made considerable effort to assuage French-Canada's grievances as well as conceding that, if Quebec really wants to be independent, they cannot and will not stop it by force. There is a consensus in Canada amongst all factions that their differences will be resolved democratically. Indeed, the events of October 1970 galvanized a loss of support for the violent wing of the Quebec secessionist movement that had gained support over nearly ten years, and increased support for political means of attaining the independence, including support for the secessionist Parti Québécois , which went on to take power at the provincial level in 1976. It can be argued that Brian Mulroney's 1990 attempt to quell separatist aspirations through constitutional reform was a by-product of the October Crisis. After the defeat of the Meech Lake Accord , which sought to amend the Constitution Of Canada , so as to resolve the passage by a previous government, of the Canada Act without Quebec's ratification, a pro-independence political party, the Bloc Québécois was also created at the federal level. The Quebec director Pierre Falardeau made the 1994 movie '' Octobre '' about the October Crisis based on a book by Francis Simard . A new film about some of the incidents of the October Crisis titled '' October 1970 '' is currently in production and scheduled to be released on September 10 , 2006 . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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