[OT] FLQ (was Re: The GZG Digest V2 #2320)

The GZG Digest wrote:
> Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 19:45:21 -0800
> From: "Sylvester M. W." <xveers@gmail.com>

>>??? FLQ ???
> 
> 
> Federale Liberation Quebec, or soemthing like that. 

Something like that.

FLQ: Front de libération du Québec, or Québec Liberation Front, if
you 
prefer.

They were a terrorist group that operated from 1963 to 1970. Their aim 
was a Marxist/anarchist insurrection that would bring down the 
provincial government of Québec, separate Québec from Canada, and
create 
a Marxist society. They were involved in more than 200 terrorist 
activities including bombings and bank hold-ups. Their main targets were

prominent English-speaking citizens of Montréal, prominent English 
businesses, and McGill University. They were also opposed to the United 
States. One cell plotted the blowing up of the Statue of Liberty, but 
was arrested before the plot could be attempted. Prior to October, 1970 
three people were killed by FLQ bombs and two were killed by FLQ 
gunfire. One of their attacks was the bombing of the Montréal Stock 
Exchange, which injured 27 people.

On October 5, 1970, an FLQ cell kidnapped James Cross, the British Trade

Commissioner. On October 10, a second cell kidnapped Pierre Laporte, the

Vice-Premier of Québec and Québec Minister of Labour. The two 
kidnappings prompted the October Crisis. On October 16, the Québec 
Premier Robert Bourassa asked the Canadian government to declare martial

law. Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declared martial law using 
the War Measures Act, which went into effect in the morning of October 
17. Later that day, Laporte was found murdered, making him only the 
second victim of political assassination in Canadian history.

In November, a police raid nabbed all but three of the people who killed

Laporte. Negotiations in early December freed Cross, with the members of

that cell being exiled to Cuba (all of them eventually returned to 
Canada, where they were given fairly light sentences). Near the end of 
December, the rest of the cell that killed Laporte were captured. In 
early 1971, martial law was lifted.

This was a controversial period in Canadian history. Over 100 people who

were known to have communist sympathies were arrested and questioned for

several days without being charged. Some people, to this day, state that

Trudeau was too quick to declare martial law and too heavy handed in its

use. However, polls at the time were overwhelmingly in support of the 
use of the War Measures Act. It's important to understand the context. 
Before the kidnappings, 3,000 Montréal students gathered in an arena 
supporting the FLQ. The FLQ's manifestos made it seem larger and better 
organized than it was. To English Canadians in 1970, the FLQ was a very 
scary entity.

In any event, the October Crisis ended almost a decade of violence aimed

at Quebec separation. After that, separatists used non-violent means, 
which led to an increase in support for the separatist Parti
Québécois.

-- 

Allan Goodall	    http://www.hyperbear.com
agoodall@att.net    agoodall@hyperbear.com