Terror In Quebec

A definitive, mind-changing history of the October Crisis and the events leading up to it. The first bombs exploded in Montreal in the spring of 1963, and over the next seven years there were hundreds more bombings, many bank robberies, six murders and, in October 1970, the kidnappings of a British diplomat and a Quebec cabinet minister. The perpetrators were members of the Front de libération du Québec, dedicated to establishing a sovereign and socialist Quebec. Half a century on, we should have reached some clear understanding of what led to the October Crisis. Instead, too much attention has been paid to the Crisis and not enough to the years preceding it. Most of those who have written about the FLQ have been ardent nationalists, committed sovereigntists or former terrorists. They tell us that the authorities should have negotiated with the kidnappers and contend that Jean Drapeau's administration and the governments of Robert Bourassa and Pierre Trudeau created the October Crisis by invoking the War Measures Act. Using new research and interviews, D'Arcy Jenish tells for the first time the complete story—starting from the spring of 1963. This gripping narrative by a veteran journalist and master storyteller will change forever the way we view this dark chapter in Canadian history.

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict, Security, grade: A, Webster University, language: English, abstract: During the 1960‟s and early 1970‟s, a rise in Quebec nationalism led to an independence movement through violent means. Although violence was characteristic of a relatively small group of individuals compared with the moderately supportive general public, the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) was successful in eliciting public support for its cause. However, due to a series of responses by the Quebec provincial government and Canadian federal government, public support quickly declined following the implementation of the War Measures Act in October 1970. Although a risky decision on the part of the federal government, the War Measures Act successfully halted violent terrorist tactics in the name of Quebec sovereignty. This furthermore produced a foundation for Quebec separatists, moderates and FLQ members alike, to vote on independence through legitimate means. The growth and effectiveness of domestic political terrorism can be analyzed through theoretical frameworks. Furthermore, the actions of target groups to combat terrorist objectives are also important in understanding the ability of whether a terrorist organization will succeed or not. The need to understand the cause of terrorism also aids in understanding whether it can be successfully eliminated. Through the lens of Nicholas O. Berry‟s (1987) Theories on the efficacy of terrorism, this paper examines the Quebec separatist movement and the rise and fall of the Front de Libération du Québec terrorist group.

Offers an inside account of one of the Front de liberation du Quebec (FLQ) cells which kidnapped Pierre Laporte in October 1970, and the events as they unfolded from the perspective of the four men involved.

On March 29, 1971, a Canadian was found brutally murdered in a small Paris apartment. The victim, François Mario Bachand, was a radical member of the separatist Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ), the terrorist group that had been causing havoc in Canada, planting bombs and carrying out kidnappings. Bachand served a jail term in the early 1960s, and after his release he was considered a loose cannon, heartily despised by many associates. It was widely believed that the FLQ had killed one of its own. Twenty years after Bachand died in Paris, author Michael McLoughlin came across a single document in the National Archives of Canada that shed an eerie new light on the circumstances of Bachand's death. The murder, McLoughlin discovered, was not so simple after all. And the deeper he dug, the more complicated - and disturbing - the case became. Last Stop, Paris analyzes the shocking circumstances surrounding Bachand's murder. McLoughlin carefully reconstructs the secret meeting that determined Bachand's fate and the events that led to his assassination on the March day in Paris. It also follows the movements of the FLQ and the RCMP Security Service, and reveals the close international connections that tied revolutionary groups of the later 1960s and 1970s - from Cuba to Europe to the Middle East - to underground agents of the CIA, MI5, and French intelligence. A revealing look at the international web of terrorism and government intelligence, Last Stop, Paris is an explosive examination of the secrets, betrayals and violence that characterized the most tumultuous period in Canada's recent history.