Quebec Labour MinisterPierre Laporte kidnapped and murdered by the FLQ; British DiplomatJames Cross kidnapped and later released by the FLQ
TheOctober Crisis (French:Crise d'Octobre) was a chain of political events in Canada that started in October 1970 when members of theFront de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour MinisterPierre Laporte and British diplomatJames Cross from his Montreal residence. These events saw Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau invoking theWar Measures Act for the first time in Canadian history during peacetime. Laporte was assassinated over the course of the crisis.
The premier of Quebec,Robert Bourassa, and the mayor ofMontreal,Jean Drapeau, supported Trudeau's invocation of theWar Measures Act, which limited civil liberties and granted the police far-reaching powers, allowing them to arrest and detain 497 people. The Government of Quebec also requestedmilitary aid to support the civil authorities, with Canadian Forces being deployed throughout Quebec.
Although negotiations led to Cross's release, Laporte was murdered by the kidnappers. The crisis affected the province ofQuebec, especially themetropolitan area of Montreal. The primary crises ended on December 28, but its ramifications extended across subsequent Canadian political administrations. At the time opinion polls in Quebec and throughout Canada showed widespread support for the usage of theWar Measures Act.
The response was criticized by prominent politicians such asRené Lévesque andTommy Douglas. After the crisis, movements that pushed for electoral votes as a means to attain autonomy and independence grew stronger. At the time, support also grew for the sovereignist political party known as theParti Québécois, which formed the provincial government in 1976.
On July 24, 1967, the nationalist cause received support from French PresidentCharles de Gaulle who, standing on a balcony inMontreal, shouted "Vive le Québec libre". De Gaulle was promptly rebuked by Canadian Prime MinisterLester Pearson. In a statement delivered to the French embassy Pearson declared, "The people of Canada are free. Every province in Canada is free. Canadians do not need to be liberated. Indeed, many thousands of Canadians gave their lives in two world wars in the liberation of France and other European countries."[7]
By 1970, 23 members of the FLQ were in prison, including four convicted ofmurder. On February 26, 1970, two men in apanel truck, includingJacques Lanctôt, were arrested in Montreal when they were found with asawed-off shotgun and a communiqué announcing the kidnapping of the Israeli consul. In June, police raided a home in the small community ofPrévost, located north of Montreal in the Laurentian Mountains, and found firearms, ammunition, 140 kilograms (300 lb) of dynamite, detonators, and the draft of aransom note to be used in the kidnapping of the United States consul.[8]
A mailbox in Montreal bearing the graffitiFLQ oui (FLQ yes) in July 1971. The FLQ conducted several bombings of post boxes which typically bore a decal of theroyal coat of arms of Canada.
October 5: Montreal, Quebec: Two members of the "Liberation Cell" of the FLQ kidnapBritish diplomatJames Cross from his home. The kidnappers are disguised as delivery men bringing a package for his recent birthday. Once the maid lets them in, they pull out a rifle and a revolver and kidnap Cross. This is followed by a communiqué to the authorities containing the kidnappers' demands, which included the exchange of Cross for "political prisoners", a number of convicted or detained FLQ members, and the CBC broadcast of theFLQ Manifesto.[9] The terms of the ransom note are the same as those found in June for the planned kidnapping of the U.S. consul. At this time, the police do not connect the two.
October 8 - 10: A broadcast of the FLQ Manifesto in all French- and English-speaking media outlets is released in Quebec on October 8. On the 10th, also in Montreal, members of theChénier Cell of the FLQ approach the home of the Quebec Minister of Labour,Pierre Laporte. While playing football with his nephew on his front lawn, Laporte is kidnapped.
October 11 - 12: TheCBC broadcasts a letter from captivity[10] from Pierre Laporte to thePremier of Quebec, Robert Bourassa on October 11.[11] By request of the federal government, GeneralGilles Turcot sends troops from the Canadian Forces to guard federal property in the Ottawa region the next day.[12][non-primary source needed] LawyerRobert Lemieux is appointed by the FLQ to negotiate the release of James Cross and Pierre Laporte. The Quebec government appoints Robert Demers.[13][non-primary source needed]
October 13: Prime Minister Trudeau is interviewed by the CBC with respect to the military presence.[14] In a combative interview Trudeau asks the reporter,Tim Ralfe, what he would do in his place. When Ralfe asks Trudeau how far he would go, Trudeau replies, "Just watch me".
October 14: Sixteen prominent Quebec personalities, including René Lévesque andClaude Ryan, call for negotiating "exchange of the two hostages for the political prisoners". FLQ's lawyerRobert Lemieux urgesUniversité de Montréal (University of Montreal) students to boycott classes in support of FLQ.
October 15:Quebec City: The negotiations between the lawyers Lemieux and Demers are put to an end.[15][16] The Government of Quebec formally requisitions the Canadian Forces in "aid of the civil power" pursuant to theNational Defence Act. All three opposition parties, including theParti Québécois, rise in the National Assembly and agree with the decision. On the same day separatist groups are permitted to speak[17] at theUniversité de Montréal. Robert Lemieux organizes 3,000 students in a rally inPaul Sauvé Arena to show support for the FLQ; labour leaderMichel Chartrand announces that popular support for FLQ is rising[11] and states "We are going to win because there are more boys ready to shoot members ofParliament than there are policemen."[18] The rally frightens many Canadians, who view it as a possible prelude to outright insurrection in Quebec.
October 16: Premier Bourassa formally requests that the government of Canada grant the government of Quebec "emergency powers" that allow them to "apprehend and keep in custody"[19] individuals. This results in the implementation of theWar Measures Act, allowing the suspension ofhabeas corpus, giving wide-reaching powers of arrest to police. The City of Montreal had already made such a request on the previous day. These measures came into effect at 4:00 a.m. Prime Minister Trudeau makes a broadcast announcing the imposition of theWar Measures Act.
October 17: Montreal, Quebec: The Chénier cell of the FLQ announces that hostage Pierre Laporte has been executed. He was strangled and then stuffed in the trunk of a car and abandoned in the bush nearSaint-Hubert Airport, a few miles from Montreal. A communique to police advising that Pierre Laporte has been executed refers to him derisively as the "minister of unemployment and assimilation". In another communique issued by the "Liberation cell" holding James Cross, his kidnappers declare that they are suspending indefinitely the death sentence against him, that they will not release him until their demands are met, and that he will be executed if the "fascist police" discover them and attempt to intervene. The demands they make are:
The publication of the FLQ manifesto
The release of 23 "political prisoners"
An airplane to take them to eitherCuba orAlgeria (both countries that they feel a strong connection to because of their struggle against colonialism and imperialism).
The re-hiring of the "gars de Lapalme".
A "voluntary tax" of 500,000 dollars to be loaded aboard the plane prior to departure.
The name of the informer who had sold out the FLQ activists earlier in the year.[20][page needed]
Controversially, police reports (which were not released to the public until 2010) state that Pierre Laporte was accidentally killed during a struggle. The FLQ subsequently wanted to use his death to its advantage by convincing the government that they should be taken seriously.[failed verification][21]
October 18: While denouncing the acts of "subversion and terrorism – both of which are so tragically contrary to the best interests of our people", columnist, politician, and future Premier of Quebec René Lévesque criticizes theWar Measures Act: "Until we receive proof (of the size the revolutionary army) to the contrary, we will believe that such a minute, numerically unimportant fraction is involved, that rushing into the enactment of theWar Measures Act was a panicky and altogether excessive reaction, especially when you think of the inordinate length of time they want to maintain this regime."[22]
November 6: Police raid the hiding place of the FLQ's Chénier cell. Although three members escape the raid,Bernard Lortie is arrested and charged with the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte.
December 3: Montreal, Quebec: After being held hostage for 62 days, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the FLQ Liberation Cell after negotiations between lawyers Bernard Mergler and Robert Demers.[15][non-primary source needed][23] Simultaneously, the five known kidnappers,Marc Carbonneau,Yves Langlois,Jacques Lanctôt,Jacques Cossette-Trudel and his wife,Louise Lanctôt, are granted safe passage toCuba by the government of Canada after approval byFidel Castro. They are flown to Cuba by aCanadian Forces aircraft. Jacques Lanctôt is the same man who, earlier that year, had been arrested and then released on bail for the attempted kidnapping of the Israeli consul.[24]
December 23: Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau announces that all troops stationed in Quebec will be withdrawn by January 5, 1971.[25]
December 28:Saint-Luc, Quebec: The three members of the Chénier Cell still at large,Paul Rose,Jacques Rose, andFrancis Simard, are arrested after being found hiding in a 6-metre (20 ft) tunnel in a rural farming community. They would later be charged with the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte.
Canadian Forces stand guard in downtown Montreal. (Image:Montreal Gazette October 18, 1970)
When Trudeau was asked byCBC reporter Tim Ralfe how far he was willing to go to stop the FLQ, he replied: "Just watch me." Three days later, on October 16, theCabinet, under Trudeau's chairmanship,advised the governor general to invoke theWar Measures Act at the request of the Premier of Quebec, Robert Bourassa; and the Mayor of Montreal,Jean Drapeau. TheWar Measures Act gave sweeping powers of arrest and internment to the police. The provisions took effect at 4 a.m. and, shortly after that, hundreds of suspected FLQ members and sympathizers were rounded-up. In total, 497 people were arrested, including union activistMichel Chartrand,[26] singerPauline Julien and her partner, future Quebec MinisterGérald Godin, poetGaston Miron, Dr. Henri Bellemare,simple living advocateSerge Mongeau, andCBC journalistNick Auf der Maur and a junior producer.[27]: 97
This act was imposed after the negotiations with the FLQ had broken down, and the premier of Quebec was facing the next stage in the FLQ's agenda.[28]: 88 [non-primary source needed]
At the time, opinion polls in Quebec and the rest of Canada showed overwhelming support for theWar Measures Act;[29][30] in a December 1970Gallup Poll, it was noted that 89% of English-speaking Canadians and 86% of French-speaking Canadians supported the introduction of theWar Measures Act. They respectively showed 6% and 9% disapproval while the remaining 5% of each population was undecided.[28]: 103 [non-primary source needed] Since then, the government's use of theWar Measures Act in peacetime has been a subject of debate in Canada as it gave police sweeping powers of arrest and detention.
Simultaneously, under provisions quite separate from theWar Measures Act and much more commonly used, the solicitor-general of Quebec requisitioned the military's deployment from the chief of the Defence Staff in accordance with theNational Defence Act. Troops from Quebec bases and elsewhere in the country were dispatched, under the direction of theSûreté du Québec (Quebec's provincial police force), to guard vulnerable points and prominent individuals at risk. This freed up police resources to pursue more proactive tasks in dealing with the crisis.[citation needed]
The two named Canadian Forces operations were Operation Ginger (to mount guards on the Government of Canada buildings and significant residences outside of Quebec) and Operation Essay (to provide aid to Quebec's civil power).[31] TheRoyal 22e Régiment, more commonly known as the "Van Doos", the most famous French-Canadian regiment in the Canadian Army, was deployed to Montreal to guard buildings. It was understood that deploying troops from English-speaking regiments in Quebec as an aid to civil power would be politically problematic. Throughout the operation, the Army made a point of deploying primarily French-Canadian soldiers to guard buildings in Quebec.[32]: 257 TheRoyal 22e Régiment was based in Quebec City, but it was felt that having the "Van Doos" perform guard duty in Montreal, the largest city in Quebec, would be less likely to offend public opinion.[32]: 257 The Canadian Army saw no action during its deployment, which lasted until November 12. One soldier was killed when he tripped over his loaded rifle while on guard duty and inadvertently shot and killed himself.[32]: 257
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 theWar Measures Act, and the military deployment requisitioned and controlled by Quebec's government gave every appearance that martial law had been imposed. However, a significant difference was that the military remained in a support role to the civil authorities (in this case, Quebec authorities) and never had a judicial role. It still allowed for the criticism of the government, and theParti Québécois was able to go about its everyday business free of any restrictions, including the criticism of the government and theWar Measures Act.[28]: 88 [non-primary source needed]
Nevertheless, many Canadians found the sight of tanks outside the federal parliament disconcerting. Moreover, police officials sometimes abused their powers without just cause, and some prominent artists and intellectuals associated with thesovereignty movement were detained.[33]
The October Crisis was the only occasion in which theWar Measures Act was invoked in peacetime. The FLQ was declared an unlawful association, which meant that, under theWar Measures Act, the police had full power to arrest, interrogate, and hold anyone whom they believed was associated with the FLQ: "A person who was a member to this group, acted or supported it in some fashion became liable to a jail term not to exceed five years. A person arrested for such a purpose could be held without bail for up to ninety days."[34] It is estimated that within the first 24 hours of theWar Measures Act being put in place, police had mobilized to arrest suspects of the unlawful organization. The police conducted 3000 searches, and 497 people were detained.[35]
TheWar Measures Act also violated and limited many human rights of people being incarcerated: "Everyone arrested under theWar Measures Act was denied due process.Habeas corpus (an individual's right to have a judge confirm that they have been lawfully detained) was suspended.The Crown could detain a suspect for seven days before charging them with a crime. In addition, the attorney general could order, before the seven days expired, that the accused be held for up to 21 days. The prisoners were not permitted to consult legal counsel, and many were heldincommunicado."[36]
Several of those detained were upset by the method of their interrogation. However, most of those interviewed after had little cause to complain, and several even commented on the courteous nature of the interrogations and searches.[28]: 88 [non-primary source needed] In addition, theQuebec 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 theWar Measures Act, 435 of whom had already been released. The other 62 were charged, of whom 32 were accused of crimes of such seriousness that aQuebec Superior Court judge refused them bail.
Regarding Trudeau's invocation of theWar Measures Act, the Canadian historianDesmond Morton wrote: "It was unprecedented. On the basis of facts then and revealed later, it was unjustified. It was also a brilliant success. Shock was the best safeguard against bloodshed. Trudeau's target was not two frightened little bands of terrorists, one of which soon strangled its helpless victim: it was the affluent dilettantes of revolutionary violence, cheering on the anonymous heroes of the FLQ. The proclamation of theWar Measures Act and the thousands of grim troops pouring into Montreal froze the cheers, dispersed the coffee-table revolutionaries, and left them frightened and isolated while the police rounded up suspects whose offence, if any, was dreaming of blood in the streets".[32]: 257
Pierre Laporte was eventually found killed by his captors, while James Cross was freed after 59 days as a result of negotiations with the kidnappers who requested exile to Cuba rather than facing trial in Quebec. The cell members responsible for Laporte's death were arrested and charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder after they returned.
The response by the federal and provincial governments to the incident still sparks controversy. This is the only time that theWar Measures Act had been put in place during peacetime in Canada.[37] A few critics (most notably Tommy Douglas and some members of theNew Democratic Party)[38] believed that Trudeau was excessive in advising the use of theWar Measures Act to suspendcivil liberties and that the precedent set by this incident was dangerous. Federal Progressive Conservative leaderRobert Stanfield initially supported Trudeau's actions but later regretted doing so.[39]
In 1972,Michael Forrestall, the defence critic in the Conservative shadow cabinet, warned when Trudeau stated he would use theWar Measures Act again, "the deliberate use of the military to enforce the will of one group of Canadians over the will of another group of Canadians is detrimental to the credibility of the armed forces."[32]: 257 The size of the FLQ organization and the number of sympathizers in the public was not known. However, in its Manifesto the FLQ stated: "In the coming year (Quebec Premier Robert) Bourassa will have to face reality; 100,000 revolutionary workers, armed and organized."[40] Given this declaration, seven years of bombings, and communiques 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.
The events of October 1970 marked a significant loss of support for the violent wing of the Quebec sovereigntist movement. This came after it had gained support over nearly ten years[1]: 256 and increased support for political means of attaining independence, including support for the sovereigntist Parti Québécois, which went on to take power at the provincial level in1976. In 1987, after the defeat of theMeech Lake Accord, which sought to amend theConstitution of Canada to resolve the passage by a previous government of theConstitution Act 1982 without Quebec's ratification, a pro-independence political party, theBloc Québécois, was also created at the federal level.
The deployment of the military as an aid to civil power was very unpopular with the senior leadership of the Canadian Forces.[32]: 257 In the 1950s the primary purpose of the Canadian Army was to fight against the Red Army in Central Europe if World War Three broke out.[32]: 238 During the Pearson years and even more so under Trudeau there was a tendency on the part of the government to cut military spending and to shift the role of the Canadian Forces to acting more as an internal security force.[32]: 256 In 1968–69, Trudeau had seriously considered pulling out of NATO and stayed only to avoid damaging relations with the United States and Western Europe.
On April 3, 1969, Trudeau announced that Canada would stay in NATO after all, but he drastically cut military spending and pulled out half of the 10,000 Canadian soldiers and airmen stationed in West Germany.[32]: 255 In the same speech Trudeau stated that safeguarding Canada against external and internal threats would be the number-one mission of the Canadian Forces, guarding North America in co-operation with the United States would be the number-two mission, and NATO commitments would be the number-three mission.[32]: 255 In early 1970 the government introduced a white paperDefence in the Seventies, which stated the "Priority One" of the Canadian Forces would be upholding internal security rather than preparing for World War III, which of course meant a sharp cut in military spending since the future enemy was now envisioned to be the FLQ rather than the Red Army.[32]: 256
The October Crisis, much to the dismay of the generals, was used by Trudeau as an argument for transforming the Canadian Forces into a force whose "Priority One" was internal security.[32]: 257 Many officers knew very well that the "Priority One" of internal security was "a greater threat than any other potential role."[32]: 255 By the end of the 1970s, the Canadian Forces had been transformed by Trudeau into an internal security force that was not capable of fighting a major conventional war.[32]: 259–260
By 1982 all the convicted participants had been paroled and all of those sent to Cuba had returned to Canada, some having completed short sentences. In 1988, theWar Measures Act was replaced by theEmergencies Act and subsequently theEmergency Preparedness Act. This in turn was replaced by theEmergency Management Act in 2007. The use of war measures in peacetime continues to be a significant point of contention amongst the Canadian public.
In October 2020, 50 years following the October Crisis,Yves-François Blanchet, the party and parliamentary leader of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois, introduced a motion in the House of Commons demanding an official apology from the federal government, now led by Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau, son of Pierre Trudeau, for invoking theWar Measures Act.[41]
Orders (Les Ordres), a historical film drama directed byMichel Brault, based on the events of the October Crisis and the effect that implementation of theWar Measures Act had on people in Quebec,[44] was released in September 1974.
Nô is partially set in Montreal during the October Crisis and features fictional FLQ members planning a bombing.[46]
CBC Television produced a two-hour documentary programBlack October in 2000, in which the events of the crisis were discussed in great detail. The program featured interviews with former Canadian Prime MinisterPierre Elliott Trudeau, former Quebec justice ministerJérôme Choquette, and others.[47]
La Belle province, a 2001 documentary film by Ad Hoc Films Montreal / Tele-Quebec, portrays events leading to the death of Pierre Laporte.[48]
InL'Otage, a 2004 documentary film by Ad Hoc Films Montreal / Tele-Quebec, Richard Cross, his wife and his daughter remember how they suffered during October 1970.
Tout le monde en parlait «La crise d'Octobre I»Radio Canada 2010, is a documentary relating the events of October 1970.[49][50]
An eight-partminiseries about some of the incidents of the October Crisis titledOctober 1970 was released on October 12, 2006.[51]
Just Watch Me: A Trudeau Musical, a 2015 play, was performed at the Vancouver Fringe Festival.[52]
^The federal government also deployed troops to protect federal employees and structures in a number of cities outside of Quebec, particularly inOttawa, Ontario.
^FLQ manifesto read on-air.archives.cbc.ca (Television broadcast). October 8, 1970. Archived fromthe original on April 7, 2004. RetrievedJanuary 11, 2022.
^Appendix D ofThe October Crisis, 1970: An Insider's View, by Prof. William Tetley."October Crisis 1970". Archived fromthe original on June 14, 2009. RetrievedJune 23, 2009.
^Tetley, William (2007).The October Crisis, 1970: An Insider's View. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.ISBN978-0-7735-3118-5.
^abcdTetley, William (2007).The October Crisis, 1970 : an insider's view. Montréal [Que.]: McGill-Queen's University Press.ISBN9780773576605.OCLC716062232.
^"Chronology of the October Crisis, 1970, and its Aftermath – Quebec History". Archived fromthe original on July 23, 2011. RetrievedApril 13, 2008.There was widespread editorial approval of the action taken by the federal government; only Claude Ryan, in Le Devoir, condemned it as did René Lévesque, leader of the Parti Québécois. Polls taken shortly afterward showed that there was as much as 92% approval for the action taken by the Federal government.
^"Chronology of the October Crisis, 1970, and its Aftermath – Quebec History". Archived fromthe original on July 23, 2011. RetrievedApril 13, 2008.In a series of polls conducted over the next few weeks, public support for the course of action undertaken by the Government of Canada continued to be overwhelming (72 to 84% approval rate). In a poll conducted on December 19 by the Canadian Institute of Public Opinion, Canadians indicated that their opinion of Trudeau, Bourassa, Caouette, and Robarts, who had all expressed strong support for theWar Measures Act, was more favourable than before, while their view of Stanfield and Douglas, who had expressed reservations for the act, was less favourable than previously.
^"Top Ten Greatest Canadians – Tommy Douglas". Archived fromthe original on April 25, 2008. RetrievedApril 13, 2008.The decision to vote against the motion (which passed with a majority vote) was not viewed favourably; the approval rating for the NDP dropped to seven percent in public opinion polls. Still, Douglas maintained that Trudeau was going too far: "The government, I submit, is using a sledgehammer to crack a peanut."
^"Remembering Robert Stanfield: A Good-Humoured and Gallant Man"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on April 14, 2008. RetrievedApril 13, 2008.That particular backing [of theWar Measures Act] was Stanfield's only regret in a long political life. He later admitted that he wished he had joined his lone dissenting colleague, David MacDonald, who voted against thePublic Order Temporary Measures Act when it came before the House that November.
Bouthillier, Guy; Cloutier, Édouard (2010).Trudeau's Darkest Hour: War Measures in Time of Peace, October 1970. Montréal: Baraka Books.ISBN978-1-926824-04-8.
Coté, Robert (2003).Ma guerre contre le FLQ. Montreal: Trait d'union.
D'Arcy, Jenish (2019).The Making of the October Crisis.Doubleday Canada.
Munroe, H.D. "The October Crisis revisited: Counterterrorism as a strategic choice, political result, and organizational practice".Terrorism and Political Violence 21.2 (2009): 288–305.
Front de libération du Québec
