On the 5th of October 1970, Several members of the Front de libération du Québec (further referred to as the FLQ) kidnapped the British diplomat James Cross. Five days later, on October 10th, they followed this up by also kidnapping the deputy premier of Quebec, a man by the name of Pierre Laporte. These kidnappings were the spark that lit the flame we now know as the October Crisis of 1970, where the fragile peace that had existed between the federal government and the Francophone population of Quebec finally broke. The members of the FLQ believed that through the kidnappings of these political figures, they would be able to spread their message of Quebec separatism, which was the political stance that Quebec should separate and be independent from the rest of Canada due to its unique French identity made it culturally distinct from the rest of the predominantly Anglophone country (Tetley 2007, 32) . What followed was a series of events that shook Canada to its very core, as the following months only served to escalate the crisis as the murder of Pierre Laporte led to escalation by the Federal government as they declared martial law (Tetly 2007, 82) in to finally eliminate the FLQ as a political entity.
This exhibit attempts to examine the October crisis through multiple lenses by examining newspapers, media interviews, and photos, and other sources from the time to try and examine the many perspectives people had about the October crisis when it was happening. It will look into how the FlQ crisis affected the general population's views of both the Quebec separatist movement, and how the population of Canada responded to the federal government's response to the crisis through the unprecedented use of the War Measures Act in a time of peace. Through the examination of these topics, we will also discuss the legacy of the FLQ crisis, in both how it impacted the then-growing Quebec separatist movement and discussions on why the War Measures Act was used and if its use was a justifiable decision given the extraordinary circumstances faced by the provincial and federal government.
Bibliography:
Tetley, William. 2007. The October Crisis, 1970 : An Insider’s View. McGill-Queen’s University Press. https://search-ebscohost-com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat03710a&AN=alb.7228079&site=eds-live&scope=site.c