The October Crisis, 1970
The October Crisis, 1970
By: Amrita Banik
One of the most common things heard about over news and school are terrorism acts. The October Crisis of 1970 was just another one of them. Two members from the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) had kidnapped James Cross and Pierre Laporte. Cross was a British Trade Commissioner and Laporte was a Quebec Labour Minister. After this was heard, Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau had invoked the War Measures Act and had sent armed forces through Quebec to help police; this ended in a suspension for the civil liberties. All of this commotion was important because it was a time at risk for French Canadian lives, this was the first act of terrorism in Canada and that the FLQ was not a good representative for the French Canadians.
During the October Crisis, it was a time at risk for all French Canadians because of what the FLQ had started; an uproar. Because of this disorder, people all over Quebec were very tightly placed because it was too unsafe for an individual to leave there home. This was because of all the police outside their doors and all over town keeping the place clear from any spies, FLQ members and any other terrorists. Another risk for the French was the FLQ. Everyone was worried and were wondering who the FLQ would hijack or assassinate next. For this reason, people were always on their toes looking out for each other like family and friends. Lastly, Pierre Trudeau’s speech (Just watch me) went national. The interview indicated that Trudeau would go as far as assassinating a citizen if it meant ending what had been started. All of these examples are important because it gives the people today an idea of how these people had suffered through the hardship of the terrorism act.
The second important piece of the crisis was that this was the first act of terrorism in Canada. This was shown by the bombing that was done by the FLQ. The purpose of the bombings was for attention. They needed the attention so that they
By: Amrita Banik
One of the most common things heard about over news and school are terrorism acts. The October Crisis of 1970 was just another one of them. Two members from the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) had kidnapped James Cross and Pierre Laporte. Cross was a British Trade Commissioner and Laporte was a Quebec Labour Minister. After this was heard, Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau had invoked the War Measures Act and had sent armed forces through Quebec to help police; this ended in a suspension for the civil liberties. All of this commotion was important because it was a time at risk for French Canadian lives, this was the first act of terrorism in Canada and that the FLQ was not a good representative for the French Canadians.
During the October Crisis, it was a time at risk for all French Canadians because of what the FLQ had started; an uproar. Because of this disorder, people all over Quebec were very tightly placed because it was too unsafe for an individual to leave there home. This was because of all the police outside their doors and all over town keeping the place clear from any spies, FLQ members and any other terrorists. Another risk for the French was the FLQ. Everyone was worried and were wondering who the FLQ would hijack or assassinate next. For this reason, people were always on their toes looking out for each other like family and friends. Lastly, Pierre Trudeau’s speech (Just watch me) went national. The interview indicated that Trudeau would go as far as assassinating a citizen if it meant ending what had been started. All of these examples are important because it gives the people today an idea of how these people had suffered through the hardship of the terrorism act.
The second important piece of the crisis was that this was the first act of terrorism in Canada. This was shown by the bombing that was done by the FLQ. The purpose of the bombings was for attention. They needed the attention so that they