University of Virginia Library

FLQ: Terrorism A Part Of Separatism

By Ernest Dempsey
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

On October 5, separatists of the
Front du Liberation du Quebec
(FLQ) kidnapped British diplomat
James R. Cross as he was leaving his
home in Montreal, Canada. Then
when the Canadian government
reacted firmly, the Terrorists
abducted Quebec Labor Minister
Pierre Laporte six days later and
horrified Canada as well as the rest
of the world last weekend by
strangling to death this prominent
cabinet member, father of two, and
fellow French Canadian.

The murder was in retaliation
of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's
involvement of the War Measures
Act, which suspended all civil
liberties in Canada, and gave army
troops and all police forces the
right to search and seize without
warrant. In spite of the killing,
Trudeau has since received the
endorsement of Parliament as well
as backing from Quebec's Liberal
Premier, Robert Bourassa for his
action.

The act immediately outlawed
the terrorist FLQ. It is now a crime
to belong to the group or to have
anything to do with the group or
any successor organization. In the
first 24 hours, police arrested
approximately 300 persons.

Needless to say, the bizarre
activity in Canada has focused the
world spotlight on this extremist
group which calls itself the FLQ,
and calls for the separation of the
mostly French - speaking province
of Quebec from the rest of the
nation.

Visitors to Montreal, Canada's
largest city, which is also the
second largest French-speaking city
in the world-home of Expo 67 and
the 1976 Olympics-the financial
and cultural center of Quebec-can
see "FLQ" written on mail boxes,
monuments, and any building
having to do with the federal
government or capitalism.

These painted symbols of the
Province's rebel element are also
apparent in Quebec City, which
houses the provincial government,
and which with its narrow streets
and 17th century architecture
adds an unusually European flair to
its surrounding rural towns on the
mighty St Lawrence River.

The FLQ consists of a not yet
determined number of four- to-five
man cells. In an attempt to crush
the cells, police have for some time
been raiding them, and confiscating
weapons and literature.

It is known that members of
these cells are mostly young men,
and that their numbers have been
increasing. Within the past fortnight
two new ones have emerged in
Quebec City, and one recent report
stated that 22 active cells were
operating in the province of
Quebec, which would mean perhaps
100 hard core activists stretching
from Montreal to the Sageunay
River region.

In the past 7½ years, the FLQ
has robbed, bombed, and killed.
Beginning with the
mailbox-bombing fiasco in 1963,
the Front has been taking credit for
the separatist violence. Its
manifesto, well known to the
Canadian people, said:

"The Front de Liberation du
Quebec is not a messiah, nor a
modern-day Robin Hood. It is a
group of Quebec workers who have
decided to use all means to make
sure that the people take control of
their destiny."

"In this coming year, Premier
Bourassa will have to face reality:
100,000 revolutionary workers
armed and organized. We, the
Quebecers have to use all our
means, including arms and
dynamite, to rid ourselves of these
economic and political bosses who
continue to oppress us."

The aims have changed little in
the past 7½ years; the separation of
Quebec, an end to domination of
the province by English-speaking
"colonialists," a rhetoric modified
to incorporate Cuban socialism and
Marxist-Leninist revolutionary
ideas.

A sample of FLQ-inspired
terrorism includes the 1969
bombing of the Montreal Stock
Exchange, which-injured 27 people,
the planned kidnapping of Israeli
Trade Commissioner. Moshe Golan,
in Montreal last February, and even
the planned kidnapping of American
Consul General. Harrison W.
Burges, last June.

Both efforts were fortunately
halted by the police after
documents containing
announcements of the kidnappings
were prematurely discovered.

In the kidnappings of Cross and
Laporte, the FLQ has shown
efficient planning. It has been
sending out "communiques" to
certain French radio stations,
leaving the notes, which contain
demands to be met in exchange for
the release of hostages, in garbage
cans.

The ransom notes have also
contained threats - against Premier
Bourassa himself as well as
Montreal's veteran mayor, Jean
Drapeau. Several of Montreal's
leading families have also been
threatened, and as a result have
temporarily moved out of the city.

What will happen next? A
leading newsletter on Canadian
affairs says that "...the FLQ
terrorist element in the separatist
movement is small." It goes on to
say that "The tough measures taken
by Canada on Friday (October 16)
may well lead to rendering the
terrorists ineffective."

However, the newsletter also
points out that "separatism as an
ideology, in effect without
terrorism, enjoys rather surprisingly
wide support..." as was evidenced
last April 29, when the separatist
Parti Quebecois (no affiliation with
the FLQ) received 24 per cent of
the vote in the provincial election.

Thus, the Canadian government
can not afford to scoff at the
separatist challenge because it
"means business." Although not
intentionally, the movement
includes the FLQ, which has proven
that it is not afraid to use terrorism
to attain its goals. Canadian leaders
must now deal with a serious
challenge to their governmental
system.