From the October Crisis to the 1980 Referendum

Before we begin

This lesson includes political violence: bombings, kidnappings and the death of a Quebec cabinet minister. It is presented factually so you can understand how Canadians and their governments responded. Throughout the lesson you will practise historical perspective: understanding why people at the time made the choices they did, even if you might judge them differently today.

The FLQ

Most Quebecers who wanted sovereignty worked through democratic means: writing, organizing, voting. A very small group did not. The Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), formed in 1963, wanted to make Quebec an independent, socialist country through violence. From 1963 to 1970 its members set off dozens of bombs, in mailboxes, at armed forces buildings and at the Montreal Stock Exchange (1969). Several people were killed and many injured.

Almost all Quebec nationalists, including René Lévesque, condemned FLQ violence.

The October Crisis, 1970

• On October 5, 1970, an FLQ cell kidnapped James Cross, a British diplomat in Montreal. The kidnappers demanded the release of FLQ prisoners, money, and the broadcast of their manifesto, which was read on Radio-Canada.
• On October 10, another FLQ cell kidnapped Pierre Laporte, Quebec's Minister of Labour.
• Asked by a reporter how far he would go, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau answered, "Just watch me."
• On October 15, at the Quebec government's request, soldiers were sent into Montreal and other places.
• At 4 a.m. on October 16, after requests from Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa and Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau, the federal government proclaimed the War Measures Act. It was the only time the Act was used in peacetime. Membership in the FLQ became a crime, and police could arrest and hold people without charges.
• Police arrested about 500 people. Most were never charged with any crime; many were artists, writers, union activists and PQ supporters.
• On October 17, Laporte was found dead.
• On December 3, police found Cross. In exchange for his release, his kidnappers were flown to Cuba. Laporte's kidnappers were arrested later in December and convicted.

Was the War Measures Act justified?

This is one of the most debated questions in Canadian history.

• Supporters at the time (polls showed a large majority of Canadians, including in Quebec) said the government faced an unknown threat: two kidnappings, years of bombings, and fears of a wider uprising. Bourassa and Drapeau had asked for help.
• Critics, including NDP leader Tommy Douglas, said it was like "using a sledgehammer to crack a peanut". They argued that hundreds of innocent people lost their civil liberties, that the FLQ was tiny, and that ordinary police powers were enough.
• Later evidence showed that the FLQ was small and that no uprising was planned. Many historians now judge that the response went much further than the threat required, while others stress how uncertain things looked in October 1970.

In 1988, the War Measures Act was replaced by the Emergencies Act, which includes stronger protections for rights.

Language laws and the PQ in power

After the crisis, the debate over Quebec's future moved back into elections and laws.

• Bill 22 (1974): Bourassa's Liberal government made French the official language of Quebec and limited access to English schools for children of immigrants.
• November 15, 1976: the Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque, won the Quebec election. Many English Canadians were shocked.
• Bill 101 (1977), the Charter of the French Language: made French the language of government, courts, work and business in Quebec. Commercial signs had to be in French only. Children of newcomers had to go to French schools (English schools were mainly for children whose parents had been educated in English in Quebec).

Perspectives: most francophone Quebecers supported Bill 101 as necessary to protect French in a continent of English speakers, especially since many immigrants had been choosing English schools. Many English-speaking Quebecers felt their rights and community were under attack; tens of thousands left Quebec, and some companies moved their head offices to Toronto. Many immigrant families resented being told which schools their children must attend.

The 1980 referendum

On May 20, 1980, the PQ government held a referendum. It asked Quebecers to give the government a mandate to negotiate sovereignty-association with Canada. The Yes side was led by Lévesque. The No side was led by Quebec Liberal leader Claude Ryan, with strong help from Trudeau and his Justice Minister Jean Chrétien.

Near the end of the campaign, Trudeau promised that a No vote would lead to renewed federalism: changes to the Constitution. About 85 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot. The result: 59.56% No, 40.44% Yes. Lévesque told his supporters, "À la prochaine fois" ("Until next time").

Trudeau's promise led directly to his push to patriate the Constitution, which you will study in the final lesson of this unit. Quebec's government would refuse to sign it, which kept the debate alive long after 1982.