Some former extremists, including a judge and a senior bureaucrat, have blended too well its ex-members

HUBERT BAUCH exile in 1979 to a three-year sentence Sl'Hl'lU'M for the Cross kidnapping. Released af- tera year's detention, he built a career In the Quebec book industry. containment, either by cold "We were romantics," he said in an type or cold reason. Interview on last year's 25th October I The lettersJn the FLQ mind's somehow eye they aredefy Crisis anniversary. "Wesawourseh-es . typically rendered far more vividly — as going off to war, even though we in slashing brushstrokes on the wall of didn't really know what we were do¬ a federal building; in a defiant spray- ing." can scrawl on the base of amonument The first of the exiles, with Anglo-Saxon overtones, or to brave Judgment back home were scratched on a Westmount mailbox Loube and Jacques Cossette-Trudel. rigged to explode. They were sentenced to two years in The very mention of the Front de prison and paroled after eight months Liberation du Quebec, more than a after their return to Quebec in late quarter-century after its calnmitous 1978. They were divorced three years flameout in the 1970 , later. still triggers such visceral emotions Loube, who is Jacques Lanctot's sis¬ ar\d disturbing memories that it's a ter, now runs a photocopying and doc¬ stretch for some who experienced the PAUL ROSE: still a committed social¬ FRANCIS SIMARD: works In film In¬ : constructkKi firm ument-processing service, A decade FLQ heyday to imagine yesteryear's ist, he campaigned as NOP candidate dustry and discourages prying owner raised furore at PQ convention ago she published a bitter memoir of terrorist monsters recycled as today's her FLQ experience. model citizens. Their faces and vitals were splashed In South Shore Marie-Vlctorin riding Carbonneau, now, at 63, on the brfnlt, Her former husband, Jacques, like But this is what they have-become on wanted posters all over town, iden- until chief electoral officer Pierre Cote, ofseniordtizenship. In 1970, he got a her now 47, has become a communi¬ for the most part. If not model citi¬ rilying them as the leading suspects in ruled him ineligible 10 days before freepasstoCubawithfourother cations consultant In an article in the zens. at least peaceable, taxpaying the kidnappings of British trade com¬ the vote. members ofhlsFLQ "Liberation Cell" magazine Libenarion hedismbsedthe members ofsociety. Apart from the missioner and Quebec la¬ Sdll apassionately committed so¬ after they released their hostage. like Laporte kidnappers as grandstanders odd moving vioiarion, none of the es¬ bor minister Pierre La porte, and in La- cialist, Rose soldiers on at the political theothers—Jacques Lanctpt, Yves for claiming they"executed" the min¬ timated 200 or so former felquistes porte's subsequent murder. A com- fringe as leaderofwhat he now.calls Langlois, Louise Cossette-Trudel arid ister when, as Cossette-lYudel still living in Quebec h£s run afoul of . mon sentiment at the time was that the Parti deJa Democratie Sodaiiste, her then-husband, Jacques-r-he.soon claimed, they actually strangled him the law after acquitting their sen¬ hanging was too good for them. which makes no headlines and does¬ found life in Cuba cured his revolu¬ accidentally. tences forterrprist activities. Yet Paul Rose, whose crooked-eyed n't register in the polls. tionary fever. From the current furore, it would In fact, everyone everconvicted of scowl and unrepentant courtroom Hisyounger brother, Jacques, 50, All of them eventually decamped to seem that the really troublesome ex- FLQ-related activil ies has been at lib¬ rants got him cast in the public eye as . was convicted only of being an accom¬ France, andallofthemeventuaJiy: felqubtes are those who have taken erty for more than a decade now. If the baddest of the bad, has been back plice after the fact in Laporte's kid¬ came back home to face the music. the straight and narrow too far. It'has anything, some have blended in too on the streets since he was paroled in napping, and served five years of an Carbonneau came back in May 198.1 raised serious questions about provin-. well for some people's comfort. The 1982, after serving 11 years of his life eight-year sentence. Three years after and served a 20-month prison term, cial-government hiring standards, but current furore over the appointment sentence for La porte's murder. In re¬ his parole, he made a splash at the after which he went Into the renova¬ also countercharges that the opposi- of two formerteenage felquistes, cent years he has been working on a 1981 Parti Quebecois convention, ris¬ tion business. • tion is trying to smear the PQ govern- •, Richard Tberrien and Gaeran doctorate in sociology at the Univer- ing to presenta motion asking thatall Frauds Simard, a 23-year-old ap¬ mentwith a fefquiste taint, and fears Desrosiers, the former as a judge and site du Quebec at Rimouski. FLQ prisoners still incarcerated at the prentice electridan In 1970, has of a witchhunt that could see people the latter an associate deputy minis¬ Now 53, Paul Rose is one of the few time be transferred to provincial jails. worked in the Quebec film Industry houndedoutofjobstheyholdonthe ; ter, has raised the question whether ex-felquistes who still goes out of his He was accorded a thunderous stand¬ for most of the time since his 1981 pa¬ merit of their rehabilitation. this is redemption carried past a cer¬ way to call public attention to himself. ing ovadon. An appalled Rene role from a life sentence for Laporte's This is the broad consensus among tain line. In the last provincial election Rose Levesque later called it an outbreak of murder. former FLQ members of all current At the height of the October Crisis it headed a left-wing gaggle that took delirium. Now a father of two, he has settled persuasions who spoke out this week. was hard to imagine that the likes of over the Quebec NDP franchise, Since then, the younger Rose has into a respectable family state near From their point of view, they're being' Paul and Jacques Rose, Francis which by then existed in name only settled in the Laurendans, where he trols-Rivieres. made to pay for their impulsive youth¬ Simard and MarcCarbonneau would and had long been disowned by the runs a thriving construction and Perhaps the most socially promi¬ ful crimes above and beyond the dic¬ ever see daylight again once they national party. He campaigned to home-renovation business. nent former FLQ front-liner is Jacques tates of justice. were caught. scant attention as the NDP candidate The same Is true of Cross kidnapper Lanctot, nowSl, who returned from MontrealOazelle 'Domtar workere in East Angus Province, where thousands and stock exchange stands?); by the THE OCTOBER CRISIS TWENTY YEARS LATER • and Windsor know them well. And thousands of square miles of for¬ payments to reimburse Household The FLQ Manifesto the workers at Squibb and Ayers, ests, full of game and well-slocked Finance; by the publicity of the and the men at the Liquor Board lakes, are the exclusive preserve of grand masters of consumption like and those at Seven-Up and Victo¬ the powerful twentieth century Eaton. Simpson, Morgan, ria Precision, and the blue collar seigneurs. Steinberg, and General Motors. On Octobers, 1970, the From tie ers (banks, finance companies, the North Shore, the miners of the workers in Laval and Montreal We have had our fill of the We are terrorized by the Liberation du Quebec kidnapped etc—) Iron Ore Co., Quebec Crtrt&r Min¬ and the Lapalme boys know those hypocrite Bourassa who re-en- closed circles of science and cul¬ James Cross, the British Trade "The money power of die sta¬ ing, and Noranda also know these reasons well forccs himself with Brinks armor, ture which are the universities and Commissioner. In exchangefor his tus quo, the majority of the tradi¬ reasons. And the brave woikets in The Dupont of work¬ the veritable symbol of the foreign by their monkey directors like safe return, the FLQ demanded, tional teachers of our people, have Cabano know all the reasons. ers know them as well, even if occupation of Quebec, to keep the Gaudry and Darais and by the sub- among other things, that lis mani¬ obtained the reacdcn they hoped Yes, there are reasons that soon iliey will only be able to ex¬ poor natives of Quebec in the fear monkey Robert Shaw. festo be broadcast publicly. The for a backward step rather than you, Mr. Tremblay of Panel St., press them in English (thus assim¬ of misery and unemployment in The number of those who are CBC, at first reluctant to do so, the change for which we have and you, Mr. Goutier, who work ilated, they will enlarge the which they are accustomed to liv¬ realizing the oppression of this eventually complied with the Gov¬ worked as never befcre, for which in construction in SL Jdrome, that number of immigrants and Neo- ing. terrorist society are growing and ernment request and on Octobers we will continue to work." you cannot pay for "vasseaux Quebeckers, favored children of We have had our fill of taxes the day will come when all the the "Teste du Monifeste FLQ" Ren* Uvesque, April 1970 d'or" with all the "zizique" and Bill 63). which the Ottawa reprcsemative Wesanounts will disappear from was read on the air. The following the "fling-fiang" as does Drapeau And the Montreal policemen, to Quebec wants to give to the the map. We once believed that per¬ is the English translation as it ap¬ the eristocrat — who is so con¬ those stronganns of the system, Anglophone bosses to incite them Production workers, miners, haps it would be worth it to chan¬ peared the next day in the Mon¬ cerned with slums that be puts col¬ should understand these reasons to speak French, to negotiate in foresters, teachers, students and nel our energy andour impatience, treal Gaxette. ored billboards in front of them to — they should have been able to French. Repeat after me: "Cheap unemployed workers, what as Ren£ L6vesque said so well, in The Front de Liberation du hide our misery from the tourists. see we live in a terrorized society labor means manpower in a belongs to you, your jobs, your the Parti Quibfeois, but the Lib¬ because, without their force, with¬ healthy market." Quibec is not a messiah, nor a Yes, there are reasons that detexminanon, and your liberty. eral victory showed us clearly that out their violence, nothing could •We have had our fill of jtocd- modem- day Robin Hood. It is a you. Ml Lemay of sl Hyacinthe, And you, workers of General which we call democracy in Que¬ work on October 7. ises of jobs and prosperity while group of Quebec workers who can't pay for little trips to Florida Electric, it's you who make your bec is nothing but the democracy We have had our fill of Cana¬ we always remain the cowering have decided to use all means to like our dirty judges and parlia¬ factories run; only you are capable of the rich. The Liberal party's vic- dian federalism which penalizes servants and bootlickers of the big make sure thai the people of Que¬ mentary members do with our of production; without you, Geo- tory was nothing but the victory of • the Quebec milk producers to sat¬ shots who live in WestmounL bec take control of their destiny. money. eral Electric is nothing. the election riggers, Simard isfy'the needs of the AngloSaxons Town of Mount Royal. Hamp- Workers of Quebec, start The Front de Liberation du The brave workers for Cotroni. As a result, the British of the Commonwealth: the system stead, and Outremont, all the today to take back what is yours; Qufbec wants the total indepen¬ Vicken and Davie Ship who were parliamentary system is finished which keeps the gallant Montreal fortresses of high finance on St take for yourselves what belongs dence of Quebeckers. united in a and the Front de Liberation du thrown out and not given a reason taxi drivers in a state of semi-slav¬ James and Wall Streets, while we, to you. Only you know your fac¬ free society; purged forever of the know these reasons. And the Qudbec will never allow itself to ery to shamefully protect the ex¬ the Quebeckers, have not used all tories, your machines, yourhotels, clique of voracious sharks, the pa¬ Murdochville men, who were at¬ be distracted by the pseudo elec¬ clusive monopoly of the our means, including arms and dy¬ your universities, your unions. tronizing "big bosses" and their tacked for the simple and sole rea¬ tions that the Anglo-Saxon capi¬ nauseating Murray HilL namite, to rid ourselves of these Don't wait for an organizational henchmen who have made Que¬ son that they wanted to organize a talists toss to the people of Quebec We have had our fill of the economic and political bosses miracle. bec their hunting preserve for union and who were farced to pay every four years. A number of system which exercises a policy of who continue to oppress us. Make your own revolution in "cheap labor" and unscrupulous S2 000 000.00 by the dirty judges Quebecken have understood and heavy impottation while turning We live in a society of terror¬ your areas, in your places of wok. exploitation. simply because they tried to exer¬ will act. In the coming year out into the street the low wage ized slaves, terrorized by the large And if you do not make it your¬ The Front de LiWration du cise this basic right-— they know Bourassa will have to face reality: earners in the textile and shoe owners like Steinberg, Clark, selves. other usurpers, technocrats Quibec is not a movement of ag¬ justice and they know the reasons. 100 000 revolutionary workers, manufacturing trades In order to Bronfman, Smith, Neaple, Tim- and others, will replnce the iron gression, but is a response to the aimed and organized. Yes there are reasons that provide profits for a clutch of nuns, Geoffiion. J. L. L6vesque, fist of the cigar smokers which we aggression organized by high fi¬ Yes, there are reasons for the you, Ml La chance of St Margue¬ damned money-makers in the Hershor, Thomson, Nesbitt, know now, and all will be the same nance and the puppst governments Liberal victory. Yes, there are rea¬ rite Sl, must go and drown your Cadillacs who rate the Quebec na¬ Desmarais, Kierans. Beside them again. Only you are able to build in Ottawa and Quebec (the Brinks sons for poverty, unemployment, sorrows in a bottle of that dog's tion on the same level as other Remi Popoi, the gasket, Drapeau, a free society. "show," Bill 63, the electoral map, misery, and for the fact that you, beer, Molson, and you, ethnic minorities in Canada. the dog, Bourassa, the sidekick of We must fight, not one by the so-called social progress tax, Mr. Bergeron of Visitation SL, and Lachance's son, with your mari¬ We have had our fill, as have the Simards, and Trudeau, the one. but together. We must fight Power Corporation, "Doctors in¬ you, Mr. Legendre of Laval, who juana cigarettes more and more Quebeckers, of a chatterbox, are peanuts. until victory is ours with all the surance," the Lapalme boys...) earn S10 000.00 a year, will not Yes, there are reasons that government which performs a We arc terrorized by the cap- means at our disposal as did the The Front de Liberation du feel free in our country of Quebec. you. the welfare recipients, are thousand and one acrobatics to italislRoman church, even though patriots of 1837-38. (Those whom Qudbec is self-financed by "vol¬ Yes, there are reasons, and the kept from generation to genera¬ charm American millionaires into this seems tobc diminishing (Who your sacred church excotnmuni- untary taxes" taken from the same guys at Lord know them, the fish¬ tion on social welfare. Yes, there investing in Quebec, La Belle owns the property on' which the enterprises that exploit the work¬ ermen of the Gaspd, the workers of are all sorts of reasons, and the

caied to sell out to the British in¬ professional robbers, the bankers, Our struggle can only be vic¬ terests.) the businessmen, the judges, and torious. You cannot hold back an .' From the four comers of Que¬ the sold-out politicians. awakening people. Long live Free bec, those who have been treated We are the workers of Quebec Quebec. with disdain, the lousy French, and we will go to the end. We want Long live our comrades who and the alcoholics will vigorously to replace the slave society with a are political prisoners. undertake combat against the de¬ free society, functioning by itself Long live the Quebec revolu¬ stroyers of liberty and justice. We and for itself. An open society to tion. will banish from our slate all the the world. Viewpoints: Political Violeace

Political violence was a new phenomenon in Canada. Members of the FLQ believed it was the only way to achieve their goals. The prime minister, on the other hand, was determined to squelch all terrorist tactics.

TTze rudng class Has sociaC responsiHifity onfyforits own interests. It doesn't give a damn aSout the 90 percent of the population who have nothing to say and no decisions to mahe in "their" democracy, dhe workers have already wasted too much time waiting for the "conversion" of those who have always roSSed them and scoffed at them, dhe workers have already Seen deceived too many times Sy aCC the "pure" men of traditional politics... dhe workers andatfthe dear-thinhing people ofQueSec must tahp their responsiSidties in hand and stop relying on the Messiahs who are periodically thrown up Sy the system to fool the 'ignorant." Of course it isn't easy.... (But determination can overcome anything at last, even the dictatorship of capitalism over the Sodies and minds of the majority ofQueSecois. It is the responsiSidty of the workers ofQueSec to Seam to stand erect and to demand, to tahe what rightfully SeCongs to them. Tor it is aSnormaC, unjust, and inhuman that the economic and politicalpower which governs the entire life of the workers should SeCong not to the workers themselves Sut to others.... Let us Sum the paper-mache traditions with which they have tried to Sudd a myth around our shivery. Let us learn the pride ofSeing men. Let us vigorously declare our independence. JLndwith our hardy freedom, let us crush the sympathetic or contemptuous paternalism of the politicians, the daddy-Sosses and the preachers of defeat and suSmission.... There wilt Se no miracles, Sut there will Se war. FLQ member Pierre Vallieres, "White Niggers of America," Monthly Review Press, 1970, pp 18-20.

I had Seen fighting separatist ideology for years without once considering asking the police for assistance. JLs long as the secessionists limited themselves to democratic methods to promote QueSec's withdrawal from the Country, there was never any question of putting the police on their trail. (But the moment they resorted to using SomSs, or theft, or assassination attempts, we were no longer dealing with democratic opposition, and it Became our duty to hunt them down, or at least to identify them, jo that we could put an end to their criminal activities. JIt the time, not only were they increasing their own illegal pursuits, they were also encouraging others to do the same. The TLQwas inciting militants to infiltrate the (Parti QueBecois and other peaceful political organizations, as well as the puBlic service and the provincialgovernment. How successful their campaign had Been we could not Be sure, But we had to find out, using every means the law put at our disposal, who it was who was promoting violence... .It is the duty of any democracy to protect itself against the forces of dissolution as soon as they raise their heads. , Memoirs, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1993), p. 132. 1. According to Pierre Vallieres, why did the FLQ adopt illegal tactics in their struggle to bring about change in Quebec? 2. According to Trudeau, in a democratic society what is the limit beyond which dissent and opposition can no longer by tolerated? Explain the distinction he makes between the FLQ and other separatist groups. Return of 1960s terror group FLQ?

Friday, January 19, 2007

MONTREAL (CP) - The RCMP is taking "very seriously" a recent threatening letter signed by a group claiming to be a new cell of the FLQ, a Quebec terrorist group active in the 1960s and . The letter, dated Jan. 15, says "strategic targets of importance" will be targeted in the western, largely English-speaking part of Montreal between Feb. 15 and March 15. It mentions crowded shopping malls, bridges, rail lines, airport facilities, water supplies, municipal buildings and service stations. "We will especially target traffic on main highways," it warns. The letter says the plan of attack is designed "for maximum impact" and warns "it's possible there will be injuries and deaths." The letter adds that "a combination of vehicles, letter bombs, remote-control explosive devices will be used and most of these devices are already in place." RCMP Cpl. Luc Bessette said Thursday that businesses which don't conform to Quebec's French-language sign law were also threatened. The letter, which is signed: "FLQ, Camille-Laurin Cell," is the second of its kind. The first one was received on Nov. 15, 2006. Camille Laurin was a Parti Quebecois cabinet minister responsible for the province's language law in the 1970s. The FLQ was a pro-sovereigntist terrorist group that carried out a campaign of bombings in the 1960s and sparked the 1970 October Crisis when a British diplomat was kidnapped and then Quebec labour minister was kidnapped and later killed. Bessette said the RCMP is not dismissing the threats. "Anything that has to do with the integrity and security of our citizens is always taken seriously," Bessette said, Copies of the letter were sent by the so-called FLQ cell to. Quebec Premier Jean Charest and French President Jacques Chirac. But the RCMP official stressed there's no indication those responsible for the letter can carry out their threats. "So far we have no indication they can do what they're saying," Bessette added. The Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, which includes Montreal police, provincial police, the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents have been investigating since mid-November. The letter was sent to Bob Benedetti, described by the group claiming to be the FLQ as the "loudmouth" mayor of the Montreal suburb of Beaconsfield. He was "designated to distribute the message to his colleagues" in more than a dozen predominantly Anglophone communities. Benedetti said his staff was able to extract the letter from the mail and send it to police unopened. "My staff were able to recognize it in the mail based on information the RCMP gave us regarding the first letter in November," Benedetti said. Social Studies 11 Mr. Forsyth

Questions from the articles: Legacy of FLQ still dogs its ex-members 1. Why do people find it hard to imagine members of the FLQ as model citizens today? 2. How many former members of the FLQ are still living in Quebec? How many have committed serious crimes since they finished serving their sentences? 3. What types of high office have some of the ex-felquistes achieved? 4. What controversial motion did Jacques Rose propose at the 1981 Parti-Quebecois convention? What was the response? What is your reaction to this? 5. What is your opinion of the sentences given the Cross kidnappers? Would this discourage others from doing the same thing? 6. How do you feel about the closing argument from some of the ex- felquistes?

FLQ Manifesto 1. What are the “voluntary taxes” mentioned by the FLQ? Give some examples of how they collected they collected these taxes? 2. What event does the manifesto say proved to the FLQ that the PQ’s political means of separation would not work? 3. How many members does the FLQ claim to have? Is this number anywhere near reality? 4. Who does the manifesto claim understands the reasons that Quebec is not free to do as it wishes? Why these people, who do they represent? 5. What organization does the FLQ claim is just as bad as the government and English big business in oppressing the people? Why? 6. What type of document does the manifesto strike you as being? 7. In your opinion how would the people of Quebec react to the publication/reading of the manifesto?

Return of 1960s terror group FLQ? 1. What is the new cell of the FLQ listing as its’ potential targets? 2. Have any of these attacks taken place? 3. What is the name of the new cell, who is it named after? 4. Why would the cell send a copy of their letter to the French President? 5. In the day and age that we live in today are these types of threats a smart thing for a politically motivated group to do?