Was the War Measures act necessary for the October Crisis

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Was the War Measures Act necessary for the October Crisis?

Tony Millar                                                Ms.Shimins

Words: 1,252                                        CHC-2DW

There were many events leading to the October crisis, some may say that the decisions taken by the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) were rational, others not. But any hostage situation when lives are being threatened should be stopped by any means necessary. The War Measures act requested by Premier of Quebec Robert Bourassa, directed by Pierre Trudeau and applied by the Governor General of Canada Roland Michener was a very necessary step to take due to the previous acts of terrorism and threats by the FLQ, prior to October 1970.

The October Crisis occurred in October 1970, when two government officials were kidnapped by the FLQ in the province of Quebec. The first kidnapping occurred on October 5th. The victim was British Trade Commissioner James Richard Cross, who was taken shortly after he was leaving work on his way to his car. The second kidnapping was shortly after, on October 10th, when the FLQ kidnapped the Minister of Labour and Vice Premier of Quebec Pierre Laporte, while he was playing football with his nephew. This kidnapping occurred after a meeting with Laporte discussing the threats of the FLQ; after he denied the demands he was quickly taken. The group that took him were the Chenier Cell, a division of the FLQ who were responsible for this and many other robberies in Quebec. The War Measures act was called in on October 16th, after many rally’s supporting the FLQ took place and it was requested. The act was fully supported by all 3 opposing parties.

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Violent crimes are nothing new to the FLQ, and with past bombings across all of Quebec, constant threats of human lives and violent attacks, the war measures act was needed. From 1963 to 1970 the FLQ has detonated over 95 bombs, causing a high number of injuries and millions of dollars worth of damages. Very many of these were ‘mailbox attacks,’ in English speaking towns. One member of the FLQ was quoted saying, “We got no where with words maybe someone up there in Ottawa will listen to exploding bombs.” When interviewed and questioned upon their actions. These bombings occurred ...

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This is a very detailed and well written response to a difficult question. Some points could be more clearly linked to the question and the author could consider the counter-argument in more detail to add balance. Overall, this is a convincing response though.