Front de libération du Québec

The Front de libération du Québec (Quebec Liberation Front), commonly known as the FLQ, was a socialist and nationalist terrorist group in Canada founded in the 1960s, during the early days of the Quebec independence movement, which practiced propaganda of the deed.

The group's declarations called for a Marxist insurrection, the overthrow of the Quebec government, the independence of Quebec from Canada and the establishment of a workers' society.

History

The FLQ was a group of Québécois founded in February of 1963, by three Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale members, Georges Schoeters, Raymond Villeneuve, and Gabriel Hudon, who had met each other as part of the "Réseau de résistance." The FLQ's intellectual leaders were Charles Gagnon and Pierre Vallières. (Schoeters was charged with terrorism on October 7, 1963, and was subsequently convicted and sentenced to two five-year prison terms.)

Members and sympathizers of the group were called Felquistes (^* in IPA), a word coined from the French pronunciation of the letters FLQ. Some of the members were organized and trained by Schoeters, a Belgian revolutionary and alleged KGB agent, whose hero was Che Guevara. At least two of the FLQ members had also received guerrilla training in selective assassination from Palestinian commandos in Jordan. Various cells emerged over time: The Viger Cell, the Dieppe Cell, the Louis Riel Cell, the Nelson Cell, The Saint-Denis Cell, the Liberation Cell and the Chénier Cell. The latter two of these cells were involved in what became known as the "October Crisis," the first terrorist crisis in modern Canadian history.

From 1963 to 1970, the FLQ committed over 200 violent political actions, including bombings, bank hold-ups and at least three killings by FLQ bombs and two killings by gunfire. In 1963, Gabriel Hudon and Raymond Villeneuve were sentenced to 12 years in prison for crimes against the state after their bomb killed Sgt. O'Neill, a watchman at Montreal's Canadian Army Recruitment Centre. By 1970, twenty-three members of the FLQ were in jail, including four convicted murderers, and one member had been killed by his own bomb. Targets included English owned businesses, banks, McGill University, Loyola College, and the homes of prominent English speakers in the wealthy Westmount area of the city. On February 13, 1969 the Front de libération du Québec set off a powerful bomb that ripped through the Montreal Stock Exchange causing massive destruction and seriously injuring twenty-seven people.

As a Marxist group, the FLQ was also opposed to the United States' ruling class and one cell supposedly plotted to blow up the Statue of Liberty, but they were apprehended before this could occur.

In 1966 a secret eight-page document titled Revolutionary Strategy and the Role of the Avant-Garde was prepared by the FLQ outlining its long term strategy of successive waves of robberies, violence, bombings and kidnappings, culminating in insurrection and revolution.

October crisis

On October 5, 1970, members of the FLQ's Liberation cell kidnapped James Richard Cross, the British Trade Commissioner as he was leaving his home for work. Shortly afterwards, on October 10, the Chénier Cell kidnapped the Minister of Labour and Vice-Premier of Quebec, Pierre Laporte, while he was playing football with his family on his front lawn. On October 17, callers to a radio station announced that Laporte had been murdered and divulged the location of the map which led to the discovery of his body.

The FLQ released a list of seven demands for Cross's release.

the release of 23 "political prisoners"
$500,000 in gold
the broadcast and publication of the FLQ Manifesto
the publication of the names of the police informants for terrorist activities
an aircraft to take the kidnappers to Cuba or Algeria
the rehiring of about 450 Lapalme postal workers who had been laid off
the cessation of all police search activities

As part of its Manifesto, the FLQ stated: "In the coming year Bourassa (Quebec Premier) will have to face reality; 100,000 revolutionary workers, armed and organized."

Early in December 1970, police discovered the location of the kidnappers holding James Cross. His release was negotiated and on December 3, 1970, five of the terrorists were granted their request for safe passage to Cuba by the Government of Canada after approval by Fidel Castro.

In July 1980, police arrested and charged a sixth person in connection with the Cross kidnapping. Nigel Barry Hamer, a British radical socialist and FLQ sympathizer, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 months in jail.

In late December, four weeks after the kidnappers of James Cross were found, Paul Rose and the kidnappers and murderers of Pierre Laporte were located in the corner of a country farmhouse basement. They were tried and convicted for kidnapping and murder.

The events of October 1970 contributed to the loss of support for violent means to attain Quebec independence, and increased support for the political party, the Parti Québécois, which took power in 1976.

FLQ subsequent activities

Nevertheless, terrorist activities continue to occur at the hands of isolated members of the organization. In 2001, Rhéal Mathieu, a member who in 1967 was sentenced to 9 years in prison for terrorist activities including murder, was convicted of the attempted firebombing of three Second Cup coffee shops in Montreal. Mathieu targeted Canada's largest specialty coffee retailer because of the company's use of its incorporated English name Second Cup. For this offence, a judge sentenced Rhéal Mathieu to one month in jail in addition to the nine months he had already been held. He was also given a six-month sentence to be served concurrently for illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun and a .38-calibre revolver. Shortly thereafter, seven McDonald's restaurants were firebombed. According to a spokesman for the company, the bombings resulted in customers being afraid to go to Second Cup coffee shops, resulting in a substantial loss of business. The company changed their signs to Les cafés Second Cup.

Liberation cell members

October Crisis.

The known Liberation cell members:

Jacques Cossette-Trudel
Louise Lanctôt (aka Louise Cossette-Trudel)
Jacques Lanctôt
Marc Carbonneau
Yves Langlois (aka Pierre Seguin)
Nigel Barry Hamer

Chénier cell

The Chénier Cell was a Montreal based terrorist group belonging to the Front de Libération du Quebec (FLQ) whose members were responsible for a decade of bombings and armed robberies in the 1960s that led to what became known as the October Crisis. They were named after a rebel hero of the Lower Canada Rebellion, Jean-Olivier Chénier.

The known Chénier Cell members:

Other known members

Other known members of the FLQ, almost all of whom were charged and convicted for terrorist activities:

External links

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