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The '''Front de libération du Québec''' ([[Quebec]] Liberation Front) also known as the '''FLQ''' was a [[nationalist]] and [[Marxist]] revolutionary group in [[Quebec]], [[Canada]]. It claimed responsibility for more than 200 bombings, including the bombing of the [[Montreal Stock Exchange]] in 1969, along with the deaths of five people. These attacks culminated in 1970 with what is known as the [[October Crisis]], in which British Trade Commissioner [[James Cross]] was kidnapped and Quebec Labor Minister [[Pierre Laporte]] was murdered.
The '''Front de libération du Québec''' ([[Quebec]] Liberation Front) also known as the '''FLQ''' was a [[nationalist]] and [[Marxist]] revolutionary group seeking independence for the [[Canada|Canadian]] province of [[Quebec]]. It claimed responsibility for more than 200 bombings and other terrorist actions, culminating in 1970 with what is known as the [[October Crisis]], in which British Trade Commissioner [[James Cross]] was kidnapped and Quebec Labor Minister [[Pierre Laporte]] was murdered.
== Aims ==
The FLQ opposed what it perceived as "Anglo-Saxon imperialism" in the province of Québec, and its ultimate aim was to bring about an independent Québec under a socialist government, based on a "workers' society" of French-speaking Québécois. Its actions were supposed to be part of a socialist uprising modeled on previous rebellions in the former French provinces of [[Algeria]] and [[Vietnam]], and it also drew inspiration from the deeds of [[Fidel Castro]] in [[Cuba]].
== Terrorist Actions ==
The FLQ was composed of a number of nominally independent cells, an organizational model similar to that of [[Al Qaeda]]. One cell was led by [[Professor values|academics]] at the University of Quebec, and the FLQ enjoyed a fair amount of support among left-leaning university students and faculty. The most notorious of these were the Liberation Cell and the Chénier Cell, both of which were directly involved in the October crisis. Members of the FLQ received training in terrorist tactics from members of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] as well as other groups.
The terrorist actions, and the history of the FLQ, are usually organized into roughly six waves of attacks. The earlier attacks, those of the first three waves, took place during 1963 and 1964. These included the bombing of a railroad used by the prime minister, as well as bombings of various bastions of English speakers in the province, including various businesses and [[McGill University]]. This was followed by a streak of thefts of money valued at more than half a billion [[Canadian dollar|Canadian dollars]], more extensive terrorist training, and the theft of weapons.
In 1965, the group expanded substantially through mergers with other Québécois nationalist groups. These acquisitions included various left-wing groups and served to strengthen the extant socialist tendencies of the FLQ. The ensuing years saw further bombings by the group, resulting in the deaths of several members as well as a number of innocents. In 1966 Canadian police forces took strong action against the group, arresting a number of high-profile members.
1969 saw the group's boldest action yet, the bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange, which caused massive destruction and injured 27 people. Later that year the FLQ bombed the home of Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau, though he escaped uninjured.
== The October Crisis ==
On October 5, 1970, members of the FLQ kidnapped the [[Britain|British]] Trade Commissioner in Canada, James Cross. Soon after they kidnapped Pierre Laporte, the Vice-Premier of Québec. Laporte was murdered a week later. With Cross still under their control, the FLQ sought to leverage public opinion in their favor and organized massive student strikes throughout the province. They put out a list of demands including the release of various imprisoned Québcéois nationalist figures and a hefty ransom.
The highest levels of the Canadian government quickly became involved, and Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]] invoked the War Measures Act in order to more effectively combat the FLQ menace. This marks the only time the act has been invoked in peacetime, and enabled the arrest of several hundred FLQ sympathizers, most of whom were soon released. The government managed to secure the release of the Cross in exchange for safe passages of several of the terrorists to Cuba.
== Aftermath ==
The FLQ was substantially weakened in the wake of the October Crisis. There was significant public backlash against the violent means used by the group, which had by then been infiltrated to the highest levels by police informants. The peaceful Parti Québécois rose as the dominant voice of the pro-independence movement in Québec. Some FLQ members who had fled Canada eventually returned and received generally light prison sentences. In later years small-scale vandalism has been associated with the FLQ name (for example, spray painting "FLQ" on Anglophone buildings, and vandalizing a statue in Montreal), but the group is now essentially defunct.
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[[category:Communism]] [[category:Terrorism]]
[[category:Communism]] [[category:Terrorism]]