The outbreak of the ‘October Crisis’ began on October 5th, 1970 when kidnappings of two diplomats were implemented by the notorious Front de libération du Québec (FLQ). This led to the invocation of the War Measures Act (WMA) by Prime Minister (PM) Pierre Trudeau on October 16th, 1970. It marked the first time in Canadian history the WMA was enacted during peacetime and put Trudeau in a unique position. This man who had previously campaigned for the entrenchment of civil rights within Canada’s constitution, had now passed legislation to temporarily remove them. There has been wide debate conducted by many from the time of the crisis up to today discussing was the enactment of the WMA a justified means of dealing with the terror raised by the …show more content…
The broadcasted manifesto demonstrated the frustrations of the working class Quebecois after experiencing years of exploitation by industry, the hampering of Quebec’s French roots, and general distaste for the capitalist nature which governed both its business and politics. The kidnapping of James Cook and Pierre Laporte signified a change which struck the fear of revolution into the eyes of the government. This was demonstrated through the words of Prime Minister Trudeau when stating that the threat the FLQ poses is not just to the people of Montreal, but also to the social order and the democratic state. It was suggested that Quebec’s law enforcement alone could not handle the terror reign that was upon them and had made requests to be provided with powers that meet this state of emergency. Hence passing the WMA would provide more than sufficient control. The Liberal government further justified their cause by claiming a security intelligence failure which led to a lack of preparation for the FLQ bombardment and so extreme measures had to be legislated to deal with the threat. With this knowledge, it becomes understandable why PM Trudeau took the most extreme measures when dealing with a terror movement that was the first of its kind in
Using a collection of essays from various scholars, Heron comes to this conclusion by examining broad national context, region-specific workers’ movements, ideas of conservatism and exceptionalism, the role of women and immigrants in the labour force, and the post-war years of economic slowdown. He situates this labour militancy occurring at the end of the First World War within the bigger picture of Canadian social, economic and political history, as it stemmed from both the conflict abroad and the repressive conditions at home. This book will help place my research within the proper historiographical context of this significant period of widespread worker’s revolt in Canada, as well as provide information on the social and economic climates of the early
According to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “There is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada.” A nation’s identity evolves as a result of influential historical events such as war battles. Similarly, the battle of Vimy Ridge, which took place almost a century ago, was a nation-building event which significantly shaped Canada’s identity to what Trudeau describes today. First of all, this symbolic triumph, in which Canadians had managed to take the ridge from the Germans, sparked a sense of pride and confidence within people across Canada. However, it was not merely a victory for the Allies but specifically for Canadians since the French and British both failed in their massive attempts but the Canadian Corps, a comparatively smaller force,
The Prime Minister, the Senate, the House of Commons—these are people who we Canadian citizens depend on to make educated and reasonable decisions for the future of Canada. Being in such positions of power, such politicians must think on behalf of all Canadians; we trust them not to abuse their authority for selfish personal desires. However, this has not always been the case throughout history. World War I required militaries to appoint many individuals to take power in order to face the sudden state of total war; since these decisions were made rashly, numerous officers proved to be egocentric individuals who abused power for their own desires. Through the use of irony, both Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Kubrick’s Paths of
The Canadian Government was not justified in its treatment of Japanese Canadians during the 1940’s as the government acted due to fear and prejudice rather than factual evidence. They were not a safety issue as it was proven even at the time that there was no security threat, the government itself realized it was not acceptable, and the fact that the injustice continued even after the war was over and a security threat was not even possible Although at the time there was a strong anti-Japnese sentiment which was heightened by propaganda, there were still high-level officials who believed in facts on why the treatment was unjustified and unacceptable in opposition to the government. The RCMP who were very concerned regarding the safety of the country found no evidence after conducting a search on Japanese Canadians. Stuart Wood, a RCMP commissioner, stated in a confidential letter, “ We have had no evidence of espionage or sabotage among the Japanese in British Columbia” (Wood).
FLQ’s total disregard for human lives was evident from their most devastating attack on the Montreal stock exchange, on Feb. 13th 1969, This explosion caused massive destruction, estimated in the millions of dollars, and seriously injured 27 people. Despite such gruesome acts by the terrorist organization like FLQ, the authorities in the province of Quebec seemed powerless as they were unable to raid and make arrest of suspects unless they are granted warrants, which sometimes took months to obtain. Some people might argue that only two high profile kidnappings don’t provide
In the sixteen years that Trudeau was in power, he created many acts that still hold their significance. Pierre Trudeau encouraged multiculturalism to contribute to Canada’s growth as a country. He claimed that there was “no official
Canada is now known to be a diverse, multicultural, bilingual and inclusive nation largely as a result of his work. Pierre Elliott Trudeau also believed in an equal Canada for all, he is primarily the one to introduce rights and freedoms to the citizens of Canada. While some view Pierre Trudeau as impulsive, for enforcing the War Measures Act, Trudeau enacted this for the protection of Canadian citizens against radical extremist and his actions were more rational than impulsive for the situation that had suddenly occurred. Pierre Trudeau was one of Canada’s greatest Prime Minister’s, who’s impact fundamentally changed the course of the nation by introducing multiculturalism, for introducing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and for paradoxically upholding democracy by strong action during the October Crisis.
To call this era of drastic change the ‘Quiet Revolution’ is a vivid, and yet, paradoxical description. The Quiet Revolution was a time of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in Quebec, which extended beyond Quebec’s borders because of its influence on contemporary Canadian politics. As a result of the effects of the changes that occurred during this Quiet Revolution, most Quebec provincial governments since the early 1960s have maintained political and social orientations based on the core concepts developed and implemented during the Quiet Revolution. As such, there is no doubt that the Quiet Revolution had a significant impact in Canadian History. This impact can be characterized by the prelude to the Quiet Revolution; the demographic evolution of Quebec; the social educational reforms that were put in place; the economic reforms and their impact; the rise of nationalism; and finally, the cultural changes that occurred.
Section 33 of the Canadian Constitution’s Charter of Right, also known as the “Notwithstanding Clause” has many different pros and cons for Canadians and has been a hot topic for a long time among Canadians. Such a clause within the highest law of our land was bound to stir up controversy in Canada, and there are many people who are both for and against the clause for a variety of different reasons. There were several mitigating factors surrounding the clause as well as players behind it and several effects it had on Canadian people. There are also factors needed to implement such a clause, and there are several effects such a clause have on the government who attempts to use it. The cause was part of what was known as “The Kitchen Accord”
Institutional and historical analysis often portray the motives of governments, especially in the cases of Quebec separatism and Aboriginal mistreatment. History describes attempts at compromise to rectify the problems by altering political institutions to provide more autonomy to the provinces, witness in various accords and the methods described previously. However, in regards to Aboriginals a historical relationship of exploitation and eradication sheds on the systemic issues that Aboriginals cope with and the institutions that caused them. As scholars of Canadian politics, it is important to consider historical and institutional analyses when looking at any issue, as it reveals the underlying motives of actors in regards to the cleavages that comprise a state.
Well, they used a military strategy which is known as Blitzkrieg, also known as “lightning war” was a military strategy as is already mention in this essay. Develop by the Germans during World War 2. This strategy was known for fast – moving armored units’ air power, allowed Germany to quickly overrun the majority of Europe and this led to a significant gain of advantage over their enemies. The success of Blitzkrieg was led for several factors, one of them was speed and mobility, a narrow front, and the effective use of armored units and air power.
Today, Canada is seen as a multicultural and peaceful nation that has evolved over the course of history. This great nation would never have been possible without the impact that former Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson left on this country. His achievements and insights profoundly affected and shaped Canada’s nation. First, peacekeeping is an important part of Canada’s heritage and a reflection of its fundamental beliefs that Pearson implemented after dealing with world changing situations and winning a Nobel Prize. Also, his contributions as a liberal leader as well as the flaws and controversy with Diefenbaker did in fact define this country.
Was the enactment of the War Measures Act during the October Crisis Justified? When one thinks of a terrorist attack, Canada is not usually the first one to come to mind. Canada is usually regarded as a very peaceful country. But Canada was not always peaceful internally; in fact it had raging internal battles with the French wanting independence.
Two expeditions traveling up a jungle river at different times (One in the 60’s Vietnam War, and the other during a 40’s botanist adventure), both on different continents (Southeast Asia and South America) and with polarized objectives (One to kill, and the other to learn). In the first expedition, the film, Apocalypse Now, written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola: Captain Willard, a special forces assassin, is assigned a top secret mission, at the height of the Vietnam War, to travel up the Nung river into a hostile, very unstable Cambodia, on a Navy patrol boat and kill a highly decorated special forces operative Col Kurtz accused of murder by the Army, and now living amongst indigenous tribes in a remote location. The second expedition,
The Fourth Wave of terrorism is generally identified as the ‘new’ terrorism mentioned earlier. This wave is characterized by attacks on an international scale, religious justifications for taking lives, easy access to technologically advanced weapons and tactics of war, wider and more efficient net of communication and movement, and greater availability of monetary support and weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). A striking example of this wave is the September 11 attacks in the USA. Thus, in the Fourth Wave, killing any number of targets is justified without taking into account the individual differences that characterize the target population. This is achieved through the use of WMDs or CBRN weapons that maximize the damage caused to the target population.