FLQ insurgency

From the early 1960s to the 1970s, a violent terrorist insurgency led by the Front de libération du Québec took place in Quebec.^[2][3] Its goal was the establishment an independent and communist Quebecois nation.^[4][5]

In 1955, Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis epitomized the ideal of a religiously and culturally pure Québec. After his death in 1959, the Quiet Revolution began.^[6] The Quiet Revolution saw a rise in Quebec nationalism.^[7]

The Insurgency in Quebec involved two parties, Canada and numerous groups of armed Quebec nationalists. At first, the Canadian Armed Forces had a limited role in anti-FLQ terrorist operations. Anti-terrorism operations were mainly left in the hands of the Sûreté du Québec, Quebec's provincial police force. As the insurgency went on and the FLQ developed more sophisticated terrorist tactics and strategies, the Quebec police found themselves frightened, overwhelmed and unable to deal with the threat at hand.^[8] By the time Pierre Trudeau had become Prime Minister in 1968, FLQ bombings alone had killed 6 people and injured many more.^[2] While the battle against Quebec separatism was not a full blown civil war, it is still regarded by historians as violent and sustained conflict due to numerous violent attacks on Canada which were carried out by separatist militants.^[9][10]

The first act of insurgency took place on 1 July 1962, where Jacques Giroux wrote "I am a separatist" in French on a monument to Sir John A. Macdonald in Dorchester Square.^[11]

In late February 1963, the FLQ was formed. Members of the FLQ belived that the independence of Quebec could not be obtained without violence.^[12] Between April and May, members of the FLQ placed bombs outside of three armories of the Canadian Army and in the city of Westmount due to the large Anglophone population.^[13] One of the bombs killed Wilfrid O’Neil, a nighttime security guard of the Canadian Armed Forces.^[14][15]

In 1964, the Armée de libération du Québec performed numerous robberies. During Opération Casernes on 30 January 1964, they broke into the barrack of Fusiliers Mont-Royal in Montreal, killed the nightwatchman and an officer, and left with $20,000 in stolen firearms.

After cracking under interrogation, Rheal Mathieu, a 17 year old member of the FLQ, revealed the noms de guerre of several of the ideological leaders of the FLQ. Within weeks of Mathieu's confession, the police had arrested 15 people and seized numerous crates filled with guns and explosives. By the end of the year, there was a feeling that police had broken the back of the FLQ.^[16]

In 1967, the FLQ's terrorist campaign was decried by René Lévesque and rest of the Parti Québécois (PQ). The FLQ in turn viewed the PQ as insufficiently aggressive in its objectives and techniques.^[17]

According to British historian Christopher Andrew's and former KGB member Vasili Mitrokhin's book based on the Mitrokhin archive, the KGB most likely established contact with the FLQ.^[1]

Several FLQ members were given refuge by the Cuban government.^[18]

The insurgency has left a lasting impact on Canada. Lessons were learned were applied in future anti-terrorist operations against ISIS.^[19] The lack of public access to historic documents relating to the insurgency has been criticized.^[20]

The Insurgency in Quebec has appeared numerous times in various forms of media. The video game Cauchemars d'octobre (English: October Nightmares), is a video game about a Quebec civilian hiding from soldiers during the October Crisis.^[21] The game is set to release in 2027.^[22]