The Flq And The Liberation Of Quebec

Essay, Research Paper

The objectives of the Front de Liberation du Quebec were unmistakable. There were two basic principles that the members of this group fought for: 1. [They] will fight for the liberation of the Quebec people, so long oppressed by the false cures of capitalism . . . Abolition of the law for the rich and a law for the poor, replaced by one impartial justice for all. 2. [They] fight for the liberation of the political prisoners of Quebec. Members of this party, who fought for these rights seemed to have lost sight of their own goals, and inevitably, this lead to the death of Mario Bachand, the FLQ and various other liberation based groups.

Lead by Mario Bachand, a radical member of the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) , a separatist movement had begun to unravel in the core of Quebec this movement involved many passionate Quebec party s who desperately craved independence from Canada. This multifaceted separatist movement is best illustrated through three distinct aspects. Firstly, there was the role of Mario Bachand in the movement, and his contributions to the separatist views of Quebec. Secondly, the FLQ s role as the major separatist party of Quebec, and the eventual downfall of this group. Finally, the many political groups which had formed because of the clash of cultures of English and French Canada, and how they had affected the separatist views of Quebec people

Mario Bachand played a key role in instilling the separatist beliefs of many Quebec people although it was not his conception, and by no means only his sentiment, without his presence, it is doubtful that these separatist views may have ever gained as much momentum as they had. With the help of this man, the state of Quebec s political situation began to deteriorate. On Saturday afternoons, one could often find this thin young man with a bony face, big ears and a nervous laugh in the back room at La Paloma, a small restaurant in Quebec. He would talk about revolution with anyone who would listen , and was a fervent Catholic and a Quebec nationalist . Even at a young age Bachand already had an interest in politics [that was] inspired by his Quebec-nationalist father , but unlike his father he was attracted to anarchism and communism. In 1962, with friends from La Paloma, he founded the Mouvement ouvrier pour la liberation nationale , his first separatist movement, but this did not last long, in fact it dissolved within the same year. Bachand and his friends then established the City Club of the Young Communist League of Canada (YCLC), this was a club composed of young separatists sharing the ideology of communism. After this move, Bachand s name began to move quickly around Quebec, and it began to garner attention from the RCMP Security Service. Because of this new-found distinction as a true separatist, Mario had been recruited by the FLQ just as the movement of this group had escalated into a new more dangerous phase. This phase consisted of bombings which where randomly occurring around Quebec, and Mario Bachand quickly became the RCMP s main suspect. Bachand was getting more and more out of control. Being in the FLQ had gone to his head . . . and [talking about the organization at La Paloma] threatened the FLQ. Meanwhile, the RCMP began to surveillance the FLQ more deeply and a total of 150 charges were laid against 16 FLQ members , but no harmful information could be gathered for the conviction of Bachand. Unfortunately for Mario, although, his luck had run out eventually On November 27, he had pleaded guilty to charges relating to mailbox bombings in Westmont, along with other bombings. He was sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment. The separatist views of the Quebec people did all but cease with the arrest of Mario, but instead this only increased the pace of the FLQ s progress . On May 2nd of 1966, Mario s application for parole was accepted. Upon his release from prison, Bachand and the new leader of the FLQ had their differences. Mario declared that he no longer share[d] the objectives and methods of the FLQ , although no longer a member of the FLQ, he stated that he would always remain a convinced independantist! Two days after having made this declaration, he was assassinated in a small apartment in a suburb of Paris! March of 1971, his death occurred four days after his 27th birthday, and the assassination coincided with the demise of the FLQ, for there were no serious terrorist incidents after his death. Certainly, then, Mario Bachand s knack for exploiting people to his own advantage, and putting ideas in their heads played a big role in the impregnation of separatist beliefs of Quebec people for it is the result of his actions that almost made the dream of many separatists a reality.

Although there were many parties s being fabricated during the time of the escalating separatist movement, the FLQ distinguished itself as the authority, based on its loyal following and by catering to the residence of Quebec, the FLQ attempted to create an uproar which would lead to the disjoining of Quebec from Canada unfortunately, it did not go as planned. Upon its creation, members of this organization sent a message to Montreal newspaper, in the title it read Revolution by the people for the people. Within this message was a statement of who and what the FLQ stood for they were a revolutionary movement made up of volunteers ready to die for the political and