1970: FLQ frees British diplomat after October Crisis
In October 1970, tanks roamed city streets and soldiers in full battle gear raided homes in their hunt for "terrorists." They were looking for the Front de libération du Québec; French Canadian nationalists who abducted a British diplomat and a Quebec minister. Some felt like they were living in a police state. How far would Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau go? "Just watch me," he said. Three days later he invoked the War Measures Act and a nation waited with civil liberties suspended.
• Cross's wife Barbara said her husband was "fit" upon his release but had lost a lot of weight.
• In exchange for his release, Cross's kidnappers received safe passage to Cuba by airplane.
• Later, six members of the FLQ's Liberation cell were convicted of Cross's kidnapping and sentenced to jail terms ranging from one to two years.
Also on December 5:
• 1837: Lower Canada, now Quebec, is placed under martial law during a rebellion that had broken out largely over constitutional issues.
• 1954: Canada announces the recall of its remaining troops from Korea.
• 2000: Seagram's, the 76 year old Canadian company sells its beverage division to Pernod Ricard, a French company.
Program: Update
Broadcast Date: Dec. 5, 1970
Guest(s): James Cross
Duration: 7:32
Last updated: October 22, 2014
Page consulted on December 4, 2014
All Clips from this Topic
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The Quiet Revolution turned bloody in 1963.
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An English Canadian caller to CBC Radio's Double Take thinks francopho...
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The FLQ's message has made its way across the country.
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Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte has been found strangled. His bo...
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Soldiers carrying machine guns raid homes of suspected FLQ members.
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James Cross flies back to England, while suspected FLQ kidnappers are ...
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Wife of British diplomat emotionally discusses her husband's kidnappin...
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Ten years later, it is revealed that the labour minister was one of ma...
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The National traces the steps leading up to the crisis.
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Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte is kidnapped by the FLQ in the e...
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Canada looks more like a police state than a democracy eight days afte...
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For the first time since the October Crisis kidnapping, James Cross de...
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In October 1970, tanks roamed city streets and soldiers in full battle...