The Quebec Liberation Front

Résumé du document

The "Front de Libération du Québec" was a nationalist and Marxist revolutionary group, using propaganda and terrorism in Quebec, a province of Canada. It is responsible for a series of bombings and deaths during the 1960's and 1970's. The felquistes (the name given to its members) claimed an independent and socialist Quebec. Indeed, the FLQ wants the total independence of the Quebec from Canada making it as a free society. The FLQ also wants more recognition for the common working people from Quebec. Even though the group is in decline from the 1970's, its ideas was always present in Quebec region, in different forms. What is more, the Front de Libération du Québec has an important position in the Canadian history and has its place in the modern and popular culture. Indeed, many films, comics or books deal with this subject, fuelling the nostalgia among the people.

Extraits

[...] Indeed, Quebec has known with the time a reject of the violent form of national claims. So, according to you, what is the best way to get a political independence, in Quebec or elsewhere: the sudden and violent way, or the pacific and diplomatic one? [...]

[...] In the early 1960's Quebec was coming out of the great darkness that was the reign of the long-time Prime Minister Maurice Duplessis. Duplessis's rule was anti-Communist, anti- labour, clerical and even xenophobic, and featured a kind of nationalism that closed Quebec on itself. Nationalism took a new face with the formation of groups like the “Rassemblement pour l'Indépendance Nationale” “Action Socialiste pour l'Indépendance du Quebec” (ASIQ), and the “Réseau de Résistance” (RR). This internal liberation from long time constraints, combined with the influence of liberation struggles of former colonies in the Third World (as in Algeria or Cuba, which will be future bastions for the felquistes in exile), established an atmosphere in which a group like the FLQ could come into existence. [...]

[...] The FLQ also wants more recognition for the common working people of Quebec. Even though the group is in decline from the 1970's, its ideas are always present in Quebec, but under a different form. What's more, the Front de Libération du Québec takes part in the Canadian history, and has its place in the modern and popular culture. Indeed, many films, comics or books deal with this subject, fuelling the nostalgia of a lot of people and the fears of others. [...]

[...] This was the official end of the FLQ. But during a couple of years, its members continued to play a role in Quebec left-wing life: in various organizations as Paul Rose, in newspapers or memoirs as Pour en finir avec Octobre from Francis Simard, in a Marxist-Leninist group (En Lutte) as Gagnon, or in a publishing house as Lanctôt after his return from Cuba. The decline of the FLQ can be attributed to both the effects police deterrence had been on the organization and to the public support which was flagging, as we have already said. [...]

[...] For example, October 1970 is an eight-part series made for the Canadian television in October and November 2006. It's a dramatization of the events surrounding the October Crisis in Quebec, showing the nationalist terrorist group abducting James Cross and Pierre Laporte, the latter of whom they murdered. Now, I would like to initiate the debate on these questions: first, do you think the total independence of Quebec from Canada would be a good thing? Indeed, it would respond to the nationalist demands, but does Quebec have the capacities, above all economic, to assume itself as an independent state? [...]