Documents in Quebec History

Last revised:
23 August 2000

Documents on the October Crisis

Reaction of the FLQ to the Invocation of the War Measures Act

(October 17, 1970)

Communiqué from the Liberation cell; this was only released

on December 8, 1970.

The present authorities have declared war on the Quebec patriots. After having pretended to negotiate for several days they have finally revealed their true face as hypocrites and terrorists.

The colonial army has come to give assistance to the "bouncers" of Drapeau the "dog." Their objective: to terrorize the population by massive and illegal arrests and searches, by large and noisy deployments, and by making shattering statements on the urgent situation in Quebec, etc.

They must, at all costs, undermine the dangerous sympathy that a large number of Quebecois feel towards the patriots of the Front de libération du Quebec since the kidnapping of J. Cross and Pierre Laporte, and since the publication of the manifesto of the Front de liberation du Quebec. Consequently, the Front de liberation du Quebec declares:

1. The death sentence against J. Cross is suspended indefinitely. J. Cross remains a prisoner of the Front de libération du Quebec and will not be released until the present authorities have complied with our demands. He will only be executed if it should occur that the fascist police discover us and attempt to intervene.
   
2. As for Pierre Laporte, the Chenier cell of the Front de liberation du Quebec is presently studying his case and will make its decision known shortly.
   
3. We ask that all the action cells of the Front de libération du Quebec, as well as all determined Québécois, go into action in an attempt to undermine the decisions of the fascist authorities so that the patriot political prisoners will be released.

We shall overcome.

The Front de libération du Quebec.

Following are two remarks: 1. We thank Mr Robert Lemieux for his devotion to duty which, fortunately or otherwise, served only to reveal the hypocrisy of the fascist authorities. 2. We are attaching a personal letter from J. Cross to his wife to this communiqué.

© 1999, Claude Bélanger, Marianopolis College