Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The War Measures Act- 40 Years Later

Seventy years ago, the German armed forces launched a devastating surprise attack on Poland that led to the defeat and total capitulation of that country in less than a month.  This opening salvo of World War Two was a frightening lesson in expert and innovative military planning and execution, one that would re-write the doctrine of modern warfare.
The massive attack by armored units across the length of the border, coupled with a punishing aerial assault by the German air force's vaunted dive bombers, left the Poles stunned and overwhelmed, unable to offer meaningful resistance.  It was over before it began.

The doctrine of a rapid, surprise and overwhelming assault became known as the 'Blitzkrieg' (Lightening War) and was successfully repeated sixty-three years later by the Americans in their assault on Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi military.
Now renamed "Shock and Awe" the military doctrine hasn't changed much since the German attack on Poland.
The Americans delivered a massive surprise attack with an overpowering and brutal display of air power that was coupled with lightening attacks into the country by armoured units along multiple fronts. Sound familiar?
Faced with such an overpowering assault, like Poland, Iraq was utterly defeated within a month.

Forty years ago the implementation of the 'War Measures Act' by the federal government in reaction to the kidnappings of two individuals by FLQ terrorists can be best understood and appreciated in the context of "Shock and Awe"

Back then, the Quebec government and the forces of order, including the RCMP, were fighting an underground war against a small but effective group of terrorists who represented a very real and present danger to society.
The terrorists were not only waging a war of Quebec Independence, it was also an ideological battle with a socialist agenda that would supposedly transform Quebec into a worker's paradise.

Today this may sound a little lame, but back then the battle between Communism and democracy was very real, with multiple battles being fought across the globe.

Today the FLQ is being portrayed by revisionists and apologists as a benign organization of misguided dreamers, but the truth is that the various FLQ 'cells' perpetrated close to 200 violent acts of terrorism, including robberies and bombings and were directly responsible for about a dozen deaths and dozens of injuries.
The bombing of the Montreal Stock exchange that injured 27 people was the clearest statement by terrorists that the 'system' was under assault and that collateral human damage was an acceptable part of the revolution.

The kidnapping of the James Cross and Pierre Laporte was an escalation, seen as a direct assault on the foundations of society,  which was feared to be the onset of a coordinated attempt to overthrow the government.

As the kidnapping remained unresolved for weeks, popular support for the kidnappers was building.
In the following days, FLQ leaders held meetings to increase public support for the cause. Consequently, a general strike involving students, teachers and professors resulted in the closure of most French-language secondary and post-secondary academic institutions. On October 15, 1970, more than 3,000 students attended a protest rally in favour of the FLQ. Demonstrations of public support influenced subsequent government actions.Wikipedia
At a rally in the Paul Sauve Arena, in Montreal, Michel Chartrand, the fiery union leader, proclaimed that support for the FLQ was rising;
"We are going to win because there are more boys ready to shoot members of Parliament than there are policemen.  Wikipedia
The rally freaked out mainstream Quebeckers as well as the government, who viewed the event as a possible prelude to outright rebellion in Quebec;

Officials of the government of Quebec became so alarmed that they along with the opposition members of the National Assembly unanimously urged the federal government to act.

And act it did.
When a reporter asked the Prime Minister just how far he would go to stop the FLQ, Trudeau replied: "Just watch me".

$150 K reward in 1970. Wow!



It was then that Trudeau invoked the 'War Measures Act' and unleashed his very own version of 'Shock and Awe.'

The War Measures Act allowed the government to assume wide emergency powers in the event of "war, invasion or insurrection, real or apprehended," including the right to arrest and detain without a warrant.

In the dead of night, in a massive and sweeping operation, close to 500 suspected FLQ members and sympathizers, as well as journalists, teachers and radical unionists were rounded up and taken into custody.
Polls later indicated that the public supported the government actions in the order of 85%.

While not everyone placed in custody was subversive, the leadership of the organized public support for the FLQ was effectively neutralized. Those not caught in the dragnet went into hiding or remained fearfully silent.

The massive over-reaction by Trudeau, which included sending the army into the streets of Montreal was something that was completely unimaginable and its effect was overwhelming.

Public support for the FLQ came to a stunning halt. The chilling effect of the arrests rocked the radical world of the FLQ and its sympathizers.

The War Measure Act and the arrest of the 500,  broke the backbone of the FLQ movement in just one night.

That is the definition of 'Shock and Awe.'

After a couple of months all those arrested were released, the kidnappers disposed of and the FLQ movement destroyed, never to reappear.

A couple of days ago, the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste honoured the 'noble 500' by erecting a statue in front of their offices. The detainees were hailed as victims and heroes. Bernard Landry called the actions of the Trudeau government 'terroristic' and gross over-reaction in relation to the threat.

Of course, the principle reason for all this griping by separatists today is because of the  very success Trudeau achieved in destroying the FLQ. I guess it just doesn't sit very well.

Forty years later it's hard to imagine how events would have played without the implementation of the War Measures Act.

I for one, am happy that Trudeau had the intestinal fortitude to do what he did.

By the way, is 'Shock and Awe' dead?

Let me give you a hint - Toronto, G20, 1,000 Arrests?  Hmmm.......

35 comments:

  1. I strongly disagree. The act was a terrible over-reaction and was an injustice to many innocent people. Trudeau was engaging in projectionism here, revealing his own feelings and antipathies towards his fellow French-Canadians. He did it because he could and he wanted to wallop his separatist rivals (who unlike him didn't know what was best for the tribe). It also established a very bad precedent in our history. Nor do I accept that the FLQ was destroyed by it. Probably the growing acceptance of support for the separatists cause made the movement obsolete. It was only six years later that the P.Q. came to power. The Toronto guy.

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  2. The Toronto guy said..@October 19, 2010 12:49AM

    "I strongly disagree. The act was a terrible over-reaction and was an injustice to many innocent people."

    Depends on your prespective (where you were
    at the time). As I (and my kid sister) were
    in the very school systems the FLQ were
    theatening to bomb, I suspect my late father
    would have strenously disagreed with you.

    DD

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  3. "Trudeau was engaging in projectionism here, revealing his own feelings and antipathies towards his fellow French-Canadians. He did it because he could and he wanted to wallop his separatist rivals"

    Then how do you explain his extreme reluctance in doing it? Don't forget it wasn't Trudeau who wanted to go there on his own, but did so at the behest of both the mayor of Montreal and premier of Quebec. I'm sure Trudeau would have liked nothing more than to functionally crush the separatists dead, but I'm sure his own initial reluctance to going so far is an indication that he wasn't convinced about going down that path.

    Also don't forget that Trudeau's purpose with regard to the Constitution and the OLA wasn't to demean his fellow French-Canadians, but rather to emancipate them and bring them to the fold; making them realize that they COULD play any role in Canada they wanted.

    Trudeau federalism and Quebec Separatism are just two (very different) siblings born of the Quiet Revolution.

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  4. Comme Québécois, j'ai été heureux de voir ce coup terreur séparatiste pris fin. Les gens disent que de nombreux innocents ont été arrêtés, c'est vrai, mais si vous n'étiez pas un séparatiste (terroristes), ils vous laisser aller. Pouvez-vous imaginer ce que cette province aurait été comme? il n'aurait pas été l'utopie que Georges Le Gal a écrit, cette province aurait été un autre d'Irlande du Nord.

    Le PQ, BQ et de Québec Solidaire tous voir ces personnes comme des héros qui n'est pas surprenant que ces parties de promouvoir la haine et l'assimilation. L'OQLF, ils agissent comme des Stormtroopers, ils marchent dans les petites entreprises et d'essayer de les intimider.

    Séparatistes peuvent dire ce qu'ils veulent, mais une chose reste vraie, le FLQ étaient des terroristes et sera toujours, et quiconque côtés du FLQ sont également terroristes.

    Bravo M. Trudeau, en invoquant cette acte, vous avez sauvé de nombreuses vies.

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  5. Chénier dit: Les membres du FLQ étaient des terroristes mais être indépendantiste ne veut pas dire terroriste, n'en plaise à l'anonyme Octobre 19, 2010 7:37 AM. Sinon, en 1995, il y avait 49,42 % de terroristes dans la population du Québec en âge d'exercer son droit de vote. Ce qu'on apprend surtout s'était que Trudeau était un pauvre type qui envoyait l'armée contre son propre peuple pour une vingtaine d'individus. N'oubliez pas ces nouveaux faits:''Les témoignages recueilis par Guy Gendron ont aussi permis de révéler que la police, qui avait identifié les ravisseurs felquistes de Pierre Laporte et de James Cross, avait choisi de ne pas les arrêter. ''http://qc.news.yahoo.com/s/24092010/3/national-crise-d-octobre-nouvelles-revelations.html - À la place, on arrêtait des innocents en tentant d'associer le mouvement indépendantiste au terrorisme.

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  6. Je n'ai jamais utilisé le mot indépendantiste s'il vous plaît utiliser le vrai mot qui est séparatiste. Aussi je n'ai jamais dit personnes qui ont voté oui sont terroristes, je l'ai dit les gens qui croient dans le FLQ sont.

    Et pour ce commentaire "en 1995, il y avait 49,42 % de terroristes dans la population du Québec en âge d'exercer son droit de vote", s'il vous plaît ne pas oublier qu'il ya eu beaucoup de tricherie fait à Laval où des milliers de "non" votes ont été rejetées par séparatistes pour tenter de gagner le référendum.

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  7. @Chénier.

    That link, you honestly believe what is written there? First of all its from "Tout le monde en parlait", which discredits it from the start, this is the same show that believed Kevin Parent's story about getting beat up because he was French. Only separatists would believe this trash. I guess you also think that 9/11 was done by set-up by George Bush? The FLQ set off bombs, killed people and terrorized the innocent.

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  8. @Chénier

    So your link is true because its done by a separatist. Well here is mine.

    http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/Washing+blood+their+hands/3577547/story.html

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  9. Chénier dit : Anonyme Octobre 19, 2010 9:52 AM , le vrai terme est bien indépendantiste. Séparatiste est négatif car il suppose une symbiose qui n'a jamais existé. Deuxièmement, lorsqu'on adhère à quelque chose comme une fédération, c'est-à-dire ou il y a une partage de pouvoirs, il est normal de pouvoir en sortir lorsque celle-ci ne défend pas nos intérêts. Et pour Steve, le FLQ est un produit de son époque, je n'excuse pas les bombes et la mort de Laporte mais la Loi des mesures de guerre était disproportionnée.

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  10. Décolonisation, ça vous dit quelque chose ?

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  11. Revisionist tend to skip the fog that occurs in such turmoil, the level of turmoil at the time was high. And for all those sympathisers of such murderers, i remind them of one police officer from the bomb squad that was in a coma for 20 years to finally die wiothout ever waking up, his widow went every day to the hospital hoping he would survive. he died 10 years ago iirc, in the mean time some of the perpetrators and their supporter who used acts of violience, killed people outright, work live and breathe, and white washing them soils the memory of this man that died trying to protect people. Villeneuve goes on inspiring the new generations of zealots, vaillancourt is the main editor of the journal de montreal iirc, or at least in a position to help the white wash.

    Saying Trudeau hated french canadian when he did what he did is hogwash. The 85% who approved of his gesture to protect them and stomp the FLQ, loved him, and despite years of undermining Trudeau's impact on quebec, he is still gets respect.
    I agree with our blogger, shock in awe cut the wings of the FLQ and the leftist radicals pushing for revolution. In that period a communist union block all access to Sept-iles and tried to take over the radio station, some business men were ready to take arms to stop them, my uncle convince them other wise and police managed to take back control. At about the same time Claude Ryan who was the main editorialist at le Devoir was willing to abdicate democracy to appease the FLQ, Bourassa was in a bunker in Montreal. The turmoil was wide spread, unions were in full support of it, (p.s. we are still paying the price for this), that generation that supported that violence are the same nationalist pushing the hardline in the PQ. When you hear the morons on this blog refer to colonialist, you get a glimpse of what the FLQ was.

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  12. Mississauga Guy said...

    Apparatchik,

    I agree with the editor. When you state "...it wasn't Trudeau who wanted to go there on his own, but did so at the behest of both the mayor of Montreal and premier of Quebec."

    Trudeau played his cards correctly. Perfectly! By not moving until [Montreal mayor] Drapeau and [Quebec premier] Bourassa requested forced assistance in writing on their official letterheads, this covered Trudeau's ass, and he so admitted 15 years ago when the CBC aired a documentary about the crisis 25 years later. Trudeau said in his own words this exercise was to cover himself, and why not? Had Trudeau not waited until he received the mayor's and premier's requests, he could have been accused of acting unilaterally. He saved himself a fortune of damage control by awaiting the letters.

    Bourassa and his cabinet took on a siege mentality after Laporte's kidnapping, a natural human reaction but also a necessary one to at least regain their bearings after what swiftly and suddenly took place.

    Hallowe'en was practically cancelled that year because of the terrorists. I'm old enough to remember how many people in my old, quiet neighbourhood, far enough away from the terrorists, were spooked by the whole thing.

    Considering there were only a couple of dozen animals making up the FLQ, it goes to show it doesn't take many terrorists to reek havoc on a population of a few million people. I'm sure most of the commentators today were born post-1970 and have NO idea what the atmosphere was like in those days.

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  13. "Décolonisation, ça vous dit quelque chose ? "

    Are you moving back to France then?

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  14. @Chénier

    "le vrai terme est bien indépendantiste. Séparatiste est négatif car il suppose une symbiose qui n'a jamais existé"

    In the terms of this blog post the FLQ were Separatist. Even René Lévesque said in an interview in 1964, that there is Separatist in the democratic way and Separatist extremism. In that interview Lévesque raises his voice to defend separatists. He accuses the media of lumping them all together as extremists. Trudeau who was one of the interviewers asked Lévesque if he thought that this group of extremists could pose and clear or present danger, Lévesque replied, “no I do not see that at all”. 6 years later we had the October Crisis.

    Not once does he use “indépendantiste” to describe separatist in Quebec. It was the PQ who decided to use that term to avoid associating themselves with the FLQ.

    Here is the link to some of those interviews. As much as I dislike the PQ, I always liked Mr Lévesque for his candor and his no bullshit approach when answering questions. Unlike gutless asses that are the heads of all 3 parties in this province today. Enjoy.

    http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/parties_leaders/topics/870/

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  15. http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-quebecoise/201010/19/01-4333971-marois-sengage-a-abolir-la-loi-115.php

    Third video down (in the VIDEOS section in the pane on the right), Charest blasts Marois for the PQ's refusal to cut ties to the "anciens felquistes". Marois flies off the handle and starts screaming about the need to protect the "petits peuple en Amerique". "Nous sommes 2%. Nous sommes 2%", she yells before her mic is cut off.

    Charest is right. The PQ (along with the syndicats) harbors people who should be rotting in jail today.

    And it's sweet to watch Marois lose control.

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  16. Got to love it seing Marois losing it, and being marked as the radical that she is.

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  17. "le vrai terme est bien indépendantiste. Séparatiste est négatif car il suppose une symbiose qui n'a jamais existé...

    "Séparatisme" est peut être négatif mais il serait faux d'assouplir la terminologie afin de faire mieux paraître le mouvement. Une séparation, c'est un clivage. Le Québec fait actuellement partie du Canada. L'objectif poursuivi par ceux que tu appelles "indépendantistes", c'est de faire en sorte que le Québec n'en fasse plus partie. Le résultat peut bien être un nouveau pays "indépendant" ou "souverain", mais l'objectif immédiat, c'est bien la séparation. Inutile qu'on rende moins choquant le terme utilisé afin d'en augmenter l'acceptabilité sociale.


    "...Deuxièmement, lorsqu'on adhère à quelque chose comme une fédération, c'est-à-dire ou il y a une partage de pouvoirs, il est normal de pouvoir en sortir lorsque celle-ci ne défend pas nos intérêts."

    C'est nous qui nous comportons anormalement. Lorsqu'on adhère à quelque chose comme une démocratie, il est normal d'être responsable envers soi tout comme les autres parties de la fédération. Il est normal d'élire des membres qui travaillent à l'édification et non pas la désintégration nationale. Il est normal qu'il y ait des compromis politiques et qu'on ne cherche pas à prendre plus de place que nous en revient naturellement.


    Notre "petit peuple" semble ne pas aimer se faire dire qu'il est l'enfant gâté du Canada mais en constatant les sommes qui nous sont remises afin de faire carburer nos institutions socialisantes, il me semble que la méchante fédération canadienne qui défend nos intérêts au point de les supporter financièrement n'est peut être pas si démone que ça.

    En plus, la tendance séparatiste québécoise qui est de favoriser l'indépendance étatique de chaque peuple ou mouvement dans le monde qui le souhaite me parait profondément erronée et myope. C'est une attitude qui favorise l'établissement de fiefs moyenâgeux, et je crains pour la stabilité et robustesse des états constitués. C'est une tendance qui mènerait à l'éclatement de beaucoup de pays pourtant très fonctionnels et qui mettrait en jeu la stabilité économique, politique et financière de trop de peuples. Dans CHAQUE cas, il faut tenir compte des vrais faits justificatifs pour conclure à l'indépendantisme justifié, ce qu'on fait rarement ou jamais. On n'est pas opprimés au Canada (c'est plutôt nous francophones qui éteignons les droits des autres qui ne voudraient pas s'assimiler à nous). On ne nous a pas enlevé notre droit de vote (c'est plutôt nous qui votons majoritairement pour un parti séparatiste qui ne peut jamais diriger le pays ni effectuer des vrais changements qui ont de la vraie valeur pour nous). Aucun génocide n'a été perpétré contre nous (arrêtons de qualifier les visites de la reine et les apostrophe-s sur des noms de compagnie et la grosseur des caractères anglais de "génocide culturel"). Ce sont des distractions qui discréditent notre intelligence et nos vrais enjeux comme peuple. Apprenons à TOUS nos enfants (franco, anglo et allo, peu importe la préférence linguistique) à parler et à écrire du français et aussi de l'anglais sans trop faire de fautes. Mettons à profit la situation linguistique qui nous entoure tout en faisant valoir ce qui nous distingue pour nos compatriotes Canadiens qui pourraient nous voir d'un autre oeil.


    "je n'excuse pas les bombes et la mort de Laporte mais la Loi des mesures de guerre était disproportionnée."

    Il y a beaucoup de gens qui croient que c'était une mesure disproportionnée, mais il y en a aussi qui diraient que le protectionnisme culturel francophone l'est tout aussi.

    Peu importe, la loi des mesures de guerre a pris fin. Les suites dévastatrices des bombes et, à ce que je sache, la mort de Laporte, sont permanentes.

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  18. "[...]that generation that supported that violence are the same nationalist pushing the hardline in the PQ. When you hear the morons on this blog refer to colonialist, you get a glimpse of what the FLQ was."

    I agree. Even within the PQ, you can appreciate the mentality chasm that exists by comparing the political styles of old-guard types like Laurin, Landry, Marois, Beaudoin, and Parizeau with the likes of even younger more moderate péquistes like Bouchard, Boisclair, and Legault.

    "Trudeau said in his own words this exercise was to cover himself, and why not? Had Trudeau not waited until he received the mayor's and premier's requests, he could have been accused of acting unilaterally. He saved himself a fortune of damage control by awaiting the letters."

    That's funny; I saw a (CBC?) documentary where Trudeau himself recalled his own reluctance and said the reason he did go ahead with it was BECAUSE Drapeau and Bourassa asked him to.

    "Décolonisation, ça vous dit quelque chose ?"
    +
    "Are you moving back to France then?"

    Well answered. Like it or not, we're all Canadians and all Quebecers (those of us on this blog who actually live here). Let's behave maturely in a way that shows that we all belong here together. Or none of us will belong anywhere.


    "Marois flies off the handle and starts screaming about the need to protect the "petits peuple en Amerique". "Nous sommes 2%. Nous sommes 2%", she yells before her mic is cut off."
    +
    "And it's sweet to watch Marois lose control."

    Totally sweet. It is extremely telling (if not très disturbing) that THAT should be the button to press to get her going.

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  19. Saviez-vous que le parti Québécois va reprendre le controle aux prochaines élections?Il est fort a parier que cette loi 115 se retrouvera dans la poubelle.Si la tendance se maintient la loi 101 retrouvera toute sa vigueur Marois ou pas.

    Em passant merci a charest,il est en train de remplir les coffres de vigile.net et noubliez pas de consulter les sondages populaires concernant cette loi et les dernières magouilles des libéraux en lien avec les dons de certaines écoles anglos.Avec charest tout se vend et tout s'achète.

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  20. "le parti Québécois va reprendre le controle aux prochaines élections?"

    L'aurez-vous, votre état quétaine? Intégral comme vous le voulez, ou avec démembrements? L'épée de Damoclès que représente la partition n'est que le début. Parlons dette et autres règlements de compte.


    "Si la tendance se maintient la loi 101 retrouvera toute sa vigueur Marois ou pas."

    ..et il sera alors illégal de parler ou même penser dans une langue autre que le français? Vous êtes en Amérique du Nord et le monde civilisé fonctionne en anglais. GROW UP.


    "Em passant merci a charest,il est en train de remplir les coffres de vigile.net "

    Imaginez donc, vous avez besoin d'un fédéraliste pour faire fonctionner même VOTRE propre "petite" économie! You're welcome.


    "noubliez pas de consulter les sondages populaires concernant cette loi et les dernières magouilles des libéraux en lien avec les dons de certaines écoles anglos."

    OK. Parlons ensuite de la comptabilité reprochable de Pauline et de son mari...


    "Avec charest tout se vend et tout s'achète."

    Comptabilité très questionnable par endroits, peut-être. Mais au moins il y a du mouvement dans la bonne direction. C'est pour ça qu'à Montréal tolère plus que l'Hôtel de Ville soit contrôlé par la pègre plutôt que par des séparatistes unilingues.

    Et vos politiciens qui financent vigile.net, votre "phare" où l'on peut lire des contributeurs qui favorisent la violence contre tous ceux qui ne sont pas comme vous? Nous au moins on se bat pour l'unité.

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  21. "Saviez-vous que le parti Québécois va reprendre le controle aux prochaines élections?Il est fort a parier que cette loi 115 se retrouvera dans la poubelle.Si la tendance se maintient la loi 101 retrouvera toute sa vigueur Marois ou pas."

    I guess you are not reading the surveys closely are you? Marois is not getting the traction despite having one of the least popular government in qc history, i think a years time is an eternity and i doubt she will ever get traction.
    also funny how no one took the charest line about the PQ giving money to close FLQ associates, not one french media mentionned it (except the video in la presse).

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  22. "Saviez-vous que le parti Québécois va reprendre le controle aux prochaines élections?"

    You better hope that François Legault does not create a new party in Quebec. Which would not only take votes away from the Liberals, but more importantly take some away from the PQ.

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  23. "(except the video in la presse). "

    It was however buried in the Videos section, and will likely be pushed down into oblivion by tomorrow. Notice that there is no URL to this video, so it's impossible to bookmark it. I also tried sending it to my email account and posting it to facebook. No luck on both counts. The only thing I was able to do was to post it to my blog, but it posted the entire cyberpresse video section, so it probably links up to what's on the cyberpresse server. Which means that it might be gone by tomorrow.

    Quebec news media seem to have hit rock bottom the way the US media did a while ago. In the US, it was especially evident around the start of the second gulf war. Here, it's evident in things like the treatment of the October Crisis, amongst others.

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  24. This is sickening.
    [http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/societe/2010/10/18/004-ville-francophone.shtml]

    Not just because it's more franco-existentialism at its best (or worst), but because it seriously threw me for a loop, despite my rigorous ideals regarding bilingualism.

    Being a native francophone (or maybe a fake francophone in the eyes of the extremist separatists, since I'm not embarrassed to be a third anglo and a third allo as well), I read posts like the ones at the link above and feel like I'm living in a different city from the posters.

    To read the postings at that Radio-Can site, you'd swear unilingual English speakers were invading Montreal and subjugating its francophones to the very assimilationist English-language attitude that led to the present Quiet Civil War. I'm used to reading this kind of inaccurate and alarmist dreck at vigile.net (which I read every day because I'm a good Quebecer), but either there's a concerted effort on the part of French language militants to troll R-C's "carnet spécial" and pump it full of BS or I've been seriously living way beyond the 450 but geomagically spending most of my money (and paying taxes) in the 514.

    I naturally address most store clerks/wait staff in French, except when I'm shopping with an anglo friend of mine or am with a group of friends who traditionally or generally speak English (which perhaps unsurprisingly represents just under half of my social circle).

    I tried to think back really hard to recall a time when a merchant could not respond to me in French, particularly in "traditionally French" areas. Maybe it's a byproduct of being bilingual, but I don't consciously think about this statistically. Try as I might, I could only remember one single event in the last year (a convenience store staffed by a southeast Asian immigrant) where I was (politely) served in painfully broken English and nonexistent French. Worse (better) yet, I am unable to remember a specific incident before that. Is that a sign that we're getting more English? I've heard more English spoken on the street as I walk the Plateau, but don't feel "Anglo" there the way I do when I walk around, say, Fairview.

    All this leads me to ask, am I really living in Montreal? Are the têtes-carrées really invading and imposing unilingualism (something I highly doubt) or is this a vast gallic conspiracy to vilify and ridiculously exaggerate reality?

    514ers, what have been your experiences in this area? Francophones surtout, est-ce que ça vous arrive aussi souvent que ne laissent croire les tribunes? Après avoir manifesté un CLAIR désir d'être servi en français, est-ce qu'on a manqué à l'obligation (pour ne pas dire échoué moralement) de vous servir en français. Please state neighborhood and number of times in your answer.

    In the interest of some discretion (and to protect Editor from potential libel suits), please limit your answer to a general one but with at least some useful data (e.g. use "large chain supermarket in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve" instead of "Provigo on Sherbrooke E.").

    Those of you who traditionally prefer to be served in English, have you ever seen a merchant willfully refuse to serve a customer in French?

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  25. If you folks want to see the video adski is referring to, i upped a quick screencap to YouTube here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07c5iEM3QNE
    Gotta love how Charest keeps his cool following Marois strident hollering.

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  26. Wow... either an onslaught of irrelevant or rabid hateful (censored) comments, zero feedback on my question, or that report and others like it really are the hallucinatory product of alarmist, whiny franco-supremacists.

    @Editor: please comment.

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  27. adski,

    No matter where I go in Montreal be it downtown or the west island, I never have a hard time being served in French. Having said this, I usually prefer to be served in English because it is my native tongue and it is the language I speak at home and at work (gasp). But occasionally, I do try to get service in French for the mere purpose of practicing the language of the majority in this province.

    Once in a while, I still see those annoying "ici on commerce en francais" and the irony is that most employees in those shops seem to be English mother tongue and of course, bilingual(at least for the most part).

    No matter where I go in Montreal, I always make it a priority to speak to the employee in English first and then in French if the employee does not speak the language, and I do this to exercise my rights as an Anglo Quebecer. Of course, when I'm in areas like Hochelaga-Maisoneuve I'm less inclined to speak English because I know only 2% speak English at home, so that would just be unfair. Same thing with bus drivers, I always answer "have a nice day".

    Montreal is a bilingual city(whether the bigots like it or not) where both English and French cultures thrive side by side and this city belongs to both cultural groups, as well anyone who wished to reside in the city of course.

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  28. Sorry, my message was directed to Apparatchik, adski...

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  29. @Apparatchik

    I must say that in stores I have never been served in English, although I do live north of Laval so I do not expect much. But in certain restaurants, mainly LBP, and Dagwoods which are located in Blainville always speak to me in English. The people there almost seemed relieved to speak in English.

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  30. For those who claimed that the evil act was the war measure acts:
    People killed by the FLQ:
    Wilfred Vincent O'Neil, Night watchman, April 20, 1963
    Leslie MacWilliams, April 19, 1964
    Therese Morin May 5, 1965
    Mrs. St. Germaine
    Sgt. Major Walter Leja injury caused by the bomb (1963) puts him in a coma he dies from it in 1992, never to have regained consciousnous
    Pierre Laporte, October 17, 1970

    People killed or tortured during the war measure act:
    ....

    Talk about re-writing and justifying evil.
    Pass this list around to as many site who are trying to make the FLQ and their cheerleader the victim.

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  31. Here i uploaded a proper version on you tube
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HITNlTOYG7Q

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  32. Terrorism has been a tool used by Quebec since the FLQ to the present day. The threat of cessation, even if it doesn't produce carcasses (at the moment), has still been a means of coercion on successive democratically elected governments. Canadians living in this province are denied their basic rghts guaranteed to them by this country. Another war measures act that sees the Parizeaus of this place behind bars or on a boat to nowhere to write their memoirs is long overdue.

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  33. ''I went to bed in a democracy and awoke to find myself in a police state'' Rod Dewar (Montréal radio host) I think he makes a good resume of the case !

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  34. My father's uncle is Wilfred Vincent O'Neil who was killed by the FLQ! It's too bad what happen back then as our family still misses him yet today!

    Posted by Crystal O'Neil (Gaspesie,QC)

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  35. The War Measures act was not fighting the FLQ (wich the police did quite effectively) but about terrorizing French Canadians into submission. I recommend you watch the movie Les Ordres (1974) by Michel Brault based on interviews with innocent people arrested during the October crisis.

    And to the idiot above who said nobody was tortured while incarcerated, they were beatings and students from Quebec city were taken to the jail basement and told they were going to be executed. The cops then shot blanks at them. These things should not happen in a Democracy.

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