Remembering the October Crisis of 1970

Let's take a journey for a moment to Montreal in the fall of 1970.

Back then, we were a city gripped by the specter of separatism and political turmoil, in a period that brought Montreal, Quebec, and Canada to the brink of a crisis that would test the very foundations of society.

The October Crisis of 1970 placed Montreal squarely in the crossfire of political upheaval, radical separatism, and government response. It was a time when citizens witnessed the erosion of civil liberties in the name of security and the tragic loss of a prominent political figure.

Changing tactics and escalation

From 1963 to 1970, the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), influenced by anti-colonial and communist movements in other parts of the world, particularly Algeria and Cuba, had committed over 160 violent actions—bombings, bank hold-ups, kidnappings, and murder by gunfire—before the self-described revolutionary movement changed tactics.