The Language Question & the October Crisis

*French Language In the past, many provinces had ruled against the use and teaching of the French language, even in provinces that had large French populations. French Cdns felt like second-class citizens. 1969 - Trudeau proclaimed that all dealings with the federal govt. be in both languages, all packaging be bilingual, and provinces were encouraged to offer French-language instruction as well as French Immersion.

*Early FLQ Activity The first bombing was on a Canadian Army Recruitment center (which killed a security guard) - 1963 They progressed to a series of mailbox bombings, particularly in English areas. They also committed thefts to finance their operations. They were extremists who threatened to poison the water supply, burn churches, etc. Their attacks killed 7 people throughout the 1960’s.

*Later Activity The FLQ bombed the home of Montreal’s mayor Incited riots at McGill University Bombed the Montreal Stock Exchange (27 injured) The violence reached a peak in October 1970 with 2 kidnappings.

*James Cross British Trade Commissioner Kidnapped at gunpoint from his home Demands: money, release of “political prisoners”, and safe passage to Cuba. FLQ Manifesto be read on national TV

*Pierre Laporte Quebec Minister of Labour Was kidnapped, strangled and stuffed in a trunk after the government refused to release “political prisoners”

War Measures Act *The War Measures Act is a law that had been in place since 1914 which “conferred extraordinary powers upon the government in the event of War Invasion Insurrection whether real or apprehended” It was enacted three times in Canada’s history – what were the other two?

*War Measures Act Membership in the FLQ became illegal Political rallies were banned Police were allowed to arrest or detain suspects for up to 90 days without charging them Police could conduct searches at any time The army was also called in to support the local RCMP. Trudeau interview

*Cross is Found December 1970: police, acting on tips, discover where James Cross is being kept. He is released by his captors, who are given safe passage to Cuba and eventually make their way to France. The murderers of Pierre Laporte are sentenced to jail. Cross transcript

*The Aftermath of the FLQ Crisis Rene Levesque The October Crisis resulted in a loss of support for the violent methods of the FLQ. There was increased support for the idea of gaining independence through political means. The secessionist Parti Quebecois was created and won the provincial election of 1976.

Bill 101 *One of the first acts of the Parti Quebecois was to enact Bill 101, a language law that supplanted the previous Bill 22. Bill 101 was very controversial – many people argued that it violated their right to freedom of speech.

*Bill 101 Bill 101 was also called the Charter of the French Language. French was to be the sole language in the courts, government and business. Signs for businesses were to be in French ONLY. Immigrants to Quebec had to educate their children in French (unless they could prove that they were already fluent in English). Levesque believed that all immigrants needed to speak French in order to preserve the language.

*Effects of Bill 101 Many businesses chose to relocate their offices to Toronto , Calgary, or other English areas. There was so much protest that the next year, they introduced a clause to modify the Bill. notwithstanding clause

*Referendum on Sovereignty-Association - 1980 Levesque had promised a referendum regarding independence for Quebec. He knew that few Quebecois wanted complete independence, so he proposed SOVEREIGNTY- ASSOCIATION: Quebec would be an independent state Control taxes Control industry within the province Control their own social policies Control citizenship/immigration laws

*Referendum on Sovereignty-Association* The deal would see Quebec maintain economic ties with Canada. Over 90% of eligible Quebecois voters voted, but the result was NO! by 60% This was a major setback for Levesque and the Parti Quebecois.

*The Constitutional Crisis Trudeau wanted to repatriate (bring home) the constitution. Since Confederation, we had operated under the BNA Act – all of the provinces had to agree on constitutional matters, and Britain had the final say.

*Trudeau’s Wishes PET wanted a new “formula” which would allow for constitutional change to be approved if the federal gov’t and a certain number of provinces agree. He also wanted the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to be included in the Constitution… …including the right of all Canadians to have their children educated in either official language.

Did He Get What He Wanted? Only Ontario and NB supported this proposal. Trudeau takes the case to the Supreme Court and they decided that the Federal Government could make changes to the Canadian Constitution without the approval of all of the provinces. However, the federal and provincial governments had a history of cooperation and Trudeau wanted to maintain that if possible.

Night of the Long Knives Trudeau called a First Ministers Conference, but there was no agreement after days. Later, Trudeau called the 9 Anglophone premiers together in a secret meeting and they came up with a deal. Quebec was furious when Trudeau announced that a new formula for constitutional amendments had been agreed upon. Canada asked Britain to pass this and they agreed.

The Constitution Comes Home April, 1982: Queen Elizabeth II visits Ottawa and signs the document that gives Canada complete control of her own constitution. Quebec did not attend the ceremony. There were protests in Quebec led by Rene Levesque and the flags were flying at half-mast.

Meech Lake Accord The new PM, Brian Mulroney, wanted to heal the wounds caused by Trudeau and the Constitutional Crisis. He called a conference at Meech Lake (outside of Hull, Que.) All 10 premiers were able to agree! cbc

Components of the Meech Lake Accord Quebec would be recognized as a distinct society Quebec would receive veto power 3 out of 9 Supreme Court judges must be from Quebec Any constitutional amendments must have the agreement of all 10 provinces as well as the federal gov’t.

Failure of Meech Lake - 1990 Now they just needed all 10 provincial legislatures to approve the agreement. However, some had new premiers that were not in on the initial agreement. Manitoba - Aboriginal MLA Elijah Harper disapproved of the lack of reference to Aboriginal peoples in the new constitution. He was concerned that there was no protection for their way of life.

Charlottetown Accord 1992 Mulroney tries one more time to reach a consensus. The federal gov’t holds conferences and public forums to try to come to an agreement. Finally: Aboriginal self-government Distinct society for Quebec Senate reform Right to education in either official language Clearer separation of provincial/federal powers

Referendum A national referendum was held and the vote again was NO. People who were opposed to it were: Some 1st nations People who thought that Quebec had been given too much power Quebecois who thought that they had not been given enough power Committee on the Status of Women The Reform Party