FLQ Crisis

[OldSolduer]

I was 13 when that happened. My father detested Trudeau as most Western Canadians did, but he totally agreed with him on this one.

 

[Hardrations]

I was a student on the army staff college course at Kingston during the FLQ crisis.

A bit on the state of the CF at the time. In the fall of 1970 the force reductions ordered by Trudeau had just taken place in terms of units being disbanded, relocated or whatever. However the run down in numbers was to be by normal attrition, so many units were over strength. As it was, every field unit in Canada except 1 PPCLI (national reserve) was deployed either on Op Essay (aid of the civil power in Quebec) or Op Ginger (support of the RCMP primarily in the national capital area). Again, my personal opinion, but the CF would not have been able to provide the same response two years later.

By a fortunate combination of events, the government's reaction took the wind out of the sails of the violent separatist movement.

All of the above are my impressions based on close observation of events at the time and some serious study of events over the following several years. I am reasonably confident of the validity of my conclusions, but I am not infallible.

I'm not the fastest thinker on the block, but Old Sweats comments about the state of the Cdn. Forces of the time got me thinking.
Now I know in our unit ( 3 Sigs Sqn) all troops were committed to an infantry role except for the cooks. Name a trade in the Sqn and it was out there. In the case of Vehicle Techs, they were expected to do their trade after 8 hrs of sentry/security, Radio Techs, etc. There were some communication nets set up but not many. I remember 1 Sigs Regt had a Kratz set up by DND HQ's for awhile. So as Old Sweat said many units were over strength, but to meet their role fully, the military had to use every body. Incidentally the Brits did the same in Ireland I found out from a REME Sgt in Cyprus in 76. Another example which I found very foolish, was that some one in authority decided that the Signals in the underground site at Carp were not doing their part and could be used. So personnel from Carp were brought in to DND HQ's on their days off dressed in their dress greens and their duty was to check on people entering by car or foot and decide if they could enter. We were to stand there in all our combat glory and follow their orders. If I remember correctly this didn't last to long. I remember one young lad from Carp telling me, it was rough having to eat meals out of a hay box and going home late in the evening (They only did days). I think we pointed out that we didn't go home in the evening.
  Another side effect of all this, was that it became a prestige thing to have soldiers guarding your home. So many senior civil servants and political appointees were lined up asking for their homes to be guarded.
    To OldSoldure and OpieRWestmrR I never really thought of it as youngsters would, especially those who lived in Montreal and to Opie. many people on the street in Ottawa said exactly the same comments as your dad.
    Please take note, I'm remembering this as a retired soldier who did this a Jnr NCO who had no decision in what was happening, but had lots of time to observe and experience this time at ground level in one small area.
   

 

[Old Sweat]

To lighten the discussion up for a minute, the officer who was the CO of 3 RCR (or up to a short while before 2 Cdn Gds) walked into the Uplands Officers' Mess in his combats. He was taken aside by the Base Commander, who told him that is was unacceptable that his officers and troops were eating in the various messes in combat when the policy was acceptable civilian attire or CF greens. Furthermore, he added, he had given direction that no one in combat was to be allowed into the messes, let alone served. I9 thanked him, picked up the phone and called the VCDS. The conversation as overheard by the adjutant went something like this:

CO: Good afternoon, sir. Lieutenant Colonel Ron ___ here.

(pause)

CO: Fine, sir, I'm calling to tell you I am taking my battalion back to Petawawa to pick up our dress uniforms as the Base Commander here at Uplands won't let us use the messes and institutes in our combats.

(pause)

CO: He's right here, sir. (Hands phone to Base Commander with evil grin.)

(pause, although muffled shouts could be heard.)

Base Commander: Yes Sir. I understand, Sir.

Needless to say the no combats order was rescinded.

I confirmed with the then-CO that this conversation did take place.

 

[exspy]

Hard,

So personnel from Carp were brought in to DND HQ's on their days off dressed in their dress greens and their duty was to check on people entering by car or foot and decide if they could enter.

Was in this the same complex of three WWII vintage buildings at Elgin and Laurier, or did DND have a separate location from CFHQ?  Do you recall what the arrangements were at CFHQ as to building security?

As to the calling out of troops, 1 RCR had just returned from Cyprus in October of 1970 and were on their post tour leave when the crisis occurred.  The entire battalion was recalled from their homes and sent Eastbound. 

Historical Note:  It was as a result of this move, which took place in the backs of 2 1/2 ton trucks, that the CF invested in highway buses to move troops.  Not so much for the trip out but as a result of the trip back, in the backs of the trucks, in the dead of winter.

Cheers,
Dan.

 

[Hardrations]

Yes Old Sweat: I can well believe that happening. I eventually remustered to the cook trade. When posted to CFB Winnipeg the base commander was strict on dress in the mess. Fighter pilots passing through dressed only in flight gear would have to come up the back way to the kitchen from the bar to get a meal which was to be eaten in the bar. I never had the heart to charge for the meal and would let them eat from the ala-carte menu. Air Force always struck me as liking uniforms and parades.

Yes exspy: It was at the old DND HQ's at Laurier and Elgin. Our duties were external and internal security. All around the exterior of the building and inside it was at the Comms Center and out side the entrance to some planning room. Can't remember if there were any other spot inside that we covered. The building was a rabbit warren of offices, rooms, corridors and over heated. I remember Brigadier Gen. Radley - Walters telling me I wasn't to stand for every field grade officer coming out of the planning room. It was hard to stay awake in that heat. But like the CO of 3 RCR I had my moment of fun to. One time two PPCLI Lt/Col's came out of the planning room talking back at some on in the room. Basically they were saying this person didn't know the facts of life and were doing it in flowery 4 letter language. This person followed them out the door saying, " but, but...." he was an Air Force Brigadier Gen. Yup, there were some eye opening moments in that place. I've been back since and see that there is a court house on the property. I got my wife to take a  picture of me where there was a parking place on the the front by the teachers college. That was my favourite spot to do duty, it was a busy spot that made time go a bit quicker.

 

[Dennis Ruhl]

I remember a chat with an Airborne sergeant and I don't know what they told these guys but it was truly serious business to them.  Apparently they were told that they were the only unit in their sector and anyone else in a uniform was a suspected insurgent.  This led to some tense moments when they disarmed some Van Doos, language being a barrier.  The reaction to the Quebec Crisis sent the message that violence was going to be met head on and probably had value.  My opinion at the time was supportive.  My opinion now is that Trudeau was being a prima donna.  "Just watch me."

I remember having a long chat with BGen Radley-Walters when he was Colonel Commandant of the Armoured Corps.  He said, I believe, he had 8 tanks and armoured cars shot out from under him.  He seemed like a true gentleman.  Someone said his nickname was Colonel Smoke referring to his favoured tactic for advancing.  I've never heard it anywhere else.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Paul Rose, who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Quebec labour minister Pierre Laporte during the October Crisis of 1970, died this morning of a heart attack at the age of 69.

He was a member of the Chenier cell of the FLQ which took part in the kidnapping of Laporte from outside his St. Lambert home on Oct. 10, 1970. He was held at a home a few blocks away and found strangled to death exactly a week later at the St. Hubert military base, in the trunk of the car used in the kidnapping.

He was sentenced to life in prison for the crime before being freed on parole in 1982.

Following his time in prison, he served as a writer, a special counsellor to the CSN, and in the 1990s, as leader of the left-wing Parti de la Democratie Socialiste, an early forerunner of today's Quebec Solidaire.

CJAD 800 Montreal, 14 Mar 13

L'un des principaux acteurs de la crise d'Octobre qui a marqué le Canada en 1970, est décédé. Paul Rose, le militant, politologue et syndicaliste québécois, est mort d'une crise cardiaque. Il a été le chef de la cellule Chénier du Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ).

Paul Rose a été condamné pour le meurtre en 1970 du ministre Pierre Laporte. Les trois autres membres du groupe ont aussi été condamnés pour le meurtre du ministre libéral. Il était le frère d'un autre membre du FLQ, Jacques Rose.

En 1970, le Québec traversait l'une des pires crises de son histoire. Pendant plusieurs semaines, la population a été tenue en haleine après l'enlèvement de deux personnages publics, Pierre Laporte et le Britannique James Cross.

Radio-Canada, 14 Mar 13

 

[dapaterson]

I guess if I can't say anything nice...

 

[The Bread Guy]

Well, THIS didn't take long ....

Convicted terrorist Paul Rose, who died Thursday of a stroke, is best known as an architect of the 1970 October Crisis, which saw political kidnappings and murder and troops flooding into Quebec.

Now a member of Quebec’s legislature wants him recognized as a hero.

Amir Khadir, one of two members of the pro-sovereignty Québec solidaire, promises to table a motion in the national assembly to that effect next week.

“This is someone who is significant to the independence movement,” Khadir told The Canadian Press in Quebec City.

“You can share the reservations he had about his past in the FLQ, but no one can question his sincerity, his devotion, his integrity, his intellectual honesty.”

The Parti Québécois government refused to comment on the death of Rose, 69, who was convicted in 1971 in the murder and kidnapping of then-deputy premier and labour minister Pierre Laporte.

Khadir decried the government’s silence about the death of Rose, who had supported Québec solidaire in recent years ....

Toronto Star, 14 Mar 13

 

[Nfld Sapper]

:facepalm: really?

 

[The Bread Guy]

:facepalm: really?

Even those commenting on the CBC story are.... underwhelmed

 

[cupper]

Had to check the calendar to see if April 1st had arrived. :not-again:

 

[GAP]

Even those commenting on the CBC story are.... underwhelmed

The CBC? Well, that's because it Harper's fault but the story didn't point that out..... :

 

[OldSolduer]

So we regale a murderer while we crucify others.

 

[cupper]

It's too bad that we don't still have the Bonnie. We could have given him a funeral befitting a terrorist.

 

[George Wallace]

So we regale a murderer while we crucify others.

Why does Louis Riel come to mind?