by Magali Favre
Gaétan thinks about the paper with the Patriote header that he saw lying on Luc’s kitchen counter. Everything becomes clear; he realizes now that he just missed out on getting caught up in something completely out of his control.
And Luc?
He rereads the article carefully, but his name doesn’t appear anywhere.
“Anyway, if all this is true,” Gaétan thinks, “they won’t release Luc. The police know that Paul slept at his house. He’ll probably at least be charged with aiding terrorists. There’s definitely a reason he hasn’t been released yet. Poor Mme Maheu!”
In a different article, the newspaper also reports that several individuals who were being held since October 16 will appear in court today. But again, there is no mention of Luc.
Gaétan folds the newspaper up and decides to pass by the courthouse to see if his friend is among the accused. But just as he is about to leave, there is a knock at the door.
“Now’s not a good time,” he grumbles as he goes to answer.
Luc is right there in front of him, beaming. The two friends exchange a warm hug.
“So, we goin’ to get that beer? I just got back from some forced time off at Parthenais Beach. I’ve got so much to tell you.”
“Me too. You’re just in time, I was about to head to the courthouse. I was sure you were gonna go before the judge today.”
“You thought I was in the FLQ?”
“I gotta admit that with everything that’s happened in the past three weeks I don’t know what to think now!”
“Well I don’t know anything. They kept us in solitary confinement the whole time. Zero information from the outside world. You’ll have to tell me all about it.”
“Look at the newspaper, there’s a picture of Paul.”
“Why?”
“Read the article.”
Luc frowns.
“Unbelievable! That guy can’t possibly be a terrorist. He always told me you had to get involved in unions if you wanted change. And he would never hurt anyone.”
“Maybe he was sick of being nice. Did you know that he was staying at your place for a few days while you were in jail?”
“That’s possible. He told me he’d lost his apartment ’cause he got into a fight with his landlord. He was looking for a place to stay. I told him he could come whenever he wanted. I didn’t think it was to hide. But you’re right—I got pretty close to being charged. But the police must have believed me because in the end they let me go. Pretty long, three weeks. Anyway, if there’s one thing I learned, it’s that one day we’re gonna get our country back! I don’t think they got anywhere by throwing all those people in jail. The opposite, actually.”
“I don’t know … Most people support the government, and Mayor Drapeau was re-elected, hands down.”
“You got any other good news for me?”
“I think I fell in love.”
“Wow! You’ll do anything when I’m not around!”
The two friends head out, wrapped up in their winter coats. As the first snow falls lightly over Montréal, they walk with a spring in their step towards the tavern, ready to change the world. And this time, winter has certainly arrived.
Timeline: Québec, October 1970*
October 5: the FLQ’s Liberation cell kidnaps James Richard Cross, British Trade Commissioner to Montréal. They issue a statement demanding the release of twenty-three detained FLQ sympathizers as well as the broadcast of the FLQ Manifesto.
October 7: first radio broadcast of the FLQ Manifesto on the CKAC radio station.
October 8: the television news anchorman on Radio-Canada, CBC’s French network, reads the FLQ Manifesto.
October 10: Québec’s Justice Minister refuses to negotiate with the FLQ. This decision prompts the Chénier cell to kidnap Pierre Laporte, Québec’s Deputy Premier and the Minister of Labour.
October 11: Robert Bourassa, Premier of Québec, announces his intention to negotiate with the FLQ. In fact, the supposed negotiations are meant to stall for time.
October 14: “Call of Sixteen.” Sixteen eminent Québec personalities, including the head of the Parti Québécois, René Lévesque, the publisher of Le Devoir, Claude Ryan, and three union leaders call for the government to release the FLQ sympathizers in exchange for the two hostages. The Call of Sixteen leads to rumours about a provisional government and the threat of a coup.
October 15: the Canadian Army sends 8,000 troops to occupy Québec.
October 16: at 4 o’clock in the morning, the federal government proclaims a state of “apprehended insurrection” and invokes the War Measures Act. The Canadian Bill of Rights is suspended. In the hours and days that follow, some 500 people (actors, singers, poets, writers, journalists, union leaders, and activists) are imprisoned without a warrant. Prisoners could be detained incommunicado for up to twenty-one days without access to their families or a lawyer. Ninety percent of detainees are released without charge. The army protects rich neighbourhoods and government buildings.
October 17: the Chenier cell announces that Pierre Laporte has been executed. The circumstances of his death remain unclear even today.
October 20: Pierre Laporte’s state funeral.
October 25: Montréal’s municipal elections are held; Mayor Jean Drapeau is re-elected with an overwhelming majority.
November 5: release of almost all prisoners still being detained since their arrest on October 16. Only twenty-four people are brought to court, the majority of whom are acquitted.
November 6: Bernard Lortie, member of the Chénier cell, is arrested.
November 25: after trailing the suspects, police discover where James Richard Cross is being held in Montréal-North.
December 3: following negotiations with the FLQ, Cross is released after fifty-nine days of captivity. In exchange, his abductors are granted safe passage to Cuba.
December 28: Paul Rose, Jacques Rose, and Francis Simard, all members of the Chénier cell, are arrested.
January 4, 1971: the Canadian Army withdraws its troops from cities in Québec, but the War Measures remain in force until April 30, 1971.
* From Louis Fournier’s F.L.Q., Anatomy of an Underground Movement, NC Press, 1984, and F.L.Q. Histoire d’un mouvement clandestin, Lanctôt, 2001.
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