DCHP-2

Front de Libération du Québec Front du libération de Québec, Front du Liberation du Quebec, FLQ, < French 'Quebec Liberation Front' DCHP-2 (July 2016)

• n. — historical, Quebec

  a terrorist group fighting for Quebec separatism.

  Type: 1. Origin — The Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ), or the Quebec Liberation Front, was founded in Quebec in 1963 at the height of the Quebec separatist movement (see the 2011 quotation) and disbanded in 1971. This radical group consisted of members referred to as felquistes that were known for acts of terrorism throughout their "fight for a sovereign socialist Quebec" (see OCCH, s.v. "Front de Libération du Québec"). The Front de Libération du Québec's actions were notably violent. For example, the FLQ took part in more than 200 bombings between 1963 and 1970 (see the Canadian Encyclopedia reference). The FLQ is infamous for the 1970 October Crisis, where the members kidnapped a British diplomat and kidnapped and murdered the Quebec labour minister, Pierre Laporte (see the 1978 and 1987 quotations). The hostage-taking sparked the controversial imposition of the War Measures Act, which enabled the Canadian government to detain more than 450 suspects without explanation (see the 1987 and 1998 quotations), 150 of whom were FLQ members (see Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. "Front de libération du Québec"). The term is most frequently used in Canada (see Chart 1).
  See also COD-2, s.v. "Front de Liberation du Quebec", which is marked "(in Canada)".
  COD-2 labels the term as "in Canada".

  See also: felquiste  FLQ  War Measures Act  sovereignty  

  • 1964  La Cognee (The Hatchet), news sheet of the Front de Liberation Quebecois, a terrorist group, makes no mention of the Royal visit in its sept. [sic] 30 issue. [...] La Cognee has appeared under the name of both the Front de Liberation Quebecois (the FLQ) and the Front de Liberation du Quebec. FLQ members were responsible for a six-week wave of terrorism in the Montreal area last year during which one man was killed and another seriously injured. 
  • 1970  The perpetrator of the Quebec kidnappings, the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ), takes its inspiration from Castroism and is committed to world revolution. But its demands for the independence of Quebec are prompted solely by local conditions. 
  • 1978  The External Affairs Department is following up reports that a Quebec Justice Department official investigating the 1970 October crisis has interviewed members of the Front de Liberation du Quebec exiled in France, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau said yesterday. 
  • 1987  The most vivid example of the War Measures Act's Draconian powers was seen during the 1970 October Crisis, when the Front de Liberation du Quebec kidnapped a British diplomat and murdered Pierre Laporte, Quebec's labor minister. 
  • 1990  The External Affairs Minister did not go so far as to say the looming collapse of the Meech accord would prompt the birth of groups like the Front de Liberation du Quebec, known as the FLQ. 
  • 1998  Under the War Measures Act, at age 40 in 1970, he played a role as a soldier at National Defence headquarters in the Trudeau government's roundup of Front du Liberation de Quebec terrorists and suspects. 
  • 2007  Indeed, many Canadians believe that our country's only brush with terrorism came during the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) crisis, which the RCMP took care of under orders of then prime minister Pierre Trudeau, only to be taken to task later over their aggressive and sometimes illegal tactics. 
  • 2011  Some of you may recall the pre-Parti Quebecois days. Times when "separation" was only the voice of a very few radicals. Do you recall the riots of 1992 [sic], when Quebec was placed under Military Law? Tanks and armed soldiers were prominent in Quebec streets. The Front du Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) was behind the driving force to separate. A government official was kidnapped and murdered. 
  • 2015  That's given the students a chance to learn about Pierre Trudeau, the 1960s, hippie culture and Le Front de Liberation du Quebec. Some of them had never heard of the FLQ, he notes, as it pre-dates them by a couple of decades. "We've been learning about this exciting time and this frightening time in Canadian history," he says.