The October Crisis: Do You Have a Permit for That Freedom?

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The purpose of government is to create peace and order to maintain a functioning society. Legislation from the federal government of Canada is to do exactly that, but at what point does the law over state its presence and harm the people it attempts to protect? The October Crisis that occurred in 1970 under the Trudeau government is one such contentious issue: while it may have been supported by some it was highly criticized for damaging human rights in a democratic society. Essentially martial law was produced and the effects of the October Crisis caused a developed nation to take a step backward in their work to create and maintain a safe, functioning democratic state: a democratic state became a despotic driven country in a momentary lapse due to a fear driven decision.
To understand the October Crisis and the implementation of the War Measures Act a brief look at the incidents preceding the kidnapping must be acknowledged. The English and French societies of Canada have a deep history of malcontent, but an ever growing form of acceptance has culminated between the two co-existing nations. Since the time of confederation there have been citizens within the province of Quebec that have felt oppressed by the ever dominant Anglo society and felt that Quebec should be an independent nation; upon this basis of independence the Parti Quebecois was created, along with the FLQ (Front Liberation du Quebec). Preceding the kidnappings of James Cross, a British Diplomat, and Pierre Laporte, the French Labour Minister, a history of violence had already been atypical of the FLQ .
The FLQ was created during a period of time known as the Quiet Revolution; the Quiet Revolution was directly linked to the Liberal party, led by Jean Lesage, comin...

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...he public of Canada, but it was supported by-and-large by the Canadian public: who is then to blame?
The time of the October Crisis was one full of contention. The newly elected Trudeau coupled with an inactivity of terrorist movements in Canada created an egregious situation. The actions taken by the Canadian Government were supported largely by the citizens of Canada, but were based upon dubious factual evidence, thus the legitimacy of the implementation of the War Measures Act during a time of peace is put into question. This decision created a stain upon the Trudeau administration as he had little to base his position on. Although the motion to enact the War Measures Act was democratically passed, Canada itself became a nation ruled in despotic manner: democracy had taken a step backwards as civil liberties were tarnished and national security took precedence.

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