Many countries in recent years have been faced with terrorism. Responses to terrorism have been inadequate as the scourge continues and expands into new areas. In 1970, Canada faced an existential crisis. The Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), in an attempt to detach French speaking Quebec from Canada, many acts of terrorism including kidnapping and murder were committed. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, a French Canadian, broke the back of the FLQ by invoking the War Measures Act. Several days before invoking that Act, during an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Trudeau was quoted as follows (October 13, 1970): “Well there’s a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don’t like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is go out and bleed, but it’s more important to keep law and order in this society than to be worried about weak-kneed people who don’t like the looks of a soldier’s helmet”.
By invoking the War Measures Act, massive arrests without warrants followed and the FLQ was crushed. Terrorism ended and Canada was saved. It is noteworthy that Trudeau was a strong civil libertarian but he knew how to fight terror. Law and order are key elements of civilization. Today’s leaders have much to learn from Trudeau.
Garry S. Sklar
Las Vegas, NV
November 30, 2023
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