October Crisis

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Pierre Laporte's Funeral | Copyright Dominique Clément / Clément Consulting

Documents regarding the federal government’s use of the War Measures Act in 1970. It also gives materials relating to the response from human rights activists as well as an array of external links to documents concerning the crisis.

The October Crisis was one of the most stunning political events of the post-war period. For the second time in Canadian history the powers of the War Measures Act were employed to suspend Canadians’ civil liberties in peacetime. The following primary documents are related to the activities of the Front de libération du Québec and debates surrounding the implementation of the War Measures Act.

Documents on the October Crisis

http://www.mcgill.ca/maritimelaw/crisis 
Posted August 2013

To complement his book The October Crisis, 1970: An Insider’s View, William Tetley provides numerous primary documents in English and French on his website:

Archives and Collections

Library and Archives Canada: Cabinet Documents on the October Crisis.

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), October Crisis on-line collection

Library and Archives Canada: Strategic Operations Centre.

Library and Archives Canada: Pierre Trudeau Papers.

McMaster University: Archives and Research Collections, FLQ Printed Materials Collection.

Vigile archives (Octobre 1970).

Films and Television

Action: The October Crisis of 1970, directed by Robin Spry.

Black October, directed by Terence McKenna.

Les événements d’octobre, 1970, directed by Robin Spry.

October 1970, a CBC mini-series 2010.

Les ordres, directed by Michel Brault.

Reaction: A Portrait of a Society in Crisis, directed by Robin Spry.

CBC Digital Archives.


The readings lists available on this site deal with a range of topics from human rights to biographies and specific events.


    • Any use of material or referencing content from HistoryOfRights.ca should be acknowledged by the User and cited as follows:

  • Clément, Dominique. “page title or document title.” Canada’s Human Rights History. www.HistoryOfRights.ca (date accessed).

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