History of Montreal - Quebec Independence Movement

Quebec Independence Movement

Further information: Quebec sovereignty movement, History of the Quebec sovereignty movement

At the end of the 1960s, the independence movement in Quebec was in full swing due to a constitutional debate between the Ottawa and Quebec governments. Radical groups formed, most notably the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ). In October 1970, members of the FLQ's "Liberation Cell" kidnapped and murdered Pierre Laporte, a minister in the National Assembly, and also kidnapped James Cross, a British diplomat, who was later released. The Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, ordered the military occupation of Montreal and invoked the War Measures Act, giving unprecedented peacetime powers to police. The social unrest and related events became known as the October Crisis of 1970.

Sovereignty was addressed through the ballot box. The Parti Québécois held two referendums on the question, in 1980 and in 1995. During those decades, about 300,000 English-speaking Quebecers left Quebec. The uncertain political climate caused substantial social and economic impacts, as a significant number of Montrealers, mostly Anglophone, took their businesses and migrated to other provinces. The extent of the transition was greater than the norm for major urban centres. With the passage of Bill 101 in 1977, the government gave primacy to French as the only official language for all levels of government in Quebec, the main language of business and culture, and the exclusive language for public signage and business communication. In the rest of Canada, the government adopted a bilingual policy, producing all government materials in both French and English.