Raymond Villeneuve

Raymond Villeneuve (born September 11, 1943) is a Canadian political activist..

Villeneuve remained out of the spotlight as he was volunteering for the Parti Québécois from 1988 until the 1995 referendum. He then became "fed up" and created the MLNQ, espousing both his preference for peace and his preparedness for violence.

In September 1996, in a newsletter entitled La Tempête (The Storm), Raymond Villeneuve denounced Montreal's English speaking Jews for their longstanding opposition to the Quebec separatist movement and Bill 101 and sent this warning: "What will happen on the day after the victory to those communities who refused to prove conciliating towards the people of Quebec? Independence will come sooner or later and these communities must prepare now for cohabitation in harmony and agreement with the choice of Quebecers."

Following a police complaint by partitionist leader Gary Shapiro and a statement from Premier Lucien Bouchard disassociating himself and the Parti Québécois government from these comments, Villeneuve clarified that he hadn't intended to be taken literally. "I meant we will use political force. We will be the commandos, the troops," he explained.