The night of Oct. 17, 1970, is ingrained in my memory. I had driven to Ottawa from Montreal to attend a Blood, Sweat and Tears concert. I was in my very early 20s and operating a vehicle clearly marked with the call letters of the English language radio station for which I worked.
It was a tense time in Quebec, as the October Crisis was fully engaged. Yet as I left Montreal for the nation’s capital, we didn’t know how pivotal that day would become to the national security of Canada.
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The violent terror group Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ), which had subjected Montreal to a sporadic bombing campaign for years, had, on Oct. 5, abducted British consular diplomat James Cross, thereby unleashing a massive police response. Five days later, the FLQ struck again, this time kidnapping Quebec Transport Minister Pierre Laporte.
On Oct. 16, with Laporte missing and the threat growing, then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, and Canada’s military seemed present everywhere in the city of Montreal.
Driving home from the Ottawa concert, the radio alerted me to the fact that Laporte’s body had been found. He had been murdered.
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My route home took me through the east end of Montreal, which was primarily francophone. Whether we spoke French or English, Montrealers during those days were unified in our unease, uncertainty and worry.
So I wasn’t initially too concerned as I rolled to a stop at a red light. At least, not until a crowd quickly began to form around the station vehicle. I didn’t know who these people were, nor what I might expect.
There was a rap on the glass and a motion to roll down the window. I really had no choice. The vehicle was, by then, surrounded.
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There was no need for concern. The only thing people wanted was the latest news about the murder of Laporte. Since I was driving a radio station vehicle, I became the instant mobile news service. I turned up the radio volume, pulled the vehicle to the curb, and we all listened quietly to the developing broadcast for some minutes.
There was no social media, no mobile phones — just the station cruiser and the dashboard radio. We were eventually pushed along by a Montreal police vehicle. I heard many say “merci” as I was about to drive away.
The Quebec sovereignty movement continued, of course, through the 1970s with the election of a Parti Québécois government and, eventually, the first separation-from-Canada referendum in 1980. Famously, Quebecers voted “non.”
Many will remember the next time. During the Quebec referendum in 1995, approximately 100,000 Canadians descended on Montreal on Oct. 30, urging and pleading with Quebecers to reject leaving confederation. Again and by the slimmest of margins — less than a percentage point — the sovereignty option was rejected.
Today, in the wake of Monday’s federal election, during which Quebecers notably opted for a large number of Bloc Québécois MPs, the national unity question has again been posed. Passively, by Quebec perhaps, yet more directly by an increasing number of voices in Western Canada, primarily in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The Vote Wexit Facebook page — motto: the West wants out — exploded from approximately 2,000 members on Monday afternoon to about 160,000 by Tuesday.
The driver is an Alberta that feels itself under duress from the government of Justin Trudeau. The son of Pierre has shown no affection for the energy sector of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the federal purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline extension notwithstanding.
There remains a deep suspicion among many Western Canadians that Trudeau will delay and obfuscate on Trans Mountain as long as possible. And as long as possible, as an Alberta listener emailed in, “may be a very long time.”
The fact that Trudeau crowed about returning to the prime minister’s position rankles his detractors deeply.
After all, the Liberals under Trudeau’s stewardship lost their majority government, lost the national popular vote, lost 1.4 million votes over 2015’s election tally, lost seats in Quebec mainly to the Bloc, were entirely shut out in Alberta and Saskatchewan and are seen to have largely survived Monday’s election by turning Canadian against Canadian — by attempting to curry favour with Quebec voters at the expense of Albertans.
Lecturing Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as residents of other provinces west of the Ontario-Manitoba border who are today openly favouring deconstructing Canada, is not going to make the issue disappear. The reverse is likely true. Any “it can’t be done and you’re not thinking if you suggest breaking up Canada” positioning will only strengthen the resolve of those who now, at least angrily, want out.
The expanding divide in Canada cannot be denied, must not be ignored and is not just regional. It is also growing between people who describe themselves as conservative and liberal.
Trudeau’s support nationally is at best questionable, and his relevance as prime minister on the issue of national unity is inherently weak. The reality is we now have a federal Liberal minority government elected by the smallest popular vote in Canada’s history.
I love this nation, respect those who built and fought for Canada and I care deeply about my fellow Canadians in the West.
So, in a weird metaphoric way, I’d like to gather all Canadians around that radio station cruiser from that terrible night in October 1970 and, among us, talk things out. If we can.
Roy Green is the host of the ‘Roy Green Show’ on the Global News Radio network.
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