Happy 40th Anniversary, Quebec Crisis or "Just Watch Me"

[JR]

It was forty years ago today the FLQ kidnapped British trade commissioner in Montreal, James Cross.

By the time the crisis ended on Dec. 28, Quebec labour minister Pierre Laporte had also been kidnapped and then murdered, the national government of Pierre Trudeau had invoked the first peacetime use of the War Measures Act – suspending Canadians’ civil liberties – and the army had been deployed in Ottawa and throughout Quebec.

Canucks here can argue all we want about whether invoking The War Measures Act was justified, but this CBC interview with Pierre Trudeau on Parliament Hill shows that the PM had a really big set. His famous "Just watch me" is around 5:45 of the clip.

 

[Double J]

He'd have had a much bigger set if the terrorists hadn't been given slaps on the wrist. They should all have been strung up for treason.

 

[Iron_chet]

Ack, more boomer love for Trudeau.:)

The justification of his action by seemingly intelligent people baffles me.

 

[Armchair_QB]

It was forty years ago today the FLQ kidnapped British trade commissioner in Montreal, James Cross.

By the time the crisis ended on Dec. 28, Quebec labour minister Pierre Laporte had also been kidnapped and then murdered, the national government of Pierre Trudeau had invoked the first peacetime use of the War Measures Act – suspending Canadians’ civil liberties – and the army had been deployed in Ottawa and throughout Quebec.

Canucks here can argue all we want about whether invoking The War Measures Act was justified, but this CBC interview with Pierre Trudeau on Parliament Hill shows that the PM had a really big set. His famous "Just watch me" is around 5:45 of the clip.

Can't watch this south of the border.

 

[dixiehack]

mais quand vous really speak white
quand vous get down to brass tacks

pour parler du gracious living
et parler du standard de vie
et de la Grande Société
un peu plus fort alors speak white
haussez vos voix de contremaîtres
nous sommes un peu durs d'oreille
nous vivons trop près des machines
et n'entendons que notre souffle au-dessus des outils

 

[Double J]

It was forty years ago today the FLQ kidnapped British trade commissioner in Montreal, James Cross.

By the time the crisis ended on Dec. 28, Quebec labour minister Pierre Laporte had also been kidnapped and then murdered, the national government of Pierre Trudeau had invoked the first peacetime use of the War Measures Act – suspending Canadians’ civil liberties – and the army had been deployed in Ottawa and throughout Quebec.

Canucks here can argue all we want about whether invoking The War Measures Act was justified, but this CBC interview with Pierre Trudeau on Parliament Hill shows that the PM had a really big set. His famous "Just watch me" is around 5:45 of the clip.

Can't watch this south of the border.

Try this one, not uploaded by CBC.

 

[JR]

Ack, more boomer love for Trudeau.:)

The justification of his action by seemingly intelligent people baffles me.

Are you talking about the War Measures Act or his legacy?

I have changed my views on the WMA...it was a basic trampling of civil rights but we've always been about "Peace, Order and Good Government"

And after Sir John A McDonald. Mike Pearson and Trudeau are the two greatest PM's in Canada's history. It's hard to even argue against that.

Who do the Conservatives have?

Diefenbaker? I don't think so. He blew the biggest majority in Canadian history. He was also, to put it mildly, a nutcase.

Mulroney? The most hated PM since WW2. Brought in the GST and NAFTA. Was the water boy for Ronnie Reagan

Harper? Please.

 

[JR]

He'd have had a much bigger set if the terrorists hadn't been given slaps on the wrist. They should all have been strung up for treason.

Like Louis Riel? Yeah, that worked out real well.

 

[Double J]

He'd have had a much bigger set if the terrorists hadn't been given slaps on the wrist. They should all have been strung up for treason.

Like Louis Riel? Yeah, that worked out real well.

He didn't start any more rebellions after 1885, did he? ;D

 

[Sic semper tyrannis]

Ack, more boomer love for Trudeau.:)

The justification of his action by seemingly intelligent people baffles me.

Are you talking about the War Measures Act or his legacy?

I have changed my views on the WMA...it was a basic trampling of civil rights but we've always been about "Peace, Order and Good Government"

And after Sir John A McDonald. Mike Pearson and Trudeau are the two greatest PM's in Canada's history. It's hard to even argue against that.

Who do the Conservatives have?

Diefenbaker? I don't think so. He blew the biggest majority in Canadian history. He was also, to put it mildly, a nutcase.

Mulroney? The most hated PM since WW2. Brought in the GST and NAFTA. Was the water boy for Ronnie Reagan

Harper? Please.

I'm not a Mulroney fan, but history will be kinder to him than most others. (As it will be to Chretien who, legislatively, was a far more effective PM than Trudeau)
You are clearly blinded by some 70s and 80s nostalgia that seems pervasive these days

 

[JR]

Ack, more boomer love for Trudeau.:)

The justification of his action by seemingly intelligent people baffles me.

Are you talking about the War Measures Act or his legacy?

I have changed my views on the WMA...it was a basic trampling of civil rights but we've always been about "Peace, Order and Good Government"

And after Sir John A McDonald. Mike Pearson and Trudeau are the two greatest PM's in Canada's history. It's hard to even argue against that.

Who do the Conservatives have?

Diefenbaker? I don't think so. He blew the biggest majority in Canadian history. He was also, to put it mildly, a nutcase.

Mulroney? The most hated PM since WW2. Brought in the GST and NAFTA. Was the water boy for Ronnie Reagan

Harper? Please.

I'm not a Mulroney fan, but history will be kinder to him than most others. (As it will be to Chretien who, legislatively, was a far more effective PM than Trudeau)
You are clearly blinded by some 70s and 80s nostalgia that seems pervasive these days

What nostalgia are you talking about? I'm not nostalgic about anything.

I'm saying that Trudeau, despite his faults, including a massive dose of arrogance, is arguably the most important PM since Pearson in terms of what he accomplished historically.

He overhauled the justice system. He pretty much made the FLQ irrelevant. He beat the PQ in the referendum. He repatriated the constitution. He gave us the Charter. What else do you want?

Unless David Frum rewrites Canadian history, I doubt the historians will ever be kind to Mulroney. Thanks to NAFTA and GST the voter's reaction to his government and their policies eventually led to the demise of the Progressive Conservatives.

 

[Iron_chet]

I agree that history will judge Mulroney as a very good PM. The US is the only industrialized nation without a value added tax and ultimately NAFTA was needed for the country.

The problem I have with PET is the legacy that he left. Official bilingualism is an unneeded mistake, government pushed multiculturalism as well.

The continual downplaying of the heavy handedness of invoking the War Measures Act is something I just can't reconcile. I did not live through it so maybe I just can't appreciate the need for it but in my view it was not something you invoke in a democracy.

Throw in the NEP, his middle finger to the west and his disenfranchisement of Quebec and he did more to to wreck the country than bring it together.

Brian Mulroney would have never let himself be made a cuckold on the world stage.

 

[JR]

I agree that history will judge Mulroney as a very good PM. The US is the only industrialized nation without a value added tax and ultimately NAFTA was needed for the country.

The problem I have with PET is the legacy that he left. Official bilingualism is an unneeded mistake, government pushed multiculturalism as well.

The continual downplaying of the heavy handedness of invoking the War Measures Act is something I just can't reconcile. I did not live through it so maybe I just can't appreciate the need for it but in my view it was not something you invoke in a democracy.

Throw in the NEP, his middle finger to the west and his disenfranchisement of Quebec and he did more to to wreck the country than bring it together.

Brian Mulroney would have never let himself be made a cuckold on the world stage.

Unless you're Mulroney's official biographer, historians will never judge him as a good PM. GST to one side, NAFTA wasn't "needed". All it did was allow the Americans access to our natural resources and cheap Mexican labour while they breached it whenever it served their interests. Softwood lumber, remember?

Bilingualism was "unneeded"? Really?. If Sir John A. had taken that approach, there would be no Canada. We're a country founded by two groups, the French and the English. That's a historic fact that the "they're shoving French down our throasts" crowd still doesn't grasp.

And most Canadians don't have a problem with multi-culturalism. Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who come here for our diversity. Well, some of the old angry white guys like doofus Rob Ford have a problem with it, but who cares?

Well, we can argue back and forth about the NEP but at the time it was completely justified if we were to take control of our oil and NOT have to rely on foreign corporations for energy self-sufficiency.

And, please, if you want to explain the disenfranchisement of Quebec, don't look at Trudeau. It begins with Mulroney and Meech Lake.

Brian Mulroney would have never let himself be made a cuckold on the world stage because he was too busy sucking up to the Americans and doing sing-alongs with Ronnie

There's a reason Mulroney is the least popular PM in the last fifty years. That's not going to change any time soon although Harper's making a pretty good run at it.

 

[cranberry]

No Quebec crisis thread is complete without Maggie Trudeau pics ...

 

[Big Circus]

It was forty years ago today the FLQ kidnapped British trade commissioner in Montreal, James Cross.

By the time the crisis ended on Dec. 28, Quebec labour minister Pierre Laporte had also been kidnapped and then murdered, the national government of Pierre Trudeau had invoked the first peacetime use of the War Measures Act – suspending Canadians’ civil liberties – and the army had been deployed in Ottawa and throughout Quebec.

Canucks here can argue all we want about whether invoking The War Measures Act was justified, but this CBC interview with Pierre Trudeau on Parliament Hill shows that the PM had a really big set. His famous "Just watch me" is around 5:45 of the clip.

Can't watch this south of the border.

Try this one, not uploaded by CBC.

Still no dice.

 

[JR]

Try this:

http://studycanada.learnhub.com/lesson/9631-pierre-trudeau-just-watch-me

If you don't want to watch the whole thing go to about 5:00 of the clip

 

[Stitch]

Trudeau blew it for me with this outfit he wore to the Grey Cup.

 

[JR]

Trudeau blew it for me with this outfit he wore to the Grey Cup.

The guy in the Stetson to Pierre's right is thinking, "I'd hit it".

Give PET some credit. It was the 70's

And he still had the coolest car of any politician

 

[Iron_chet]

I agree that history will judge Mulroney as a very good PM. The US is the only industrialized nation without a value added tax and ultimately NAFTA was needed for the country.

The problem I have with PET is the legacy that he left. Official bilingualism is an unneeded mistake, government pushed multiculturalism as well.

The continual downplaying of the heavy handedness of invoking the War Measures Act is something I just can't reconcile. I did not live through it so maybe I just can't appreciate the need for it but in my view it was not something you invoke in a democracy.

Throw in the NEP, his middle finger to the west and his disenfranchisement of Quebec and he did more to to wreck the country than bring it together.

Brian Mulroney would have never let himself be made a cuckold on the world stage.

Unless you're Mulroney's official biographer, historians will never judge him as a good PM. GST to one side, NAFTA wasn't "needed". All it did was allow the Americans access to our natural resources and cheap Mexican labour while they breached it whenever it served their interests. Softwood lumber, remember?

Bilingualism was "unneeded"? Really?. If Sir John A. had taken that approach, there would be no Canada. We're a country founded by two groups, the French and the English. That's a historic fact that the "they're shoving French down our throasts" crowd still doesn't grasp.

And most Canadians don't have a problem with multi-culturalism. Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who come here for our diversity. Well, some of the old angry white guys like doofus Rob Ford have a problem with it, but who cares?

Well, we can argue back and forth about the NEP but at the time it was completely justified if we were to take control of our oil and NOT have to rely on foreign corporations for energy self-sufficiency.

And, please, if you want to explain the disenfranchisement of Quebec, don't look at Trudeau. It begins with Mulroney and Meech Lake.

Brian Mulroney would have never let himself be made a cuckold on the world stage because he was too busy sucking up to the Americans and doing sing-alongs with Ronnie

There's a reason Mulroney is the least popular PM in the last fifty years. That's not going to change any time soon although Harper's making a pretty good run at it.

Couple things;

Your implication that anyone who does not support official biligualism is a "don't shove French down my throat person" is wrong. My point is that the govt should not have made it policy. Same goes for multi-culturalism. Let people emigrate to Canada, I personally like the diversity. Trudeau's policies though encouraged new immigrants to hold on to their former national identity rather than embrace their new one.

You can still have a vibrant multi cultural society without the govt engineering to make it happen.

The NEP was a disaster and not needed at the time. I recognize that we will probably never have the same view of it.

I have no problem with Mulroney cozying up to the US. It is a sad fact in this country that some take pride in their anti-Americanism as exemplified by so many in the Liberal Party (Carolyn Parrish anyone?). I am by no means a Reagan fan but strong Canada- US relationships are vital, of course this does not jive with Trudeau and his felching of Castro.

And are you are seriously going to claim that Quebec disenfranchisement began with Meech Lake?

 

[JR]

Give me one good reason why Canada shouldn't be officially a bilingual country? Seriously. We're a country that was founded on two languages. What the hell is wrong about it?

And mulit-culturalism is social engineering? That's just plain silly. Get a grip

And why do you continue to attach the phrase "not needed", "wasn't needed" to your arguments. Not needed by whom?

You do know that Canada was founded on policies based on protecting ourselves from the Americans don't you? And by that I mean militarily, economically and politically And that the social fabric of Upper Canada was bsaed on outright anti-Americanism in the United Empire Loyalists.

You know why our capital is in Ottawa, why the Rideau Canal exists and why the Trans Canada Railway was important? And I presume you know why McDonald bent over backwards to make sure that Quebec was on side for Confederation?

Canadians by and large realise we have to have strong US /Canada relationships but get very suspicious when PM's like Mulroney look like they're going, cap in hand, asking for favours. Doesn't wash. And as much as the right wing wants to keep repeating it, being wary and critical of the Yanks is not anti-Americanism

And Quebec disenfranchisement started with the Quiet Revolution. It peaked with Meech Lake.