Trudeau Justified in Using War Measures Act

Was Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau justified in invoking the War Measures Act, during the October Crisis in 1970?

Decisions only take split seconds, but their results can be huge. Everyone makes many decisions throughout each day; almost 230 on food alone. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had a decision to make on October 16, 1970, not about food, but about the people of Canada and their safety. He decided to invoke the War Measures Act; which gave total power to the government to arrest and detain anyone without a warrant. The FLQ detonated 95 bombs over a 7 year span, and eventually after the kidnapping of British Trade Commissioner, James Cross, from his home, Trudeau had enough. Pierre Trudeau’s invocation of the War Measures Act was a necessary action to prevent any further damage to Canada and Quebec, and helped Canada define its internal and international independence.
Before the October Crisis, Canada had not faced a growing terrorist organization, so they were unprepared when the kidnappings occurred. The Canadian federal or Quebec provincial government had to act fast. The quickest and most effective way of terminating this terrorist organization (FLQ), was invoking the War Measures Act. Almost immediately action was taken, and peace was restored within days. “The War Measures Act Regulations on October 16, 1970 was the immediate cause of the end of the violence.” (Tetley, 2006) The War Measures act had ended FLQ-terrorism. The other major problem was that the citizens were in a state of terror. This was due largely in part to the reckless attacks on civilians by the FLQ, such as the mailbox bombs. The only way to reassure the citizens that Canada was a safe place was to make a direct attack on the terrorism, and it showed the Canadian citizens that the government would do anything in its power to protect them. “Go on and bleed.” (CBC, 1970) These words from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau during an interview showed the public how relentless he was...