Patrick Bourgeois of the Réseau de résistance du Québécois, a hard-line separatist group, made references to violence when he mounted opposition to the planned re-enactment this summer of the battle of the Plains of Abraham. Francis Vachon for The Globe and Mail
***

Ingrid Peritz - Montreal — Some federalist politicians are boycotting a literary celebration marking the 250th anniversary of the battle of the Plains of Abraham after learning that organizers plan to read out the manifesto of terrorist group Front de libération du Québec.
The spoken-word show was organized after the cancellation of a battle re-enactment that sparked protests and threats of violence. Now, the stand-in event next weekend, which is to feature well-known Quebeckers reading from works marking the province's history, is facing a barrage of criticism itself.
The Charest government is distancing itself from the event, which organizers had billed as a commemoration through prose and poetry.
“This is far from poetry and closer to the FLQ,” said Employment Minister Sam Hamad, who is responsible for the Quebec City region in the Liberal government. “The FLQ to me is assassinations, it's bombs, and we completely disassociate ourselves from this event.”
The National Battlefields Commission says it plans to sign an agreement next week with organizers of the 24-hour gathering, called Le Moulin à Paroles. The new disclosures now place the federal agency in another potentially embarrassing controversy.
Critics say the event, which falls on the exact anniversary of the historic confrontation, has become too politicized. The Harper government's Intergovernmental Affairs Minister, Josée Verner, called the gathering “a sovereigntist show” and said reading the FLQ's manifesto was inappropriate.
“There was the death of a man. These were tragic events,” she told an interviewer, referring to the events of the October Crisis, where the FLQ kidnapped British diplomat James Cross and Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte, who was later killed. During negotiations, authorities allowed the FLQ manifesto to be read on television.
Organizers of the 250th anniversary event promised an inclusive gathering and said federalist politicians were welcome; descendants of the battle's two opposing generals, Britain's James Wolfe and France's Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, had agreed to travel to Quebec City to participate, they said.
However, the guest list, unveiled this week, features numerous sovereigntist artists and politicians, as well as Patrick Bourgeois of the Réseau de résistance du Québécois, a hard-line separatist group.
The lineup prompted Quebec City's populist mayor, Régis Labeaume, to announce he was pulling out. An aide said Friday the mayor had initially agreed because he'd been promised the event would be a “rainbow” gathering.
But the mayor said the event was too partisan and he was troubled by the presence of Mr. Bourgeois, who had made references to violence when he mounted opposition to the planned re-enactment this summer of the 1759 battle.
According to one journalist blog, other texts to be read at the marathon word-fest include former French president Charles de Gaulle's 1967 Vive le Québec libre speech from the balcony at Montreal City Hall.