We've got a suggestion for the organizers of Moulin à paroles, the Quebec City event at which somebody's going to read the Front de Libération du Québec manifesto this weekend. Someone should read these Gazette news clippings out loud, too:
"Pierre Laporte died Oct. 17, 1970, between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. of asphyxiation caused by pressure on a religious chain which the late Quebec labour minister wore around his neck, according to testimony yesterday (by) Dr. Jean-Paul Valcourt, a pathologist." (Mar. 30, 1972)
And this one: "A series of photographs of the body were displayed to newsmen at the inquest. The pictures, in which Mr. Laporte's contorted face was hardly recognizable, clearly showed the deep gashes on his face and torso. They also showed the ugly mark around his neck caused by the gilded medallion chain with which he was strangled." (Nov. 9, 1970).
In an era when terrorism is daily news in much of the world, but not here, Quebecers should - and, we believe, do - remember the FLQ for murder and fear, not for its fanatic Marxist manifesto, which now seems merely ludicrous.
Moulin à Paroles is an unabashedly sovereignist event, childishly designed to be provocative. And that's fine, because the hardliners who cooked this up, and the leading sovereignist politicians who will attend, are making a serious mistake.
The convulsive October Crisis permanently altered Quebec politics: even at the emotional height of the 1995 referendum campaign, Quebecers have ever since 1970 handled the most emotional political questions as peacefully as almost anyone on Earth. Whatever our other divisions, Quebecers are all but unanimous that there is no room for murder and thuggery in our politics. The frightening events of October 1970 inoculated Quebec against any tolerance for political violence.
As we have argued often here, censorship does more harm than good. We would not ban the Moulin à Paroles or any part of it, even if we thought it would increase support for sovereignty. In fact, however, we are confident that any reminder of the FLQ will cast an ugly light on even the tamest version of what the FLQ said it wanted. Politicians who associate themselves with the weekend event, which has some unsavoury participants, will just be shooting themselves in the foot.