Event organizers spar with the provincial government over the historical value of the controversial text
Far from canceling a planned reading of the FLQ’s manifesto at a gathering to commemorate the anniversary of the battle of the Plains of Abraham, organizers are instead demanding an apology from a provincial Liberal minister who criticized its inclusion. “When you accuse someone of fomenting violence, it’s serious,” said Brigitte Haentjens, the artistic director behind Quebec City’s Moulin à paroles. “This team is profoundly insulted by the comments and we’re asking for a public apology.” After learning the FLQ’s hardline screed against Anglo dominance would be one of 140 texts featured at the event, Sam Hamad, the provincial minister responsible for the capital region, said, “this is far from poetry. The FLQ for me, the memories I have are of assassinations, of bombs.” The manifesto was first read over the airwaves during the October crisis in 1970 as a condition for the release of kidnapped British trade official James Cross.