The question isn't about arresting them. Nobody disagrees that the FLQ activists who committed violence should have been arrested. They even murdered a provincial cabinet minister.
What is disputed is whether putting the entire country under martial law, canceling all civil liberties and sending the army into the streets, as Trudeau did, was an appropriate response.
It's impossible to discuss this objectively at the moment, because everyone will simply line up with whatever position supports their side in the current contro, but I think it's safe to say that up until this moment the majority view (certainly among the educated class) has been that this was an authoritarian excess and a bad precedent, and that the criminal justice system would have sufficed to deal with the threat.
It is one of the most famous episodes in Canadian history, and remains debated, so the word notorious is accurate.
> sending the army into the streets, as Trudeau did, was an appropriate response.
the army part was the premier of quebec not trudeau. Policing is a provincial responsibility. Having the armty come in was a provincial call that was unrelated to the war measures act.
What is disputed is whether putting the entire country under martial law, canceling all civil liberties and sending the army into the streets, as Trudeau did, was an appropriate response.
It's impossible to discuss this objectively at the moment, because everyone will simply line up with whatever position supports their side in the current contro, but I think it's safe to say that up until this moment the majority view (certainly among the educated class) has been that this was an authoritarian excess and a bad precedent, and that the criminal justice system would have sufficed to deal with the threat.
It is one of the most famous episodes in Canadian history, and remains debated, so the word notorious is accurate.