Mr. Speaker, many events that occurred in October 1970 and well before then explain what was at stake, the seriousness of the situation, and the difficult decision that the federal government had to make once it received the Government of Quebec's request.
One of those events occurred a few hours before the act was invoked. Over 3,000 people gathered at the Paul Sauvé Arena, where the FLQ manifesto was read out in all its terrifying detail. Afterward, those 3,000 people raised their fists in the air and chanted the FLQ slogan, “Nous vaincrons”, which means “We will prevail”. They were excited about the idea of supporting a group that, just days before, had committed heinous crimes, kidnapping two people and threatening to kill them, and that was planning more crimes.
I would like to hear the member's thoughts on that. Does he think that those 3,000 people chanting the FLQ slogan hours before the War Measures Act was invoked was a factor in the decision-making process?