Editing Front de libération du Québec (section)

== First wave ==
The first formation of the FLQ was composed of members of the [[Rassemblement pour l'Indépendance Nationale]], some of whom wished for faster action. This group formed the {{lang|fr|i=no|Réseau de Résistance}}, or Resistance Network. This group eventually broke up, forming the FLQ. The group was recruited among various sources, eventually recruiting one [[Mario Bachand]]. The FLQ commenced their attacks on 7 March 1963. Some of their more notable crimes include bombing a railway (by which then–Prime Minister of Canada [[John Diefenbaker]] had arranged to travel within the week).

=== 7 March 1963 ===
* Three [[Molotov cocktail]]s planted at [[Victoria Rifles of Canada|Victoria Rifles Armory]], the [[Royal Montreal Regiment]], and at the 4th Battalion [[Royal 22nd Regiment]] (in [[Châteauguay]]). Little to no damage done.
* Leaflets with the aims of the FLQ were distributed widely throughout the city of Montreal. On the {{convert|9|x|12|inch|adj=on}} documents can be found a crude crayon coloured drawing of the resistance flag along with the following inscription: "Suicide-commandos of the Quebec Liberation Front have as their mission to completely destroy, by systematic sabotage:
# "All the symbols and colonial institutions (federal), in particular the <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> and the armed forces.
# "All the information media of the colonial language (English) which holds us in contempt.
# "All enterprises and commercial establishments which practise discrimination against Quebec people, which do not use French as their primary language, which have signs in the colonial language (English).
# "All the factories that discriminate against French-speaking workers"<ref>{{cite web |title=Separatist Group Hits at Army |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19630309&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |work=Montreal Gazette, March 9, 1963 |access-date=11 April 2014 |archive-date=10 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710132249/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19630309&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 1 April 1963 ===
* A saboteur with a bomb caused minor damage to a {{convert|25|in|adj=on}} section of rail between Montreal and Quebec City in the town of [[Lemieux, Quebec|Lemieux]]. It appeared to go unnoticed as traffic continued on the rail line. An engineer eventually called in a "rough spot" that needed repair and a maintenance crew was immediately dispatched for repairs in time for Prime Minister Diefenbaker to travel through shortly after.
* A bomb is detonated in the ventilation system of the Department of National Revenue. No one is injured.
* The words {{lang|fr|Québec libre}} and the letters "FLQ" are written on the official residence of the Quebec lieutenant governor, [[Paul Comtois]].<ref>{{cite web |title=PM's train delayed |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19630402&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |work=Montreal Gazette, April 1, 1963 |access-date=11 April 2014 |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815212641/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19630402&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 12 April 1963 ===
* In response to increased FLQ activities, 50 police officers conducted predawn raids on the homes of 15 suspected members of the FLQ.<ref>{{cite web |title=Police Clamp Down on FLQ |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19630413&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |work=Montreal Gazette, April 13, 1963 |access-date=11 April 2014 |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818111119/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19630413&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 20 April 1963 ===
* Shortly before 1:00{{nbs}}am, an individual claiming to be a member of the FLQ called the Canadian Press and announced "Operation [[Jean Lesage]] has started." Soon thereafter a stick of dynamite exploded outside the RCMP headquarters. No one was injured.
* At approximately 11:45{{nbs}}pm a bomb detonated at the Canadian Army Recruiting Centre in Montreal. A 65-year-old furnaceman, William Vincent O'Neill, was killed instantly.<ref>{{cite web |title=FLQ Terrorists Blamed for Bomb Death |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19630422&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |work=Montreal Gazette, April 22, 1963 |access-date=11 April 2014 |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815020304/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19630422&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 17 May 1963 ===
* In the early morning 11 mailboxes in Westmount were planted with time bombs. Five exploded at 3{{nbs}}am. Nine of the remaining ten bombs were successfully dismantled. One bomb, planted by Jean-Denis Lamoureux, critically wounded a Canadian military [[bomb disposal]] expert, [[Walter Leja]].

=== 20 May 1963 ===
* One car was completely destroyed and three others severely damaged when a car bomb detonated outside the [[Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers]] (RCEME) building in what was the largest explosion at the hands of the FLQ. No one was injured.
* Multiple harmless bomb threats are received throughout the province of Quebec. Only one threat resulted in finding sticks of dynamite.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leakage Takes Lead in FLQ Hunt |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19630521&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |work=Montreal Gazette, May 21, 1963 |access-date=12 April 2014 |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818144109/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19630521&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref>

By 1 June 1963, eight members of the FLQ were arrested in a surprise raid. In 1963, Gabriel Hudon and [[Raymond Villeneuve]] were sentenced to 12 years in prison after their bomb killed William V. O'Neill, a furnaceman at Montreal's [[Canadian Army]] Recruiting Centre. Their targets also included English-owned businesses, banks, [[McGill University]], [[Loyola College (Montreal)|Loyola College]] and the [[Black Watch Armoury]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Fong |first=William |title=J.W. McConnell: Financier, Philanthropist, Patriot |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=978-0-7735-3270-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/jwmcconnellfinan0000fong |url-access=registration |quote=black watch bleury. |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jwmcconnellfinan0000fong/page/573 573] |date=24 October 2008}}</ref>