Montreal’s Night of Terror

A dark glimpse into a world without law enforcement

On the morning of October 7th, 1969, both the police department and fire departments in Montreal, Canada, went on strike. The first responders were upset by their recent working conditions. Unknown to most people today, in the 1960s, Quebec was struggling with a violent separatist group known as the Front de libération du Québec. The police officers at the time decided to strike for higher wages in the face of the increased danger.

On that brisk autumn day in 1969, over 3,700 members of the police in Montreal walked off the job. They were tired of disarming bombs, being harassed on the streets, and having to deal with frequent riots and unrest caused by the separatist split in the province, especially since there were rumors that officers in much calmer Toronto were getting paid substantially more money.

Instead of entering a new utopia in which a metropolis governs itself peacefully without the aid of law enforcement, the city rapidly descended into chaos. The strike was only to last one day, but one day was all it took for disaster to strike.

The Early Hours

The strike officially started at 8:00 AM local time, and the police slowly emptied out of their normal stations and posts to go and conduct “a…