Book Review: The Nightmare Game

By Austin Au

I’m going to talk about a sad story, The Nightmare Game. This story talks about a sad time in Canada in 1970. In that year, the Quebec residents wanted to run their province themselves. They wanted to kick the other people out of the province. For a long time, the English Canadians ran Quebec. They ran many factories. They ran the banks. Some of the people in Quebec got angry. A few people in Quebec formed the FLQ. They wanted to make the government sit up and listen. The FLQ wanted to free Quebec.

On October 5, 1970, the FLQ kidnapped James Cross. James Cross was the British Trade Commissioner in Montreal. They demanded from the Government many things. They wanted the government to free 23 prisoners. They wanted a lot of money, and they wanted a plane to Cuba or Algeria. For sure, the government would not deal with them.

Then on October 10, Pierre Laporte was kidnapped. Pierre Laporte was a member of the Quebec government. The FLQ kidnappers made the government know again. The government might be ready to talk about freeing the 23 prisoners, but only if it was sure that James Cross and Pierre Laporte would be set free. Unfortunately, the talks broke down.

On October 16, the federal government put the Emergency War Measures Act into force. The police could now pick up anybody who might have had anything to do with the FLQ. It was the worst time for Canadians.

In the end, Pierre Laporte lost his life. James Cross lost his freedom, and the government lost a lot of support. Finally, the police closed in on the kidnappers. The FLQ knew they were cornered.

Everybody lost something in the Game. The FLQ got only one of their demands granted: the plane to Cuba.

Why did I choose this book? Because I don’t think in Canada, this peaceful place, also has some bad things that would happen at any time.