In this Gatherings Roadshow presentation, Dr. Matt Jones explores the history of the McGill Moratorium Committee, a Montreal-based activist group that formed part of a national network opposing Canadian complicity in the Vietnam War. Drawing from archival materials, Jones focuses on a striking 1969 protest that blurred the lines between activism, performance, and political theatre.
On November 12, 1969, activists staged a reenactment of “Operation Pacification”—a U.S. military strategy in Vietnam—in a small Quebec hamlet. With the help of Vietnamese refugees and McGill students, they staged an encounter, complete with a “propaganda drop” from a chartered plane scattering leaflets over the village. The protest was part of a broader campaign that included attempts to halt trains carrying war supplies to the United States.
Through press clippings, photographs, and leaflets, Jones reconstructs this moment in activist history, examining how the theatricality of protest can serve as a powerful political tool. Asking how might revisiting such events challenge or expand our understanding of Canadian political history during the Vietnam era?
