9 October 1970

This memorandum outlines  the federal negotiating position upon contact with Cross’ abductors and specifies the “final, maximum package” that negotiators could offer. That is, it represents the furthest that the federal government was willing to go in order to meet the FLQ's demands. There would be no exposure of FLQ informants. The federal positions on the Lapalme workers, money, and publicity were more flexible, depending on the progress made in the negotiations. The core of the settlement would be the safe conduct of the abductors to Cuba; by this point, it was accepted that Cuba was the most likely option. Safe conduct of 10-15 kidnappers, along with their families, would not only identify the accomplices but “get them out of our hair.” The federal government hoped that providing safe conduct for a large number of kidnapping accomplices would allow it to avoid releasing prisoners specified by the FLQ.