On August 8, Quebec premier Robert Bourassa announced at a press conference that in accord with Section 275 of the "National Defence Act", he was requesting military support in "aid of the civil power". Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was reluctant to have the federal government and, in particular, the Canadian Forces, so involved. Under the act, however, the Solicitor General of Quebec, under direction from the Premier of Quebec, had the right to requisition the armed forces to maintain law and order as a provincial responsibility; this action had precedent. Two decades earlier during the October Crisis, Bourassa had requested and received military aid.