1970

An official communiqué from the FLQ kidnappers

October 5

British Trade Commissioner James Richard Cross is kidnapped from his home in Montreal by members of the Liberation cell of the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ). The FLQ releases a list of demands for Cross' release, which include:

• the release of 23 "political prisoners"
• $500,000 in gold
• the broadcast and publication of the FLQ manifesto
• the publication of the names of the police informants for terrorist activities
• an aircraft to take the kidnappers to Cuba or Algeria
• the rehiring of the Lapalme postal truck drivers
• the cessation of all police search activites

October 6
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announces any decision regarding the FLQ demands will be taken jointly by the federal government and the government of Quebec.

Several newspapers publish the full FLQ manifesto or parts of it.

October 7

About 30 people are arrested in police raids.

October 8

The FLQ manifesto is read on CBC Radio and Television.

Pierre Laporte

October 10

Quebec's Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte is kidnapped from his home in St Lambert, a Montreal suburb, by members of the Chénier cell of the FLQ.

October 11

Laporte pleads for his life in a letter sent to Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa. Bourassa's Cabinet agrees to negotiate with the FLQ. But the negotiations only last two days before breaking down.

Quebec authorities are flooded with requests for protection from government officials.

October 12

The army is dispatched to guard Ottawa.

'Just watch me'

October 13
Answering questions outside the House of Commons, Prime Minister Trudeau says, "I think the society must take every means at its disposal to defend itself against the emergence of a parallel power which defies the elected power in this country…" When asked by CBC's Tim Ralfe just how far he would go, Trudeau answers, "Just watch me."

October 14
A special federal cabinet meeting is held to discuss what to do about the abductions and the FLQ demands.

October 15
The Bourassa government asks for help from the Canadian Armed Forces under the National Defence Act. The opposition parties in the province support the decision. In total, about 7,500 troops are deployed in Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec during the October Crisis.

As the cabinet meeting runs into early hours of the morning of October 16, Prime Minister Trudeau announces the government will impose the War Measures Act, the first and only time it has ever been enacted in peace time. (The War Measures Act has only been used two other times, during the two world wars.)

Within 48 hours, more than 250 people are arrested.

'Laporte body found'

October 17
The strangled body of Pierre Laporte is found in the trunk of a car in the St. Hubert Airport parking lot in Montreal.

December 3

James Cross is released when the FLQ members holding him negotiate passage to Cuba.

The Arrests

In total, 497 people were arrested under the War Measures Act, according to a report released by Justice Minister John Turner in 1971. Among them were labour leaders, entertainers, and writers in Quebec as well as members of the Parti Québécois.

Many were held for days without being able to contact a lawyer or their families. In November, the Quebec Civil Liberties Union, which visited many of the people detained under the War Measures Act, reported that some had been subjected to questioning techniques that were "absolutely unacceptable."

Of those arrested, only 62 were charged.

Here is what happened to those responsible for the kidnapping of James Cross and the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte.

The Chénier cell

On November 6, Bernard Lortie was arrested when the police raided the hiding place of the Chénier cell. Although the other three members escaped the raid, they were captured in St. Luc, Quebec in late December. All four members were charged with the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte.

Police mug shot of Paul Rose, a member of the Chénier cell of the FLQ.

Paul Rose and Francis Simard received life sentences for murder. Bernard Lortie was sentenced to 20 years in jail for kidnapping.

Jacques Rose was acquitted of both the murder and kidnapping of Laporte. However, he was later convicted of being an accessory after the fact and sentenced to eight years in jail. He was paroled in July 1978.

In December 1982, Paul Rose was granted full parole. In 1980, a report revealed that Rose was not present when Laporte was murdered.

The Liberation cell

With the safe release of James Cross in December 1970, five FLQ members received passage to Cuba, although they were exiled from Canada for life. They were later found to be living in Paris, France.

Over the years, all of the exiled FLQ members returned to Canada to face trial. They were all convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to jail terms ranging from 20 months to two years.

In July 1980, police arrest and charge a sixth person in connection with the Cross kidnapping. Nigel Barry Hamer pleads guilty and is sentenced to 12 months in jail.