The Chénier Cell, also known as the South Shore Gang, was a

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

-based Front de libération du Québec (FLQ)

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

responsible for a decade of bombing,

armed Armed (May, 1941–1964) was an American Thoroughbred gelding race horse who was the American Horse of the Year in 1947 and Champion Older Male Horse in both 1946 and 1947. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in ...

robbery and kidnapping that led to the

October Crisis The October Crisis (french: Crise d'Octobre) refers to a chain of events that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cr ...

.The Canadian Encyclopedia: October Crisis
/ref>
/ref>

Background

The Chénier Cell was named after the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now south ...

patriote movement The patriotes movement was a political movement that existed in Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) from the turn of the 19th century to the Patriote Rebellion of 1837 and 1838 and the subsequent Act of Union of 1840. The partisan embodiment of ...

leader

Jean-Olivier Chénier Jean-Olivier Chénier (December 9, 1806 – December 14, 1837) was a physician in Lower Canada (present-day Quebec). Born in Lachine (or maybe Montreal). During the Lower Canada Rebellion, he commanded the Patriote forces in the Battle of Saint-Eus ...

. A

violent Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...

Quebec sovereignty movement The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision o ...

, the Chénier Cell attempted to usurp the elected Government of Quebec and create a

Québécois people Quebecers or Quebeckers (''Québécois'' in French, and sometimes also in English) are people associated with Quebec. The term is most often used in reference to descendants of the French settlers in Quebec but it can also be used to describe peop ...

's uprising to establish a new

Quebec state Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

independent of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The four known members of the Chénier Cell were: Paul Rose,

Jacques Rose Jacques Rose (born 1947) is a Québécois nationalist who was a member of the Chénier Cell of the ''Front de libération du Québec'' (FLQ), along with his brother Paul Rose, who led the cell. The Chénier cell of the FLQ kidnapped Quebec Labour ...

, Francis Simard and

Bernard Lortie Bernard Lortie (born c. 1951) of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a member of the Chenier Cell of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) who were responsible for a decade of bombings and armed robberies in the province of Quebec. During what b ...

Timeline

On October 5, 1970, members of another Montreal-based FLQ cell, the

Liberation Cell The Liberation Cell was a Montreal-based cell that was part of Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) revolutionary movement in Quebec whose members were responsible for a decade of bombings and armed robberies in the 1960s that led to what became ...

, kidnapped the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Trade Commissioner

James Richard Cross James Richard Cross (29 September 1921 – 6 January 2021) was an Irish-born British diplomat who served in India, Malaysia and Canada. While posted in Canada, Cross was kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) durin ...

from his Montreal home.The October Crisis
/ref> On October 8, 1970, the FLQ Manifesto was broadcast by

CBC/Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

as one of the many demands required for the release of James Cross.FLQ Manifesto
/ref> The manifesto criticised

big business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...

, the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

René Lévesque René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...

, Robert Bourassa and declared Pierre Trudeau "a queer". On October 10, 1970, the Chénier Cell kidnapped the Vice-Premier of Quebec and Labour Minister,

Pierre Laporte Pierre Laporte (25 February 1921 – 17 October 1970) was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician. He was deputy premier of the province of Quebec when he was kidnapped and murdered by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ ...

. The kidnappers approached Laporte, while he was playing football with his nephew on his front yard and forced him into their vehicle at gunpoint. The members of the Chénier Cell believed many other Québécois people would follow them in an uprising to create an independent state. On October 15, 1970, the Government of Quebec put forward a request for the Canadian Armed Forces to support the

Service de police de la Ville de Montréal The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM; ) is the municipal police agency for the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the neighbouring communities in the urban agglomeration of Montreal. With over 4,500 officers and more than 1,300 ...

. On October 16, 1970, the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

proclaimed the existence of a state of "apprehended insurrection" under the ''

War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (french: Loi sur les mesures de guerre; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could t ...

''. These emergency regulations outlawed the FLQ and made membership a criminal act. In addition, normal liberties were suspended and arrests and detentions were authorized without charges. On October 17, 1970, the day after the Government of Canada invoked the ''War Measures Act'', the Chénier Cell announced that they had

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

Laporte. Laporte was found strangled in the back of a stolen motor vehicle abandoned near the

Montreal Saint-Hubert Longueuil Airport Montréal Saint-Hubert Longueuil Airport (french: Aéroport Montréal Saint-Hubert Longueuil), also called Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport, is located in the Saint-Hubert borough of Longueuil, Quebec. The airport is located east of Downtown ...

. In late December 1970, four weeks after the members of the Liberation Cell were found by authorities, the Chénier Cell members were located in a farmhouse basement at Saint-Luc, Quebec. The Chénier Cell members were put on

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

and three were convicted for kidnapping and murder, while Jacques Rose was convicted of being an accessory after the fact with all members

pleading In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of a party's claims or defenses to another party's claims in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define the issues to be adju ...

" responsible".

References

External links

Chronology of the October Crisis, 1970, and its Aftermath
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chénier Cell October Crisis

Background

Timeline

See also

References

External links