François Mario Bachand (March 24, 1944 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

- March 29, 1971 in St. Ouen) was a member of the first (1963) wave of the FLQ (

Front de libération du Québec The (FLQ) was a Marxist–Leninist and Quebec separatist guerrilla group. Founded in the early 1960s with the aim of establishing an independent and socialist Quebec through violent means, the FLQ was considered a terrorist group by the Canadia ...

Political history

Mario Bachand was a member of the Front de Liberation du Quebec, imprisoned for his role in planting bombs in

. On 17 May 1963 a bomb crippled Walter Leja, a Canadian army explosives technician. After his release, Bachand remained politically active in Montreal, founding several

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

. He was an effective organizer, and was largely responsible for organizing the McGill-français demonstration of March 1969. He was close friends with

Jacques Lanctôt Jacques Lanctôt is a Canadian writer, publisher, terrorist, and restaurateur. He was a member of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) and was convicted on terrorism charges for his role in the kidnapping of British diplomat James Cross in ...

, who in 1970 would lead the Liberation Cell in the

kidnap In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

ping of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

James 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 ...

, the event that initiated 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 C ...

. Bachand had earlier fled Canada to avoid another criminal prosecution. Bachand and Lanctôt were close friends with a young man born in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Richard Bros. On 22 November 1970, during the

, days before 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 ...

released their

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

, Bros would die in a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

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 w ...

, reportedly a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. In April 1969 Bachand fled to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, where he met up with other FLQ who had sought refuge in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, including Pierre Charette, Alain Allard and

Raymond Villeneuve Raymond Villeneuve (born September 11, 1943) is a founding member of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), a violent Quebec separatist movement, responsible various acts of violence in Canada. Villeneuve remained out of the spotlight as he ...

. Bachand was very much a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, and did not view

Quebec 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 thirtee ...

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

, particularly its

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

manifestation, very positively. This brought him in conflict with certain other FLQ who were more sovereigntist, such as

and

Denis Lamoureux Denis O. Lamoureux (born May 27, 1954) holds a professorial chair of science and religion at St. Joseph's College at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has doctoral degrees in dentistry, theology, and biology. The author o ...

Death

In June 1970 he left Cuba for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He was found shot to death in the apartment of Pierre Barral and his wife, Françoise, in the Paris

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of St. Ouen on March 29, 1971, following a

cous cous Couscous ( '; ber, ⵙⴽⵙⵓ, translit=Seksu) – sometimes called kusksi or kseksu – is a Maghrebi dish of small steamed granules of rolled durum wheat semolina that is often served with a stew spooned on top. Pearl millet, sorghum, bu ...

lunch with them and Norman Roy and Denyse Leduc of the DEFLQ (Delegation extérierure du FLQ). Bachand was assassinated by 3 shots from a .22 calibre pistol with a silencer. Bachand's murder has never been solved. Author Michael McLoughlin has asserted that Bachand was killed by Normand Roy and Denyse Leduc, assisted by the Security and Intelligence branch of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

RCMP Security Service The RCMP Security Service (french: Service de sécurité de la GRC) was a branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that had responsibility for domestic intelligence and security in Canada. It was replaced by the Canadian Security Intellige ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachand, Mario 1944 births 1971 deaths People from Montreal Front de libération du Québec members Quebec sovereigntists Canadian socialists Deaths by firearm in Quebec People murdered in Quebec