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) during the October Crisis.

Life and career

Pierre Laporte, grandson of the Liberal politician Alfred Leduc, was born in Montreal, Quebec, on 25 February 1921. He was a journalist with ''Le Devoir'' newspaper from 1945 to 1961, and was known for his crusading work against Quebec's then-Premier Maurice Duplessis. During his years in journalism, he published a number of series targeting the management of the Duplessis government. In 1954, ''Le Devoir'' ran a six-part series on problems during the construction of the Bersimis-1 generating station. In 1958, he was part of a team of ''Le Devoir'' reporters exposing the natural gas scandal, leading to the formation of the Salvas Commission, soon after the election of 1960.

After Duplessis' death, Laporte successfully ran for a seat in Chambly in the Quebec National Assembly and served in the government of Premier Jean Lesage. Laporte was a member of the Quebec Liberal Party, and considered to be a leading member of the party's left wing. After Lesage announced in 1969 that he would step down as party leader, Laporte ran to succeed him, but lost the 1970 Quebec Liberal Party leadership election to fellow cabinet member Robert Bourassa.

After the Quebec general election in 1970, Premier Bourassa advised the Lieutenant Governor to appoint Laporte as Deputy Premier, Parliamentary Leader, Minister of Immigration, and Minister of Labour and Manpower.

Kidnapping

On 10 October 1970, Laporte was kidnapped from his home on Robitaille Street in Saint-Lambert, Quebec, by the Chénier Cell of the FLQ. The kidnappers – Paul and Jacques Rose, Francis Simard and Bernard Lortie – approached Laporte while he was playing football with his nephew on his front lawn and forced him into their vehicle at gunpoint. They dubbed him the "Minister of Unemployment and Assimilation," and held him hostage, demanding the release of 23 "political prisoners" in exchange for his freedom. British diplomat James Cross was also being held hostage by the FLQ at the time, having been kidnapped on 5 October (Cross survived the experience, and was released on 3 December).

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked Canada's ''War Measures Act'' which allowed mass raids and arrests to take place in order to find the group who had kidnapped Laporte and Cross. Trudeau said:

On 17 October, seven days after he went missing, Laporte's body was found in the trunk of a 1968 Chevrolet Biscayne at Montreal Saint-Hubert Longueuil Airport. His kidnappers were subsequently captured and sentenced for his murder, and served terms ranging from 20 years to life, though they were all released on parole much earlier. Laporte was buried in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal, Quebec.

In 2010, journalist Guy Gendron produced a documentary series for Radio-Canada, in which he asserted that the killing of Pierre Laporte was unintentional – "Il a été étouffé dans un moment de panique e was choked in a moment of panic.Gendron, Guy
"Révélations sur la mort de Pierre Laporte"
. Radio-Canada.ca. Retrieved 16 July 2013.

Monument to Laporte

On the 40th anniversary of his death, 17 October 2010, a monument to Laporte was unveiled by then-Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest. It stands at the St. Lawrence Seaway Park, near Laporte's home on Robitaille Street. On the monument is inscribed: "Nul ne vit pour soi-même. Nul ne meurt pour soi-même" ("No one lives for oneself. No one dies for oneself").

See also

* List of kidnappings
*List of solved missing person cases

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Laporte, Pierre
1921 births
1970 deaths
1970s missing person cases
1970 murders in Canada
Assassinated Canadian politicians
Canadian newspaper journalists
Canadian male journalists
Canadian people taken hostage
Canadian political journalists
Canadian terrorism victims
Crime in Quebec
Deaths by strangulation
Deputy premiers of Quebec
Journalists from Montreal
Kidnapped Canadian people
Kidnapped politicians
Missing person cases in Canada
October Crisis
People from Saint-Lambert, Quebec
People murdered in Quebec
Politicians from Montreal
Quebec Liberal Party MNAs
Terrorism deaths in Canada
Le Devoir people
Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery