Louise Lanctôt (born March 24, 1947) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

convicted

kidnapper Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

and writer. Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, Lanctôt is a political activist for the cause of

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from Canada. Louise Lanctôt was an active member of the

Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale The Rassemblement pour l'Indépendance Nationale (; RIN; ) was a political organization dedicated to the promotion of Quebec national Quebec sovereignty movement, independence from Canada. Torn during its existence between different ideological t ...

political party that later merged with the

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 establishi ...

. She was also a member of the

Front de libération du Québec The (FLQ) was a Quebec separatist terrorist group which aimed to establish an independent and socialist Quebec. Founded sometime in the early 1960s, the FLQ conducted a number of attacks between 1963 and 1970,Reich, Walter. ''Origins of Terror ...

(FLQ) and is the sister of convicted kidnapper Jacques Lanctôt, and was married to Jacques Cossette-Trudel who joined the FLQ with her. During what became known as the

October Crisis The October Crisis () was a chain of political events in Canada 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 Cross f ...

, as a member of 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 k ...

, on October 5, 1970, Louise Lanctôt along with her brother Jacques Lanctôt, Yves Langlois, Nigel Hamer, and Marc Carbonneau put their plans into action. They carried out an armed abduction of

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) duri ...

, the

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

Trade Commissioner to Canada, from his Montreal home as part of their violent attempt to overthrow the elected government and to establish a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Quebec state independent of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. On October 10, Chenier Cell leader Paul Rose and his brother, Jacques Rose along with Bernard Lortie and

Francis Simard Francis Simard, (June 2, 1946 – January 10, 2015) was a Quebec nationalist and convicted murderer. Simard was a member of the Chénier Cell of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), a group dedicated to the creation of an independent Marxi ...

, kidnapped and then murdered Quebec

Vice Premier A vice is a practice, behaviour, habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhealthy habit. Vices a ...

and Cabinet 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 (FL ...

. Believing many others would follow in an uprising, the goal of the FLQ was to create an independent state based on the ideals of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. Lanctôt, with the help of her husband and other members of the "Liberation Cell," held James Cross hostage, taking his photo and sending it to police with a list of demands that included money and the release of other convicts. They advised authorities that Cross would be executed and further threats to Cross' life were delivered to several radio stations along with their demands. Early in December 1970, police discovered the location of Louise Lanctôt and her fellow kidnappers holding James Cross. His release was negotiated and on December 3, 1970, Lanctôt with her husband and child, plus the three other known members of her cell, were granted their request for safe passage to Cuba by the Government of Canada after approval by Castro. Although Lanctôt and her friends who wanted to go to Cuba were exiled from Canada for life, they were later found in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. For four years, Louise Lanctôt lived in

La Courneuve La Courneuve () is a commune in Seine-Saint-Denis, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History Inhabited since pre-Roman times, the area is thought to have been a small village up through the Middle Ages. With its proximity to Par ...

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

. Over the years, all of the Front de libération du Québec members wanted to return to Canada and began secret negotiations through the reigning government

to achieve that goal. On October 13, 1977, Quebec Premier

René Lévesque René Lévesque ( ; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Canadian 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 seek, ...

announced he was considering a request for a

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

for Louise Lanctôt and her husband. Eventually, the federal government consented. On her return to Montreal on December 13, she pleaded guilty at trial and was sentenced to two years in jail for her part in the kidnapping. She was freed on parole after serving eight months, following which she received Quebec government financial assistance (just as any other citizen is eligible for) to attend the

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

, where she received a degree in communications in 1982 and continued on to doctoral studies in human sciences. Divorced from her husband, during the times when the

has been in government, she has been employed by numerous Quebec government-funded institutions, including as a researcher for the

Collège de Maisonneuve Collège de Maisonneuve (; or Cégep de Maisonneuve) is a francophone public pre-university and technical college located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Partnerships The College is affiliated with the ACCC, and CCAA. History In 1967, several ...

, the

, Sainte-Justine Hospital,

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

health administration department, and the "Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec". The author of several books, Louise Lanctôt is a member of the Quebec Writers Union.

References

"Chronology of the October Crisis, 1970, and its Aftermath"
in ''Chronologies of Quebec History,'' Claude Bélanger, Department of

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Marianopolis College Marianopolis College is a private English-language college in the Canadian province of Quebec. Located in Westmount, Quebec, it is an anglophone college with a student body over 2,000. The General and Vocational Education College, known as a CE ...

.
"Impromptu interview
of

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

with Tim Ralfe of the

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

and Peter Reilly of

CJON-TV CJON-DT (channel 21), branded on-air as NTV (short for Newfoundland Television), is an independent television station in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, owned by Newfoundland Broadcasting Company Ltd. The station's studios ar ...

on October 13, 1970" in ''Chronologies of Quebec History,'' Claude Bélanger, Department of

. :Source cited:
Quebec 70. A Documentary Narrative.
'

John Saywell John Tupper (Jack) Saywell (April 3, 1929 – 20 April 2011) was a Canadian historian specializing in the fields of politics and constitution. Early life and education John Tupper Saywell was born on April 3, 1929, to parents John Ferdinand Tupper ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calendar. Its first s ...

1971, pp. 71-74 (Originally published in the ''Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs'', 1970. * ''The October Crisis, 1970: An Insiders View''.

William Tetley William Tetley (February 10, 1927 – July 1, 2014) was a lawyer and professor of law at McGill University in Montreal, the visiting professor of Maritime and Commercial Law at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a former member o ...

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006. . * ''The Canadian Dominion.'' Oscar D. Skelton.

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

"FLQ on CBC (English only)."
- February 18, 2006 ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'
update
reproduced on
The Agonist
' website.

Chapter 7 in ''The Quebec October Crisis.''

Crime Library Crime Library is a website documenting major crimes, criminals, trials, forensics, and criminal profiling from books. It was founded in 1998 and was most recently owned by truTV, a cable TV network that is part of Time Warner's Turner Broadcast ...

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former pay-television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cover ...

.
"Black October: The Players"
-

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

, October 8, 2000.
"The Events Preliminary to the Crisis" in chronological order - 1960 to 5 October 1970
on

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

website (doc requires download).
“The October Crisis per se" in chronological order - 5 October to 29 December 1970
on

website (doc requires download). {{DEFAULTSORT:Lanctot, Louise 1947 births Living people Canadian political writers Writers from Montreal Université du Québec à Montréal alumni Canadian writers in French Liberation Cell members Canadian people convicted of kidnapping