Pierre Laporte - Kidnapping

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. They dubbed him the "Minister of Unemployment and Assimilation," and held him hostage in an anti-government protest because his kidnappers wanted "political prisoners" to be freed.

Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau invoked Canada's War Measures Act which allowed mass raids and arrests to take place in order to find Laporte's kidnappers. Trudeau said:

"Nothing that either the Government of Canada or the Government of Quebec has done or failed to do, now or in the future, could possibly excuse any injury to either of these two innocent men. The gun pointed at their heads have FLQ fingers on the trigger. Should any injury result, there is no explanation that could condone the act. Should there be harm done to these men, the Government promises unceasing pursuit of those responsible." (Trudeau's use of the word "men" referred to Laporte and James Cross, a British diplomat who was kidnapped on October 5 and eventually released on December 3.)

On October 17, just seven days after he went missing, Laporte's body was found. His kidnappers were subsequently captured and sentenced to long prison terms for his murder, but served terms ranging from only 7 to 11 years.

Pierre Laporte was buried in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal, Quebec.