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October Crisis

OCTOBER CRISIS TIMELINE
- April and May 1963: A group committed to the independence of Quebec, the Front de Liberation du Quebec, plants bombs in mailboxes in Westmount, Montreal.
- Feb. 13, 1969: A bomb explodes, ripping through the Montreal Stock Exchange, injuring dozens.
- Oct. 5, 1970: British diplomat James Cross is kidnapped by members of the FLQ. As ransom, they demand the liberation of jailed members, $500,000 in gold, and a flight to Cuba or Algeria.
- Oct. 10, 1970: Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte is snatched by another FLQ cell from his front lawn in Montreal.
- Oct. 13, 1970: When challenged by a reporter to say how far he would go to stop the FLQ, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau says, "Just watch me."
- Oct. 15, 1970: The Canadian Army is dispatched onto the streets of Montreal. At one point, 7,500 soldiers patrol Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa.
- Oct. 18, 1970: Pierre Laporte's body is found in the trunk of a car. He was strangled.
- Oct. 19, 1970: The War Measures Act passes in the House of Commons 190 to 16.
- Oct. 20, 1970: Police carry out more than 1,600 raids, arresting 497 people. (In December, all but 62 are released without charges.)
- Dec. 3, 1970: Cross is released after police discover him in a Montreal North apartment.
- Dec. 4, 1970: Five FLQ members receive passage to Cuba. They later move to France and eventually return to Canada, serving eight to 20 months in jail for kidnapping Cross.
- Dec. 27, 1970: Laporte's three kidnappers, Paul and Jacques Rose and Francis Simard, are arrested southeast of Montreal. Paul Rose and Simard are later sentenced to life in prison. Jacques Rose is sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
- Jan. 4, 1971: Troops are withdrawn.
October 1970: The "October Crisis" ignites when Montreal-based British trade commissioner James Cross is kidnapped on Oct. 5 by members of the separatist FLQ. Five days later, Quebec labor minister Pierre Laporte is seized. Ottawa invokes the War...