- published: 30 Mar 2011
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Pierre Laporte (25 February 1921 – 17 October 1970) was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician who was the Deputy Premier and Minister of Labour of the province of Quebec before being kidnapped and assassinated by members of the group Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) during the October Crisis. Laporte's body was found in the trunk of Paul Rose's car.
Pierre Laporte was born in Montreal, Quebec. He was a journalist with Le Devoir newspaper from 1945 to 1961, and was known for his crusading work against the government of Quebec's then-Premier Maurice Duplessis. During his years in journalism, 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 unveiling 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.
Actors: Richard Andrew Jones (actor), Jeff Teravainen (actor), Stevie Jay (actor), Adam Kenneth Wilson (actor), Judah Purcell (editor), Christian Gallant (actor), D'Arcy Cooney (writer), Brandon Tobia (writer), Brandon Tobia (director), Ashley Torgis (producer),
Genres: Drama, Short,Actors: Pierre Trudeau (actor), Terence McKenna (actor), René Lévesque (actor), Jean Chrétien (actor), René Gagnon (actor), Robert Bourassa (actor), Marc Lalonde (actor), Claude Ryan (actor), Jacques Lanctôt (actor), Francis Simard (actor), Robert Lemieux (actor), Mitchell Sharp (actor), James Cross (actor), Tim Ralfe (actor), Jérome Choquette (actor),
Plot: This film covers the events of October 1970 when separate cells of the Quebec seperatist terrorist organization, Le Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ), kidnap the British Trade Consul, James Cross, and the Quebec Minister of Labor, Pierre Laporte. In response, the Canadian Prime Minister invoked the War Measures Act, in response to what seemed to be an insurrection, which gave the police sweeping powers and called out the military in order to stop the FLQ and find their captives. This film recounts the events of this move and it's consequences of that faithful month in Canadian history.
Keywords: 1970s, canada, canadian, ethnic-conflict, flq-crisis, french-canada, french-canadian, independence-movement, kidnapping, martial-lawActors: Serge Houde (actor), Michèle St-Arnaud (miscellaneous crew), Michel Arcand (editor), Luc Picard (actor), Richard Grégoire (composer), Denis Trudel (actor), Pierre Falardeau (writer), Pierre Falardeau (director), Michèle Hamel (costume designer), Marc Daigle (producer), Maryse Ouellet (actress), Bernadette Payeur (producer), Benoît Rousseau (actor), Ginette Lavigne (miscellaneous crew), Hugolin Chevrette-Landesque (actor),
Plot: In October 1970, one group from the Front de Liberation du Quebec kidnapped the British Consul in Montreal. Few days later, a second group did the same with one of the Minister of the Quebec Government. If the first was released, the second was murdered. This is the story of the second group from the stand point of the political kidnappers.
Keywords: 1970s, based-on-book, based-on-true-story, canada, canadian, canadian-noir, ethnic-conflict, ethnic-point-of-view, ethnic-slur, flq-crisis