Pierre Laporte - Definition and Overview

Pierre Laporte (February 25, 1921 - October 1970), was a Canadian politician who was assassinated by members of the FLQ.

Pierre Laporte was born in Montreal, Quebec. He was a journalist with Le Devoir from 1945 to 1961. A Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour in the government of the Province of Quebec, Canada, he was kidnapped by FLQ terrorists from his home in Saint-Lambert, Quebec on October 10, 1970. The events that followed became known as the "October Crisis" when martial law was declared and Pierre Laporte's dead body was found in the trunk of a car seven days later on October 17. His kidnappers were subsequently captured and sentenced to long prison terms for his murder.

Pierre Laporte is interred in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal, Quebec.

A bridge near Quebec City is named the Pierre Laporte Bridge. Several schools in Quebec and other parts of Canada have been named after Pierre Laporte.

• BBC On this day October 10, 1970 Canadian minister seized by gunmen (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_2531000/2531261.stm)