Pierre Laporte

Pierre Laporte Bridge

Pierre Laporte, grandson of the Liberal politician Alfred Leduc, was born in Montreal, Quebec, on 25 February 1921. He was a journalist with Le Devoir newspaper from 1945 to 1961, and was known for his crusading work against Quebec's then-Premier Maurice Duplessis. In 1950, he graduated from the Law School at the Université de Montreal, and was hired by Le Devoir shortly afterwards.[1]

During his years in journalism, he published a number of series targeting the management of the Duplessis government. At the same time that he criticised the Union Nationale government in public, he wrote campaign pamphlets for the Union Nationale during elections.[1] In 1954, Le Devoir ran a six-part series on problems during the construction of the Bersimis-1 generating station.[2] Laporte alleged that the government had taken kickbacks from construction companies building the dam.[1] In a speech, Duplessis called Laporte "a man wihtou a heart, a pig, a snake and a slothy individual" whose journalism "pandered to the vilest instincts of yellow journalism and the most ignoble sentiments".[1] In 1958, he was part of a team of Le Devoir reporters exposing the natural gas scandal,[3] leading to the formation of the Salvas Commission, soon after the election of 1960. Duplessis referred to Laporte as a writer for a "Bolshevik journal".[1]

Laporte was very close to his wife, Françoise.[4] One who knew him stated: "Pierre was the type of guy who went fishing with his wife. When he went travelling, he would always think how he could take his wife. He wouldn't go to a stag party. And he would introduce his wife with eyes that big-the way an young fellow would introduce his girl to relatives".[4]

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. Laporte took a populist line, presenting himself as the defender of the "little guy".[1] In 1961, he was involved in a scandal which it emerged that he lobbied successfully for the government to rent construction equipment from a firm he owned, leading to charges of conflict of interest violations.[1] He was frequently accused of accepting kickbacks during his time in office with his nickname being "Monsieur Dix Pour Cent".[5] The Union Nationale premier Daniel Johnson Sr. called Laporte le patroneux des patroneux ("the all-time king of the porkbarrel").[1] 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. Laporte was a frequent customer at the Victoria Club (which served as an illegal gambling house) owned by the gangster Frank D'Asti of the Cotroni family and he was known as a good friend of D'Asti.[6]

Starting in the autumn of 1969, D'Asti was Laporte's principle campaign contributor in his leadership bid.[6] Likewise, D'Asti contributed heavily to Laporte campaign in the 1970 election.[6] On 16 April 1970, Laporte alongside his two principle aides, René Gagon and Jacques Cǒté were observed by the police meeting with D'Asti and Nicolo Di Iorio in an apartment in Montreal.[7] On 3 May 1970, in a room that was wiretapped by the police, D'Asti talked with Di Iorio, Angelo Lanzo and Romeo Bucci about their hopes that Laporte would be appointed Attorney-General of Quebec.[6] A Royal Canadian Mounted Police summary dated 17 September 1970 stated: "They [D'Asti and di Iorio] foresaw that they would be able to get favors from Laporte...They were very hopeful that Laporte would be appointed justice minister. At that time, René Gagon and Jacques Cǒté were working hard to assure them that prospects were good and this would come about. Their aim was to obtain financial contributions for the campaign...They were very disappointed when Laporte was named minister of labour and immigration instead of minister of justice. However, they have been assured since then, mainly by Cǒté, that they would have no problems with Justice Minister Jerǒme Choquette".[6] The situation with Laporte was considered highly sensitive by the authorities in Ottawa who made it clear that they did not want the Mounties investigating Laporte.[6]

After the Quebec general election in 1970, Premier Bourassa advised the Lieutenant Governor to appoint Laporte as Deputy Premier, Parliamentary Leader, Minister of Immigration, and Minister of Labour and Manpower.[8]

On 5 October 1970, James Cross, the British trade commissioner in Montreal, was kidnapped by the FLQ.[5] Laporte called the Cross kidnapping "a wind of madness temporarily blowing across Canada".[5] On 10 October 1970, Laporte was kidnapped from his home on Robitaille Street[9][10] in Saint-Lambert, Quebec, by the Chénier Cell of the FLQ.[11] The kidnappers – Paul and Jacques Rose, Francis Simard and Bernard Lortie[12] – approached Laporte while he was playing football with his nephew on his front lawn and forced him into their vehicle at gunpoint.[4] Laporte was chosen partly because of his links to the Cotroni family (which would embarrass the Bourassa government) and partly because he had no bodyguards, which made him an easy man to kidnap.[4] The FLQ dubbed him the "Minister of Unemployment and Assimilation," and held him hostage, demanding the release of 23 "political prisoners" in exchange for his freedom.[13]

It was the intention of the FLQ to have Laporte write out a "confession" detailing his links to the Cotroni family which the FLQ hoped would the "Magna Carta of corruption" in Quebec.[14] Laporte was defiant, telling his captors: "It'll all work out. I know it. Don't worry. It'll all work out perfectly".[14] Laporte was held in a house at 5630 Armstrong street.[14]

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked Canada's War Measures Act which allowed mass raids and arrests to take place in order to find the group who had kidnapped Laporte and Cross. 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.[15]

Laporte was handcuffed, chained to the floor and blindfolded.[4] However, by feeling his way around his room and pressing his face across the wall, he was able to discover a window. On the afternoon of 16 October 1970, Laporte heard a police siren in the distance, and decided to escape by throwing himself through the window.[4] He broke through the window, but his leg chains left him dangling in the air.[4] The broken glass severed his arteries on his left wrist, right thumb and in his chest.[4] As he dangled in the air, Laporte screamed "Aider! Aider! Quelqu'un s'il vous plaît aidez-moi! ("Help! Help! Somebody please help me!"), but nobody other than his captors heard his cries. His captors pulled him back in.[4] Over the course of the night, Laporte was bleeding badly and it was soon apparent that he would die soon if he not receive prompt medical attention.[4] Simard described him as being like a "zombie", saying: "He didn't move. No reaction, We took off his blindfold. He didn't even look at us...It was like Laporte was already dead. He was like somebody stripped of all life. He looked totally empty. You could feel that he'd already received the death blow".[14] As he was laid out on the floor, Laporte seemed resigned to his death as he grew weaker and he refused to speak.[14] On the morning of 17 October, his captors decided to strangle him to death rather than release him to a hospital.[4] Two men held him in place while a third wrapped the leg chain around his neck and after a few minutes, Laporte was dead.[14]

On 17 October, seven days after he went missing, Laporte's body was found in the trunk of a car at Montreal Saint-Hubert Longueuil Airport. His kidnappers were captured and sentenced for his murder, and served terms ranging from 20 years to life, though they were all released on parole much earlier.[16] Laporte was buried in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal, Quebec.

In 2010, journalist Guy Gendron produced a documentary series for Radio-Canada, in which he asserted that the killing of Pierre Laporte was unintentional – "Il a été étouffé dans un moment de panique" ("He was choked in a moment of panic").[17][18]

On the 40th anniversary of his death, 17 October 2010, a monument to Laporte was unveiled by then-Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest. It stands at the St. Lawrence Seaway Park, near Laporte's home on Robitaille Street.[19] On the monument is inscribed: "Nul ne vit pour soi-même. Nul ne meurt pour soi-même" ("No one lives for oneself. No one dies for oneself").[20]

• List of kidnappings
• List of solved missing person cases

• Edwards, Peter (1990). Blood Brothers: How Canada's Most Powerful Mafia Family Runs Its Business. Toronto: Key Porter Books. ISBN 155013213X.

• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
• Pierre Laporte at Find a Grave