Talk:Pierre Laporte

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I've never understood why Laporte of all people was kidnapped by the PLQ. Was he a particularly important politician? Or was it just a matter of convenience? —Preceding unsigned comment added by J.J. (talk • contribs) 21:01, 15 May 2005

A.: Hello. That's a good question. Because the FLQ was in essence attacking "English" symbols. If you listen to their manifesto as read on CBC TV, they were attempting to take down the Constitution of Canada, which they refer to as the "British parliamentary system". In the manifesto, the FLQ cites big business and various politicians they alleged were corrupt, or associated with mafia. This included the names of French-Canadian politicians, such as Robert Bourassa, and Pierre Elliott Trudeau. In their manifesto, the FLQ referred to "the election riggers"; and to the Simard-Cotroni gang (mafia) which they associated with Robert Bourassa. The FLQ in their manifesto also cited big business, most of it English-owned, and singled out Power Corporation of Canada, as well as its then past and current owners, Nesbitt and Desmarais.

However, Pierre Laporte may not in fact fit the profile of a corrupt politician; and he certainly isn't English. I've been reading that he was a poor man, that didn't have a penny; if that's the case, then he wasn't taking cash under the table.

In light of how events have developed in the present decade, I would say that a new public inquiry should be opened into the death of Mr. Laporte. In those days, I think we didn't have DNA evidence; no doubt the clothing he was wearing when he was found murdered, and the gold chain around his neck, which authorities in 2002 in the Duchesne (spelling?) report said had tangled in his sweater collar and strangled him "accidentally" -- should still be in police custody somewhere.

Also, it would be, I think, unprofessional police work to have discovered the body in the car trunk, and simply assumed the FLQ had killed the man. Surely, in the case of a murder, all suspects have to be identified and their interest explored. All motives have to be looked at. Just because a man's body is found in a certain place doesn't mean he was killed there, or by the person who owned the vehicle, or by the terrorists themselves, though they had kidnapped him.

I have read in books from the library that Pierre Laporte was considered to be the "natural heir" and political successor to former Quebec Premier Jean Lesage. At the time he was killed, Mr. Laporte was Deputy Premier of Quebec under Bourassa; but Laporte had also run for Premier. A potential motive for the murder of Mr. Laporte would be political convenience. Somebody might have thought Mr. Laporte had too good a chance to become Premier, and wanted to avoid the risk of his future election. I'm just speculating here, but this shows there were other potential motives apparently not considered.

In addition, I have read in the French book by Jean-Francois LISEE, "Dans l'Oeil de l'Aigle" (Boreal, 1990) that Rene Levesque was expelled from the Liberals by Pierre Laporte "more or less brutally" leading the expulsion. LISEE used notes of American diplomats who attended the Liberal convention and witnessed the expulsion. How brutal was it? We don't exactly know. But in all the biographical materials I have seen about Rene Levesque, whether in print or on film, and including his own autobiography, the story line is that Levesque "left" the Liberals, or "quit" the Liberals. His expulsion by Laporte is never mentioned. If Mr. Laporte led a "more or less brutal" expulsion of Levesque from the Liberals, then perhaps Mr. Levsque had motive to want him gone.

On the other hand, the War Measures called out by Trudeau were being hotly criticized everywhere as overblown, and years later this was revealed to be the case. How about a politically motivated murder (on bad judgment about its effect), to make it look like maybe it had been a good idea to call out the War Measures?

I have also read that Mr. Laporte was a devoted "nationlist", that he was pro-Quebec. However, today, if we look back at what Rene Levesque was attempting to do -- it was not to "secede" from Canada, and this is clear from the referendum question of 1980. His intent was to replace the entire Confederation of Canada with the system of the European Union. In other words, he was attacking -- like the FLQ itself, in their manifesto - the "British Parliamentary system". Levesque had more motive, then, to favour the actions of the FLQ, even if only for his own self-interest. Moreover, Pierre Trudeau was a close friend and colleague of Pierre Vallieres. Vallieres wrote a huge number of articles for Trudeau's magazine, CITE LIBRE; that magazine is deemed to be the North American equivalent of a European magazine... I forget the title right now... [18 Sept 2011: it was Emmanuel Mounier's magazine, ESPRIT (French for "spirit")] which promoted the creation and expansion of the European Economic Community, which has become the European Union. This is how it happened: Trudeau TOLD Levesque to run on the referendum platform, and repeatedly challenged him to call the referendum, [see the collection called Reports on Separatism, hard-bound in the McGill University library]. So, Trudeau, who apparently supported the EEC-EU system, was urging Levesque to call the referendum to replace Confederation WITH that system, and Trudeau, Levesque and the FLQ all therefore appear to have something in common: they all want rid of Confederation, and perhaps not for very dissimilar reasons.

So, there's Trudeau publishing a magazine which promotes the EEC system, urging Levesque to call the referendum to replace Confederation WITH that system, and the referendum being promoted by Levesque and even by Trudeau as the "democratic" alternative to the FLQ style of violence. Well... come on. These are all pretty big coincidences. Which leads me to the reason I think they all had motive to murder Mr. Pierre Laporte, and all should have been investigated: because if Mr. Laporte DID NOT AGREE WITH "Sovereignty Association" (the EEC system for Canada) (and this was his reason for "brutally" expelling Levesque, then Mr. Laporte might have posed a RISK to the movement to impose the EEC on Canada. These people would all know Laporte well enough to predict that if Mr. Laporte won the next election for Premier, and perhaps the next and the next, he would never hold a referendum to impose the EEC system -- which is precisely what Levesque was trying to do with Trudeau.  Read Levesque's 1979 white paper, it's clear; read the question on the 1980 ballots, it's clear.  I don't know how "nationlist" Mr. Laporte actually was; perhaps he would never have called ANY referendum; or, perhaps he would have called one demanding "sovereignty" without the word "association" attached, in an effort to take Quebec out of Canada, cold turkey, with no neogiations directed towards implementing the EEC system here. If Mr. Laporte posed that kind of risk, then there are plenty of people with motive to have killed him or had him killed. Including political people in power at the time, with control over police and other less obvious state apparatuses.

There is a radio clip from 2002 at the CBC archives web site:

http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/clips/1634/

The description given is this:

"FLQ kidnaps Pierre Laporte

Broadcast Date: Oct. 12, 1980 In broad daylight, kidnappers with machine guns pull up to Quebec immigration and labour minister Pierre Laporte's front lawn in Saint-Lambert. They grab him while he plays football with his family, and shove him into the back seat of their car. The incident escalates what becomes known as the “October Crisis.” French Canadian nationalists (the Front de libération du Québec - FLQ), had abducted British diplomat James Cross a week earlier, and now a Quebec minister.

This CBC radio clip reveals that Laporte was murdered, probably accidentally strangled, a week later."

I've typed up what I could of the clip, I couldn't make out precisely what Paul Rose was saying in French, he talks so fast, but there was a translation given:

/ TRANSCRIPTION

[MALE VOICE, could be Peter Mansbridge:] October 1970, anatomy of a crisis. The inquiries.

[MALE VOICE, #2] St. Hubert Airport, where Pierre Laporte's body was found on October 17th in the trunk of Paul Rose's Chevrolet.

There have been hundreds of books, movies and articles which have re-examined the October Crisis. But none so dramatic as the new details revealed in testimony before official government inquiries. The Macdonald and Kevla commissions into illegal police activity have produced remarkable detective stories which took place in Quebec in 1970.

Just this week, the Quebec Justice Minister released the long-awaited Duchesne Report, which revealed that Pierre Laporte was probably strangled by accident. In an attempt to restrain him from yelling out, someone grabbed and held the neck of his sweater from behind, apparently tightening a gold neck-chain inadvertently.

The kidnappers and the police say it was still murder. But the report states that the man convicted of that murder was not present when Mr. Laporte died.

Paul Rose is still serving two consecutive life sentences, and today, he says it doesn't matter what the Duchesne Report says.

[VOICE OF PAUL ROSE, speaking French] Ecoutez, ca c'est des ... vous etes d'apres le rapport Duchesne, moi, je vous le maintien et je le dis, c'est une question de solidarite, et-- uh-- qu'est-ce qui est arrive [he talks too fast for me].

[VOICE OF FEMALE TRANSLATOR, translating Rose:] Listen, you say that because of the Duchesne report. I maintain, and I say, that it's a question of solidarity. And all that happened in 70 in relation to the death of Pierre Laporte, it's a question of uh-- it's the FLQ who killed Pierre Laporte. But to know who did what in the FLQ in connection with the death of Pierre Laporte, that is a question of solidarity. It's the FLQ who was responsible for the death of Pierre Laporte. And when I say the FLQ, it means the Chenier cell.

- end of clip -

Now, why would we take the word of Paul Rose that the FLQ killed Pierre Laporte, when, according to this clip, the [a] the official investigation says Rose wasn't even present when Laporte died; and [b] we know very well that terrorists and extremists are always calling in to tv and radio stations to claim credit for violence they did not commit... because they want the reputation for it, and the propaganda value.

Clearly, Paul Rose did not kill Pierre Laporte. Mr. Laporte was likely not the kind of person the FLQ was targeting. Accidentally killing innocents by setting off bombs is one thing, but going to all the trouble to kidnap an innocent is another.

The fact is that with Laporte out of the way, Bourassa and other pro-EEC'ers had a much clearer path to power, and to retain power for the long term. The fact is that the death of Laporte shortly after War Measures may also have sent chills down the spines of Canadians everywhere, which would tend to encourage their support for the War Measures to prevent any further such violence. The fact is, Levesque may have had reasons wanting personal vengeance.

Moreover, in the same book by LISEE, Dans L'Oeil de L'Aigle, there is a chapter called "Le comite secret de Power" -- (the secret committee of Power Corporation). It becomes clear from that chapter, based on notes of American diplomats, and on an interview by LISEE with the chairman of that secret committee, Claude C. Frenette, that Power Corporation and its allies in the Liberals, were behind the creation of the Parti Quebecois that was led by Levesque. Power Corporation owns a lot of press and media; Power Corporation and its owner Desmarais in particular are always portrayed as pro-Canadian "federalism", i.e., as being "opposed" to separatism. But, it's THESE people who escalated separatism in Quebec, working underground in their secret committee. It's POWER CORPORATION that is today, in 2010, actively working to annex Canada to the USA and Mexico under the EEC-EU system. It's Power Corporation who is a founding member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) whose "independent task force" authored the "Building A North American Community" plan published online by the CFR in 2005 (Council on Foreign Relations). This plan elaborates on the "SPP", the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, a "hand-shake" of Prime Minister Paul Martin (former Power Corporation employee) with President George Bush of the USA and Vicente Fox of Mexico... the SPP as it is now unfolding is nothing less than the EEC-EU system for ALL of North America. The secession of Quebec, a move INITIATED by the Parti Quebecois, a party which Power Corporation decided, in secret committee, should be created -- was nothing but a COVER for an attempt to impose that same system on the top half of this continent, i.e., Canada. Therefore, POWER CORPORATION, everyone on its secret committee, and all its allies, are also worthy suspects in the murder of Quebec's Deputy Premier, Pierre Laporte -- in the event Mr. Laporte would not have been amenable to "Sovereignty Association" -- and apparently, he wasn't.

Here's Wikipedia on the North American Competitiveness Council, with Paul Desmarais, Jr. of Power Corporation on the Canadian delegation of 30 multinational corporations dictating to three sovereign governments how to alter their laws and regulations to harmonize them into a single trade bloc: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Competitiveness_Council Moreover, that's FASCISM, my friend, when private corporations merge with public government.

Here's the "secret committee" chapter in English: http://www.calameo.com/books/000111790f1bc6388c506

Here's the French original: http://www.scribd.com/doc/17585801/Dans-Loeil-de-lAigle-Le-Comite-secret-de-Power-1967

Here is Levesque's 1979 white paper pushing the EEC econommic community for Canada (and promising it's not going to become a "federal" state: http://en.calameo.com/books/000111790dfe2654ed468 Today, we have Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois openly pushing not the EEC, but the EU system, and he has toured Canada in April 2010 urging ALL the provinces to "secede", while also making French videos on what can only be a future "western hemispheric union" of all the nations of this continent... essentially throwing down all borders, and goodbye to the beloved Quebec of Mr. Laporte.

Here's Duceppe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_uHO2sPzi4 and again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB911OZh9pE

Duceppe is pushing the PARTI QUEBECOIS. On 9th June 2010, Duceppe sent a letter on parliamentary letterhead to 1600 world leaders and influential figures ANNOUNCING a 3rd and final referendum for Quebec to "secede".

http://www.calameo.com/books/0001117903725906d4cae http://en.calameo.com/books/000111790e7ffe6334e68

Duceppe constantly promotes PAULINE MAROIS as leading the Parti Quebecois to that final referendum. However, MAROIS is herself married to CLAUDE BLANCHET, whose first job shortly after their marriage in 1979 was with POWER CORPORATION, through its affiliate which it had just purchased, Campeau Corporation. Here's that chapter from Marois' 2008 Autobiography:

http://en.calameo.com/books/000111790f3b78b30f391

So, the "secession" of Quebec is now to be the finishing touch to the SPP, it will officially dissolve Canada so that the new system, already largely put in place, can be "announced".

And, we notice that the Parti Quebecois and the Bloc don't let the young blood in. In the case of the Parti Quebecois, when Parizeau goofed over "money and the ethnic vote", old conman Bouchard was parachuted in; and when nobody liked the young recruit who had been assiduously groomed to take Quebec out, Andre -- what's his name -- (mental block, his little brother was my commercial landlord, I know that family, which is why I don't want to remember them -- they brought in Pauline Marois, the woman's practically on life support. They are using all the old gang from way back who originally set up the Parti Quebecois as a front to impose MANAGED TRADE BY BIG BUSINESS, on the continent, in the hemisphere, and world-wide. In other words, a fascist world government.

Spade a spade
Why say Pierre Laporte was "killed" by the FLQ, like they accidentally ran him over on the street? "Murdered" is a more accurate term. Tim from Canada. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.34.225.122 (talk) 01:11, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

Confusing dates
According to this article's interpretation of a news story "the killing of Pierre Laporte was allegedly unintentional, and that the Trudeau government was, according to Radio-Canada, aware of this fact before invoking the highly-controversial War Measures Act in peacetime."

However, this is obviously impossible. Laporte was killed October 17, one day *after* the WMA was invoked. This article should be fixed to make clear the order of events. I prefer somebody who can read French make the fix, since I am unable to read the Radio Canada link. --Rob (talk) 01:59, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

Claims that the smothering of Laporte was "accidental" lack credibility. The evidence is that he was deliberately murdered using significant force. This was not an accident! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.197.15.138 (talk) 06:57, 22 February 2012 (UTC)

I had read the Laporte was discovered, after his death, to have had Mafia connections. A local Mafioso, Frand D'Asti, was taped (his phone) offering help in finding Laporte. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Opusv5 (talk • contribs) 14:39, 19 October 2012 (UTC)

Killing of Laporte must have been an accident
Why would the FLQ have allowed Paul Rose to live and not Pierre Laporte? The organizacion would have killed them both if it was so bad. It is more like Laporte tried to escape or fight the kidnappers at some point and he was accidentally strangled as the article states. Marc-Jean 207.134.107.2 (talk) 23:33, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

Pierre Laporte: the Looney Tunes version
There was a Daffy Duck story in which Daffy is trying to locate a series of missing paintings at the Louvre. The culprit, who is caught by Sam, turns out to be Pierre Laporte: a scientist who has developed a teleport beam that he ends up using on Daffy himself! The name was just a damn coincidence - though it's one l don't like. Tnarrud3 (talk) 17:56, 7 July 2023 (UTC)