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