James Cross, commissioner kidnapped in 1970 October Crisis, has died: report
Posted January 20, 2021 3:27 pm.
James Cross, a trade commissioner based in Montreal whose abduction 50 years ago became one of the key events in the October Crisis, has reportedly died. He was 99.
According to a CBC report citing his son-in-law, Cross passed away due to COVID-19.
The British diplomat became a household name in Quebec when he was kidnapped by members of the nationalist Front de liberation du Quebec (FLQ).
Cross was seized at gunpoint in his home on Oct. 5, 1970. He was bundled into a car and taken to a house where he spent his days in handcuffs, allowed to read and watch TV but not see the faces of his captors.
The FLQ made several demands, including the release of “political prisoners” and publication of the group’s manifesto.
Within days, another FLQ cell kidnapped Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte.
A newsboy holds up a newspaper with a banner headline reporting the invoking of the War Measures Act Oct 16, the first time Canada had invoked the act in peacetime. The act was put into effect following the kidnapping of British diplomat James Cross and Quebec Labor Minister Pierre Laporte by the terrorist FLQ. (CP PHOTO/Peter Bregg) 1970
Pierre Trudeau, prime minister at the time, invoked the War Measures Act, which suspended civil liberties and led to the arrests of more than 250 people.
Soon after, Laporte’s body was found in the trunk of a car.
Early in December, authorities found out where Cross was being held. He was released and some FLQ members were allowed passage to Cuba.
–with files from The Canadian Press.
