Editing Bernard Lortie

{{Short description|Member of a militant Quebec separatist group}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}

'''Bernard Lortie''' (born c. 1951) of [[Gaspé, Quebec|Gaspé]], [[Quebec]], Canada was a member of the [[Chenier Cell]] of the [[Front de libération du Québec]] (FLQ) who were responsible for a decade of bombings and armed robberies in the province of Quebec.

During what became known as the [[October Crisis]], on October 5, 1970, members of the FLQ's [[Liberation Cell]] kidnapped the [[United Kingdom|British]] Trade Commissioner [[James Cross]] from his Montreal home as part of a violent attempt to overthrow the elected government and to establish a [[socialist]] Quebec state independent of [[Canada]]. On October 10, Bernard Lortie, along with Chenier Cell leader [[Paul Rose (Quebec)|Paul Rose]] and his brother, [[Jacques Rose]], and [[Francis Simard]], [[kidnap]]ped and then [[murder]]ed Quebec [[Premier|Vice Premier]] and Cabinet Minister, [[Pierre Laporte]]. Believing many others would follow in an uprising, their goal was to create an independent state based on the ideals of [[Fidel Castro]]'s [[Cuba]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bélanger |first=Claude |date=2000-08-23 |title=Chronology of the October Crisis, 1970, and its Aftermath |url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/chronos/october.htm |access-date=2008-06-09 |website=[[Marianopolis College]] |language=en-CA}}</ref>

On November 6, 1970, Bernard Lortie was arrested when the police raided the hiding place of the FLQ's Chenier cell. Although the other three members escaped the raid, they were later captured in [[Saint-Luc, Quebec|St-Luc, Quebec]] in late December. All four members were charged with the kidnapping and murder of [[Pierre Laporte]]. For his part in the kidnapping and murder, Bernard Lortie was sentenced to 20 years in jail. He was granted parole by the Canadian Parole Board after seven years.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Landau |first=David |date=1970-11-09 |title=FLQ Separatist Seized, Confesses to Kidnapping |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/11/9/flq-separatist-seized-confesses-to-kidnapping/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=[[The Harvard Crimson]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Noël |first=Dave |date=2020-10-15 |title=L’exécution des prisonniers, «c’était du bluff», assure l’ancien felquiste Bernard Lortie |url=https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/587850/bernard-lortie-au-devoir-c-etait-du-bluff |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=[[Le Devoir]] |language=fr-CA}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{October Crisis}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lortie, Bernard}}
[[Category:Canadian assassins]]
[[Category:Canadian people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:Front de libération du Québec members]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by Canada]]
[[Category:October Crisis]]
[[Category:Canadian people convicted of kidnapping]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]