Former FLQ member Paul Rose, now candidate for the Quebec New Democratic Party, reveals the party’s platform in health and education in Montreal on Aug. 19, 1994. After suffering a stroke, Paul Rose passed away this morning in a Montreal hospital, surrounded by his family. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Marcos Townsend
March 14, 2013 - 10:34 AM
MONTREAL - A convicted terrorist who played a pivotal role in Quebec's 1970 October Crisis, and later remained active in political causes, has died at age 69.
After suffering a stroke, Paul Rose passed away this morning in a Montreal hospital, surrounded by his family.
He was a member of the FLQ cell that kidnapped Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte in 1970.
Rose was convicted of Laporte's murder and sentenced to life in prison, but he was paroled in 1982.
Rose's death was confirmed in a statement from a newspaper he contributed to, L'Aut' Journal.
It said he died while his children read poems such as the classic 19th century song, "A Wandering Canadian." That song was written in the wake of the 1837 rebellions, and the forced exile of those who fought against the Crown.
Upon leaving prison, Rose became involved in union causes and politics. He became leader of the Party of Socialist Democracy in Quebec, which had been an offshoot of the now-defunct Quebec provincial NDP.
Last year, he spoke at a rally of the CLASSE, the more militant faction of Quebec's student protest movement.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013