Jacques Lanctôt (born November 5, 1945, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) was an important member of the Quebec terrorist group the FLQ. Lanctôt joined the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) group in 1963 at the age of 17 and was involved in several violent demonstrations in Quebec during the 1960s along with his sister, Louise Lanctôt. In 1968, Lanctôt, a member of the FLQ's Liberation cell, met Paul Rose, leader of the Chénier Cell. As a member of the Liberation Cell of the FLQ he was partners with:
- Jacques Cossette-Trudel
- Louise Lanctôt (Mrs. Louise Cossette-Trudel)
- Marc Carbonneau
- Yves Langlois (aka Pierre Seguin)
- Nigel Barry Hamer (his participation discovered in 1980)
Lanctôt was involved in the kidnapping of the British High Commissioner, James Richard Cross, on October 5, 1970, sparking the October Crisis. Lanctôt and his group held James Cross hostage, taking his photo and sending it to police with a list of demands that included money and the release of other convicted FLQ terrorists. The Liberation Cell advised authorities that Cross will be executed and further threats to Cross' life were delivered to several radio stations along with the FLQ demands. On October 10, their counterparts in the Chénier Cell kidnapped the Quebec Government's Labour Minister, Pierre Laporte, who shortly thereafter was found strangled to death and stuffed in the trunk of a car. On December 3, 1970, Lanctôt and the four other known FLQ members who had kidnapped James Cross negotiated his release in exchange for a flight to Cuba. Cross was unharmed and reported that he had been held by his captors tied to a chair, facing a television set for 2 months. Later, Jacques Lanctôt and the other members of his Liberation Cell secretly left Cuba and went to live in Paris, France. Lanctôt returned from exile in Paris on January 11, 1979. He was arraigned in Court and released on bail pending his trial. He was also charged with the February 1970 conspiracy to kidnap Moshe Golem, the Israeli trade commissioner to Canada. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in jail. After serving his sentence he reentered Quebec society and became a successful book publisher.
