Kidnapping
On October 5, 1970, Cross was abducted at gunpoint from his British diplomatic residence at 1297 Redpath Crescent, in the Golden Square Mile district of Montreal, and held as a hostage for two months as the FLQ made a series of demands to the Quebec government. He was released on December 3 in exchange for safe passage for his abductors to Cuba. The talks were held at the Canada Pavilion, located on Île Notre-Dame, the site of Expo '67. This site was declared Cuban territory for the period of the talks.
Six members of the FLQ's liberation cell were later convicted of Cross's kidnapping when they returned to Canada over time.
Cross said of his kidnapping: "They told me about 10:00 o'clock on Wednesday evening that they had, the police knew where I was. Nothing much happened for about the next four hours. Then the power was cut at I think around 2:00 in the morning. I was in bed at the time; they got me up. They handcuffed me, they took me into a corridor in the middle of the house. They handcuffed me to a doorknob and I spent the night. It's a very uncomfortable position." On the 40th anniversary of the day that sparked the October Crisis, James Cross agreed to speak to CBC's The Current about the events surrounding his kidnapping.
Read more about this topic: James Cross