Francis Simard, born 1946, of Montreal, Quebec, was a member of the Chenier cell of the terrorist group, the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ). The goal of the group was to have the Canadian province of Quebec secede from Canada and become an independent Marxist country. Members of the terrorist group were responsible for the events known as the October Crisis.

As a member of the Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale political party, he met Paul Rose and the two became involved in revolutionary activities in 1969 when Simard campaigned against the existence of McGill University, Montreal's English-language University. On October 10, 1970, Bernard Lortie's Chenier cell of the terrorism group kidnapped and murdered Quebec Vice-Premier and Cabinet Minister, Pierre Laporte. This crime was part of a terrorist insurrection referred to as the October Crisis. In addition to Simard, the murderous Chenier Cell of the FLQ terrorist groups, consisted of its leader, Paul Rose and his brother, Jacques Rose and Bernard Lortie.

On May 20, 1971, Simard was sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of Pierre Laporte. He would be given early parole in 1982. Since then, Francis Simard has made money by writing several books on the October Crisis.

In 2001, Francis Simard wrote a book about the October Crisis titled Pour en finir avec octobre .